I have a friend taking over the blog today!
Fellow blogger and Boston University Terrier {alum}, Gemma, reached out to me about a WIAW blog switch-up a couple weeks ago. At first, I wasn’t sure how that would fit in with either of our blogs, given the fact that she’s a rockin’ track star and I’m just…not. But she made the point that it could be interesting for our readers to compare the eats of an athlete and a non-athlete (who is trying to get her hormones in check).
WHAT A BEAUTY.
I hope that you can see between our posts that food intake truly depends on an individual’s body and goals, and you should not criticize the amount of food you need, just because someone else is eating a lesser or greater amount.
Head on over to Gemma’s beautiful blog, Actively Gemma to discover the life of a “semi-pro” athlete, life motivation, balanced living, hilarious vlogs, and Gemma’s amazing hair.
Also, you can check out my half of this WIAW collab while you’re there! I show how I eat just as much (if not, more) than Gemma, even if my only “workout” of the day was chores and 8 minutes of abs.
Spotlight on Gemma now! (Green = me talking because I can’t keep my mouth shut.)
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Hi, everyone! I’m Gemma from activelygemma.com! I’m a semi-professional athlete for Ghana and a recent grad of Boston University. (YAAAASSS.) I wanted to show what an athlete eats on a pretty daily basis and how it can differ (or be pretty much the same) as you!
For those of you that don’t follow my blog (which I’m assuming is a lot of you), I started a new training cycle last week to help me get ready for the All-Africa Games in September. Last week was pretty tentative as I got back into the training mindset, but this week felt like I pretty much jumped head first into things. I wanted to share what I ate to keep myself fueled all day!
I start every day with breakfast, of course! 
multi-grain whole wheat toast, 3 sausages, a handful of grape tomatoes, an omelet with spinach and cheese, and green tea
Usually I don’t eat anything elaborate for breakfast. Most of the time it’s just two fried eggs, toast, and green tea, or oatmeal and green tea. Each day has been difficult in it’s own way, so I’ve been trying to eat a bit more to make sure I have the energy to tackle everything. (Hang in there, girl!)
2 chicken egg rolls with a side of duck sauce and spinach salad with grape tomatoes and Caesar dressing
I had a late practice Wednesday, so when I got home I wanted something quick and filling, so that I could spend a little more time on actual cooking. I bought the egg rolls because they were on sale in the freezer aisle, and figured they’d be the protein portion of my meal. (<— I love the way she thinks.) I paired them with a simple spinach salad and my favorite dressing, Caesar.
And for those that may want to know what my workout was:
- 3x Standing Long Jump, Standing Triple Jump
- 3x15m Alternating Bounds, Right Right Right…, Left Left Left… Each w/7m run in
- 4x30m Alternating Bounds w/ 15m run in
- 4x60m Straight Leg Bounds w/30m run in
(Editor’s note: In my head I just see Gemma flying across the track like a gazelle.)
It’s definitely more of a track and field centered workout – I don’t think I’d expect just anyone to do a purely bounding workout, unless they wanted to, of course, haha.
tortilla with seasoned ground beef, spinach, sour cream, and cheese
Second dinner was just a re-styling of some leftover meat from Taco Tuesday. (Awesome that she had this second dinner, not worrying about “right times” to eat.) I just warmed up the tortillas and beef, and through on the toppings I was in the mood for. I had about 3-4 of these before I got full.
homemade granola bars and vanilla yogurt
30 minutes later I was hungry again, so I grabbed a quick snack of vanilla yogurt and homemade chewy granola bars. It’s just regular yogurt. I keep telling myself to try to switch to Greek, but I just can’t get past the flavor of it. I think I just need to find a brand with the right vanilla taste.
To finish up the night, I had about a bowl and a half of my favorite cereal — bran flakes! (Where are the raisins!?)
By this time (around midnight), I was pretty tired and forgot I was documenting my food, and I gobbled up the cereal before I remembered to take a photo of it. (Me. All the time.) So here’s what the box looks like instead 😛
Welp, that’s pretty much it. I wanted to show that athletes eat about the same things as most people do on a day to day basis. I have no special restrictions or anything, so my general rule is to avoid obvious sugars (candy) and just try to stick to the healthier options. I hope you enjoyed! You can check out my blog activelygemma.com to catch more of what I eat, as well as find my weekly workouts, recipes, vlogs, and more!
And of course a special thanks to Alison for the collab! (Thank YOU, Gemma!)
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I hope you all enjoyed and found value in this neat WIAW switch-up. I am truly inspired by Gemma’s balance, poise, and athleticism. Thanks for being here on DMAG today!
Follow Gemma on Instagram and Twitter!
So tell me:
Have you ever done track and field? Have you ever done track workouts?
If you’re an athlete, do you have a special eating protocol?
What is your favorite cereal? Lucky Charms or Raisin Bran for me.
Daily Moves and Grooves 
I love the idea behind this post! And always great to find new bloggers, i’ll be following Gemma for sure. Her hair! I am on the athletics team at uni so train track and field for at least part of the year 🙂 i’m not very good but I enjoy it and have made so many friends through it. Since i’m trying to get my body fat up I haven’t been running much and I miss it! When I train I just make sure I eat as much as I possibly can throughout the day and always always have extra snacks before and after the gym! My favourite cereal…I don’t eat much cereal but whenever I go to America I HAVE to have Froot Loops. We get them here in the UK but the recipe is changed and they don’t have any of the crazy chemicals/e-numbers because they are banned here. They taste like butt compared to the beautiful American rings of goodness 😉
That’s great that you’re doing what’s best for your body right now, Lou! You’ll get back to running again soon, I’m sure 🙂
Froot Loops! I used to love those as a kid! LOL “they taste like butt.” Americans will add anything to our cereals to make them not taste like butt 😉
Ahhh, I’m glad you’re doing it! I wasn’t good at track when I first started, but I kept at it because I enjoyed it so much. I never thought I would be doing it professionally, but here I am ><
I hope you can get back to running soon! Good luck! 😀
Thank you, Gemma! The best of luck to you too 😀
I love starting my days with eggs and what a very cool idea to rotate showcasing a day of eats with your buddy. It’s fantastic.
Happy WIAW and thanks for linking up.
I love sweet breakfasts, so eggs are usually a lunch or dinner food for me! Thanks for stopping by and for hosting, Meghan! 🙂
I eat eggs a lot of the time, too! I find they’re one of the best things to have before a hard workout 🙂
One of my regrets in high school was not joining the track & field team. I wish I would’ve done something active in high school but it’s actually when I was the most lazy. I had no idea how important movement and eating processed junk would be for my body. Also, I’m not an athlete but I can definitely see that eating healthier helps my workouts. If I eat heavy before a run, my run is not going to last long…
Favorite cereals: Chex, Honey-Nut Cheerios, Puffins and French Toast Crunch (nomnomnom)
It’s great that you’re eating well to help you feel better during your workouts and in general, Di! And I forgot that peanut butter Puffins are my favorite too!
Well, it’s never too late to get active! At least you’re running now (and eating healthier). I’ve never heard of Puffins, maybe I’ll try them if I can find them 🙂
Wow, I absolutely love this! 🙂
Favorite Cereal: Granola, Life cereal, Honey Bunches, and maybe Cinnamon Toast Crunch?
Cinnamon Toast Crunch is such a classic!
Thanks, Emily! I used to love Life cereal when I was a kid! I think as I got older, I strayed away from the sugary brands more lol
Not an athlete and never have been 🙂 I actually don’t care for cold cereal, but once in a while I get a craving for cinnamon Life and will eat it dry (I loathe milk, shudder). Great looking food day!
Agh I still don’t understand how people eat dry cereal! The cereal milk is the best part IMO 😀
I’ve found that sometimes I feel the same way – especially about oatmeal! It’s one of the reasons I haven’t tried overnight oats, yet. I’d rather just have my warm bowl in the morning 🙂
Such a fun idea to do a WIAW swap! It was fun seeing what Gemma eats in a day 🙂 My husband and I usually eat roughly the same amount… except when he’s running! 🙂 Very active bodies definitely require more fuel!
Yes! Breaking the gender barrier with food intake! I can eat just as much as (sometimes more than) my guy friends and family members.
Thanks, Liz! And yea, I eat TONS more now, than I ever did in high school. But, I guess your body just needs what it needs. Who am I to deprive it 😛
What a fun switch-up! I really enjoyed reading about Gemma’s eats.
I did do track in high school, although I did distance, so my workouts weren’t all that different from our cross country workouts. We did do lots of track workouts with 400, 800, 1200, etc. repeats. I loved running track!
Bless your soul with all that running… 😉
I love seeing the eats of athletes- something about it seems really motivating to fuel well for my own training! Definitely going to go check out Gemma’s blog now. I had no idea what the workout meant, so I also just imagined her gliding like a gazelle on the track and jumping ;). There is a possibility I may join my school’s track team, so reading this definitely got me excited!
So cool! All my friends absolutely loved track and field. A great sport for sure!
You should do it! Track teams are notorious for being welcoming and friendly! And tons of fun!
Thanks for checking out my blog, Niki! It’s true, my workout is very sprint-based and even I get confused when looking back at them sometimes, haha.
And you should definitely try to join! It’s a great way to stay fit and the people are usually so much fun and some of the friendliest people you’ll ever meet 😀
Such an interesting and insightful post! Fun too! Thanks for sharing 🙂
Thanks, Jade! Glad you enjoyed ♥
Thanks for reading, Jade! 😀
Loved the little switcharoo!!!!!
My favorite cereals are raisin bran, cinnamon Cheerios and life!!!
Also that chicken piccata looked amazing!!!!
Have a great day Alison!
Everyone seems to love Life cereal! I think I’ve had it only once in my life (<— ha.)
What a fun theme for this WIAW!
I did indoor track in high school for 1 season and learned i was awful at it 🙂 I started running again as an adult and though i’m not good i love running. I haven’t done any track workouts in a while but would love to- sure it would help me get in shape. I’m by no means an athlete though!
What is your favorite cereal? I love homemade granola. Does that count?
That’s wonderful that you love running, despite not excelling in it. It’s about how much you enjoy it, not how good you are at it! 🙂
Granola totally counts, and it’s amazing.
Hi, Melissa! Not everyone is cut out for track, but I find most people can get something out of running, at least! I think tempo workouts are doable for most people. Short, high intensity seems to be the new “it” thing, nowadays, I think. And a workout’s a workout, no matter what type of person you are! 🙂
I love homemade granola, too! I always try to make some and have it on hand for my lazier days.
Wish I could’ve commented earlier, but I had practice to get to, haha. Thanks, again, Alison!
And thanks for the positive feedback, everyone!
And to answer your unasked question, I hate raisins if they’re mixed with anything lol. I love bran flakes, though lol
Ah you’re just like my friends who hate raisins! I don’t understand it…
😀