Before she heads off to her marketing job, Tessa Middour can usually be found at the Barre Code in Del Ray, where she teaches 60-minute barre classes. “I was a dancer for about 15 years, and appreciate the emphasis barre classes put on proper alignment, technique, and great music,” she says.
She is also a certified Pilates instructor and is working on her Vinyasa yoga certification. Where you won’t find her is on the treadmill: “I don’t particularly love running, so I have to find more creative ways to get in cardio and stay active, whether that’s a long weekend walk or dropping into a hip-hop dance class.” Check out her one-day food diary to see how she supplements her workouts.
Breakfast: “I woke up early this morning to teach a 6:15 barre class. I don’t eat anything before teaching, but I do have a cup of coffee in the car on my way to the studio. After I get to work, I’ll eat breakfast. This morning I had Friendship 1 percent cottage cheese, some pineapple, and one more cup of black coffee.”
We’ve featured personal trainers’ and nutritionists’ food diaries aplenty, but never before have we featured a diarist who is both. Meet Christine Turpin, whose works double duty as a nutrition consultant and certified personal trainer. “When I am not educating clients about good nutrition or instructing exercise programs, I am squeezing in a run or a ride,” she says. She recently ran the Zooma Half Marathon Annapolis and is training for a six-day bike ride called te Bike Virginia Tour. “When I am not riding or running I am strength-training in the gym or kayaking with my husband on the bay.” Read on to see how she stays fueled.
Breakfast: “An hour before I head out for a ride, I will doctor up a bowl of old-fashioned oats. I slice up a small banana, throw in a handful of dried cherries, and stir in a dollop of natural peanut butter. I top it with a splash of skim milk, a sprinkle of chia seeds, and a pinch of cinnamon.”
This week’s food diary may be the most unconventional diet featured yet. MyBootcamp and Revolve DC’s indoor cycling instructor Grant Hill told us his high-calorie diet, which he says is needed to achieve his performance goals, might not be what we expected. “You might be surprised when you don’t see ‘low-fat’ this or ‘whole-grain’ that in my diet.” Things we did see? Raw liver, kelp, and kombucha. But we’ll let Hill’s food diary do the talking.
Breakfast: Coffee blended with coconut oil and grass-fed butter, plus supplements, water, and canned organic sweet potato. “I start each day with Bulletproof Coffee, which consists of high-quality coffee—I use Larry’s, which is shade grown and lower in mycotoxins than you’ll find in abundance with conventional beans—blended with coconut oil and grass-fed butter such as Kerrygold. I modify mine slightly because I find my stomach is happier with coconut milk than with butter. I add some local raw honey, but if you have weight-loss goals, don’t take this cue from me.”
Ash Allen is just a few weeks into her new role as fitness director at Balance Gym Thomas Circle. That means she teaches 14 classes per week, ranging from Pilates to yoga to aquatics. To keep her energy going throughout her long days, she follows a plant-based diet and stays away from processed foods—because no one wants to have a sugar crash while leading a group of eager exercisers. “You won’t find much in my pantry that isn’t organic,” she says. “My staples are brown rice, quinoa, nuts, organic veggies and fruits, beans, and fish.” Read on to see how she plans her healthy meals.
You’re likely to find Ingrid Nelson in front of large crowds of sweaty people, who are huffing and puffing along to her indoor cycling classes at Biker Barre or boot-camp sessions at Nike Georgetown. The personal trainer teaches more than ten cycling classes per week, on top of personal training and fitting in her own workouts six days a week. “My workouts consist of running, high-intensity interval training, and strength training,” she says, but adds, “It’s always important to take one day off a week.” Still, on those off days you’ll find her keeping active through yoga, barre, or hiking and walking around Washington. So how does the busy bee keep up her energy? Read on for her one-day food diary.
Breakfast: “My day begins at 5 AM, always with a fresh juice and a large water. This particular day I was enjoying a Sweetpress juice from Sweetgreen and a large Smartwater. Then off to train some ‘Ing Bodies.’”
Sarah Waybright founded WhyFoodWorks as a way to show others how it’s possible to eat healthy “without sacrificing taste or [spending] hours in the kitchen.” Her own diet is built around produce and protein, and you’ll never catch her munching diet foods or gulping down energy drinks. When she’s not hosting her interactive dinner parties, you’ll find her unwinding at yoga class, running, hiking, or savoring her daily piece of chocolate.
Breakfast: Coffee with whole milk and a teaspoon of sugar, a cup of plain Greek yogurt, raspberries, and chia seeds. “It fits my 5 Rules for a Healthy Breakfast with the fewest ingredients and least effort possible!”
As Chris Perrin puts it, “I live a double life.” You may know him as a local Nike personal trainer, but from 9 to 5 he crunches numbers at a desk as an accountant. “These jobs are completely different,” he says. “One I’m up and about, the other I’m sitting on my tail.” That said, his diet has to be efficient and match his activity level. “Very little energy is wasted,” he says. He’s also a vegetarian. Read on to see what food keeps him fueled throughout the day.
Breakfast (5:30 AM): “My first client is at 6 AM. My go-to most mornings is three eggs on half of a OneBun topped with salsa. I spread chipotle barbecue sauce on each OneBun. I also have a coffee, black. I take the coffee with me and sip it throughout the morning.”
Fresh off training 800 runners for Sunday’s Nike Women’s Half Marathon, Jen Walls is already training for her own big race come September: the Ironman Wisconsin. That means a 2.4-mile swim, 112 miles on the bike, and a 26.2-mile run. On top of two-a-day workouts, she’s the corporate and community development manager for Team in Training, a fundraising organization for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society.
Just before Sunday’s race, we had Walls keep a food diary for us so we could get a look at how the busy athlete and manager—with a 5:30 AM wakeup call—stays fueled while juggling so many responsibilities.
Breakfast: “A Stinger waffle with peanut butter before my morning workout (a long run). After making an eight-ounce cup of coffee, I put the Stinger waffle and peanut butter on top of the mug—it makes the peanut butter melt and the waffle soft. Delicious!”
Jummy Olabanji has a seriously early wake-up call for her job as a reporter/anchor at ABC7 News, but her day doesn’t end once the show ends. During her free time, the adjunct professor of communication at Marymount University can be found at Lava Barre and Revolve DC, and manages to squeeze in some Pilates, yoga, or Dance Trance sessions at various fitness studios in Washington. Despite all that, she says, “I’m usually in bed by 8 PM.” We don’t blame her!
Read on to see how her diet of several small meals and snacks helps her wake up at 2:45 AM and stay fueled through her workouts. (Shockingly, copious amounts of coffee are not involved.)
By day, Allison Godfrey works in fundraising for the historic site and Masonic headquarters building, the House of the Temple. By night, she discovers new ways to stay in shape and eat healthy, from walking everywhere (“I try not to pay for public transportation”) to exercising five to six times a week with boot camp, cycling classes, yoga, and running. She documents her healthy lifestyle over at the blog Wicked Healthy Washingtonian.
See how Godfrey keeps her diet in check with the one-day food diary she kept for us.
Breakfast: “My day always begins with a giant bowl of overnight oats. I try to make a different combination each day to keep things interesting. Before bed, I mix together oats, plain Greek yogurt, unsweetened vanilla almond milk, flax, mashed banana, and a small serving of some other type of fruit. In the morning, I grab the bowl out of the fridge in stir in either nut butter or raw nuts. Today my bowl included apples and almond butter.”
