Naturally Nina

Meals I’ve been loving recently 🌱🌈🥰 always prioritising making them fuelling, balanced and including a variety of plants of course!

A reminder that healthy eating doesn’t have to be restrictive, boring or complicated. And definitely not missing out on delicious, filling meals🤝🏼

What meals have you been eating and loving lately?

To track or not to track?🤔

It’s a nuanced topic because there really is not black and white answer! It completely depends on the individual person and their circumstances…why they are choosing to track their food and how it affects them, they’re mental health + relationship with food 🫶🏼

Tracking food CAN be a super helpful and valuable tool used for a period of time to help build awareness + education around nutrition, accountability or consistency, and ensure you are eating ENOUGH or enough of certain things (eg. Protein!)✅✅

But it can also be incredibly time consuming, stressful, overwhelming and leave you feeling out of touch with your body’s needs…especially if the targets you’re aiming for aren’t sustainable for your actual needs, or it becomes too rigid and obsessive😔

So no matter what others around you, or your favourite fitness people on social media, are doing, it’s super important to be reflective and honest with what’s right for YOU when it comes to tracking your food or not!

And there’s so many OTHER tools (that aren’t tracking) that we can use to help ensure you are fuelling your body well and working towards your health, nutrition and even body composition goals 🥰❤️‍🔥

What’s your experience with tracking? I’d love to know!!

We love protein. But more and more is not always better...despite what the fitness industry might have you believing !!🤯

Enough protein to reach your requirements is super important for our health, performance and recovery.

That’s 1.6-2.2g per kg of body weight per day for athletes and active individuals. ✅💪🏼

But going beyond this doesn’t provide you with any additional benefits to gaining muscle or body composition...and may actually have a counterproductive effect.

Here’s why:

1️⃣Overdoing protein may take the place of other important foods, like getting enough carbohydrates + fats for your requirements.

2️⃣Very high protein intake or high protein foods prior to training may lead to digestive symptoms.

3️⃣You may be spending unnecessary money on expensive ‘high protein’ product alternatives where it just isn’t needed.

4️⃣Obsessing over everything needing to be high protein can impact your relationship with food and enjoyment of food, to a point where it isn’t helpful or healthy.

Can you relate to any of the above?🫶🏼🥲

How much protein bar is actually in that protein bar?🤔🤔

The range of protein bars out there is ever expanding, and the amount of protein these bars provide varies quite a lot ~ from quite a substantial amount, to not really enough to justify the name ‘protein’ bar🙈😝

NOTE that not being super high protein does not make a bar ‘bad’ or ‘unhealthy’ at ALL. And they can still be a fantastic snack choice that’s convenient and filling!!

It’s just something to consider, especially in certain scenarios (eg. trying to hit a higher protein target or using a bar as your post training snack!).

Do you have a favourite protein bar? Would love to know!🤝🏼❤️‍🔥

Smoky tempeh + avo salad sandwich🌱🥑😍 an easy, balanced and protein packed lunch, too good not to share!

With 30g protein per serve, plenty of colourful veggies and fibre. And takes just 10 minutes to make🤝🏼

TO MAKE IT:
100g tempeh
1 tsp soy sauce
1/2 tsp liquid smoke

2 slices whole grain or spelt bread
1/2 tomato, sliced
1/4 cucumber, sliced
A few leaves of lettuce
1 tbsp pickled red onion
1-2 tbsp hummus
1/3 avocado

1️⃣Slice tempeh, then coat with soy sauce and liquid smoke. Place on parchment paper and air fry at 200°C for 10 minutes until crisp + golden.
2️⃣Toast bread, then spread with hummus and mashed avocado.
3️⃣Layer with your sliced veggies and tempeh, slice in half and enjoy!!❤️‍🔥

Struggling to eat enough on a plant based diet?😮‍💨🌱

High energy needs can be challenging to meet when you choose to follow a plant based diet, due to plant foods often being more filling (higher in fibre and volume) whilst being lower in energy!

So that means generally MORE food on your plate, which can be quite a challenge both to the eye + the stomach, and may require some rethinking of your food choices to help ensure you are fuelling your body sufficiently 🫶🏼

Here is an example day of eating of a higher energy day, around 3000 calories and 140g of protein ~ which isn’t an uncommon amount of food that may be required by an active person, athlete or someone in recovery from hypothalamic amenorrhea 🤝🏼⛽️

Some KEY points:
✅prioritise your more energy dense components of meals (the carb, fat and protein portions!) rather than loading up on veg.
✅choose lower fibre options where necessary.
✅add more healthy fats to meals, like nut butters, olive oil, tahini, spreads etc.
✅add liquid calories like juice and flavoured milk.
✅include some energy dense snacks in between meals.

Remember this is just an example day for meal inspiration and ideas, and your needs may be different. I hope it’s helpful!! 🥰

But I’m not losing weight/under weight. So I MUST be eating enough. Right?😮‍💨😮‍💨

Wrong.

Weight loss and being under weight can absolutely be key signs of under fuelling, but they aren’t the ONLY signs and also won’t always be the case 🫶🏼

Think of low energy availability like your body entering ‘power saving mode’.

Where it dials down various physiological functions and process in order to reduce your energy expenditure when there isn’t enough coming in. This can actually sometimes have a negative impact on body composition (think inability to build muscle or make progress towards fat loss) but also mean someone can maintain their weight eating a lot LESS than what is optimal + healthy for them❤️‍🩹

Its super important to monitor those KEY signs of under fuelling (not just weight!!), to ensure you are fuelling your body sufficiently not just to optimise performance and how you feel on a day to day basis, but also long term health!🙌🏼⛽️

Some recent eats: the usual mix colourful wholefoods supplemented with pRoCeSsEd foods for the extra performance fuel, convenience, joy + balance 🥰🌱🤝🏼

1️⃣Fave lunch of veggie fried rice with tofu, avocado + everything bagel seasoning.

2️⃣Rice cakes, peanut butter, banana, cinnamon + flaky salt 🤌🏼

3️⃣The usual post training overnight oats with ALL the toppings (banana, bluebs, h**p seeds, dates, granola).

4️⃣More veggie fried rice, with my current addiction of choc coconut water.

5️⃣Mum brought this back for me from a holiday to Switzerland. A few years ago…childhood favourite but a vegan version. Highly recommend 🥹🥹

6️⃣Another easy go-to lunch: Chickpea and veggie omelette with toast.

7️⃣Dessert always. Homemade peach and banana ice cream in the Ninja Creami, topped with roasted macadamia nuts 😍

8️⃣More easy lunches: Tofu curried ‘egg’ salad (grated tofu, vegan mayo, mustard, nutritional yeast, garlic + onion powder, black salt, pickles + chives) on toast with roasted pumpkin.

9️⃣Veggie burger sandwich.

🔟Training snacks! No sessions without these anymore. Food = fuel ⛽️💫

Another favourite easy meal prep for the week, you can create a variety of different meals from, to ensure you don’t get sick of eating the same old thing every day🤝🏼😎

Marinated tofu veggie skewers! Super easy, and really delicious, protein and veggie packed skewers of grilled firm tofu, zucchini, capsicum and onion 🌱🙌🏼

They keep well in the fridge for 4-5 days, and are delicious both eaten cold or re-heated. I love turning them into:

✅tofu veggie and hummus wraps.
✅served with a couscous salad.
✅easy poke bowls.
✅a protein packed topping for vego pizzas.
✅added to a creamy pasta salad.

The weekly meal planning sorted!🤩❤️‍🔥

Does the topic of carbohydrates overwhelm or confuse you?😮‍💨🍞🍚🍭🍌

How much should I be eating?
How much do I need to fuel my performance and energy levels?
What types of carbs are best?

It’s no secret that we LOVE our carbs here!🙌🏼⛽️

Carbohydrates are our body’s preferred fuel source for strength and performance based sports, and eating enough (and the appropriate kinds! is super important to help get the most out of your training sessions, feel your best, as well as support overall health by ensuring optimal energy availability.🤝🏼

Here is a summary of:
✅What carbs do for our bodies.
✅The general recommendations of where your carb intake should be to support different activity levels.
✅How many carbs to aim for around your sessions.
✅Which types of carb-rich foods to focus on at your every day meals, and around training.

What’s your favourite carb? Let us know in the comments!❤️‍🔥

What an honour to be invited back for this year’s Annual Conference😍 presenting on my favourite topic: Nutrition considerations for plant based athletes (CrossFit, Endurance and Hybrid training)🌱🏋🏼‍♂️

For the second year in a row, the weekend was nothing but highlights. Getting to be in a room full of like minded people, many whom I’ve looked up to for many years, and have valuable discussions around the topics I’ll never ever get sick of talking about 🤓🙌🏼

Especially Day 2’s panel discussion on fuelling for CrossFit to avoid and manage risk of low energy availability.

This weekend had me thinking back to my ‘whys’ for doing what I do, which have and always will be to be the health practitioner, coach and support person that I so desperately needed when I was in an awful place with food. Having been in that dark place where food consumed me to the point of taking away all the things that matter most to me (my sport and ability to train + compete, my relationships with friends + family, my enjoyment of food and cooking, my energy…), I’ve truly learnt first hand that nutrition is SO much more than just macros and healthy eating.

And being able to find empowerment around food, and actually eating ENOUGH to support your body in all the things you want to do and achieve, makes the biggest difference…not just for performance, but also every other aspect of your life and how you can show up in the world❤️‍🔥

So just a massive thank you for all of the incredible humans that were part of this weekend, and thank you for having me…the 7746km round trip in 48 hours was totally worth it🤪🫶🏼

Ps. Swipe to the end to see me practicing what I preach. Loaded oat bowls in the elevator between presentations is a yes from me!

If you need some filling + fuelling snack-inspo, I got you🤝🏼❤️‍🔥

Having some easy, convenient and delicious snack options planned for the week ahead is super important to help stay on top of your nutrition (think energy levels, performance, recovery and focus for the day!!🙌🏼).

And choosing higher protein snack options is a really great tool to help you meet your overall daily protein requirements, as well as making them more filling + sustaining✅

Which one is your top pick?😍

Struggling with having a pre-training snack to fuel your sessions? 🤔

You are SO not alone!🫶🏼

This is so common and can be due to many reasons such as restrictive thoughts around food, diet culture, nutrition fads/myths, or just lack of time and appetite in the morning.

However, pre-training snacks/carbohydrates are so KEY if you want to improve your performance in and out of the gym 🙌

The body utilises carbohydrates as it’s primary fuel source in moderate-high intensity exercise so it is so important to get 0.5-1g/kg of body weight of carbohydrates in our system 30-60 minutes prior to your training 💪

If you struggle with this, try these tips;
1️⃣ Focus on WHY you want to be fuelling your sessions
2️⃣ pick options that are easy and convenient to eat
3️⃣ choose foods that you ENJOY eating!

Start fuelling your training and watch your performance improve!🤝🏼❤️‍🔥

TVP Bean Chilli🍚🌱🥰 this protein packed meal has got to be one of my absolute favourite things to make for weekly meal prep!

It’s full of plant protein, fibre, iron and B vitamins. And it makes for such a filling and delicious meal, that’s also soo easy to make.✅

Guaranteed to be a winner with the whole family, whether they are plant based or not, and the chilli can easily be ‘re-invented’ into multiple other delicious dishes throughout the week: Used as a wrap/taco filling or pasta sauce, made into Nachos, or loaded onto a jacket potato (see my previous post for all details🤩)🤝🏼

TO MAKE IT:
1 tsp olive oil
1 onion, diced
2-3 cloves garlic, minced
1 sachet taco seasoning, I love
150g textured vegetable protein, covered with boiling water or veggie stock for 15 minutes
700g bottle tomato Passata
1 can kidney beans, drained and rinsed
2 tbsp soy sauce
2 tbsp tomato paste
Optional: you can also add extra veg like chopped capsicum, zucchini, mushrooms…

To serve: Rice, avocado, greens + EBTB seasoning

1️⃣Heat olive oil in a pan, then add onion, garlic and taco seasoning. Sauté for about 2 minutes.
2️⃣Add your rehydrated TVP and sauté until slightly browned and onions are soft, then deglaze the pan with soy sauce.
3️⃣Add your tomato passata, kidney beans, tomato paste, any extra veg if using and 1/2 cup water. Bring to a simmer.
4️⃣Cook for about 20 minutes or until thickened. Season to taste.
5️⃣Serve with rice, greens and avo, or whichever way you prefer!❤️‍🔥

Meal prep…but make it fuelling, filling and FUN!🤝🏼😍🌮

And by fun, I mean not getting bored and sick of eating the same, kinda soggy meal for days on end out of a Tupperware container 🫣

One of my favourite meal prep HACKS is choosing a dish you can make a bulk batch of, which you can then create into multiple different dishes using similar ingredients 👏🏼

This gives you variety, more enjoyment and that feeling you are eating a fresh meal!

Here’s an example…prep a bulk batch of TVP bean chilli, which you can then use throughout the week to make:
✅chilli burrito/tacos
✅Mexican inspired pasta
✅burrito bowls
✅stuffed jacket potatoes
✅loaded nachos

Let me know if you’d like to see more meal prep hacks + ideas like this!🥰

An example day of fuelling a morning training day, for the ‘every day athlete’🤝🏼⛽️😌

Who is the every day athlete? This is someone who trains multiple times a week, with the intention of improving their performance (getting stronger, fitter, better…)❤️‍🔥

Prioritising your nutrition to support performance + recovery isn’t just for elite athletes ‼️

It’s for anyone who wants to show up to training as their best, and support their bodies to function optimally and feel energised throughout the day! So probably most of us🤪

Some key points to consider:
✅Fuel that training session! Even if it’s early morning or you aren’t hungry, get some easy to digest carbs in before training.
✅Recover with a filling, protein and carb rich breakfast afterwards.
✅Focus on balanced meals: roughly 1/3 of your plate each coming from protein, carbs and colourful veggies.
✅Eat regularly throughout the day. You will probably need a morning and afternoon snack to stay on top of your fuelling needs!
✅Plan and prepare ahead to make this achievable and as convenient as possible during the busy week day🙌🏼

Remember this is just a general example for ideas and inspiration, and individual nutritional needs will vary a lot!🥰

What day of eating would you like to see next?

Things that are part of HEALTHY diet🥰 (part 2)

Whether it’s from diet culture messaging or things we’ve heard on social media/from others around us...so often we have rules around what we ‘should or shouldn’t’ be doing or what is ‘good and bad’ in terms of nutrition.

Leading to feelings of guilt, shame or like we are failing or doing something ‘wrong’ when we don’t or can’t abide by these rules …

But do these rules really serve us?
Are they actually facts and necessary to be a healthy, well nourished and well fuelled human?

Because nutrition is SO far from black and white, and there’s always room for some flexibility, and joy😌

Something to think about, especially coming into the Easter long weekend and enjoying a little more chocolate and hot cross buns than usual🫶🏼❤️‍🔥

Anything you’d add to this list?💫🌱

Nutrition for performance and fuelling exercise may not always look exactly the same as our every day nutrition outside of these scenarios 🤝🏼⛽️

CONTEXT is so important when deciding what is going to be the ‘best’ food choice for different situations, and choosing the ‘healthiest’ or most nutritious option may not always be that most beneficial choice.

PRE-TRAINING we are looking for more simple, easy to digest carbohydrate based foods to support performance and provide easily accessible energy for your session, whilst minimising gut upset + discomfort during training✅✅

Not necessarily balanced, and lower in fibre + fat, higher in sugar or simple carbs!🍭🍯🥞🍞🍌🍉

EVERY DAY nutrition outside of this is where our focus on food quality comes back in! Prioritising nutrient-dense, balanced meals and snacks with a focus on colour, both micro and macro nutrients to support our health and energy needs + variety ✅😌🌈

And BOTH of these play a role in supporting health. Because meeting our energy requirements to give our bodies the tools to do the work we are asking it to do, is our number one foundation when it comes to sports nutrition❤️‍🔥

One of the biggest ‘mistakes’ I see people making with their nutrition is meals that just aren’t substantial or adequate enough to fuel them properly ❤️‍🔥🤞🏼

Remember that the goal with nutrition is NOT to eat as little and low calorie as possible…it’s to eat enough to best SUPPORT our bodies.

Also, possibly unpopular opinion…but nothing bugs me more than ‘fitness influencers’ sharing ‘macro friendly’ breakfast recipes that are barely 300 calories. That’s not a meal, sorry.

Meals should help us:
✅feel energised for the day.
✅feel satisfied, satiated and full for a few hours.
✅be able to concentrate and focus (not constantly thinking about food).
✅perform well and recover from our training.
✅meet our overall nutrition requirements!

And these things require a good balance of protein, carbs and healthy fats, as well as some filling fibre, micronutrients and ENERGY ⚡️⚡️

Here’s a few swaps and additions you can make to your breakfast to put this into practice and level 🆙 your morning fuelling game!!🙌🏼

Which option would you pick?🥰

Leucine is a branched chain amino acid shown to be our ‘trigger’ for kickstarting that muscle protein synthesis process 🫡✅

Aiming for 2-3g of leucine per meal is a good idea for athletes/individuals looking to optimise muscle building and recovery from training.

If your meals usually include animal protein sources or you use a whey protein powder, then you’re pretty much guaranteed to be meeting this. However plant proteins can often fall short!

MANY plant based protein powders don’t quite meet that 2g+ leucine per serve target…but how do you know and what can you do about it?

I’ve done the work for you!🤝🏼

I hope this post is helpful, and also remember that this is cherry on top of the cake when it comes to nutrition for performance and muscle building. Don’t forget to focus on the more important things (like meeting energy + protein requirements) FIRST, before layering on additional considerations like this🥰❤️‍🔥

Feeling hungry? Like ALL the time?🫣 we’ve all been there.

If this is you, my first tip would be to try to unpack WHY this may be the case…so we can take some steps to feel more full and satisfied throughout the day 🤞🏼

The most common reasons being:
✅not including enough protein in your main meals. Around 25-30g is a good minimum aim for most of us!

✅not having a balance of ALL the macronutrients in your meals, that means protein, carbs and fats. Giant salads and veggie bowls, I’m looking at you👀

✅not including enough filling fibre rich foods at your meals, like veggies, fruits, whole grains, legumes and nuts/seeds 🌱

✅just not eating ENOUGH!! A big one. And ‘enough’ may be more than you think. 🫶🏼

✅not eating mindfully…we’re often scrolling on our phones or answering emails whilst eating, eating on the run or standing in the middle of the kitchen. Actually taking that moment to sit down and eat your meal without distractions can make a BIG difference to how we feel after eating 🧘‍♀️

Any of these tips you think you need to work on?🥰

Part 2 of supporting a friend struggling with food and body image, for Eating Disorders Awareness Week🫶🏼

You don’t have to know the answers. Eating disorders are serious and complex mental illnesses, and SO much more than just ‘eating more/normally’ is involved in recovery.

A simple question like, ‘Hey, I’ve noticed you haven’t been yourself recently and I’m worried about you. Is there anything you want to talk about or any way I can help support you?’🦋

Be there to listen, speak honestly and openly, and most importantly: Try to role model as positive + healthy behaviours and language around food, exercise and body image as you can❤️‍🔥

Thank you to everyone who shared their experiences for this post 🥰

FACT: carb loading isn’t just eating a bowl of pasta for dinner the night before your race🤪 it takes a lot more than that to effectively carb load!

If you have an endurance event over 90 minutes, a CrossFit competition, or even a long/intense training session, where you want to optimise your performance…carbohydrate loading for the 1-3 days prior may be a good idea ✅

Carb loading means we increase our carb intake to 10-12g per kg of your bodyweight per day, in order to optimise glycogen storage in our muscle and liver, so our body has more stored fuel available to use for energy.

This can support performance improvements by 2-3%, increase energy levels and endurance, and reduce fatigue or risk of ‘hitting the wall’🙌🏼⚡️

Here is an example of what a carb load day of eating might look like to reach 600g of carbs in a day!

And yes our focus will be on more simple, processed carbs here in order to reach those targets, so carb load days will be less ‘balanced’ and nutrient dense than usual, and that is okay!🫡

Highly recommend checking out for all things carb rich snacks too, such as carb powders, gels and energy bars, which can be super helpful in reaching those fuelling targets for carb loads. My code is NINA10 for a little discount too🫶🏼

Have you done a carb load before?

Nutrition tip: Focus on what you can ADD to your diet, instead of cutting out + avoiding foods!🤝🏼🌱😌

✅an extra serving of veggies, fruit and colour.
✅a sprinkle of nuts or seeds on top.
✅a new recipe or meal/snack idea to try.
✅a few tbsp of herbs, sauerkraut, pickled veg etc for more flavour!

Here are some meals from the past week for a little inspiration, let me know if there’s any you’d like the recipe for!🫶🏼

1️⃣Sweet chilli tofu, rice and veggie bowls with hummus.

2️⃣Vanilla yoghurt oats with fruit + granola🍓🍌

3️⃣Pre-training hot cross bun with PB and jam⚡️

4️⃣The fluffiest banana protein pancakes with yoghurt + fruit.

5️⃣Sushi bowls ft. Sweet chilli ginger tofu, rice, edamame, nori, hummus and veggies. 🍙

6️⃣Loaded TVP burrito bowls.

7️⃣Easy lunch sandwiches: Chickpea ‘tuna’, avo and salad.

8️⃣Dessert is non-negotiable. Vegan ice cream, frozen mango, soy crisps + Nutrigrain. 🍦

9️⃣Pre-run fave of banana and bar.

🔟More sandwiches: Tofu curried ‘egg’, vegan cheese + salad.

Good nutrition doesn’t have to be complicated, and definitely not missing out on delicious or filling food (ever)❤️‍🔥

Sometimes, a muesli bar or piece of fruit just doesn’t cut it for a snack 🥲💪🏼 especially in situations where individuals have high energy requirements…such as athletes or very active people, those recovering from an ED or hypothalamic amenorrhea, or trying to build muscle mass.

Opting for more energy dense snack options is a really helpful strategy to get energy intake up without having to eat such big meals that it feels like a struggle🤝🏼✅

Here are some easy, high energy snack ideas to fuel your day if that’s you!

Which one is your top pick?❤️‍🔥

Everything you need to know about choosing a protein powder😁💪🏼

With what feels like an INFINITE amount of different brands and types of protein powders on the market, I get it how confusing and overwhelming it can be to know what to choose to fit your needs and goals 🤯

In terms of outcomes for muscle building and recovery, I’d suggest going for a blend of pea plus rice or nut/seed, or alternatively, a soy protein for your plant based options, or a whey protein. These will all provide that complete amino acid profile we are looking for✅✅

Some additional considerations:
🌟amount of protein per serve is 20g+
🌟contains 2g+ leucine per serve
🌟is third party tested, if you compete in a drug tested sport
🌟makes you feel good! If you have a sensitive stomach or intolerances, finding one free of ingredients that trigger symptoms for you!
🌟fits your budget
🌟you enjoy the taste and texture 😋

I hope this is helpful, any questions just let me know!
And I’d love to know, what’s your favourite protein??🫶🏼

Need some lunch box ideas for going back to work/school? I got you!!🤝

A delicious packed lunch (and snacks ofc) is KEY to staying well fuelled and energised for the day, plus just makes a long work or study day that much better 😮‍💨

Better fuelling = better mood, increased focus, concentration + productivity, more energy and not constantly thinking about food all day✅

Here are 3 different balanced, easy and super delicious plant based lunch box ideas, in collaboration with ~ the masterminds behind some of my absolute favourite vegan friendly snack pots for a long work/school day 🫶🏼

Their products are also free of dairy, gluten, egg, nuts + soy ~ so suitable for all dietary requirements and school lunch box friendly🥰

Which one would you pick?

Holidays in Lombok photo dump, eats edition🌴🌺😍

Also a little reminder that working on your relationship with food is hard and uncomfortable but so worth it because of the doors it opens for all other areas of your life!

Travel used to be SO stressful and unenjoyable for me because it meant not being able to plan every thing and when I was going to eat down to the T, and eating out without knowing the calories, ingredients etc…so much so that I just hated going anywhere.

Having freedom and flexibility to eat different things, at different times, without planning and knowing ahead, and also being okay with some meals being less than ‘ideal’ is so important.

Your approach to nutrition should help enhance your life, not keep you stuck in a box 🤝❤️‍🔥

1. Teriyaki tofu poke bowl at

2. Nothing compares to Indonesian tropical fruit, especially papaya with lime! At .lombok 🥭🍉🍌

3. Sauna, ice bath and too many plant based options to choose from at .lombok. That tempeh 🤩

4. Post gym protein smoothies at 🫐

5. This photo does it zero justice, but the tofu maki salad was hands down the best Japanese food I’ve had! 🍙🌱

6. Exploring grocery for new snacks to try = ESSENTIAL when in different countries 🫡 these are elite!

7. Tempeh sushi, jackfruit burger and kombucha at 😌🍔

8. The usual breakfast spread at the villa. BYO protein powder, always a good idea when travelling as a plant based eater!

9. had an entire plant based menu and their burrito bowls are awesome 🌮🌵

10. Prioritising nutrition around training stays on holidays too. Intra-training sultana packs for a carb top up whilst we sweat out our entire body weight 😮‍💨

Busy days mean staying on top of your nutrition can be tough🔥 however ensuring you are still making it a priority to stay fuelled is SO important for keeping energy levels, performance, mood, focus + productivity up, as well as supporting our overall health 🤝

Here’s an example day of eating to stay well nourished + fuelled with low time and effort on a busy day!

Some additional tips:
✅plan and prepare ahead either at the start of the week or the night before, it really goes a long away and makes things so much easier.
✅utilise convenience options like pre-chopped/frozen veg, microwave rice cups and ready to grab + eat options.
✅consider ready meals or a meal delivery service! Just make sure the options you choose are adequate for your requirements.
✅keep it simple!! It doesn’t need to be complicated.

Please note this is just a general example for ideas and inspiration, and individual nutritional needs will vary!!

I hope this is helpful! Let me know what you’d like to see an example day of eating for next!🥰

A practical example of fuelling a morning CrossFit training session⛽️⚡️🤝

I’ve done lots of posts around pre, intra and post training nutrition, BUT I wanted to put this all together and show you an example of what this might look like in a real life scenario 😁

This was one of my morning sessions this week, and here’s how I fuelled for it on this particular day:

✅PRE TRAINING: We want a carb-rich snack, at least 1g/kg of bodyweight, lower on the fat and fibre side to avoid gut upset. I chose an English muffin with peanut butter, jam + banana, plus I had a coffee too for some caffeine.

✅INTRA TRAINING: since my session was over an hour long, we need some intra training carbs to keep energy + performance up! I had dried mango + some lollies on this day, plus plenty of water and electrolytes.

✅POST TRAINING: refuelling with a good protein and carb rich, high energy meal within the hour is key for recovery and making those positive training adaptations! The usual go-to for me is my yoghurt overnight oats with fruit, protein and granola.

Please note, this is just an example of what nutrition around training MAY look like, and it’s always important to tailor things for your individual needs + goals🫶🏼🥰

Let me know if you’d like to see more practical examples like this!!