A Lady Goes West

A healthy lifestyle blog by Ashley Pitt

  • Home
    • Popular Posts
  • About
  • Fitness
    • Les Mills Group Fitness
    • Workouts
    • Fitness Tips
    • Class Reviews
  • Food
    • What I Ate Wednesday
    • Recipes
  • Clean Beauty
  • Mom Life
    • Fit & Fertile Book
    • Baby
    • Pregnancy
    • Postpartum
  • Press
  • Contact
    • Privacy Policy

Three meals, two snacks and a shake

July 30, 2014 By Ashley 25 Comments

What does a full day of eating look like for me during the week? Three straight meals, two snacks and a protein shake.

If you’ve been checking out my “What I Ate Wednesday” posts for the past few weeks, you may notice I’m a creature of habit. While my meals are colorful and include all the food groups, I pick and choose from a handful of healthy go-to items and combinations.

You may think this looks routine and boring, but it’s actually a lot of variety for me. In fact, I used to eat a peanut-butter-and-jelly-sandwich for lunch every.single.day up until a few months ago. Don’t get me wrong, I’ve always been health conscious, but it wasn’t until transitioning into a full-time fitness professional that I really started to understand the importance of eating real and quality food as energy and fuel, rather than relying on a lot of packaged items.

Now, here’s a look at everything I ate yesterday, which was a typical workday at the gym.

Breakfast: 5:30 a.m.

Overnight oats, topped with a banana and cinnamon. Green tea, sweetened with stevia and almond milk. This week, I made my overnight oats with some new gluten-free rolled oats I found at Trader Joes, which are heartier than my previous brand.

Breakfast and tea

Snack: 9:45 a.m.

Cottage cheese, topped with crushed almonds. I love this snack combination. I bring the almonds in a little baggy and crush them up with the bottom of my water bottle in the break-room at work. It’s always a good way to wake up sleepy trainers mid-morning.

Cottage cheese and almonds

Post-workout: 12:15 p.m.

Protein shake. With water, I mixed one large scoop of Muscle Milk Light Vanilla Creme powder, which includes whey protein, 100 calories, 12 grams of protein and 7 grams of carbs. It’s the perfect recovery beverage after a one-hour resistance workout.

Protein shake

Lunch: 2 p.m.

Salad. This salad is a catch-all of some leftovers from our usual Sunday taco night. Grilled chicken, black beans, cherry tomatoes, grilled peppers and cabbage over some spinach leaves. I topped it with some balsamic dressing.

Salad for lunch

Snack: 5 p.m.

A fresh fuji apple and some trail mix. This trail mix has seeds, pistachios, almonds, walnuts, cranberries and all sorts of goodness. And yes, I have an apple slicer to make those pieces look so even.

Apple and trail mix

Dinner: 8 p.m.

Veggie pasta delight. Delicious. Colorful. Perhaps my favorite home-cooked meal. I made this using my spiralizer. Did you catch my post on how to make zucchini noodles? That’s the same recipe I used here. Basically, it’s zucchini and squash noodles, topped with spinach, cabbage and tomatoes that were sauteed in coconut oil, as well as some pasta sauce and a couple of hearty turkey meatballs. I could eat this every single night.

Pasta dinner

I followed up dinner with a few swigs of almond milk straight from the carton. Because sometimes, that’s how I roll.

Happy Wednesday, my friends. I hope your week is going well.

Do you like recap posts featuring the things that I eat?

If so, check out my previous posts, all of which are hosted by the “What I Ate Wednesday” creator: Peas and Crayons.

  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

Questions of the day

Do you eat the same things every day or prefer variety? What’s your favorite snack food?

Ashley signature

Filed Under: Food, Healthy living, What I Ate Wednesday Tagged With: healthy eating, healthy lunch, healthy snacks, What I Ate Wednesday

SIGN UP FOR A FREE GIFT

Get a free "How to have a great week of workouts" checklist and action plan when you sign up for the list. And you'll get new posts by email.

About Ashley

I'm a mom, writer and group fitness instructor, and A Lady Goes West is where I share fitness and wellness tips, as well as stories and learnings from my life in the San Francisco Bay Area.
 
Stay in touch ...
Bloglovin', Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest & Facebook.

Comments

  1. Courtney says

    July 30, 2014 at 8:34 am

    Yes, I absolutely love your recap posts featuring what you eat. I can’t believe you ate peanut butter and jelly sandwiches daily. That’s literally one of my favorite things ever, but like you I try to eat cleaner, more nutritious foods now as often as I can.

    Reply
  2. Ashley says

    July 30, 2014 at 8:39 am

    Hi Courtney! I’m so glad you enjoy these posts. But seriously, I ate them every single day for SO MANY YEARS. I used strawberry preserves and crunchy peanut butter on big slices of whole wheat bread. Sometimes I’d even throw a banana on there. I actually don’t miss my PBJs as much as you would think. I must have overdone it. Variety is much better for me now. Happy Wednesday!
    Ashley recently posted…Three meals, two snacks and a shakeMy Profile

    Reply
  3. Breanne says

    July 30, 2014 at 9:28 am

    Is it sad that my takeaway is that I really want a peanut butter and jelly sandwich now? Haha. I used to eat them every day too. It’s been a couple years now since I’ve had one and just the mere mention has me craving.

    It wasn’t until I switched full-on to healthier eat EVERY DAY (21 day challenge oy!), and then reincorporated some other items after, that I could really feel/see/notice the impact that processed foods makes when it comes to my energy, endurance, etc…

    Reply
  4. Ashley @ My Food N Fitness Diaries says

    July 30, 2014 at 12:31 pm

    I need to try some overnight oats. It’s been foreverrrr since I’ve had them. I think I’m currently in a little bit of a breakfast rut right now too, so it’d be good to mix things up! That cottage cheese + almond combo sounds yummy too. I always forget about cottage cheese!

    Reply
    • Ashley says

      July 30, 2014 at 6:51 pm

      Cottage cheese deserves a little more respect, it’s so healthy and tasty! 🙂

      Reply
  5. Lauryn says

    July 30, 2014 at 2:46 pm

    Okay, now I’m dying to get a spiralizer to try zucchini noodles too. I used to think it was hard and complicated but I think you may have convinced me otherwise 🙂 I love the cottage cheese and almond combo, too!
    Lauryn recently posted…On Being AwakeMy Profile

    Reply
    • Ashley says

      July 30, 2014 at 6:50 pm

      Spiralizers are so easy! Hope you try one out!

      Reply
  6. GiGi Eats says

    July 30, 2014 at 8:23 pm

    I want in on that lunch and dinner!! 😉 Save some for me next time, will ya??
    GiGi Eats recently posted…Sharing The SamePlateMy Profile

    Reply
    • Ashley says

      July 31, 2014 at 8:21 am

      Colorful and tasty!! Glad you like. 🙂

      Reply
  7. Karen @ Kama Fitness says

    July 31, 2014 at 6:01 am

    Cottage cheese is da bomb! 😉

    Reply
    • Ashley says

      July 31, 2014 at 8:21 am

      Sure is!

      Reply

Trackbacks

  1. Long days of training require a lot of food | A Lady Goes West says:
    August 27, 2014 at 5:42 am

    […] Three meals, two snacks and a shake […]

    Reply
  2. Making do on “What I Ate Wednesday” | A Lady Goes West says:
    September 3, 2014 at 5:41 am

    […] Three meals, two snacks and a shake […]

    Reply
  3. Who doesn't like pictures of food? - A Lady Goes WestA Lady Goes West says:
    September 17, 2014 at 5:07 am

    […] Three meals, two snacks and a shake […]

    Reply
  4. A look at a full day of eating in pictures - A Lady Goes WestA Lady Goes West says:
    September 24, 2014 at 6:19 am

    […] Three meals, two snacks and a shake […]

    Reply
  5. A look at what I really eat in a day - A Lady Goes WestA Lady Goes West says:
    October 22, 2014 at 6:21 am

    […] Three meals, two snacks and a shake […]

    Reply
  6. Stories about food and yesterday's meals - A Lady Goes WestA Lady Goes West says:
    November 12, 2014 at 3:48 am

    […] Three meals, two snacks and a shake […]

    Reply
  7. A day of my eating and some commentary - A Lady Goes WestA Lady Goes West says:
    November 19, 2014 at 3:01 am

    […] Three meals, two snacks and a shake […]

    Reply
  8. A perfect birthday at home and my eats - A Lady Goes WestA Lady Goes West says:
    December 24, 2014 at 5:50 am

    […] Three meals, two snacks and a shake […]

    Reply
  9. Top blog posts, readers stats and my food - A Lady Goes WestA Lady Goes West says:
    December 31, 2014 at 2:23 am

    […] Three meals, two snacks and a shake […]

    Reply
  10. Food, drinks and a very hydrating giveaway - A Lady Goes WestA Lady Goes West says:
    February 25, 2015 at 7:55 am

    […] Three meals, two snacks and a shake […]

    Reply
  11. I don't like bad people, I do like good food - A Lady Goes WestA Lady Goes West says:
    March 25, 2015 at 2:31 am

    […] Three meals, two snacks and a shake […]

    Reply
  12. What's normal to you? (And my daily eats) - A Lady Goes WestA Lady Goes West says:
    May 6, 2015 at 2:17 am

    […] Three meals, two snacks and a shake […]

    Reply
  13. What I ate yesterday in the Sunshine State - A Lady Goes WestA Lady Goes West says:
    May 27, 2015 at 2:26 am

    […] Three meals, two snacks and a shake […]

    Reply
  14. The return of the weekly food diary - A Lady Goes WestA Lady Goes West says:
    September 16, 2015 at 7:05 am

    […] Three meals, two snacks and a shake […]

    Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

CommentLuv badgeShow more posts

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

ashley bio pic

Hi, I'm Ashley. I started this blog when I moved from Florida to the SF Bay Area, and I love to help you live a balanced life, making sure you never skip a rest day. I'm a mom and fitness instructor, and A Lady Goes West is where I share my workouts, simple meals and wellness tips with you. Find out more about me and stay awhile!

Connect with me

  • Email
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Pinterest
  • RSS
  • Twitter

Search This Blog

Follow

Get my ebook

Fit & Fertile ebook: How I found my body's fitness from the inside out by overcoming hypothalamic amenorrhea.

Recent Posts

  • The best pieces from Carbon38 and a Carbon38 discount code
  • Current faves: We’re in Charlotte, a book, Clean Deo and workouts
  • How to start 2021 off right and my goals for this year
  • My best memories from eight years in California
  • A Lady Goes West year in review for 2020 (personal and professional)

SIGN UP FOR A FREE GIFT

Get a free "How to have a great week of workouts" checklist and action plan when you sign up for the list. Your email address will automatically be added and stored to receive new posts by email and more. See the Privacy Policy for details.

Connect

  • Email
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Pinterest
  • RSS
  • Twitter

The latest on Instagram

Exactly twelve years ago today, I spotted Dave acr Exactly twelve years ago today, I spotted Dave across the bar in Orlando and decided to chat him up. And really, the rest is history, and boy am I glad I made that decision that day. We celebrated today by retrieving our cars that finally made it across the country and returning our rental car. Here’s to making the first move, because sometimes it totally pays off! ❤️
Hi, I'm Ashley Pitt, formerly Ashley Pinder, or AP Hi, I'm Ashley Pitt, formerly Ashley Pinder, or APin or APinder, as my friends used to call me. It's been a long time since I introduced myself here on IG. And even though most of you know a lot about me, some of you don't. So here's a quick download (paired with a sequence of photos that took place yesterday):

-I was born and raised in Florida, I spent the last eight years in the San Francisco Bay Area in California, and I just moved with my little family to Charlotte, North Carolina one week ago.
-I've been a fitness instructor for 11 years, and I started out teaching Les Mills BODYPUMP as a side hobby while I held down a job at a public relations agency in Orlando. By the way, I never imagined I'd leave the corporate world behind, but I'm so glad I did. And now I work for myself with fitness, blogging and Beautycounter as my full-time gigs, in addition to momming, of course.
-I haven't taught an in-person fitness class in 10 months, but I teach virtual classes every week, and I absolutely love it. Send me a DM if you want to work out with me!
-Yes, I'm a mom. But I had a hard time getting pregnant while struggling with hypothalamic amenorrhea. With a few lifestyle changes, I was able to recover, and because of that experience, I've adopted a "no extremes" motto when it comes to food and exercise. Now I have one 3-year-old curly-haired son named Brady, and I have a small fluffy dog named Rudy, and they are the cutest.
-I started my blog, A Lady Goes West, more than 8 years ago, and I write new blog posts every Tuesday and Friday. If you've never read it yet, I'd love to have you come on over.
-Here on my IG profile, you can expect some real talk about wellness, mom life, moving to Charlotte, fitness and all of that good stuff. I don't track macros, I don't create fancy recipes, and I don't do anything D-I-Y, but I still hope to connect with you and add some positive value to your feed. Thanks for being here!
Greetings from Charlotte, North Carolina! We’re Greetings from Charlotte, North Carolina! We’re just finishing up day four of our moving-back-east adventure, and so far so good. Although the planner in me does look forward to some more certainty, we’re enjoying the fun of this transitional time as we look for a house and find our way in a new city. It definitely feels like we are just temporary visitors right now, which is a feeling I felt when we first landed in San Francisco. But that’s just part of the beauty of moving. And by the way, you’ll see me repeating clothes for a bit until our stuff makes its cross-country arrival, so let me introduce you to this outfit:
-Jacket is @fabletics
-Scarf is @ragandbone
-Leggings are @caliabycarrie
-Shoes are @drschollsshoes
-Shades are @vincecamuto
-Brady’s wearing all @oldnavy with some @hunterboots.
Here’s to starting our first full week in the Queen City! Have a good one, friends.
Peace out, California. This lady who went west is Peace out, California. This lady who went west is officially heading back east. Today, we closed on the sale of our home, the movers drove off with our stuff, and we ended an 8-year-and-3-month adventure in the San Francisco Bay Area. What a ride it has been, full of amazing moments, great memories, tough situations, so much learning and even more growing into who we are today. We’re heading to North Carolina with clear eyes and full hearts — so you know what that means.
.
By the way, I wrote a post about my best memories from the last eight years, which is on A Lady Goes West right now, if you want to check it out! See you soon from the Eastern time zone!
So many things were tough for us in 2020, but boy So many things were tough for us in 2020, but boy am I glad we went through it all together. The highlight of the year was - by far - time spent with my little family. And we’re looking ahead to the big changes we have in store, with one-way tickets booked out of California next week. Happy New Year, friends! Here’s to change in 2021! 🎉🥂😍
Hands up in the air if you’re ready for a new ye Hands up in the air if you’re ready for a new year? While we know things don’t drastically change just because the date says 2021 instead of 2020, there is some power in possessing a more positive mindset and having your eyes wide open for more good ahead so you can accept it as it comes. Let’s be honest: This year has had some major ups and downs, and I’m definitely ready to embrace change, but I also know that change takes time and I’ve got to keep pushing for it, even if it doesn’t happen instantly.
.
Speaking of 2020, today I published the final post of the year on A Lady Goes West with a raw look at a year in review both personal and professional, so head on over if you’re interested in that.
.
And finally, this detailed-back bra is from @caliabycarrie and I’m loving it. It’s the Made to Move Strappy Back, and I have it in a ton of colors. #caliabycarrie #ad
Load More... Follow on Instagram

As seen on

A Lady Goes West is a personal blog meant for entertainment purposes only and does not serve as a substitute for professional advice from your own doctor, trainer or nutritionist. While I'm a certified personal trainer and group fitness instructor, the workouts, food and plans I post are what works for me and may not work for you. Please enjoy these stories and tips from my life, but proceed with caution. Also, know that affiliate links and sponsored posts appear from time-to-time, and I appreciate your support. For more information about how your data is stored, visit my Privacy Policy. Thanks for reading!

Copyright © 2021 Ashley Pitt (A Lady Goes West) · Design by MakeMe{dia}Over