In today’s diet and food obsessed world of green juice, quinoa, and superfood powders — there’s way too much information out there about what you should and should not be eating. All backed by whichever is the latest trendy diet doing the rounds! While some of these superfoods provide wonderful health and nutritional benefits, we often don’t know the right way to incorporate them into our diet. Instead of falling prey to trendy diets that aren’t sustainable long-term, adopting a healthier lifestyle of eating wholesome meals is much more beneficial and where better to learn how to eat well than from a nutritionist?
Sprig & Vine spoke to nutritionist Nupur Arya, the co-founder of Nutrimend and a certified vegan chef, to ask her about what she eats everyday. Here’s what a she had to say about what a typical day in her diet looks like:
8 AM: Morning glow
I start my day with an alkaline and anti bacterial drink that kickstarts my metabolism, which I like to call the golden glow drink as it’s amazing for the skin too.
It consists of 1 glass of warm water + 1 tsp grated ginger + 1 tsp organic turmeric powder + 1 tsp apple cider vinegar.
Ginger and turmeric are anti-inflammatory, ACV balances your pH levels and acts as a prebiotic that can help in maintaining a healthy gut.
Coffee time
As a nutritionist, I strongly believe in following a sustainable diet. Although coffee isn’t a great idea when you are on intermittent fasting as it’s best to keep your system clean from any irritant, I still allow myself this little cheat and have a steaming cup of americano — to satisfy for my love for coffee, and also because this is the only thing I can have without breaking my fast. I’m currently on a 16 hour fasting and on a 8 hour eating window, and so my first meal is typically around noon.
12.30 PM: Lunch
My first wholesome meal is my lunch, which usually consists of rice with lentils and vegetables in the ratio of 1:1:3. This is a balanced, nutritious, home-cooked meal that contains carbs, protein, and lots of fibre to break my fast with.
I’ll make this as a one pot meal, using fresh and seasonal vegetables. Some of my favourite vegetables are mushroom, capsicum, tomatoes, onion. I usually cook with coconut oil or organic ghee as I try to avoid refined or poor quality oil.
4 PM: Evening snack
My evening snack is usually a fruit (anything seasonal), and currently I am enjoying the mango season. For all those who avoid mangoes, you must start eating them as they’re not only rich in Vitamin A &C, but are also delicious!
Along with my fruit, I also have 1 scoop of collagen powder mixed with water and a dash of lemon juice. Collagen has tremendous benefits for the gut, joints and skin.
Post workout
I generally workout in the evening. After my workout, I have a protein drink made with 1 scoop of vegan pea protein and almond milk to keep me energised and full.
8.30 PM: Dinner
Most often than not, my dinner consists of green moong daal chilla, served with coriander chutney and onion salad. I’ll add a lot of grated seasonal veggies like gourd (lauki), beetroot, raw papaya, and carrots to my batter to make it more nutritious. I also love making buddha bowls for dinner that consist of soba noodles with tofu and greens in the ratio 1:1:3. I add a lot of green leafy vegetables, garlic, and french beans to my bowl.
When the sweet cravings hit
Even nutritionists deal with sugar cravings! I resort to a few pieces of 80% dark chocolate to curb my sweet cravings, or one delicious medjool date will also do the trick.
Snacking on-the-go
For days when I’m out and about and get hungry on-the-go, I always keep a roasted seed mix in my bag (pumpkin+flax+sesame+watermelon), and a sachet of Sleepy Owl coffee.
Green Smoothie
I also try to have a green smoothie everyday to incorporate more fibre and goodness, but it gets difficult because of my schedule. When I do get time to make myself a smoothie, I make it with of 5-6 stalks of celery along with the leaves, coconut water, 1/2 cup coconut meat, grated ginger, gondhoraj lemon slice and lemongrass. Celery juice has tremendous health benefits: it is full of electrolytes, it’s anti bacterial and anti inflammatory. This smoothie is power packed with nutrients and it tastes amazing because of the different flavours of lemongrass and coconut meat. It also keeps you full and hydrated.
The co-founder of Nutrimend, nutritionist Nupur Arya is also a certified Vegan Chef from Yogisattva. She has over five years of experience and 200 satisfied clients, and is a well known name in the city of Kolkata. Beyond that she is also known for her personal innovation of bringing artisanal nut milks to the city. For a personal consultation, contact her on nutrimend@gmail.com. You can also follow her on Instagram for daily tips and helpful nutritional advice @nutrimend.
FYI: This feature is for informational purposes only; Sprig & Vine does not give medical advice. Views and opinions expressed in this article are the author’s own. Please consult with a medical professional when required.
