What does a personal trainer eat?
I can’t speak for every personal trainer but this week I’ve been sharing what THIS personal trainer eats.
It’s a question I get a lot from clients. As they are trying to figure how to get more vegetables in their diet or how they are supposed to eat 4 times a day, they want to know how I do it. I share my favorite veggie snacks (dry roasted edamame and baby carrots!) and explain how I never leave the house without food.
I also try to explain that it has taken me over a decade to figure this out. I made a lot of poor choices and had my share of bad days in the beginning. I would share my food logs from the beginning but I don’t have any to share. I didn’t keep a food log until perhaps 7 or 8 years into the process, an example of one of my own early missteps.
I decided for one week to post pictures of every bite of food I eat for two reasons:
- I wanted to answer the basic questions – what do I eat. Not only can anyone look at my food log on DailyBurn Tracker on a regular basis but now there is a photographic record on Instagram. (You can take a look – hash tag #PTFuel. I’ll keep posting till everything till Saturday)
- I always strive to keep it real. I eat real food; I make the best choice I can in any situation and indulge on occasion. I want our conversation to be real so I want you to know I practice what I preach. I follow the 80/20 rule, allowing myself splurges (especially when we travel). I have to navigate low blood sugar and back to back appointments too.
What I hope everyone has taken away from the photos is:
- A little planning goes a long way. When you have a plan, you have don’t have to think when your ability to make choices may be compromised. Without planning, I would probably be at the drive up or surviving on protein bars and shakes on busy days.
- I fuel regularly. My calorie goal is somewhere between 1700 and 2000 calories per day, depending on how active I am. If I am blogging and writing programs most of the day I eat less. If I am training all day I eat more. When you eat whole food even 1700 calories can be a lot of food.
- Real food can be pretty yummy. While I know I am not the best food photographer, I hope most of what I eat looks pretty tasty because it is!
- I also eat some pretty basic stuff. I am sure you got tired of seeing the same cereal with no milk for breakfast everyday. Consistency is my secret weapon.
- While I’m consistent, I don’t eat the same exact thing every day. I love to cook and dinner is where I get to play! Eating clean does not have to equal boring!
I hope the photos have helped. I’ll try to do it from time to time, especially if I find some new solution to a common food problem. Is there anything that you found particularly helpful from this project? Is there something that I can do in the future that would help even more?
