If you’ve read any of the latest issues of People magazine, you may have noticed their weekly celebrity “What I Eat In A Day” feature.
While it’s always fun to get a glimpse into the real lives of our favorite celebrities, I think this particular column is not only misleading but also quite dangerous.
Many of the featured celebrities are listed as eating somewhere around 1200 calories per day, making it seem like this is what anyone who wants a body like theirs should also do.
In one feature where the celebrity actually did eat a higher amount of calories, the nutritionist recommended she scale her portions back—even though the celebrity in question leads a highly active lifestyle and is far from overweight!
By only showing one day in the life, with no disclaimers about how much these women are consuming on average in a week or month, I think the article unintentionally sends out a dangerous message, especially to impressionable kids and teenagers wishing to emulate their favorite celebs.
The featured women look healthy and vibrant, which most likely means they’re either eating more than they claim or are just not giving the full picture by mentioning occasional splurges on drinks, dinners out, or other indulgences to account for the extra calories keeping them properly fueled.
(While 1200 calories per day may be healthy for some individuals, the USDA lists a much higher number as the average caloric needs of a young and active woman not looking to lose weight.)
I wanted to publish today’s post as my answer to the “What I Eat In A Day” feature; to show an alternative to the Hollywood standard of eating. Not all healthy women are eating the way Hollywood would like you to believe, and no one should ever make you feel guilty for eating a less-than-“perfect” diet or indulging in dessert.
When I read the weekly features, I’m shocked at how clean these girls eat. Eating clean is great… but eating should also be fun. Unless you get enjoyment out of eating only steamed veggies and proteins every day (which is perfectly fine if you really do), you’re missing out on one of life’s greatest pleasures.
(For more on this topic, see my post on Orthorexia – The New Eating Disorder.)
*Disclaimer: As always, be sure to listen to your own body or ask a doctor or nutritionist if you’re concerned about how many calories and other nutrients you should be eating.
Just like the magazine feature shouldn’t be used as a guide for how much to eat for your own ideal health, today’s post is also just showing what works for one person.
So many people write to me and ask for meal plans, and it scares me because bloggers on the internet—unless they are also certified nutritionists or health professionals—should not be writing meal plans for people they’ve never met. This is an alarming way that some bloggers seem to be making money, so please be careful and trust your health only to a professional.
**To clarify: The photos in this post were taken either before or after eating. They were styled for food photography purposes and do not show the actual portions eaten.
What I Eat In A Day
As a teenager, I loved sleeping until noon. Now I somehow wake up naturally around 4 am, and I immediately go looking for food!
There really isn’t a typical day for me in terms of variety; but the amount I eat stays pretty constant. Exercise includes running once or twice a week (sometimes more, sometimes less) and walking quite a bit since I live in a city.
I enjoy being outside and am not really a gym person.
Morning:
I’ll usually grab a small handful of raw nuts, seeds, or some coconut butter.
Today my hand found the bag of cashews. If I’m going running, I might make a cup of coffee and eat a bit more. Otherwise, I just sip water as I make real breakfast.
Breakfast:
Breakfast this morning was a giant bowl of peanut butter oat bran.
I cooked 1.5 servings of oat bran with unsweetened cashewmilk then stirred in some peanut butter and melted a piece of a 95% chocolate bar.
If you happen to run into me at 9 am, I’ve probably already eaten chocolate at least once.
Lunch:
Lunch is usually comprised of whatever leftovers I can find in the fridge.
Some mornings are so busy that I have to pull something from the freezer. I often will make huge batches of recipes so I can keep the freezer well-stocked at all times.
And by well-stocked, I mean things may or may not fall out when you open it…
Lunch today was rice, white beans, and homemade Coconut Curry.
Snack:
Snack was one of my favorite things – I call them “Extra Melty Gooey Brownies.”
They are so fantastically delicious… but I’ve never posted the recipe because they are so gooey that they often fall apart! Plus, I know not everyone is as big a fan of super gooey brownies as I am.
*Edit: By popular request, the recipe can now be found in my brownie recipe archives: Healthy Brownies And Baked Goods
If it’s a baking day and I’ve eaten a lot of samples, I’ll sometimes just sample my way through snacktime and never actually sit down for a real snack.
Dinner:
Giant Monster Salad:
- 1 Large Avocado
- Raw Almonds
- Frozen Raspberries
- Raw Pumpkin Seeds
- Homemade Sesame Ginger Dressing
- Trader Joes Organic Kale
Tahini and a baked sweet potato, cooked extra long until it is all sweet and caramelized.
How To Cook Sweet Potatoes – 3 secret tricks
Night Snack:
2 servings of Creamy Pistachio Ice Cream – One of my top 5 favorite recipes from my new cookbook.
Surprise! For once, it’s not chocolate!
(Photo credit: Probably my mom, back in like 2005… I found this picture buried in a folder on my computer.)
Daily Total: 2,958 calories
(15g total added sugar for the day, and it easily meets the RDA for protein, calcium, and other nutrients vegans are always being asked about. I don’t worry about protein but do take daily Vitamins D, B12, and an Omega 3 supplement.)
Edit due to popular request: Link To Full Nutrition Facts
I love gooey brownies so I hope you decide to share the recipe!
Thank you for sharing and for being real. Most gals would be mortified to share that they eat nearly 3000 calories no matter how they looked or how much they exercised. Love your stuff! Keep sharing and keep testing recipes 😉
I’ve seen this as well, and it’s ridiculous! I’m always shocked when I hear someone say they feel like they need to hide how much they eat because society sends out the message that it’s not “ladylike” or “clean” to eat so much. Guys can eat disgustingly large amounts without being judged, and it should not be a double standard.
I agree. There is absolutely no way she is eating that many calories and maintaining her current weight/figure. Kudos for realizing everyone is unique and requires different regimes. But come on be realistic don’t lie.
I absolutely disagree. Different people have different energy needs. I eat around 2000 calories a day, but my sister eats easily 3000 calories a day and is teeny tiny.
I think what people don’t realize is, as Katie said, that some people who eat much less then have days where they eat (or drink) much more. So it evens out.
Someone mentioned this in another comment, and I don’t know if it’s true, but I have heard that vegans need more calories. I’m not sure if this is because their bodies are more energy efficient or vegan food burns faster or if it’s not even true at all, but I have found that since going vegan, I seem to be able to eat more calories than I used to, especially fat.
I eat roughly the same amount of calories, also from plant based sources, and have always been slim. Genetics and activity levels definitely play a part, but natural, less processed, whole food is more nutritionally dense. Just because someone has a different experience than you doesn’t mean they are lying. 😉
Thank you for this post, its awesome 🙂 also I would LOVE the extra gooey brownie recipe as I honestly love under-cooked brownies, cookies, and such. I actually make your Chocolate cake in a mug and either eat it raw or heat it just enough so the sides cook and most is still liquidy cause I’m special 😛
Please. You didn’t write this post to “help” impressionable young women with insecure body imagee and falling victim to hollywood’s standards of thinness and beauty. You wrote it because people have been criticizing you (again, I know, and it’s not fair) for potentially photoshopping your images and thus implying you are yourself trying to look thinner. It’s pretty transparent – “see? Look how much I eat and I’m still skinny – so there!” Which is fine, haters gonna hate, but at least be up front about it.
What a hateful comment. You should be ashamed of yourself for posting such vile garbage.
I don’t know about anyone else but I, for one, would love to try your recipe for Extra Melty Gooey Brownies. All the other recipes I’ve tried are super good. I expect this one is too.
It blows my mind how no matter how positive a post may be there are always negative nellies. To those people: didn’t your mother ever tell you if you don’t have anything nice to say, say nothing at all? Katie is naturally very thin..her metabolism is crazy high. She literally HAS to eat that much. How dare you imply she’s lying about her calorie counts or other nutrients? How dare you say that “I do think your website is a go-to trigger for individuals with ED, regardless of if that is intentional or not.” No one asked you for your unwelcome, negative, shallow opinion. Get off of her blog if you feel that way. It’s SO RUDE. Would you EVER say those things to Katie’s face? I’m willing to guess heck no. You’d be embarrassed. As you should be. To Katie, great post. Incredibly informative. I love how you really DO showcase that there is no “one size fits all” approach to each individual diet. Some people need fewer calories, others need more. Very educational (and inspirational, sometimes I think I eat too much when in reality it may be too little) Anyway, let the haters hate. Their obviously never going away. You do you. Let them be jelly of your successes in life 🙂 much love to you..
Thanks, Amy 🙂
I’ve been a longtime follower of your blog and while I love your recipes and find them both interesting and tasty, I’m finding reading your blog to be too problematic for me. I think you try hard to shift the conversation from weight-based talk to health-based, but you use a lot of language that focuses on weight and size and calories and “clean eating”, the language is problematic and doesn’t sit right with me. I wanted to message you personally, without doing it in this forum (cuz I really don’t want your other fans to jump down my throat because I’m saying something critical of you, but I’m hoping you receive it with the sincere intent in which it is given. I have love for you and what you do. I just wish you chose to express these awesome recipes in ways that didn’t alienate some of us) but there didn’t seem to be a vehicle through which to contact you personally.
I’m sad to unsubscribe.
Regretfully,
Amy
I’m not really sure what you mean, as this post’s message is the exact opposite of what you mention. However, if any of the message are triggering to you, I definitely do think it’s best to never read something that makes you feel less positive and healthy and to stay away from blogs that upset you for whatever reason.
Great post! Its good to see someone openly saying that they eat nearly 3000kcals because ok, whilst it may not be the majority of us there are plenty of people that do need that many calories or definetely more than those miniscule amounts you see described in magazines! It doesnt look like much food for 3000kcals so I can see why people would question it but I guess it does add up if you are eating quite a lot of nourishing healthy fats and energy dense foods. As for the comments about being triggering for people with EDs, it will be completely individual for everyone- any talk of calories and food may trigger some whilst for others it may help.
Sorry for the confusion! The photos are not the actual meals consumed. They were taken either before or after the fact, styled for food photography purposes. I would be too embarrassed to post a giant (white on white) bowl of oatbran taken in the very dark orange lighting that is 6am in my black-countertop kitchen 😉
The peanut butter oat bran and the salad and sweet potato dinner look so good they almost hurt! This post was such a relief for me. I have read those stupid articles too and in my naivete marveled at how someone can live on so little…I know I can’t. I would pass out between lunch and dinner. Some days I do top 2500 but others barely 1500 so I think it’s all about listening to your body and its fluctuating needs.