So I had a thought, what would be the healthiest way someone can eat throughout the day.
Now I know it’s not easy to say since everyone are different but I was thinking about a general meal routine that includes everything you need to be healthy, so lets assume someone woke up this morning and haven’t had anything to eat yet.
How would his breakfast look like? What will he snack throughout the day (if any) how would his lunch and dinner look like?
Also portion sizes differ since obviously some people need more calories than others so lets put that aside and only talk about what food goes on the plate.
This person is healthy and doesn’t have any dietry restrictions so he can eat meat no food alergies and isn’t diabtic, he doesn’t work out heavily so he doesn’t need to build muscles.
Here’s my idea:
Breakfast - steel cut oatmeal with organic soy milk, mashed banana, ground flaxseed, cinnamon, fresh blueberries, and raw walnuts.
Snack - fresh mango sprinkled with raw cacao.
Lunch - black beans, quinoa, massaged kale, avocado, fresh tomatoes & cucumber, Kalamata olives, and balsamic vinegar.
Snack - raw carrots & seedy crackers with homemade hummus.
Dinner - roasted beets, red onion, sweet potato, and Brussels sprouts in EVOO with wild salmon and topped with raw pumpkin seeds and a tahini dressing.
Dessert - homemade mint chocolate chip banana nice cream with bananas, spirulina, fresh mint, vanilla extract, and cacao nibs.
Breakfast: Savory oatmeal, (onions and broth of choice), with poached eggs
Lunch: Lentil Soup with a piece of flat bread or a small serving of rice
Dinner: Salmon, Salad (with a good variety of veg) and a vinegar based dressing, baked potato or yam with a pat of butter.
Night time snack: piece of fruit with cheese, popcorn w/ sparing amount of butter, or if I’m feeling indulgent I’ll have a banana or blueberry muffin, which is basically just cake, but I do think sweets can be part of a healthy diet and they can be good for your mental health in moderation.
I’m sure that this could be better, but for me this is an ideal day.
For portions and what you should eat, I generally follow the Harvard Healthy Eating Plate and Pyramid. Basically, half of your food (by volume) should be produce (mostly vegetables), about a quarter whole grains, a quarter healthy protein, healthy plant oils in moderation, dairy maybe 1-2 times a day, and drink waters, coffee, or teas. Unfortunately, they don’t give an example of a day, but here’s my take (not sure if it’s “perfect”, but I think gets close):
Breakfast: Whole grain bread with unsweetened peanut butter, an orange, and a tea.
Morning Snack: Cottage cheese with pineapple chunks and almond silvers. Coffee.
Lunch: Steamed beets, broccoli and chicken on quinoa with harissa and olive oil. Water
Afternoon Snack: Sweet red pepper slices, carrot slices, and whole grain pita with hummus. Water.
Dinner: Grilled fish tacos with a vinegar-based coleslaw. (Optional sides of watermelon/cucumber/tomato salad, grilled corn, guacamole with chips) Unsweetened iced tea.
Dessert: Strawberries dipped in dark chocolate.
I find using the healthy plate proportions makes meal planning pretty easy. A lot of traditional recipes, like stuffed red peppers, can be made healthier with simple substitutes (brown rice for white, turkey for beef, add more vegetables), or simply loading up on more on the “side” vegetable dishes. And if one of your meals is disproportionate (like if you had egg and brown rice for breakfast - the grain and protein category), make sure you “make up” for it at the next meal by having things out of the other categories (so fruit and vegetables for a snack).
8 Hour eating window each day (11am-7pm)
11am - Overnight Oatmeal Jar (oats, flax, chia, hemp, Collegen, pumpkin seeds, cinnamon & frozen fruit)
2:30pm - Brown Rice, Lentils, Chicken Breast, Broccoli & Sweet Potato
6:15pm - Tuna, Spinach, Chickpeas, Avocado, Apple & Almond Butter
I don’t snack between meals as I don’t feel hungry. Lots of fiber fills you up. Meals are delicious and balanced to my personal micro-nutrient ratios (myfitnesspal-free) Carbs - 50%, Fats - 25% & Protein - 25% - 5’10, 170lbs, 1,700 cal. daily intake.
I have fine tuned this over the years to get the maximum nutrients for the least amount of calories, talking into consideration my age and activity level. Breakfast is one quarter cup of old fashioned oats with an acai packet, water, half of a banana, one tablespoon each flax, chia, hemp hearts, and walnuts, one quarter teaspoon Ceylon cinnamon, a sprinkle of Saigon cinnamon, a few grindings of black pepper, a quarter teaspoon of fresh turmeric, and one cup of wild blueberries. Sometimes I will throw in a tablespoon of unsweetened cocoa powder and/or a date. Occasionally I skip lunch if it is a rest day from working out, if not, then one slice of Ezekiel bread with half of an avocado with tomatoes, red onion and nooch. Dinner is always a grain, (almost always quinoa), a type of beans, and roasted vegetables, either in the form of a bowl with fresh greens and a tahini based sauce, or a soup in a base that’s nine times out of ten spicy V-8. A constant flow of beverages fill in the gaps, teas- milk thistle, rooibos, peppermint, matcha, superfood teas, kombucha, fresh ginger and lemon in hot water, vegetable juices like Suja uber greens, green vibrance, etc. I wake up feeling great and haven’t had so much as a sniffle in years. Cooking one grain, one type of beans, and roasting a sheet pan of veggies once a week means that the makings of a good meal are always waiting in the refrigerator. Less time spent in the grocery store is a plus, too.
no one’s gonna like this but this is my daily:
-water & tea until 12pm
-eggs and greens for lunch at 1pm
-nuts and olives for snack at 4pm
-meat and greens for dinner at 7pm
-tea at 9pm
There is no average person in the world, each person has a different set of circumstances that their diet is adapted to. So the “perfect” day nutritionally would have the person eating food that is nourishing enough to fuel them for the tasks they are doing that day, eaten when it works best for them, and the food is prepared in such a way that they enjoy it.
I don’t do well with refined carbs in general (I have a lot of dietary restrictions and follow AIP), so I start my day with a warm bowl of roasted vegetables and some sort of protein. I’m telling you, game changer!
For me;
Breakfast - 2x heck chicken sausages, 2x eggs, mushrooms and half an avocado. Black coffee.
Post Workout - whey and blueberry shake,
Lunch - chicken/ beef/ salmon, stir fried with a load of vegetables, peppers, courgette, broccoli, onions, mushrooms, aubergine, green beans, whatever is in the fridge.
Dinner- this is variable, usually a beef stew, ribeye steak, bolognaise, chicken kebabs whatever I fancy, just proper food.
Desert - 0% fat Greek yogurt, frozen berries, jelly and Aldi protein granola on top.
Usually works out anything between 1800-2300 calories depending on portions, meat used and dinner I fancy. Also usually equates to at least 5-6 fruit or vegetable portions a day, my protein is fulfilled and keeps me around 74kg and lean.
Took me lots of dieting fads and weight fluctuation to work out what works for me, which is essentially avoiding bread and processed foods. I still enjoy a pizza or pasta on occasion, one day doesn’t ruin a good habit.