An Ideal Day of Eating in Photos

balanced_breakfast

300 ish calories: 1 whole wheat english muffin with 1 tablespoon peanut butter, 1 tablespoon jam. I prefer Food For Life brand Sprouted Grain for the muffins.
+100-150 calories: 1 cup lowfat yogurt. I do not eat non-fat varieties because of taste and texture.
+100 calories: 1 piece of fruit- example: grapefruit

OR

last days puerto 004

miraflores_bfast

150 calories: 2 eggs cooked over easy
150-200 calories: 2 slices of 100% whole grain toast
100 calories: 2 teaspoons butter (50) and 1 tablespoon jam (50)
80-100 calories: 1-2 cups fruit

Breakfast: 500 calories

caesar_salad-6

200 calories: 6 oz (ish) grilled chicken breast
+100 calories: 1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese
+100 calories: 2 tablespoons Caesar salad dressing
+50 calories: unlimited, massive quantity of fresh vegetables in salad
+100 calories: super sweet apple/any deliciously ripe fruit, eaten after the salad

OR

salad-07

OR

salad-13

See this post to learn more about my salad-centricity.

Lunch: 500 calories

greek_yogurt-1

4936171286_9b1b57a489_o

150 calories: Fage 2% greek yogurt (7 ounces)- my absolute favorite brand
+100 calories: 2 cups assorted berries/fresh fruit

Snack: 250 calories

chicken_teriyaki_stir_fry-11

chicken_teriyaki_stir_fry-08

brown rice (1)

200 calories: 6 ounces chicken breast
+100 calories: a boatload of stir fried vegetables (bell pepper, onion, carrot, red cabbage, broccoli)
+100 calories: 1/4 cup or so- sweet teriyaki sauce (my favorite stir fry recipe here)
+200 calories: 1 cup brown rice

OR

2.27.11 083

Honey Barbecue Meatloaf with Parmesan Mashed Cauliflower and Salad

OR

tuna_burger

Lemon Garlic Tuna Burger with a baked sweet potato and roasted asparagus

Dinner: 500 calories

dark_chocolate_almond_joy_cookies

100 calories: 1 cup lowfat milk or yogurt
+200 calories: 2-3 homemade Dark Chocolate Almond Joy cookies

OR

any sweet delight that falls a hair under 300 calories, often including a side of pineapple and/or strawberries

Dessert: 300 calories

Total Calories for the Day: 2000ish

What does your ideal day look like?

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33 thoughts on “An Ideal Day of Eating in Photos

  1. Jodi @ Jodi, Fat or Not

    I just made the switch from nonfat greek to 2% – SO much better! That stuff is addicting! I’m eating around 1400 right now, but still in weight loss mode. I love your break down..I guess the calorie counting never ends haha. As usual..all the food looks delicious!

    Reply
  2. Jojo

    That looks soooo yummy :P
    I am trying to eat more raw foods. Breakfast is usually a green smoothie or oatmeal with fruit. A huge salad for lunch. Fruit, Clif bar, or smoothie for a snack. For dinner, anything goes. Sometimes I feel lazy and fix myself a bowl of cereal, yogurt, and fruit. Otherwise, I’ll make myself another salad.

    Reply
  3. Tess

    Let me tell you how helpful this was to a recovering anorexic. As small as this may seem to you, it was invaluable to me.

    Reply
    1. Ana Maria

      Amen! Andie’s helped me a lot of “normal eating” along the way. And just so you know Tess – I’ve been eating like this for a while now! It feels amazing. You CAN get there, I know it!

      Reply
  4. Jessica

    My very favorite breakfast is 3/4 c. Uncle Sam cereal adorned with sliced banana and 1 tbsp. TJ’s dried wild blueberries, topped off with 3/4 c. vanilla almond milk.
    So delicious, I’m fully satiated all morning – and it’s under 400 calories!

    Reply
    1. Mildly Entertained

      That is interesting. I was reading something the other day from Dr. Dukan (a big-time Doctor/author in the U.K) where he talked about how low-calorie diets have been the cause of all the overweight/yo-yo cycling, etc. issues in the world. He believes we aren’t made for low-calorie diets and it’s not healthy and actually makes us fat (or puts us in the binge/diet mode over and over). He advocates eating healthy foods of course – but in the amounts till we are satisfied (unlimited lean proteins, vegetables, fruits and fibrous whole-grains like oat bran). Just one opinion but interesting!

      Reply
  5. Bee (Quarter Life Crisis Cuisine)

    I have no idea how many calories I should be eating. Online calculators tell me anything from 1200-2000 for how tall I am and how much weight I’d like to lose (ideally 10 pounds, and I am 5’4 132 lbs). So I try to stick to under 1500 to be safe.

    Can you do more posts like this? I’m pretty calorie illiterate and it’d be good to have a structure to follow when I craft my own diet plan!

    Reply
  6. shauna

    Oh it all looks so lovely and balanced and tasty! I’m a fellow Fage 2% fan here. That extra 2% ups the pleasure by at least 107%! (scientifically proven, I’m sure) I visited a friend in Greece and discovered they have a 5% version which was just that little bit more swoony… hehe! :)

    Reply
  7. Jaclyn

    Well, since I’m dieting…down about 20 lbs whooo hoo….my ideal day looks a lot different than it used to. Breakfast: Wheat toast or english muffin with hard boiled egg on top and a coffee with flavored creamer Lunch: (Hopefully with a friend!) A great teriyaki place serves bowls with steamed veggies, brown rice and salmon–I skip the sauce OR a Mediterranean place makes amazing chicken salads Dinner: Chicken, some roasted broccoli (Ina Garten style) and then maybe a Skinny Cow Chocolate Truffle ice cream bar for dessert. I have been documenting my food on an app, which helps. I have to say….2000 calories sounds like a LOT of food to me, even though its all healthy. I think I will tap into your archives when I get into maintnance mode. :)

    Reply
  8. Mindy

    Well, the last few days have not been nearly this good. But fresh start tomorrow – though my photos would probably not turn out nearly as pretty!

    Reply
  9. Powelly

    This looks truly amazing – is there any chance of a higher cal version on the horizon? Something around 3000-3500 calories for guys trying to bulk on good, healthy food?

    Reply
  10. LG

    I, too, eat around 2000 cals per day…it’s very similar to your diet, except that I prettymuch have two breakfasts. One of around 400 cals at 6:30 a.m., and another of around 300 cals at 9:30. I don’t usually have the snack between lunch and dinner though.

    For anyone who is struggling with an E.D., please know you can eat “this much” and still be at a “happy” weight. I’ll just put it out there…I’m 5 ft 7 and 130 lbs…have been this weight for about 10 years now. Life is much better than when I was trying to only eat 1200 calories/day. Better mentally, socially, emotionally, and physically.

    Reply
    1. WandaT

      Thanks for posting this…I have recently discovered this blog and while I find the whole blog pretty encouraging, I also really appreciate comments like yours, especially as someone who has struggled with an ED and is trying to lose some weight in a healthy way.

      Reply
  11. megan

    My first time visiting your blog was yesterday when someone linked me to your Creamy Chicken and Cornbread Casserole recipe. I read that post and was struck by how many times you could type the word Fluff in one story. I thought ‘surely she is a New Englander!’ In my search to find out if you truly were, I came across your story and loved it. Love the blog too. I’m sure I will stop in again from time to time.Wicked good. Thank you!

    Reply
  12. Dana

    That all looks amazing and healthy but what were you eating while losing weight? My starting weight and stats are the same as yours and my goal is … Well you are living at my goal. 35 pounds lost to date. Unfortunately I don’t have any trips to Italy planned to allow me to walk everywhere and eat gelato (darn my bad luck).

    Reply
  13. Trish

    The cookies are quite possibly the best ever… I made a batch last night, and they are disappearing a little quicker than I would like them to considering that I live alone… Must make more.

    Reply
  14. Kylie

    This post is beautiful…I love it. The variety of meals you give to choose from really makes this meal plan great for anyone. And you present it in such a simple, clean way that it’s easy to follow and it all looks So. Very. Delicious. I’m making that meatloaf and those tuna burgers as soon as I can! : )

    Reply
  15. Megly

    Out of curiosity- sincere question- on an ideal day, would you really eat yogurt 2 or 3 times? I eat it a few times a week, usually have to kind of “force it down” because it helps me lose weight but it’s not my absolute favorite thing to eat. Long story short, just curious if you really eat yogurt three times a day.

    Have a great week :D hope you made your book deadline ok!

    Reply
    1. admin

      Hey Megly! Yes, I eat yogurt like an absolute addict. Multiple times per day :) I’m in love with the taste and texture
      Thanks for writing me!
      Andie

      Reply

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