This Is What A Day Of Eating Looks Like For Me

If you are interested in learning what a typical day of nutrition looks like for me, here’s a blog post where I document everything from the time I get up to the time I go to sleep. I include both photos of my meals as well as the nutritional breakdown of each.

Just a heads up…it’s not all that exciting, glamorous or complicated.

Anyone that knows me, knows that I don’t really do meal prep, at least not like what you see all over social media… 3-5 meals per day for each day of the week laid out perfectly in meal prep containers. While there are some exceptions (professional body builders, physique competitors, etc…), I suspect that the majority of the population doesn’t plan out meals this way either.

I am in no way bashing planning ahead like this, if it works for you and helps you stay consistent…Rock On! In fact, I have done this in the past when I was preparing for a physique competition myself, it is definitely helpful when you have to be on point with your nutrition. However, my approach to planning my nutrition has changed since all of that. Plus, I am a busy dad of 4 kiddos, I work full time and my goals have changed.

This article is pretty much how I operate from day to day. It works for me and I am still able to progress towards my health & fitness goals, while not being ultra-strict with it all.

Morning Meal Prep

As I mentioned, I work full time, so that means I typically have 8-10 hours every day where I am away from my home. Obviously, I’ve gotta eat during this time. So how do I “prep” for the day?

Typically the first thing I’ll do to confirm dinner plans with my wife. Knowing what is planned for our evening meal will set the tone/guidelines for the remainder of the day. If I know we are planning something either high in fat or high in carbs ( both…eeek!), I’ll make adjustments accordingly.

9 times out of 10, I will pack leftovers from the previous night’s dinner for lunch. In some cases there are leftovers from 1-3 dinners at my disposals, so I do have options… Rarely do I cook in the AM, though on the day I decided to document all of my meals, I decided to have something besides leftovers.

Pre workout:

Over the past year or so, I have cut back on the number of supplements that I use on a daily basis, a pre-workout supplement being one of them. I now only use good ole black coffee as my pre-workout. Though…the coffee that I drink is pretty high in caffeine, so I don’t feel like I’ve lost much in that regard. The per serving cost is a bit cheaper too!

Deathwish Coffee – Black (not pictured…)

Nutrition Details:

5 kCals

Post workout:

After an awesome workout, your body needs replenishment and I take full advantage of this as I get roughly 1/3 of my total intake in my post-workout meal!

This is probably my most “bro-science” meal of the day. However, a power protein shake like this is a great option if you are like me and need to get in something quick while still maintaining quality nutrition.

Here’s the breakdown of what I typically include in my post-workout shake.

Shakeology
ON Pro Complex
Peanut Butter – Jif (Natural)
Almond milk
ON Creatine

Nutrition Details:

800 kCals (66g protein, 86g carbs, 18g fat)

Mid-AM Snack:

This is pretty much the same combo I have been enjoying for quite awhile now… Some form of fruit (apple or banana) and a Quest Protein Bar. This snack is often referred to as a bridge meal and for me it is exactly that as it falls a couple of hours after my post workout meal and a couple of hours prior to lunch.

Banana
Quest Protein Bar – Mint Chocolate Chunk

Nutrition Details:

314 kCals (21g protein, 51g carbs, 9g fat)

Lunch:

As I mentioned before, lunch is typically leftovers from the previous night’s dinner, but that isn’t always the case… There are occasions where I’ll join my co-workers for a bite to eat at lunch. When that happens, I fall back on some of the info that I shared in The Insider’s Guide to Dining Out to make solid nutritional choices.

On this day, it was “breakfast for lunch”! Eggs and toast are probably one of my favorite meals that I can eat at any time during the day. Luckily for me, I have access to a toaster in my office, otherwise I am not sure I would enjoy less than perfect toast…

4 whole eggs, 3 egg whites
Toast (Brownberry Oatnut)

Nutrition Details:

571 kCals (43g protein, 49g carbs, 23g fat)

Dinner!

Or…supper if your prefer.

Smothered chicken, green beans and cheesy garlic bread!

Nutrition Details:

420 kcals (39g protein, 30g carbs, 16g fat)

I kinda had to guesstimate with the garlic bread…

This was literally a 30 minute meal, prepped from scratch! Granted, I’ve made this dish several times in the past; it is super simple and minimal ingredients.

If you’d like the recipe, grab it here: Smothered Chicken

Totals for the day thus far:

2108 kCals (170g protein, 216g carbs, 67g fat)

Looks like I’ve still got some room for snack!!

Game time snack

Depending on how my day went nutritionally, I may or may not have something after dinner… I call it a snack, but it is rarely anything that would be considered a snack, it usually consists of a good balance of protein and carbs. Though there are times when I will enjoy a hand-dripped ice cream cone with the kiddos.

Fage
Frozen raspberries

Nutrition Details:

136 kCals (19g protein, 15g carbs, 0g fat)

Recap

There you have it…a full day of my eating!

Were you surprised by anything?
Did you expect something different?
How does this compare to a day of your eating?

Something that I didn’t mention above or share in photos is what I drink throughout the day….

Water…just water!

I consume anywhere between 2-3 liters of water per day. On the days where I am not getting my normal amount, I can really noticed a difference in my awareness, my skin, my lips become chapped, I get headaches. Drink your water!

I have learned a lot over the years in my own health/fitness journey; it doesn’t have to be complicated. Once you have established some core knowledge on nutrition, you are able to take the stress out of the entire process.

If you want to learn more about the fundamentals of nutrition, check out the following 7-part series that I have created!

I am a certified Precision Nutrition Level 1 Coach and every couple of days I will send you an email that will cover one easily digestible, essential building block on the fundamentals of nutrition.

The best part? They’re totally free.

Nutrition 101

To check out the free series, just click the button above.

Questions?

I’d love hear from you. Post your questions in the comment section below or send me an email!

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