Hey hey ladies & gents! What is UP?? Now that we’ve officially hit holiday season, good food becomes abundant. While all the good grub might objectively be the best part of the holidays, I find that it can be pretty easy to get out of shape. Now by all means, eat whatever the hell you want- it’s the holidays. Howeverrrr, for those of you trying to show up at Thanksgiving and flaunt to your distance relatives that you’ve been thriving for the past 364 days since you last saw them- I feel you!
As an athlete exercising 3-4 hours a day, 6 days a week, I am honestly constantly hungry. Since the limited WashU options are a bit hard to navigate, I figured it might be helpful to see an example of what I eat in a week. It’s super important to remember that everyone’s nutritional needs are different, so find a balanced lifestyle that works for you and your schedule!! I also included when I had practice, just so you can see what I eat pre/post workout. Last thing- I eat a lot! You should never be concerned with the quantity of food your eating, eat until you feel satiated PERIOD.
Monday:
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Lift
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Breakfast: red apple, handful of lightly salted almonds and mini lily’s sugar free dark chocolate chips
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Grande sugar free vanilla iced coffee with almond milk (starbucks)
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Think Thin peanut butter protein bar
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Lunch: turkey burger patty with cheese and roasted carrots
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Snack: handful of lightly salted almonds and mini lily’s sugar free dark chocolate chips, 2 fruit & nut nature valley chewy granola bars
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Practice
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2 brownie bites
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Dinner: turkey pesto sandwich (wheat bread, pesto, turkey, provolone, spinach, tomato, onion) and pineapple
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Dessert: 1 piece of coconut bark thin dark chocolate, 1 dark chocolate mini justin’s peanut butter cup, 3 dark chocolate covered almonds
Tuesday:
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Breakfast: 3 scrambled egg whites with 2 turkey sausage links and pineapple
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Lunch: large salad from the DUC salad bar
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Snack: 1 justin’s mini dark chocolate peanut butter cup, 1 snack pack of skinny pop
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Practice
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Dinner: 2 turkey burger patties with provolone and 2 tomato slices, side of roasted broccoli & cauliflower with ketchup
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Dessert: 2 mini pumpkin dark chocolate kodiak pancakes
Wednesday:
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Breakfast: 1 caramel rice cake with 2 tbsp peanut butter & handful of lily’s dark chocolate chips, 1 snack sized cinnamon applesauce
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Practice
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Breakfast 2: 3 scrambled egg whites with 2 turkey sausage links and pineapple, iced coffee
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Lunch/Snack: white chocolate Think Thin bar, almond milk cappuccino, 3 mini pumpkin chocolate chip kodiak pancakes with almond butter, handful of snyders gluten free pretzels and coconut oil cheese puffs
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Dinner: stir fry (brown rice, spinach, carrots, onions, scallions, pineapple, tofu) and a side of sweet potato hash
Thursday:
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Breakfast: 1 caramel rice cake with 2 tbsp peanut butter & handful of lily’s dark chocolate chips
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Practice
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Breakfast 2: 3 scrambled egg whites with 2 turkey sausage and pineapple, iced coffee
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Lunch: 1 turkey burger patty with provolone, roasted carrots and brussel sprouts with ketchup
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Snack: handful of snyders gluten free pretzels and trader joes coconut oil cheese puffs, 2 lemon chia “wholesome me” granola bites, fiber 1 brownie chip bar
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Dinner: 3 piece chicken tender, waffle fries and peppermint chip shake from Chick fil ‘A
Friday:
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Breakfast: turkey pesto sandwich and baby carrots, orange juice
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Game
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Lift & Run
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Snack: banana and peanut butter, fudge graham zone bar
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Dinner: stir fry bowl from “crazy bowls and wraps” (brown rice, teriyaki, mixed grilled veggies, tofu, and falafel)
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Dessert: red apple and peanut butter
Saturday:
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Breakfast: s’mores iced latte, shared cinnamon roll pancakes, bacon, gruyere and onion omelet, baked oatmeal
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Snack: dunkins caramel iced coffee
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Dinner: black bean burger patty with provolone and tomato, roasted broccoli with ketchup
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Dessert: 2 simple mills chocolate chip cookies, handful of snyders gluten free pretzels, handful mini cinnamon sugar rice cakes, handful of monster trail mix
Sunday:
TBD! Hopefully something yummy :))
Takeaway:
It is OKAY to eat whatever you want. Every and all foods can and should have a place in your nutrition, whether you’re eating to enjoy or to fuel your body! For example on Saturday, our off day, my friends and I ordered 8 entrees between the 4 of us, and it was delicious! You should never feel guilty about splurging or eating what you’re craving. That said, if you are trying to eat healthy, here are some little tips that work for me!
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HYDRATE. Hydrate or dydrate is a real thing, and you WILL be able to tell the next morning whether or not you’ve properly hydrated the day before. I try to drink at least 96 oz of water a day, not counting the water I drink during practices. If you’re like me and don’t love guzzling water all day, you can mix 1 scoop of vital proteins collagen and 1 scoop of ultima electrolyte powder (I like the raspberry flavor) into your water. I fill my hydroflask with this every morning, and it’s a really great way to start every day feeling like I’m prioritizing taking care of myself and my body.
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Protein. Protein, as I’m sure you know, is essential to rebuilding muscle. I try to have protein with every meal, whether that’s egg whites with breakfast (whites have most of the protein in the egg, where’s the yolk has more of the healthy fat), or lean protein such as chicken, tofu, or fish.
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Sweet Tooth. I have a CRAZY sweet tooth and am almost always munchy after dinner. One thing that’s helped me is eating fruit after dinner, as the natural sugar tends to hit the spot and prevent me from eating all the chocolate under the sun. I usually go for pineapple or a green apple. Or try flavored seltzer, such as lemon or cherry bubbly.
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Snacking. For me personally, if it’s in my dorm, I’ll eat it. So I try to buy exclusively healthy snacks that cover all my sweet, salty, and chocolate-y cravings.
Ex: dark chocolate (try dipping it in almond butter), low sugar cereal (kashi is a decent and affordable one), think thin oatmeal, gluten free pretzels, dried mango, almonds, dark chocolate chips, pumpkin kodiak pancake mix, trail mix, smart sweets swedish fish, rice cakes, think thin peanut butter protein bars (20g protein, no sugar), fiber 1 brownie cakes, simple mills cookies, justin’s peanut butter cups, bark thins.
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Ditch the Bun. For lunch or dinner I usually try when I can to ditch the bun on a turkey or black bean burger. This way you’re getting your carbs through a high protein source. However, the bun also has 5g of protein in it, so if you want the bun- get the bun!!
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General Aims: Hydrate, try to make your meals ½ protein and ½ veggies, varying your carbs depending on your exercise. Try fruit, seltzer, or dark chocolate when you’re feeling super snack-y. Stay ahead of yourself. In my experience if I get to a meal time and I’m not hungry, I end up just getting super munchy later on and eat unhealthy snacks when I would have been more satiated eating a healthy balanced meal. Lastly, if you are craving a less nutrient rich meal, I find eating with and around friends mitigates any guilty or unhappy feelings that I might have after eating.
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Enjoy! Food is amazing, so take time to enjoy it with your friends!