I barely eat during the day, one meal a day (for about 40 years). I feel like I ‘should’ change that, but really don’t feel inclined. Well… ‘day’… wake-to-wake is generally 26-27 hours for me.
4 “Cheds” (a cheese cracker by Arnott’s) - with 2nd or 3rd coffee of the day.
2 tim tams; or 2 scotch finger biscuits (both also Arnott’s), or 2 (4piece) rows of chocolate - with something after 5th coffee of the day.
Sometimes I’ll have another snack (e.g. a couple of handfuls of salted peanuts) - especially if I’m not trying to shave my weight. (as I am, currently). Or a few wholegrain crackers with cheese, or salami, or olives.
Half a dozen or so large mugs (375ml)of fairly sweet coffee (I’ve cut back the sugar there by 25%, and looking to cut it again…).
And whatever, usually pretty large, main meal. [Tonight it’s home made spaghetti bolognaise - no cheese].
For rides… the local cycleway is a convenient length for just over 1 hour efforts, I’m trying to get in the habit of taking a sweet drink (contains traces of a memory of fruit concentrates) if it’s any combination of an intense effort and hot day. Generally don’t fuel “especially” for those rides. Longer efforts (only a couple of hours)… an extra snack before hand, and a drink and a chocolate bar or something (corner store sells some fairly chunky oat & bars …) on the bike. But that will likely change (as other things will) as I bump volume and such. My goal isn’t competition, or ultra-endurance, just steady improvement.
Typical day with work and one or two training sessions:
Breakfast
100gr of multigrain porridge with 200gr full fat milk and 200gr of fruit (banana, pear, apple, mango etc.)
Lunch
Some variation of my breakfast OR
Low sugar whole grain granola with low fat yoghurt and 200-300gr fruit OR
A salad with sweet potatoes, chick peas, rice / bulgur / quinoa and some greens
Snack
Fruit, vegetables
Workout Snack
When I feel low on carbs I add an energy bar or some pastries about 30-60 minutes to make sure I don’t crash during my afternoon workout
Dinner
Varies wildly because I have to balance my kids, my wife’s and my preferences. We always cook fresh and maintain a high share of vegetables in our meals, a good amount of carbs, hardly any meat. For the sake of peace at the family table (and for my own mental health) I won’t say no to the occasional sweet risotto my wife does so well or daddies pork belly sandwiches.
I eat the same amount everyday - it is total energy through the week that counts. Breakfast - v big bowl of porridge (plus muscovado sugar!) - lunch sandwiches/crisps/granola/satsumas at work - dinner baked potatoes plus toppings and salad or chilli and rice, or curry and rice or cheese salad in the summer. Snacks far to many chocolate biscuits and cookies …don’t do healthy snacking - I’m not a pro - drinks - bottle of beer Tue/Wed night in the week (UK strong bitter like Theakston’s Old Peculier) and half a bottle of red wine Fri/ Sat night.
I follow a plant-based diet, not fully vegan, but close. Just to pile on, my typical day is:
Big smoothie, always half wild blueberries, half some other fruit, cashew yogurt, almond mild – 600 cals worth
Usually a mid morning snack of seasonal fruit and almonds, add a Clif bar sometimes if xtra hungry
Lunch is usually an organic PBJ (2 slices open-faced) w/ Dave’s killer bread, or dinner leftovers which can be a vegan sausage Prioleau, beyond-beef pasta and sauce, a tofu-bean poblano scramble on tortillas, a rice-and-broccoli mix with peanut sauce - I’m big on scrambles and hearty meals with wide mixes of sauteed vegetables, healthy carbs, and meat substitutes (the new generation of these are excellent, btw)
Dinner is often the freshly cooked version of what I described for lunch, with big fresh salads worked in 3-4 nights a week.
For quickie items besides leftovers, a can of quality lentil soup or chili, Amy’s frozen meals (the green Thai curry enhanced with sauteed chicken is killer…), a swing through Moe’s tex-mex, or the like…
I try not to eat past dinner. If I do, it’s cereal or oatmeal with blueberries, banana, and / or maple syrup.
I work at home, so I can cook often. But, I also travel quite a bit, so the leftovers and quickie meals come in handy. I also have a long mind map of where the fast casual places are on my work routes.
I do try to be aware of hard rides coming up, and stoke the carbs a bit (not crazy…) the night before and right after. On recovery days when I’m not particularly hungry or facing a real tough workout the next day, that’s the day I’ll work in a steak, pork chop, and vegetables / salad. After long weekend rides, I’ll enjoy a pizza, burger, chocolate shake or sundae, or bakery (one of those things…).
Doing zero alcohol right now. Done long enough stretches in the past to know that zero is my ideal number. Wouldn’t mind seeing that stick the rest of my life.
Breakfast: oats with cocoa powder, cinamon, blueberries/grapes, flaxseed, and a little maple syrup. Sometimes use banana to naturally sweeten.
Lunch: I have a mini food processor which is the best - it gets the flavours really well mixed up and smells fresh as hell. I always eat legumes, so; Chickpeas/kidney beans, chopped up with veg (peppers, kale, tomatoes, beetroot, etc.) with spices (garlic, paprika, ras el hanout, mix of vinaigrette) also some grain: whole grain bread or a sweet potato.
Snack: banana on bread on bread, or soya yogurt with some nuts. Also, fruit during the day: apples, grapes, or carrots, tons of carrots!
Dinner: usually legumes again with veg, warmed up, with lots more veg. Tofu scramble with nutritional yeast as well.
If still hungry late on: yoghurt or protein pea isolate with coconut flour (this is a mega combo!).
Breakie is at least a banana and a cup or two of Greek yogurt. IF I have the time, I mix up fruit, banana, plain low fat greek yogurt, protein powder, steel cut oatmeal. I then top that off with rolled oatmeal and something crunchy (right now, grape nuts, but granola or nuts can be used as well). The fruit consists of whatever I have handy and may be frozen or fresh, right now blueberries and grapes.
Lunch varies but right now is typically bean and ham soup (soup we made), some bread, fruit, and greek yogurt. Sometimes it will be rice + whatever topping we have on hand (my wife is from the Philippines, so apritada, adobo, and kaldereta are usually what it is), again it is homemade stuff maybe not our home but someone else’s. This is often the meal I look to take in carbs so on the weekends I often go for Noodles and Co, and am looking to make up a big pot of spaghetti sauce before too long.
Dinner can be more of the same, but one thing I’m looking to get back into are big jethro-bodine-sized bowls of green salads with vinaigrette dressings (made with respectable olive oil) of some sort. Often times I like to cook up about 4 oz of top sirloin and cut that into the salad or eat it on the side. OR, dinner can often be a repeat of lunch.
When I train, I try to get my WOTD in before breakfast and I believe that breakie I describe is a fantastic recovery meal. On days w/o workouts I try to make sure my portions are scaled back.
Pre-workout I eat a banana or two, if I have biko (aka rice-cake) or cookies on-hand I’ll have those as well.
Apart from student essays and some books, here is what goes into my book bag on school mornings. Dinner tonight after a ride will be a salad, two eggs, and two pieces of pita bread, or my quasi-infamous “veggie oats.”
I dunno if you are still interested in recipes but sometimes milkshakes can be a right choice for a slight evening meal. I’m just that type of person who does not eat after six o’clock
Slice of baked oatmeal with water and coffee from my Cafelat robot and Bellman steamer for breakfast. Lunch is a fruit smoothie with almond milk and peanut butter ramen. Dinner is usually a protein and some veggies or pasta and veggies.
I keep it simple and easier that way as it is just me most of the time. Love the baked oatmeal so much I could eat it almost every meal. A few pics for you all.
My breakfast tends to be porridge with grapes and if the fridge from the night before sliced banana. Then coffee and biscuits to wake me up before virtual meetings.
Lunch is half a banana and on a peanut butter sandwich most days. A latte and biscuits. I mainly wfh but in one day a week it tends to be a pub lunch.
Dinner tends to be a vegetable based pasta, rice, or noodle meals or if I need something faster a frozen baked potato. It’ll probably be followed up with a yoghurt or a cup of tea and biscuits (often both)
Supper is the other half of the banana also on a peanut butter sandwich. A cup of tea and
When I am bored I tend also to make more cups of tea and with them goes more biscuits or cereal bars or both.
I don’t drink much alcohol which probably keeps the weight down. At most I’ll have 3 pints with mates after our Saturday ride.
