WIAW: Eat the Rainbow

It’s Hump Day once again which means only one thing over here – WIAW time! This is actually what I ate last Wednesday. But it still counts.

Up first, GREEN EGGS. Green eggs don’t just look whimsical, they are super nutritious and easy to make too: I just whizz 2 full eggs and 2 egg whites in the blender with a huge fistful of spinach or kale, or spinach AND kale, then cook them in the pan in coconut oil as you would normal, boring, un-green scrambled eggs. Eat yo’ greens, people. The darker and leafier the better, ain’t nobody got time for iceburg lettuce. I added avocado and mushrooms sauteed in coconut oil for extra greatness and a coffee because, obviously coffee.

Snack time was satisfied by one of these babies. A raw energy bar to power me through the afternoon. They are packed full of seeds and goji berries, which are a good source of vitamin C, they have also been shown to boost the immune system and increase what we shall call ‘gastrointestinal regularity’; all good stuff. Goji berries are RED because they are full of beta-carotene, which is good for our skin. These bars are also sweetened with dates, which are PURPLE (kind of…). Dates promote healthy digestion and contain lots of lovely iron. They also contain lots of lovely sugar so don’t overdo it, after your workout is probably the best time to scoff them to replenish those glycogen stores.

Bread for photo purposes only, you understand. No wheat is going in this belly.

Experimented with clean, raw Nutella recipes at work during the afternoon and absolutely nailed it. I love my job.

And Wednesday was the day I realised my own genius after I spontaneously decided to cover my Pulsin’ bar in raw chocolate and thus found the meaning of life.

I ended the day with a miscellaneous before-bed plate of another egg, with one gloriously sunny YELLOW yolk. Don’t fear egg yolks – they are a great source of essential fatty acids and it’s been proven that they don’t raise cholesterol levels as was previously thought. With more avocado, cinnamon-roasted butternut squash, mixed nuts and summer berries. Just take a moment to appreciate that vivacity.

I didn’t consciously decide to write about food in terms of colour today, I just noticed while uploading the photos how vibrant the food is and it reminded me of the importance of getting a whole array of colours into our daily diets. The greater the spectrum on your plate the more variety you are getting in terms of nutrition. Nobody should be eating predominantly green food any more than they should be eating only bland and beige. Plus, colourful meals must surely boost your mood, nobody could possibly be down in the dumps whilst eating jaunty looking food.

What was the most colourful thing YOU ate today? Tell me!

What I Ate Wednesday – and Why it was Good for Me

(The title of this makes me think of Supernanny bacon Kid – I’m sure you’ve all been acquainted with him by now?? If not, Youtube that little dude asap.)

Since I like to learn a lot about the nutritional benefits of food and how it fuels the body I thought I’d dedicate today’s WIAW post to explaining a little bit about why I eat the foods I do.

I’m really conscious of what it is I put into my body, firstly because I’m very active and I always have a fitness goal I’m working towards and I know that eating right is fundamental to a functional body. Training can only get you so far without proper nutrition. Secondly, as a result of learning how to properly fuel I’m now super aware of the nasty stuff lurking in processed and packaged food, and even food that seems to be clean is often full of additives, preservatives and added salt and sugar. It’s taken me a long time but now 90% of what I eat is clean, whole, real food. The other 10% is dedicated to treats because, yum.

I welcomed in this week’s hump day with an nice easy 5 miles along the beach. It. Was. Hot. When I got in I downed a pint of water and then cooked up a pile of pumpkin Paleo pancakes.

Not my most attractive stack but they refueled my running muscles like the best of them.

I’ve been eating a predominantly Paleo diet for just over a year now after suffering for years with digestive issues, skin problems and perpetual bloating and I love it. It’s just what works for me and most of my digestive stress and uncomfortable-ness has disappeared as a result. These pancakes have been my go-to recipe for most of the last year and are one of my proudest developments in the kitchen :D They began life as the ubiquitous 2-ingredient Paleo pancakes – just one banana and an egg blended together and cooked like your average pancake – and I pretty much just kept adding other elements to make them more satisfying and beneficial to eat post-workout. Now I make them with the usual egg and banana and also add sweet potato, pumpkin, a scoop of pea protein powder and spices, so they’re packed with protein to help my muscles recover and essential carbs to replenish glycogen stores post workout.
Today I also added cocao powder to half the mixture for extra antioxidants and deliciousness. I like to get my fruits mostly in berry form as they’re low in sugar and bursting with anti-inflammatories so I topped my stack with blueberries and also almonds and hazelnuts, cocao nibs, and a dollop of coconut oil. I always focus on getting enough essential fats into my day and as I didn’t have any avocado in the house this morning and extra helping of coconut oil did the trick.

Smoothie of the day was a giant green monster made with spinach, celery, cucumber, kiwi, cinnamon and parsley. Parsley is a super herb and is full of Vitamin C, beta-carotene, folic acid to support the heart and for a strong immune system, which is super important if you’re exercising hard and continuously subjecting your body to a beating. I feel deprived if I have to go without my smoothie.

I finally tracked down a place outside London that stocks Pulsin’ bars and I am ridiculously excited about it, so snack time was brought to me by these guys. I favour these beauties over Quest bars as their protein is plant based and they don’t contain sucralose. They’re not totally grain-free as they have some rice protein but I’m not complaining, they’re pretty much as clean as you’re going to get when it comes to protein bars. As I’m mostly pescatarian and don’t eat grains or legumes or dairy I find getting enough protein to support muscle development tricky, so good quality protein bars are very special things for me :)

Tea is usually comprised of vegetables, some leafy greens, and a protein. A whole heap of spinach today because it’s awesome for digestion and a good source of protein. To really reap the benefits of spinach though it’s important to always consume it with a source of vitamin C, which I failed to do here. Sorry spinach.
Also making an appearance today: beetroot, mushrooms, aubergine, red pepper, and broccoli all cooked up in coconut oil. Stocked up on avocado because I can’t go a day without one. I rarely eat meat other than fish but today I enjoyed a little chicken breast.

And there you have my round up of food for this Wednesday and a bit of an idea of how I fuel my body, just in case you were interested :)

What did YOU eat this Wednesday? Do you follow any particular way of eating? What are your favourite recovery foods?

What I Ate Wednesday – My Very First WIAW

For all of you out there who frequently find yourselves pondering what on earth Rachel over at the Endorphin Diaries eats on the regular, today is your lucky day! With it being Wednesday and all I thought I’d get involved with the Healthy Living Blog-ging institution that is What I Ate Wednesday and share with you everything I have filled my belly with on this hump day. You are welcome.

My morning vegetable smoothie is always up first. Today’s violently magenta concoction was made from beetroot, carrots, celery, cucumber, and cinnamon.

Next up was a coffee and my postworkout cocao protein ice cream. Even though today was a rest day this stuff still had to happen.

Romaine, cucumber, mushroom, yellow pepper, eggplant, tuna, olives, all cooked in coconut oil, and a boiled egg for lunch. With green tea.

Snacked on a half of this perfectly perfect avocado in the afternoon.

And squash pancakes for tea! I made cocao ones tonight topped with what I like to call ‘cookie dough’ but what is actually peanut butter mixed with coconut oil, almond flour, cocoa nibs, and protein powder. Goji berries on the side. I really love that every one of today’s meals was eaten in the garden.

I’m not sure if you can make any particular observations on my diet based on what I shoved into my gob today, but I’m planning on writing a post on how I eat very soon.

What was the best thing YOU ate today? Do you eat the same on rest days as you do on training days?