What I eat in a day: Gluten free and macro-friendly meal ideas

One thing I’ve wanted to film for a while now is a ‘What I Eat in a Day’ video – I find these so helpful when trying to come up with gluten free meal ideas and I know how hard it can be when you’re struggling to come up with new and exciting meals. I’ve put together this video all about my daily food, but you can also scroll down to read a little more about my meal choices.

I’m always sharing snippets and of what I eat with you, but this is a chance to see what I eat in a whole day! At the moment as well as following a gluten free diet because of my coeliac disease, I am also following a macro-based plan. This has been set out by my personal trainer/boyfriend Steve, who has given me a certain amount of calories, proteins, carbs and fat to eat in a day. This is often referred to as ‘flexible dieting’ or ‘If It Fits Your Macros (IIFYM)’ which basically means if it fits, you can eat it. I prefer this as a long-term way of eating because it’s so flexible and you can easily make a ‘treat’ like protein pancakes fit!

I’m not following this in an entirely strict way – I tend to plan most of my meals but because I don’t have a specific goal at the moment, I am enjoying training regularly (4-5 times a week of interval.weights-based training) and enjoying my food. I eat well but I also enjoy the odd treat – but of course if and when I do set my next goal (stay tuned) I will be a lot stricter!

So here is a rundown of what gluten free meals I ate – I filmed this on Saturday which was a training day, so I had some carb-heavier meals around my training session. I also walked A LOT that day so I am using that as excuse for the cheeky bit of gluten free garlic bread, and I’m sticking to it!

Breakfast

I essentially had two breakfasts on Saturday – my pre and post workout meals. I woke up late and didn’t want anything heavy before training at 8am so I had a cheeky bowl of gluten free Lucky Charms I found in Poundland! Ok, these might be a bit sugar-heavy but they were so tasty. They do contain gluten free oats, so if you are sensitive to oats, I would avoid. I wouldn’t eat these often at all but I really enjoyed them!

During my workout I had some BCAAS (branch chain amino acids) which help to keep my energy levels up during training and I believe are good for holding on to muscle tissue. And then, my staple Saturday morning, post-workout feast: gluten free protein pancakes!

My rule with pancakes is simple: make a protein pancake base using banana, egg and Protein Pow’s whey protein (plus I added a few Nutribrex to thicken it) – then stack them high with as many ‘naughty’ treats which feel oh-so-bad but are all macro-friendly. In this stack I added Muller Light Skinny Latte yoghurt which I am currently obsessing over, some Mallow and Marsh chocolate-coated vanilla marshmallows and some Sweet Freedom Choc Shot and it was heavenly. I think this set me back about 600 calories but it was so worth it.

Lunch

For my lunch I had a little ‘pre lunch snack’ – shall we call it a starter? – of a Marks and Spencers prawns and calamari with minty yoghurt dip. I love these for a super quick snack – they’re marked gluten free (find the with the lunch/sandwiches/salads) and it’s around 100 calories for a pack so perfect for a sneaky, protein-rich snack.

When I got home I had my proper lunch – a salad with lots of crunchy and colourful veg with some sweet and smoky chicken, all picked up from Marks and Spencer. I normally would make everything from scratch but hopefully this is proof you can pick up a quick, easy and healthy lunch on-the-go which is delicious, gluten free and fits your macros!

Dinner

As a side, I cooked the Mash Direct gluten free parsnip and carrot fries, and the Mash Direct cauliflower cheese gratin (more on those here) as well as some Mediterranean veg and a chicken breast stuffed with blue cheese and wrapped in bacon. It was a little indulgent but I managed to fit it all in my macros and it was very filling with, I would say, at least three portions of veg.

As a naughty little side, I made some garlic bread by slicing a Sainsbury’s freshly baked small white gluten free baguette and slathering it in butter, garlic and dried rosemary, and baking in the oven alongside the rest of my dinner for the last 10 minutes. This was so delicious and a real treat – I don’t eat gluten free bread often but think this could be the best gluten free bread I’ve tried. 

Drinks

Throughout the day I tend to stick to water and a few coffees, but when I decided to embark on a fat loss plan, I wanted a milky coffee to be ‘non-negotiable’. I’m not the sort of person that craves cakes and biscuits (pizza is a whole other story) but milky coffees are my vice so I make sure I fit one latte a day into my macros. This gives me something to look forward to! 

I’ve also started drinking these diet ginger beers as an occasional treat. They are basically ‘zero calorie’ and aspartame free, but they just help provide a little bit of sweetness and the bubbles fill me up when I am having a hungry evening! I often crave food in the evenings and find these sometimes take the edge off and make me feel more satisfied. 

I really hope you found this informative and enjoyed hearing about what I eat in a day. I’m hoping to film more of these as I start working towards some fitness goals and trying new things, so let me know if you’d like to see more!