One Size Does NOT Fit All

One might assume that the life of a college kid is never boring, and for most, this is probably the case. I, on the other hand, choose to live at home, keeping me far away from all of the shenanigans that take place nightly. My life is not “boring”, per say, but it can definitely get monotonous. Monotony is ok in certain things, but one thing that I cannot handle repeating is food. I rarely eat the same exact thing every day, unlike Mons who is happy eating toast with peanut butter for breakfast 94 days in a row.

For a while, I was doing the whole, “snack all day “ deal, but recently, I have started trying something a little different. Before, I was eating breakfast, snack, lunch, snack, dinner, dessert. It’s kind of been my routine for forever. But I started to realize a little something. First of all, the usual “snack” size featured on many health blogs is just a tease—a nibble really. When I eat, I expect something substantial. Ten almonds just doesn’t cut it for me.

Secondly,  I was eating a snack in between breakfast and lunch even though I wasn’t hungry. I figured, I have to keep my metabolism up, so I have to eat then. By the time snack time rolled around at about 3 or 4, I felt as though I could eat a horse. By dinner time, I was in raging hunger mode. This led to quick, thoughtless dinners or very early dinners, which left me hungry again by 7.

Solution: Eat 4 normal-sized meals every day. Yep, you heard right- 4 meals a day. You can look at that as either two breakfasts, or two lunches, but either way, there are three meals pre-dinner. Fantastico.

Some of you might be thinking, “This girl is nuts.” Oh contraire. This seems to really work for me, and I always try to stick with what works.

So, for those of you who might be curious as to what a typical day of eating is like for me, here are some usual meals put into a spiffy schedule format. Enjoy!

8 AM 

• Protein pudding, 1 cup of strawberries, 1 cup of Rice Chex

The protein pudding was "meh" (8 oz water, 2 scoops vanilla protein, 2 tsp instant vanilla pudding). It didn't thicken quite like I'd hoped...

• 2 cups of veggies of choice scrambled in 3 eggs in 1 tsp butter
• 1 cup plain yogurt, handful of almonds, a baby handful of crasins, and a chopped apple

12 PM

• 1 cup brown rice, 2 tbsp salsa, ½ cucumber, 1 large carrot, 2 tbsp hummus

My day is not complete without a ridiculous amount of vegetables.

• Turkey and cheese melt, pickle, 2 cups cabbage sautéed in a tsp olive oil
• Salad beast (basically the biggest salad ever) with lemon juice or apple cider vinegar and ½ cup cottage cheese either seasoned or sweetened with somethin’

3 PM

• Toast with 1 wedge of Laughing Cow Cheese and a sliced pear

I had to eat all of the pear "ends" to make this picture look pretty.

New obsession

• 2 cups roasted veggies and 4 slices of turkey breast
• 1 whole sweet potato topped with 1 whole onion sautéed in ½ tbsp butta

6:30 ish- 7 PM

• Taco salad with chicken breast and chips OTS

This was a beast and had to be eaten in two separate sittings. Also, chips never got plated. They just went from bag to mouth...

• 1 hamburger with mustard, 1 cup sauerkraut, 1 cup steamed broccoli, 1 small salad
• 1 cup quinoa sautéed with 1 cup spinach, ½ cup red peppers, ½ cup onion, and a little feta cheese in ½ tbsp butter

8:30-ish

• 1 apple with peanut butter
• 1 cup yogurt with ½ cup papaya and a dark chocolate square
• 2 dark chocolate squares 
•  ...or, if I'm full (like tonight) a cup of hot Cinnamon Apple Tea will suffice. 

Giving my tea some love.

So there you have it! Those are just some of my typical meal options. It might not be conventional, but it works for me. After all, when it comes to health and nutrition, one size does NOT fit all.