A hard-boiled egg and fruit at breakfast. A salad topped with chicken for lunch. Baked fish and steamed veggies for dinner. Oh, and for dessert? A cup of berries. These are the types of images gracing magazine pages and Instagram feeds, purporting to be some celebrity or food blogger’s typical day of “healthy” eating.
But let me — a registered dietitian — be clear: This is not normal eating — not even close. Rather, these images showcase restrictive eating behaviors that cause deprivation and rebound overeating.
[See: The Eating Disorder Spectrum — From Pregorexia to Drunkorexia.]
Normal eating is intuitive. Intuitive eaters pick their foods based on internal signals like hunger, fullness, satisfaction and body respect, rather than external cues like food rules or restrictions, or a sense of responsibility to Instagram followers. Intuitive eaters give themselves permission to eat whatever they want, without any food guilt. They trust their bodies to tell them when, what and how much to eat. They can tell when they feel like eating vegetables and when they want to have dessert, and they don’t judge themselves for either decision.
Huh? To give you a more realistic view of what a “normal” day of eating looks like, I reached out to five intuitive eating dietitians and asked them to share a day in their lives. Since intuitive eaters are flexible and eat based on what their bodies tell them, there isn’t necessarily a typical day, but the below excerpts will give you a taste of how healthy and balanced can look different for everyone.
Cara Harbstreet, registered dietitian at Street Smart Nutrition
— Breakfast: My appetite can fluctuate widely, so breakfast is either coffee with a piece of fruit or something larger like a breakfast sandwich, hash with eggs and veggies, or leftovers from the night before.
— Snack: I let my appetite be my guide. On more active days, I refuel post-workout or make sure to pack convenient grab-and-go snacks like an apple with a packet of peanut or almond butter, or fruit with a high-quality cheese like aged cheddar or smoked gouda. I also make an effort to carry a water bottle with me, but I’ll sip on coffee or hot tea throughout the day as well.
— Lunch: I enjoy eating out, so lunch or dinner sometimes involves meeting up with my husband, a friend or colleagues. We love trying new restaurants — today, for example, I had lunch at a local ramen place.
— Dinner: I tend to buy the same 12 to 15 items to cook dinner with routinely, but will supplement with new things I want to try, seasonal produce, items on sale or other favorite ingredients as needed. This week, for instance, has been busy so tonight I ate leftover rice reheated in a skillet with frozen edamame, soy sauce, garlic, bell peppers, onions and few cubes of firm tofu. I served it with the last of my fresh spinach.
Meme Inge, registered dietitian nutritionist at Living Well Kitchen
— Breakfast: I have some form of eggs with oats almost every morning. If I’ve made them ahead of time, I eat protein pancakes or egg muffins. Otherwise, I usually make scrambled eggs.
— Snack: I’m usually full until lunch, but occasionally, I’ll have a morning snack of toast with peanut butter or avocado.
— Lunch: Since I work from home, I usually cook my lunch. Often, it’s the recipe that I am testing for a future blog post. Soups and casseroles are my favorite cool weather meals, and I keep grain-based salads in the fridge during warmer months.
— Snack: My afternoon snack is a giant bowl of popcorn with butter and a few slices of cheese. Depending on when I exercise that day, I’ll have a post-workout smoothie with frozen fruit, veggies like spinach or steamed carrots, chia seeds, yogurt and water.
[See: 5 Healthy — and Tasty — Smoothie Ingredients.]
— Dinner: The recipes I cook for my blog generally serve four people, so I have a lot of leftovers for dinner. Today was butter chicken and mashed potatoes made in my Instapot. When I’m not in the mood to cook or I’ve run out of leftovers, I’ll order in. I usually either order Indian, like chicken tikka masala and dal soup; a Thai curry dish; or a thin crust pizza with pepperoni, peppers, mushrooms and onions.
— Dessert: I almost always have a few Reese’s, some dark chocolate or a cookie and ice cream. I keep cookie dough in the freezer so I can bake a cookie whenever I’m in the mood for one.
Rachael Hartley, private practice dietitian and blogger at The Joy of Eating
— Breakfast: I don’t have an appetite in the morning, but if I don’t eat anything by 9 a.m., I get bad anxiety. So I settle on a light (usually savory) breakfast like an egg scrambled with a small handful of tortilla chips and salsa.
— Snacks: I pack tons of snacks for the office because I’m never quite sure what I’ll be in the mood for. I love cheese or canned fish with crackers, chips with hummus, fruit and nuts or even leftovers.
— Lunch: I almost always have leftovers for lunch since they’re easy, budget-friendly and I hate to waste food. But when I go out, it’s usually at a cafe near my office that I love for its fried chicken sandwich Tuesday or its shrimp salad-stuffed avocado.
— Dinner: Each week I pick out a few new recipes to prepare and keep some frozen foods and pantry meals on hand in case I don’t have time to cook them. Tonight I’m eating roasted Brussels sprouts, cornbread and bacon salad with pomegranate dressing.
Kara Lydon, registered dietitian, intuitive eating counselor and blogger at The Foodie Dietitian
— Breakfast: Recently I ate banana bread oatmeal topped with bananas, chia seeds, coconut milk, vanilla, cinnamon and walnuts. I washed it down with tea with coconut creamer and honey.
— Snack: Satsumas, a citrus fruit similar to a clementine, are in season right now, so I’ve been snacking on those.
— Lunch: I was recipe testing today for my blog, so my lunch was pad see ew with tofu and vegetables. Getting a balance of all three essential macronutrients — carbs, protein and fat — helps me feel satiated and gives me the fuel I need to carry me throughout the day.
— Snack: I’ll often eat a granola bar and tea with coconut creamer and honey.
— Dinner: Tonight was a simple blog recipe — my butternut squash and Brussels sprouts naan pizza. For dessert, I had a chocolate-covered Oreo.
Robyn Nohling, a nurse practitioner and registered dietitian who blogs at TheRealLife-RD.com
— Breakfast: I’m always hungrier in the beginning half of the day, so the a.m. usually consists of a big breakfast like a couple of fried eggs with toast, butter and jam, and a banana and peanut butter. And, I always have coffee with half-and-half.
— Snack: A granola bar.
— Lunch: Lunch is usually something that I’ve prepped on Sunday like a lentil soup with toast and an apple. If I haven’t cooked anything for the week, I usually throw together a snack plate with cheese and crackers, veggies and hummus, and a piece of fruit plus some dark chocolate.
— Snack: A few pieces of dark chocolate.
[See: How to Make Healthful Dietary Changes Last a Lifetime.]
— Dinner: Last week, my husband and I made a big pan of black bean and spinach enchiladas that we ate with guacamole, salsa and lots of hot sauce. If we haven’t cooked ahead, eggs with mushrooms and kale are a go-to meal that we eat with roasted sweet potatoes. We eat dessert every night and usually end the night with a scoop or two of ice cream and a cup of tea.
More from U.S. News
11 Things to Tell Yourself When You’re About to Binge Eat
10 Healthy Habits of the ‘Naturally’ Thin
6 Ways to Train Your Brain for Healthy Eating
A Day in the Life of 5 Intuitive Eaters originally appeared on usnews.com
