Colorful fuel for a day of training

Greetings from the middle of the week in San Francisco. Between training clients, trying new studio classes via my ClassPass membership and teaching my own classes, my days have been flying by over here. Next thing you know it will be Labor Day (a weekend in which Dave and I have some incredibly awesome plans)!

Yesterday, I worked for a few hours in the morning at Equinox, did my own workout, went home for a brief lunch-break and returned to train a couple more clients in the evening. That’s the life of a trainer. Long split days, spaced out over more than 12 hours. I don’t always get to leave for a break in the middle of the day, but if there’s a large enough window, I love to head home for a few moments to sit on my couch, eat a meal at home and regroup.

Now, because you are here for “What I Ate Wednesday,” let’s get to the food from my day yesterday, complete with some approximate calorie and protein counts. Other than some vitamins, gum and water, here’s everything I had …

Breakfast at 5:30 a.m. at home

Overnight oats and green tea. I make my oats with gluten-free rolled oats, almond milk, chia seeds, Greek yogurt and cinnamon, and I throw a sliced-up banana on top in the morning. My green tea is sweetened with almond milk and stevia. And this is basically my breakfast every day of the week. It’s filling and conveniently prepared ahead of time, so all I have to do is pull it out of the fridge when I wake up in the wee hours of the morning.

This meal runs about 400 calories with 20 grams of protein, give or take a little bit based on my measurements.

Morning snack at 11 a.m. at work

Fuji apple and an energizing Focus Food bar by Game Plan. I’ve been loving the Game Plan products that I was sent a few weeks ago and will be providing more information and a full review soon. This combination definitely gave me the fuel I needed to hit the weight-room.

This snack runs about 300 calories with just under 20 grams of protein.

Post-workout at 1:30 p.m. at work

Protein shake. For a little protein recovery after my more than an-hour-and-a-half weight-lifting session, I downed a Vega Sport Performance Protein shake.

This shake has about 125 calories and 25 grams of protein. 

I was sent Vega Sport Performance Protein Powder to try and review thanks to my involvement as a Sweat Pink Ambassador. Vega Sport Performance Protein Powder is all-natural, is plant-based and has nothing but good ingredients in it. In fact, it has tryptophan, which aids in mood boosting, in addition to glutamine, which aids in muscle repair. I’ve been drinking this as my recovery for about a week and have definitely felt good after consuming it. I love the fact that it comes in an individual serving bag, which is very convenient. While the shake serves its purpose for offering nutrients after a workout and does all it needs to do functionally, it doesn’t have the greatest flavor in the world. Convenience and utility though — well Vega’s got those two needs covered. Not to mention, the company is hoping to help people fuel themselves better with a catchy #FuelYourBetter campaign, and I like the sound of that.

Lunch at 2 p.m. at home

Salad salad salad. The past few days my lunch has been a combo of a thick green smoothie and a baked sweet potato, so today I knew it was time for a crunchy salad. This salad consists of spinach leaves, purple shredded cabbage, grape tomatoes, canned tuna, garbanzo beans and some balsamic dressing. I love putting tuna on a salad for some easy and quick protein. If I take a salad with tuna to work with me, I bring the easy pouches separate from the veggies. But because this meal was enjoyed at home, I had the ability to open up a full can, drain it and pour it on top.

This lunch runs around 375 calories with 30 grams of protein.

Afternoon snack at 5:30 p.m. at work

Greek yogurt and a very ripe banana. I brought this snack in my backpack to enjoy between my evening clients. I usually eat plain Greek yogurt, so it seemed like a treat to have the fruit-on-the-bottom variety for a change. 

This snack runs around 250 calories with about 13 grams of protein.

Dinner at 8:30 p.m. at home

Veggie noodles and turkey meatballs, oh my! This colorful dinner is one of my weekly staples. I boil up some zucchini and squash noodles, saute up some spinach, grape tomatoes, purple cabbage and garbanzo beans (yes, the same things that made it into my lunch-time salad), and mix it all with pasta sauce and a few turkey meatballs. If you’ve never made zucchini noodles, it’s super easy, and you can see my post on how to do it here. 

Yes, I have two big red bowls, and yes, I used them both yesterday, and yes, both meals eaten in them had similar ingredients. Whatever.

This dinner runs around 400 calories with 20 grams of protein.

Dessert beverage at 9 p.m. at home

And because I like to finish off my palate with something sweet, I had a glass of soy milk to end the night.

This glass of milk runs about 50 calories with 5 grams of protein.

I’ve been buying soy milk in addition to almond milk the last few weeks and I think I’m sick of it already. At first it seemed like a treat, but now I don’t like the artificial flavor. That was a short-lived experiment.

Alright folks, you’ve just seen a full day of fairly clean eating during the week, in which I needed some healthy fuel. I’ve pulled most of the nutritional content shown above, not only from the labels on the food packages, but also from my daily food diary on MyFitnessPal, a helpful app I’ve been quite obsessed with lately. My calorie and protein intake is different every day, and this day was probably on the lower side because of the two veggie-based big meals, but nonetheless it gives you a general idea — hitting just under 2,000 calories.

Now, I’m heading off to work and then attending another exciting ClassPass studio experience tonight. 

If you want to see more food recaps, check out my past posts, or visit the “What I Ate Wednesday” creator.

1. A full day of eating in pictures
2. Another full day of my eats and drinks
3. Real food isn’t always pretty
4. Do you have a balanced dining out strategy?
5. What I ate and drank all day
6. Three meals, two snacks and a shake
7. Food trucks and rest-day eating
8. Plenty of protein at every meal

Questions of the day

Do you plan your meals out or choose food on the fly? What’s your favorite thing to eat for breakfast? Do you prefer weekday meal recaps or weekend meal recaps, which are a little more indulgent and fun?