What I eat in a day

When people ask me "What do you eat?" my usual response of "Whatever I want" usually isn't what they expect or what want to hear. They want a definitive magical meal plan or solution, when in reality, your body composition is just a reflection of the calories that enter and exit your body. If the incoming calories are more than the outgoing calories, you will gain weight. Likewise, if the incoming calories are less than the outgoing calories, you will lose weight. Simple as that. So when I say "I eat whatever I want", there is a catch. I eat whatever foods I like, as long as they fit within my allocated calories and macros.

If you're smart about your food choices, you can eat some pretty awesome things and still reach your body goals.

Here's what I ate today complete with recipes and macro breakdown...

Breakfast: Pancakes

Ingredients:

• 58g Woolworths Buttermilk pancake mix

• 20g Macro Mike cookie dough flavoured protein powder

• 50g Frozen blueberries

• 1/2 tsp stevia

• 15g Bega Light peanut butter

• 15g Nutella

• 120g banana

• Spray on cooking oil

Method:

1. Preheat fry pan and spray on a light layer of cooking oil

2. Make your pancake batter as per instructions on the packet- just add some water and mix until you get the right consistency

3. Cook your pancakes!

4. Mix stevia and blueberries, microwave for 1 minute

5. Mix the protein powder with a dash of water to make a sauce, microwave for 10 seconds

6. Top pancakes with protein sauce, blueberries, banana, peanut butter and Nutella!

Note: I don't ever make fancy protein pancakes by mixing protein powder in the batter because it ruins the texture of the pancake! I prefer to make a delicious protein sauce to top the pancakes with. I've found that macro mike works the best for this.

Calories: 668

Protein: 23g

Carbohydrates: 104g

Fat: 17g

Lunch: Chicken Burger with crunchy Coleslaw

Ingredients:

• 1 Coles Brioche bun

• 150g Chicken breast raw

• 20g Nandos peri peri marinade

• 1 egg (55g)

• 45g avocado

• 10g Barbecue sauce

• 100g Coles coleslaw mix

• 20g Praise 99% fat free Coleslaw dressing

• Spray on cooking oil

Method:

1. Cut the chicken breast into a thin slice, coat with Nandos marinade and let it marinate in the fridge for a few hours

2. lightly coat a pre-heated frying pan with spray oil

3. Cook the chicken and the egg

4. Slice the brioche bun and toast it on the fry pan

5. Assemble your burger!

6. To make the coleslaw, simply mix the coleslaw mix with the dressing

Easy!

Note: I've found that brioche buns tend to have the best macros and they're super delicious! Try adding your own favourite burger ingredients :)

Calories: 600

Protein: 50g

Carbs: 48g

Fat: 24g

Dinner: Spaghetti Bolognese

Ingredients:

• 100g Extra lean beef mince

• 125g Leggos bolognese sauce

• 2 cloves Garlic

• 25g Brown onion

• 30g capsicum

• 50g cherry tomatoes

• 50g mushrooms

• 50g Zuchinni

• dash of Worcestershire sauce

• 62g San Remo Spaghetti

• Spray on cooking oil

• 30g Woolworths Mozzarella

Method:

1. Preheat fry pan and lightly coat with spray oil

2. Add chopped onion and garlic, cook for a few minutes

3. Add mince, cook until brown

4. Add chopped veggies and sauces, let simmer for 25 minutes

5. Cook the Spaghetti as per packet instructions!

6. Serve with cheese

Calories: 550

Protein: 41g

Carbs: 65g

Fat: 16g

Dessert: Nutella mug cake

Ingredients:

• 30g Self raising flour

• 15g Cadbury premium cocoa

• 2 tsp stevia

• 30g of egg (about half of an egg)

• 60ml unsweetened almond milk

• Vanilla extract

• 20g Nutella

Method

1. Mix dry ingredients in a mug

2. Add egg, almond milk and vanilla extract

3. Mix well

4. Microwave for about 2 minutes or until cooked

5. Serve with Nutella!

Note: You can also mix up some good quality protein powder (such as macro mike) with water and microwave to make a yummy warm topping sauce. Some other good topping options are low fat custard or ice-cream!

Calories: 320

Protein: 12

Carbs: 35

Fat: 12

As you can see, I eat VERY normal food. I don't live off chicken and broccoli. I don't muck around with fancy protein pancakes or diet themed desserts, I just eat the real deal. I eat these same kind of foods both during offseason and during competition prep. The only difference is HOW MUCH I eat.

Total daily macros:

Calories: 2160

Protein: 125

Carbs: 250

Fat: 70

I'm actually eating 2500 calories per day to maintain my current off-season physique, so this was actually a conservative day for me and I didn't eat as much as usual. These are the kind of macros I would stick to if I was starting to cut weight for a competition.

Here's some stats about me:

• I'm 170cm tall and weigh 65kg during offseason. To maintain this weight, I eat 2500 calories per day.

• My bikini model ready physique was 60kg. To maintain that weight, I would eat 2000 calories per day.

• My Fitness model ready physique was slightly leaner, at 57kg. To maintain that weight, I would eat 1600 calories.

Current offseason: 2500 calories, 65kg

August 2018: Bikini Pro- 2000 calories, 60kg

June 2019: Fitness Pro - 1600 calories, 57kg

Throughout all of these stages of maintaining different levels of body fat, the ONLY thing that has changed is the AMOUNT of food I eat. My calories and macros changed but WHAT I ate did not. In the last photo I still ate pancakes, pasta, chocolate etc, I just ate smaller portions. The problem with restrictive diets that eliminate food groups is that they are not maintainable in the long term! I love flexible dieting because it removes the guilt from treating yourself. Don't get me wrong, I don't fill my diet with junk food. I still eat plenty of nutritious food, I just balance it out with foods that I love in moderation.

Fit Nurse xx