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Food diary of a nutritionist
What does a registered nutritionist's food diary look like? We asked Rob Hobson, author of Detox Kitchen Bible to share his...
"I have always been interested in food, which I guess has led me into this field of work. I tend to make meals from scratch as I love cooking but it’s not usually anything too fancy, just a case of chucking together whatever is in the fridge. I think healthy eating has all got a little complicated and the avalanche of information available has not helped people’s perceptions of what this means and how to achieve a balanced diet. I try and steer clear of food and health trends as I have seen many of them come and go. I prefer to deliver a more accessible message about nutrition to my clients and businesses I work with.
"I work from home so have the luxury of time in the kitchen during the day. I often have lots of meetings during the week so like everyone else I need to rely on the high street when buying lunch out. I also eat out quite a lot, but with the wide range of restaurants in London it’s not difficult to stick to a healthy way of eating. Being a lanky git I have never had to worry about what I eat but this appears to be changing quite dramatically as I hit 40 so I stick to three meals a day and try to avoid snacking and limit the booze."
Find out more about Rob on his website
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Monday
Breakfast: Boiled egg with avocado, spring onions, yellow peppers and wholegrain toast. Glass of OJ. I eat a lot of eggs and avocado it seems after doing this food diary! I’m not a fan of the no-carb trend and not sure I could live without toast (the ultimate comfort food!).
Lunch: Ryvita multi-grain crispbreads with avocado and radish. Few slices of roast turkey and a big chunk of cheddar cheese. Small handful of Haribos. I had a meeting with Ryvita today who put on a buffet lunch including the toppings I created for their wesite. Halfway through the meeting someone pulled out a bag of Haribos. I don’t have a sweet tooth but it’s hard not to grab a handful when they are put in front of you. Only human after all!
Supper: Cajun chicken with avocado salad and mango salsa. Bowl of strawberries. Ironically my husband hates healthy food but this recipe taken from The Detox Kitchen Bible always goes down well. It’s summer so I am trying to stuff my face with as many British strawberries as I can!
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Tuesday
Breakfast: Soaked oats with kiwi and pomegranate (used soya milk and apple juice). This is the easiest brekkie to prepare. Just chuck it all in a bowl and leave to soak whilst you have a shower and get ready for work. I eat dairy and would usually use skimmed milk but only had soya milk in the fridge.
Lunch: Watermelon and feta salad, toasted wholemeal pitta bread. Blue corn chips with hummus (ate this about an hour later). I had to develop some recipes for a client using watermelon and this was really tasty but not very filling. After an hour I raided the cupboards for something to eat and settled for hummus with blue corn chips.
Supper: Sashimi, edamame, prawn and chive dumplings, soft shell crab, chilli tofu. 2 glasses champagne. Lovely supper out for my niece’s birthday. An Asian feast at one of my favourite restaurants close to home.
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Wednesday
Breakfast: Buckwheat pancakes with blueberry compote and yoghurt. Glass of OJ. I wouldn’t normally go to this much effort for breakfast in the week but stumbled across this recipe I did for a client and got inspired!
Lunch: Pret crayfish and avocado salad. Mexican avocado flatbread. Exciting meeting with FitBit today and looking forward to working with them, especially as it involves a press trip to Morocco! This is when I love my job. Lunch was Pret - I usually choose this combo of a salad and wrap.
Supper: Chicken and mushroom stroganoff with brown rice. This was a bit of a clear out job to use up stray veggies lurking at the back of the fridge. I hate wasting food but it always happens as I end up eating out quite a lot.
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Thursday
Breakfast: Innocent smoothie and a piece of cheese on toast. I have the concentration span of a gnat and get easily distracted so ended up in a mad rush to get out of the house. Ran out of the house balancing 2 bags, smoothie and the cheese on toast. Good skills!
Lunch: Fennel and rocket salad, harissa quid, Burrata and tomato salad, sweet potato wedges, Diet coke. I had a meeting with a new personal training gym in Notting Hill so lunch was out at Pizza East. We all shared some platters. I don’t normally drink fizzy drinks but just fancied a Diet Coke with loads of squeezed lime juice.
Supper: Butternut squash and chickpea curry with quinoa. 2 glasses of almond milk. This is the best curry recipe. Even though it is vegetarian, I've not made it for anyone yet that didn’t enjoy it, even the most hardened meat eaters. I am on the judging panel for the Women’s Health awards and they sent a huge delivery of food including this almond milk that I am totally hooked on!
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Friday
Breakfast: Egg, prosciutto and asparagus. Eggs are of course the breakfast of champions! Because I work from home it gives me the time in the morning to prepare a cooked breakfast. I absolutely hate breakfast cereal (looks like dog biscuits!) so always prefer something like eggs and veggies.
Lunch: A bowl of yesterday’s curry with pitta bread. Green juice (kale, cucumber, celery, fennel, lime juice). It’s really satisfying when there is something ready-prepared in the fridge from the night before. I’m not a massive fan of food trends and prefer to promote a more accessible way of eating but I am a nutritionist so there had to be a green juice somewhere!
Supper: Ceviche, guacamole, refried beans, prawn cazuelas. Margarita (of course!). (Mexican food. Amazing. Enough said.)
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Saturday
Breakfast: Scrambled egg with avocado on sourdough... Oh my god not more eggs and avocado! I really need to shake things up a bit in the breakfast department! Brunch out with the hubbie on the weekend is tradition.
Lunch: Edamame, miso soup, sashimi, salmon maki rolls. Out for the day shopping so quick lunch at Itsu. I love a bit of sushi when grabbing lunch out. It’s a good way to eat lots of different foods in one sitting.
Supper: Salmon with salad and new potatoes. Glass of rose wine. You can’t really go wrong with a grilled piece of fish (or meat) and veggies. Healthy eating doesn’t need to be complicated. I try and eat plenty of oily fish in my diet to get the heart-healthy omegas in. I don’t normally eat spuds, don’t know why but they were pretty good with olive oil and chopped dill.
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Sunday
Breakfast: Shakshuka. I promised my sister that I would pop in and make brunch for the family so rustled up some shakshuka. It’s actually really easy to make and really healthy. I may have added slightly too much chilli though! I like my food spicy.
Lunch: Avocado and white beans on toast. More avocado! I bought a new Magimix so love making dips to serve on toasted sourdough for lunch. Dips are so quick to make. I normally choose a canned bean and blend with veggies and spices or herbs. I try to make in bulk so there is something healthy to snack on in the fridge.
Supper: Thai curry with prawns, veggies and lentil sprouts. Bowl of berries and a few cheeky scoops of ice cream!
Another fridge clear out. I always have coconut milk and Thai curry pastes to hand. I also buy unusual herbs like lime and curry leaves in bulk and freeze them. They really make a huge difference to the flavour of curries. Not sure why I added lentil sprouts but they worked well!