We're not going to lie, we love a 'what I eat in a day' post on Instagram. The inside details on someone's life combined with some nice ideas for food when we're feeling stuck in a rut is some perfect sofa sitting watching (it's not doom scrolling when its meal planning, honest).
Truth be told we're not meal prepping every Sunday or eating perfectly balanced macros at every meal, we're human too ya know. We eat well most of the time, because health and goals but we don't stress when we don't. This is what an actual week of eating looks like when you care about food but also have a life.
Monday
Breakfast: Chia pudding made Sunday night (coconut milk, chia seeds, maple syrup, topped with berries, seed mix and almond butter). Coffee with almond milk, homemade though - this is non negotiable, recipe here.
Lunch: Leftover roast chicken from the weekend, torn over mixed greens with olive oil, lemon, cherry tomatoes, cucumber, feta. Quick and no cooking required, perfect for a Monday.
Snack: Apple with almond butter. Sometimes a handful of almonds if we're still hungry.
Dinner: One-pan baked salmon with asparagus and sweet potato. Season everything with olive oil, garlic, lemon. 25 minutes in the oven, almost zero effort.
After dinner: A camomile tea with a few squares of dark chocolate or a Medjool date, perfect.
Tuesday
Breakfast: Scrambled eggs with spinach, tomatoes, sourdough toast with real butter. Black pour over coffee, organic and freshly ground.
Lunch: Some sort of grain bowl situation, quinoa, roasted vegetables, tahini dressing, chickpeas, seed mix and salad and toppings are whatever's in the fridge but it's usually homemade pickled onions for tang, pomegranate seeds for colour and cucumber, carrot or peppers for crunch.
Snack: Greek yogurt with honey and walnuts.
Dinner: Pasta with a homemade tomato sauce with fresh basil, it takes minutes to make and it will always beat the ingredients in a jarred sauce. Usually with parmesan and a side salad.
Evening: Chamomile tea and some sort of sweet treat, it's a must before bed.
Wednesday
Breakfast: Overnight oats with banana, cinnamon, almond butter, chia seeds. Made the night before, it's for the future you. Coffee, maybe black or maybe a sea salt honey latte for a midweek pick me up.
Lunch: Soup from the freezer (we batch-make lentil or vegetable soup and freeze portions). Sourdough on the side with real butter and sliced tomatoes on topwith a little flaky salt. It's easy, warming and done in 10 minutes.
Snack: Energy balls from the fridge (dates, almonds, cacao, recipe here). Two or three, depending on how hungry we are.
Dinner: Stir-fry with a clear the fridge out with whatever vegetables need using up - bell peppers, broccoli, pak choi, snap peas. Add in some salmon or tofu and make a 'sauce' with soy sauce, garlic, ginger, sesame oil. Jasmine rice. Takes 20 minutes but is absolutely delicious.
Evening: Golden milk (turmeric, ginger, cinnamon, warm almond milk, honey), full of antioxidants and gives that sweet hit.
Thursday
Breakfast: A breakfast smoothie with frozen berries, banana, spinach, protein powder, almond milk and tablespoon of almond butter. If we're extra hungry from a morning gym session we'll add some boiled eggs on the side and a loaded matcha.
Lunch: Leftovers from last night's stir-fry. We make extra on purpose because reheated stir-fry is excellent.
Snack: Carrots and cucumber with hummus. Sometimes olives if we're feeling it.
Dinner: Shakshuka because breakfast for lunch is also excellent. Eggs poached in spiced tomato sauce with peppers, onions, garlic, cumin, paprika. Serve with sourdough for dipping. It's comfort food that's stacked with flavour and feels fancy but takes 30 minutes.
Evening: Peppermint tea and some dark chocolate, its packed full of polyphenols so its good for you and hits that sweet spot.
Friday
Breakfast: Avocado on sourdough with chilli flakes, olive oil, squeeze of lemon. A poached egg on top or boiled if we're not wanting to deal with the mess. Coffee and because its Friday its likely a double espresso.
Lunch: Salad with whatever's left in the fridge, mixed greens, roasted sweet potato from the other night, beetroot, goats cheese and then add some walnuts, seed mix and balsamic dressing. This uses up the week's odds and ends whilst still giving us flavour, colour and variety.
Snack: A couple of dates stuffed with almond butter and some dark chocolate - an elite snack.
Dinner: We eat out or order in on Fridays. Sometimes it's sushi, sometimes it's Thai from the place downstairs, and on some occasions it's dinner somewhere good. Friday is for not cooking.
Evening: A glass of wine if we're out or a herbal tea if we're home.
Saturday
Breakfast: A bougie breakfast because we made it to the weekend - fluffy pancakes topped with Greek yogurt, berry compote and maple syrup or honey, or eggs Benedict if we're feeling ambitious. A good coffee, probably two of them and they might well be different, maybe a long black to start and that sea salt honey latte to savour.
Lunch: A big breakfast means a late lunch. Usually something light either smoked salmon, cream cheese, cucumber, dill on rye bread or avocado toast with chilli flakes and lemon.
Snack: Fruit. Whatever's in season, mango, berries, grapes so we can save room for dinner.
Dinner: We cook something that takes time on Saturdays and usually tests our kitchen skills. Maybe a slow-roasted lamb shoulder with roasted vegetables or a traditional bolognese or homemade pizza with fresh dough. The kind of cooking that's enjoyable and done with a delicious beverage alongside.
Evening: Maybe a glass of champagne followed by a herbal tea and dark chocolate.
Sunday
Breakfast: Depending if we made it out for a run in the morning or headed to a reformer class, it could be loaded oatmeal topped with almond butter, seed mix, berry compote from Saturday and honey with some boiled eggs on the side (a refuel is needed after the run) or it could be just eggs usually scrambled with some sourdough on the side. Coffee is most likely something bougie, a Vietnamese egg coffee really makes a Sunday morning.
Lunch: A roast chicken or roast nut roast with all the trimmings. We make extra chicken specifically for using throughout the week in salads, grain bowls, wraps.
Snack: Chia pudding or overnight oats prep for Monday. Nibble while we're making it.
Dinner: Something light because lunch was big. Soup and sourdough, or a big salad, or leftovers from lunch.
Evening: Prep a few things for the week, boil eggs, chop vegetables, make a batch of energy balls, almond cookies or chia pudding. Herbal tea while we're doing it and most likely a cookie.
What We Don't Do
We don't eat the same thing every day. We don't feel guilty about ordering takeaway on a Friday or eating pasta without weighing it first.
We don't restrict entire food groups or follow arbitrary food rules. Carbs are fine. Fats are necessary. Sugar in moderation is not the enemy.
We don't make separate meals for health and enjoyment. Food is both. Good food tastes good and makes you feel good.
What We Do
We cook most of our meals because we enjoy it and it's cheaper and we know exactly what's going in our food.
We batch-make things that freeze well, soup, bolognese, energy balls, so there's always something easy on hand.
We eat vegetables with most meals, not because we're virtuous but because they taste good and we feel better when we do.
We eat protein at every meal to stay full and maintain muscle. Eggs, chicken, fish, Greek yogurt, tofu, legumes.
We use good quality ingredients. Olive oil, real butter, full-fat dairy, sourdough from a local bakery, fresh herbs. It makes all the difference.
We eat out or order in when we want to. Life's too short to cook every single meal.