A wholesome diet and an exercise schedule are essential to the transformation into a healthy lifestyle. Fitness model, inspiration, and personal trainer Kayla Itsines recognizes and strives to spread the importance of integrating a combination of high intensity resistance exercise and delicious, organic meals into our lives.
Kayla has created an Instagram empire full of girls and women across the world who preach their “beach body confidence.” Kayla’s #bbg community is full of women who have learned to love and care for their bodies.
Photo courtesy of @kayla_itsines on Instagram
We all wish we understood the secrets to our favorite models’ fitness and nutrition secrets just so that we could try it out for like, a day (before we resort back to our college stress eating habits). Well, we’ve got Kayla Itsine’s ideal meal plan for the day, but take note – she says “Health can happen without starving or restricting yourself… I’ve allowed for a cheat meal, like a piece of cake—it’s not a whole night out of drinking and eating greasy foods.” So don’t worry, you’re allowed to have that slice of birthday cake, warm chocolate chip cookie and chocolate pudding, too.
Breakfast
Photo courtesy of @kayla_itsines on Instagram
Kayla’s ideal breakfast includes two slices of whole wheat toast with a poached egg, avocado, tomatoes and some baby spinach. She feels it is important to give your body as many food groups as possible in every meal, providing your body with a healthy combo of macro and micronutrients.
Lunch
Photo courtesy of @kayla_itsines on Instagram
For lunch, Kayla shoots for a salad with lean protein. Salads, she says, are easy to make at home and are typically accessible at restaurants and cafés in essentially every location.
Her homemade salad normally consists of tuna, cucumber, pepper, mint, basil, onion, and mozzarella cheese. She also tosses in whole wheat croutons or quinoa to give her body complex carbs before she works out.
When she’s not eating salad, Kayla loves whole wheat wraps (stuffed with chicken, lettuce and tomato).
Snack
Photo courtesy of @kayla_itsines on Instagram
Snack time is the best time of the day – if you snack right, of course. Kayla appreciates the beauty in a good lookin’ açaí bowl and is a huge fruit lover. Her favorite fruit is mango because it’s full of Vitamin C and A which are essential for a strong and healthy immune system.
For a saltier option, Kayla also often indulges in tuna salad during snack time.
Dinner
Photo courtesy of kaylaitsines.com
Dinner is variation time for Kayla. She gives herself dinner time to change it up so that she never gets bored with what she’s eating. Her meals, though, almost always include some form of lean meat, veggies and complex carbs.
Some of her personal fave dishes are green chicken vegetable curry with brown rice, roast beef with vegetables and a chili quinoa, salmon with a summer salsa salad and Avgolemono (chicken stock with rice and lemon).
Before Bed
Photo by Alex Tom
After dinner, Kayla prefers not to eat anything else. However, she always finishes her day with a mug of chamomile tea to help settle her stomach after her final meal of the day.
#SpoonTip: As Kayla preaches, a combination of a wholesome diet and a consistent workout plan is key to reaching the body that you want. Follow @kayla_itsines on Instagram and check out her website for more info.