Tuesday, March 12, 2013

Eat Like Bender! A Typical Day of Meals

Hi Everyone,

By popular request on my facebook page, I am writing about my diet. I have given you a glimpse into my meal prep with photos in my post: Abs Are Made in the Kitchen. I have shared my grocery list: Melissa Bender's Grocery List, which also has pictures of some typical meals. You can also see meal pictures on my Instagram page. 

Whatever I meal prep on Sundays I tend to eat for lunch during the week. Below is a sample day of eating. It is pretty typical. The veggies may change. (I love vegetables)! Sometimes I crave a bowl full of broccoli or mixed veggies with a touch of marinara sauce.

I average between 1900-2000 calories per day. I eat/snack all day long. I am hungry every few hours, so I bring a lot of food to work with me. I have chicken and salmon salads pre-packed in my fridge right now. I have one for lunch Mon-Friday and some weekends. I always keep a granny smith apple in my lunch (which I may have as a morning snack, with lunch, or afternoon snack. I listen to my bodies hunger signals). I also drink 10-12 glasses of water per day. 

There is no trick or crazy diet technique. I try to eat primarily foods that are unprocessed. I cook/prepare almost all of my meals at home. I eat when I am hungry, and try to make healthy choices. I incorporate all of the food groups into my diet. I am super busy so I don't spend a lot of time in the kitchen. I try to keep meal prep simple. 

Here's a glimpse into what I eat. 
Melissa


Breakfast


-Whole Wheat Sandwich Thin or Ezekial Low Sodium Bread
1 Egg
Fresh Baby Spinach
Hummus

-Or Oatmeal with Maple Brown Sugar and Fresh Walnuts. (If I have oatmeal, I have my breakfast sandwich as my 10 AM snack). 

-Coffee with Coconut Almond Milk (unsweetened) or Unsweetened Vanilla Almond Milk


Snack
-Apple, Orange or Banana
-or Trail Mix, Granola, or Triscuits
-or Breakfast Sandwich





Lunch

-Chicken or Salmon
-Fresh Baby Spinach Leaves
-3-4 Cherry or Grape Tomatoes
-Peanut Butter Greek Yogurt
-Veggies (whatever I have prepped for the week)
-4 oz Sweet Potato (sometimes)



Snack


-Banana sliced in half with Organic Peanut Butter
-or PB Greek Yogurt (if I didn't have it for lunch)
-or PB Bread
-or Green Smoothie





Dinner
-Salmon or Chicken
-Broccoli


Snack
-Cereal (Raisin Bran or Shredded Wheat) (about 1 cup)
-Coconut Almond Milk
-or Bowl of Veggies, plain or with red sauce. 

Note: These are not the only foods that I eat. This is an example of a typical day of eating. Over the next few days I will try to remember to take pictures of my food to share with you. I will try to share a week's worth of meals. 

Below are two pictures of alternate dinners I have had recently:



Tilapia or Salmon Soft Tacos


22 comments:

  1. You are awesome! Thanks for sharing and good luck in your competition!

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  2. I love the fact that you actually eat:) Great variety of clean eating. For your peanut butter greek yogurt, do you just add peanut butter to plain or vanilla greek yogurt? How much? Sounds really interesting and being a peanut butter lover I am always looking for another way to get my fix:)

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  3. Everything looks so fresh and clean!!! Yummy!!! =)

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  4. Everything looks amazing, and I eat some of those things all the time. Healthy and yummy is a double win

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  5. Some great ideas. Need some new recipes in my clean eating round up. Get tired of chicken & veggies. :)

    http://jennycollier.com

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  6. I love your blog and workout videos!! Curious - do you drink alcohol?

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  7. I love that every time I decide not to eat or food is the enemy you remind me to breathe and eat. I am going to start eating ezekial bread again. I have not had grains in two weeks and it just makes me crabby,lol. Thanks for all you do.

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  8. How much should I be eating?

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  9. is orange juice okay like a cup in the morning?

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  10. Question! Are these your meals when you are leaning out/cutting...or do you cut carbs more at a later date...

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    Replies
    1. The lowest my carb intake ever got was about 150 grams, typically closer to 250. However, toward the end of competition prep I consumed most of my carbs from fruits and vegetables.

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  11. hi melissa, been browsing through your site and i must say i am super inspired to be fitter than ever before!

    i'm wondering though, do you change your macros depending on whether you work out on the day, or do you usually keep it consistent all throughout? i tend to increase fat intake while lowering carb intake on non-weight training days, would you say that this is a bad idea?

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  12. I just wanted to say how impressed I am with the amount of comprehensive information that you have shared with all of us! I am wanting to do a bikini competition soon, and you have made it so easy! I'm going to following your workouts for the next three months starting Monday. The food part will be a bit more challenging for me. Right now I'm eating about 1400 calories/day and need to increase that #. Thanks for having this site. I'm very grateful--in my opinion, it's some of the VERY best information out there. Again, muchas gracias!

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  13. You are just awesome! Thanks for the pics of your healthy meals!

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  14. OMG IM HOOKED ON YOURE SITE IT WAS LIKE A MIRACLE A BLESWSING FROM ABOVE!!! FIRST TIME I EVER SEE SOMEONE SHARE SOOOOO MUCH INFO AND IN DETAIL FOR FREE!!!! THIS IS UNBELIEVABLE!! THANK U SO MUCH AND MAY GOD BLESS U

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  15. Randomly found your site the other night and all I do know is watch the videos as I prep to start working out using your stuff. You're awesome!

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  16. Wow!! Just wanted to say Thank you so much for sharing all your knowledge!! You're truly amazing and inspiring. Everything I wanted to know you have answered! God bless you!!

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  17. I am your newest fan. I love that you are a real woman , you eat everyday whole foods and you make make working out fun. I am so happy to have found your workouts. Keep up the fantastic hard work.

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  18. How do you figure out your caloric intake and macros when training?

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  19. Thank you for your posts. They are very helpful.

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  20. I love that you eat real food and carbs. Carbs are my fear food. I've been following along with your workouts and I've noticed that when I do eat carbs I have a lot more energy to push through the workouts. I even can keep up with you which blows my mind!! What I am noticing is that food really is fuel, not only for exercising but for studying since I'm still in college. Thank you for posting this. Very helpful, really. You are such a great role model!

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