Breakfast and Morning Tea

Fats:

• Nuts (Almonds, Walnuts, Cashews)
• Nut Butters (Almond, Peanut, Hazelnut)

Carbohydrates:

• Toast/Bread (Wholemeal, Wholegrain)
• Fruit (Bananas, Apples, Blueberries, Cranberries, Grapefruit, Dried)
• Oats
• Cereal (Weet-Bix, Muesli)

Protein:

• Protein Powder
• Eggs
• Milk (Skim, 1%, 2%)
• Yogurt

Examples:

• Oats with yogurt, fruit and nuts
• Egg omelete (add vegetables and cheese)
• Muesli bar, fruit and protein shake

Lunch

Fats:

• Nuts (Almonds, Walnuts, Cashews)
• Nut Butters (Almond, Peanut, Hazelnut)
• Cheese
• Avocado

Carbohydrates:

• Bread (sliced or rolls) (Wholemeal, Wholegrain)
• Fruit (Bananas, Apples, Grapes)
• Starch (Rice, Sweet Potato, Wholemeal Pasta)

Vegetables:

• Green (Lettuce, Broccoli, Asparagus, Green Beans, Spinach)
• Other (Capsicum, Tomato, etc)

Protein:

• Lean Meat (Turkey, Chicken, Lean Beef, Tuna, Salmon)

Examples:

• Salad and meat sandwich(es)
• Sweet potato salad with Tuna

Afternoon Tea

Any of the items from Breakfast, Morning Tea or Lunch (smaller portions though than Breakfast or Lunch).

Dinner

Any of the items from Lunch.

Preworkout

Eat  roughly one hour before you start training. Always eat before training.

• Protein shake
• Carbohydrate (Fruit, waxy maize starch, glucose, multidextrose)

Post workout

Same as pre-workout.

Feel free to have the occasional slice of pizza or cookie, just work your but extra hard next time in the gym. When I say occasional I mean like once a week, not once every couple of days. Also, try to keep variety in your meals. One easy way to do this is to have something different for dinner each night of the week.

Plans

Depending on whether I train in that day and how long I’m awake for really depends on when I eat. I recommend trying to eat every 3-4 hours, so for most people that’s about 5 meals. Eating regularly keeps your blood sugar levels more consistent, meaning that your energy levels should stay more even during the day rather than spiking and falling.

Typical training day:

Preworkout(6am)
Post workout(7.45am)
Breakfast(8.30am)
Morning Tea (11.00am)
Lunch(1.30-2.00pm)
Dinner(6.00-7.00pm)
Supper(9.00pm)

I skip afternoon tea because I’m usually so full after a big breakfast, morning tea and then lunch. Sometimes I’ll have a banana to tide me over.

Typical Non-Training Day

Breakfast(6.30am)
Morning Tea (9.30am)
Lunch(12pm)
Afternoon Tea(4.00pm)
Dinner(7.30pm-8pm)
(Supper(10.00pm)) Only if I’m having a late night.

Afternoon Tea

Ok, so it’s been about 3 hours since we ate lunch and by the time we finish up at work, drive home and cook dinner it will probably be 7pm. This means 6 hours without eating a thing! A whole quarter of a day. So what do we normally do? Pig out on chips or cheese and crackers while we cook dinner. Or we’re just so hungry we stop by the fish and chip shop or pizza place on the way home for something quick and easy.

So what is a good afternoon snack (that does not involve  a trip to the evil vending machine)? Almonds and sunflower seeds are a tried and true great afternoon tea. High in protein to fill you up and very energy dense, you don’t need many in a serving. A small handful will do. This is also a great time to get in a 2nd or 3rd piece of fruit for the day, it doesn’t really matter what kind, just pick something in season.

Dinner

With Breakfast and Lunch coming in as our 2 most important meals of the day, dinner is actually much lower. While dinner is important, we must remember that it is the end of the day so we don’t need a whole lot of energy just to go sit on the couch and watch TV.

Stick to a big serving on veggies (pre-chopped of course) and some lean meat. Some great ideas are:

• Stirfries
• 1 or 2 burritos with lean meat
• Barbequed lean meat with baked sweet potato and steamed (or barbequed) veggies
• Giant chicken salad

You get the idea? Veggies, meat and a little starchy carbohydrates.

Supper

An average slice of cake is over a quarter of your daily recommended caloric intake! So It really is not a great food to eat every night after dinner. Instead make a big fruit salad with seasonal to eat over a few days. Add some unsweetened yogurt to really top it off and you have a much healthier alternative.

For us muscle builders out there it’s great to eat a little more protein before sleep time to aid in recovery during sleep. I make a thing that is known in bodybuilding circles as sludge. It takes about 2 minutes to put together.

Mix:

• 1 scoop chocolate protein powder
• 1/2 cup berries (mixed or your favourite kind)
• 1 Tbsp peanut butter

Add a little water and stir it up to a thick mixture and yum!!! For those who don’t wish to use protein powder you can use cottage cheese with cocoa powder or flavoured yogurt.

Ok guys so the final part will involve a break down of when and what to eat. Until then stay healthy!.

View other parts in this series:

Part I – Breakfast

Part II – Morning Tea and Lunch

Part III – Afternoon Tea and Dinner