Food Diary of a Clinical Nutritionist

Over the years since becoming a Clinical Nutritionist, many people have been intrigued to know what I eat.  I listen to my body and it may have taken a few years to work out exactly what it has been trying to tell me, I now know what it likes and does not like and I respect that.  Although, if I do really feel like something in particular, I will eat it.  I’m fantastic with self control though.

For varying reasons: I am dairy free (besides very occasional goat’s cheese), gluten free, cane sugar free, preservative/flavourings and chemical free.  I eat roughly a 90% certified organic or spray free diet.  I make sure I eat certified organic, free range, grass-fed meat and poultry/eggs. An individual food I avoid, as they really don’t agree with me, is onion (I cook with leeks instead).  I am stricter on being dairy free out of this list (my body really doesn’t like dairy) and I will at rare times eat some of the other things eg if I am at someone’s house.

I am not aligned with any one type of style of eating.  I was along the lines of paleo for awhile and this particular style does suit me.  But more recently I am having more of the grains/legumes that paleo does not include.  I am definitely focussed on getting as much variety as possible, so this is also why I don’t stick to one style.  Because I am about variety, I do get bored of having the same thing – I really try not to have the exact same thing every day at each meal and rotate foods as much as possible.

Although I am a meat eater, I try to have at least 2-3 vegetarian/vegan dinners a week and I also include fish around 1-2 dinners a week.

I cook pretty much everything from scratch and eat a whole foods type approach with minimal processed/packaged foods.  I have two small sons and what I eat for lunch and dinner is what they have too.  I don’t make different meals.  Some breakfasts are different and their snacks are different. We always sit down together at the table as a family for lunch and dinners and weekend breakfast.

I prefer to eat later in the morning (if I can) so that I have a gap from dinner to breakfast of around 14-16 hours (intermittent fasting).  This works well for me.

So what do my days look like? – Here’s a snapshot:

Breakfast options

Overnight uncontaminated oats soaked in filtered water – topped with shredded coconut, banana (or berries or both), slivered almonds, cinnamon, coconut yoghurt (optional toppings: brown rice puffs, hemp seeds, buckinis, puffed amaranth)

Paleo blueberry bread rolls (similar to English muffins) toasted with almond butter and banana

Gluten free bread with a spray of extra virgin olive oil, Everymite and avocado

Certified organic nitrate free bacon and eggs with avocado and/or fermented vegetables or oven roasted tomatoes.  Sometimes I add cooked mushrooms with garlic, ghee and parsley.

Homemade pancakes – usually topped with banana/berries and maple syrup.  I often use besan flour (made from chickpeas)

Home-made waffles – usually topped with banana/berries and maple syrup.  These also are usually made with besan flour.

Paleo blueberry bread rolls toasted with almond butter and banana and my non-negotiable green tea 

Lunch options

Lunch is my meal that is often the same.  I nearly always have a large salad and accompany it with some form of protein such as tofu, certified organic nitrate free ham, chicken, salmon/tuna and occasionally goat’s cheese.

My salad ingredients include and vary:

• Baby spinach/baby kale (not every salad)
• Capsicum (I like to use red and yellow)
• Cucumber
• Snow peas
• Sugar snap peas
• Fresh peas
• Olives
• Avocado
• Green beans
• Cherry tomatoes
• Hemp seeds
• Mushrooms
• Carrot

I generally like to have an accompaniment or dressing depending on my mood.  I often make 2 very basic simple dressings.  One has extra virgin olive oil with coconut balsamic vinegar and the other one has toasted sesame oil with apple cider vinegar.  I also like to use cashew cheeses in my salad as a condiment.

If I don’t have a salad then I will have leftovers from dinner.

On weekends, maybe once a month or every couple of weeks we get some form of takeaway lunch which could be slow cooked meat that I have with my salad, sushi, Vietnamese style soup or fish and chips (My boys’ favourite – I always get the grilled fish option).

Dinner options

As I have said, I really like to have variety at dinner and there are only a few things we have on a regular basis like weekly or fortnightly.  This is mostly due to my children wanting certain things and from a time constraint basis.  Otherwise I try to make different dishes and we don’t usually have that exact same dish sometimes for a couple of months.  At this time of year, I love doing slow cooked meals, so my slow cooker gets quite a workout.

As I have so much variety I always do a weekly meal plan of dinners balancing it out across the week. I will give an example of my past week of dinners:

Saturday – Artichoke, olive and broccoli pasta salad – Vegan

Sunday – Slow cooked Massaman beef curry (spice mix made from scratch) served with Jasmine rice

Monday – Lamb chops with roasted vegetables (purple sweet potato, potato, eggplant, squash, fennel, Brussel’s sprouts) and served with homemade BBQ sauce

Tuesday – Slow cooked Spanish frittata with potatoes and broccoli served with steamed squash, carrot, cauliflower – Vegetarian (if you eat eggs)

Wednesday – Sausages with steamed potato, broccoli, cauliflower and squash

Thursday – Pork Chops with a maple syrup glaze sauce served with slow cooked Mexican style corn cobs

Friday – Slow cooked Beef Stroganoff with carrot and zucchini served with gluten free pasta

Pork Chops sizzling with maple syrup glaze

 I rarely eat anything after dinner.  If I do have something it will be a square of dark chocolate.  The darker the better – I have been known to eat 100% with no sugar!  Around once a month I might have a very small serve of dairy free ice-cream.

Snacks

I generally don’t snack throughout the day.  I do, however, listen to my body and if I am really hungry to the point of distraction, I will choose a healthy option which could be:

• 1-2 Medjool dates, sometimes I will put a brazil nut or macadamia nut inside
• Carrot sticks and hummus or cashew dip
• Piece of fruit
• Couple of rice crackers or some corn chips
• Handful of mixed nuts
• Handful Tamari flavoured almonds
• Smoothie – usually banana and cinnamon on coconut milk
• Rice cake with almond butter
• Once a week or fortnight I will share in a packet of plain chips with my family
• Once or twice a month I’ll have some home-made popcorn
• Paleo style bar if I am on the run

I do make a sweet treat for my sons once a week/fortnight which can be anything from muffins, biscuits or a slice.  I do not use any refined cane sugar in my baking and stick with mostly maple syrup, honey, bananas, dates or coconut sugar as sweeteners.  I use minimal sweetener too.  I don’t use wheat flour at all in my house and any flour I use is wholemeal.  Most of what I make is gluten and dairy free, so on a rare occasion I will have a small amount of what I make them.  This is not every time I make something though as I listen to whether I really want it or just think I do.

Beverages

What do I drink?  What people drink often gets forgotten about and not considered when looking at their diet, but this can be very important as to what can be going on with them.

I drink about 2-3L of filtered water and take my water bottle everywhere with me. I start every day with a green tea.  My water and green tea are non-negotiable.  Then what I drink the rest of the day depends on what I am doing and what I feel like.  Some mornings I will have a second cup of tea usually a green chai or another plain green tea.  Around lunchtime/mid afternoon I like to make a chai spiced hot chocolate on almond milk.  I steep the chai spices in the almond milk in a saucepan on the stove and then add cacao powder.  I do not sweeten this with anything.  At dinner time around twice a week we will share kombucha/coconut water kefir.  At night before bed, I love my routine of having a chamomile tea.  Some nights I might miss this and not have tea or have a different herbal tea, but generally chamomile tea is also a non-negotiable part of my bed routine.

My morning green tea

Alcohol?  Coffee?  I hear you say?  No to both.  I once was a big coffee drinker, but now I am happy with green tea.  I don’t really miss the coffee.  After years of not listening to my body when it came to alcohol, I now finally have listened.  I am better off with minimal alcohol in my life.  I would have a glass or two (literally) of white wine around once every one-two months, sometimes not for months on end.  I used to love red wines, but they no longer love me, so have been avoiding these completely.  I might on an even rarer occasion (perhaps once or twice a year) have a gin and tonic with fresh lime.  I certainly don’t miss the aftermath of alcohol and don’t need it in my life.

I don’t eat out that often or get takeaways.  If eating out, I try to get whatever the healthier option is and aim to avoid dairy and gluten as much as possible.  If we do get takeaway for dinner, about once every 3 months, it would be Thai, Vietnamese, Indian (very rarely) or fish and chips.  I generally don’t feel great after eating out and having been a home cook pretty much my entire life, sometimes I must admit my home cooking tastes much better (and is much cheaper)!

Why I eat like this is specific to my own personal health needs and tastes and is not representative of what everyone should eat.  If you would like a personalised eating plan specific to your needs, then contact me to book in a consult – megan@balancingnutrition.com.au or 0417 679 287.

  04/05/2020     Articles     2 Comment(s)