What I eat

Recently my friend Libby (co-host of KPVI More and fellow participant in 6 Figures) asked me how I am able to eat over 1600 calories per day since I am eating clean.  Actually, my problem is trying not to eat over that each day.  Just because a food is clean, it doesn't mean it is low in calories.  Sure, you can eat mounds of spinach, kale, broccoli, asparagus, etc. for very few calories, but nuts, dried foods, oils and the like are very high in calories.  That's probably why I have an addiction to Adam's natural peanut butter and prunes (not together).  I decided to break down what I eat during the day, just to show how easy it is to eat clean and get the proper nutrition.  These are my very favorite meals.  I'm not a nutritionist and if one looked over my meals, they would probably see a lot of things that I am doing wrong.  However, this is what seems to be working for me.  I have been able to keep up a high level of fitness and energy.

Breakfast 
4 squares of Jamie Eason's Carrot Cake Protein Bars covered in 1 cup almond milk and microwaved for about 1 minute.  I top with 1 TBSP chopped walnuts
or
4 egg whites and Everyday Oatmeal

My "Everyday oatmeal"
1/3 cup oats
2/3 cup water
1 TBSP chia seeds
cinnamon to taste
1/2 cup fruit: apples or blueberries are my favorite add ins
I microwave everything for 2 minutes, then I add 1 packet of stevia and almond milk to desired consistency.

Post workout snack
4 eggs whites scrambled with kale or spinach and chopped peppers (pretty much whatever veggies I have)
or
Berry Smoothie:  1/2 banana, 1/2 cup berries (fresh or frozen), scoop of protein powder, water

Lunch
Jamie Eason's Turkey Meatloaf Meatballs, sauteed peppers, salsa, cholula
or
4 oz chicken, sweet potato, veggies (I usually used some kind of frozen mixed veggies)
or
last night's leftovers

Mid afternoon snack
1 oz nuts and apple
or
1 rice cake, 1/2 cup cottage cheese, 1 TBSP raisins, 1 TBSP pecans and cherry tomatoes or cucumbers

Dinner
Salmon and spinach- I line a baking dish with aluminum foil and then lay down a bed of spinach (a couple of handfuls) then I place the salmon on top and sprinkle on a little bit of sea salt and cracked pepper.  I fold the foil around the salmon and bake at 350 for about 30 minutes.  Salmon is such a nice, fatty fish that the oils seep into the spinach and make it oh, so yummy!!!
or
4 oz chicken and salad (whatever is chopped up, so I can just throw it all together) and Newman's Own Balsamic Vinaigrette dressing (Lite)

PM Snack
If I'm really hungry then I will make a protein smoothie with lots of ice, a little water and chocolate protein powder.  If I'm really, really hungry and a little bit naughty (so almost every night) I'll add in a little all natural peanut butter.  My goal is to only eat 1 serving of nuts a day, so often I will divide the 1 oz serving between breakfast and my mid afternoon snack.

The total for all of this, including the PM snack is around 1600 calories.  I still need to work on increasing my  intake of carbohydrates from veggies because this breaks down to about 40% protein, 30% carbs, and 30% fats.  Mondays, Wednesdays, and Saturdays are my high calorie burn days so I usually eat more on those days.  Now that my mileage is up to 18 miles and increasing for my Saturday long runs, I'm letting myself have that be a freebie day.  I usually use that as my day to go out to eat and get dessert too.  Sundays are my most difficult day because they are notoriously days of gluttony in my home and extended family dinners.  Now that the weather is warmer I am using this day to take my dog for a walk in an attempt to stay out of the kitchen. I'm also keeping my portions smaller, but still eating my 5-6 meals. It hasn't really helped that much, but I'm working on it.  As for the other days, I have good days and bad days too.  I still love and crave chocolate every single minute of each day.  I haven't been buying dark chocolate and I make my kids hide all sweets from me.  My daughter has become the sweets police with me and since she is a lot like me, I'm kind of scared of crossing her.  I guess whatever works!  I love popcorn and I will either make it clean or else eat Jolly Time Healthy Pop-kettle corn.  It's probably not the cleanest choice, but it helps to curb my sweet tooth.