Claudia Mirallegro's 'mindful diet' offers food for thought in our latest #WhatIEat
New Body Confidential series sharing the daily eating habits of people living and working in Manchester. #WHATIEAT
Name: Claudia Mirallegro
Occupation: Yoga fanatic
How many meals do you eat in a typical day?
"I try to approach my food intake from a place of mindfulness. Recognising when I am actually hungry, only eating nourishing meals for fuel and being able to stop when I’m comfortably full. Some days that means three meals, some days one."
How many calories?
"Counting calories, working out your micros and your macros, weighing food seems totally unnatural to me. The thing is, your internal biological systems knows exactly how many calories you need for fuel in order to survive. Listen to your body. Instead of focusing on eating less, try to do more."
Breakfast
"I’m up & out super early every morning. If I’ve been organised, I would have prepped a juice, smoothie or oats the night before. I’m also really into chia pudding at the moment – it’s so simple and quick to prepare – I’m a big fan of simplicity and efficiently."
Lunch
"For lunch, I’ll aim to make something light. I love roasted veggies. My go-to would be peppers, carrots, cauliflower, broccoli & courgette sprinkled with a concoction of spices and olive oil and bringing them to crisp."
Dinner
"My Italian roots make me a carb lover. However wheat can make me bloat, so my trick is to play around with alternatives like cauliflower rice ( YES YES YES ), pesto spaghetti squash and lettuce wraps."
What do you eat pre workout
"I like to work out and practice in the morning, on an empty stomach but I will always fuel up with coffee (and almond milk). Coffee gets a bad rep, but I find that coffee really enhances my performance, physically and emotionally."
Post workout
"After working out, it would normally be time for breakfast or lunch. If it’s not meal time, then I’ll snack on almonds – they definitely always hit the spot."
Snacks
"Nuts! They’re honestly one of the best snacks ever. They contain so much goodness; Fibre - which lowers cholesterol & promotes a healthy colon, Vitamin E - improving skin, the immune system & helping repair DNA. They also happen to be one of the most powerful antioxidants, ever."
Is your diet easy to stick to?
"First and foremost, my nutrition choices are based on the fact that I’m vegan. Since this is for ethical reasons rather than dietary ones, I find it super easy."
What's the biggest misconception about your diet?
"I hear people say “Oh my God, what do you actually eat, it must be so hard to be vegan” all the time.
Honestly? There’s so much choice. There are lots of alternatives to dairy and meat that I actually think, how can people not be vegan?! We’re riding on the wave of veganism at the moment, where businesses are producing healthy vegan options everywhere.
But everyone’s different & you’ve got to do what works for you."
Favourite cheat food
"If it’s the weekend, then I’ll indulge in whatever I fancy. I’m a sucker for Dough’s Vegan Cheese Margarita Pizza. For me, it’s less about restriction and more about moderation."
Favourite place to eat in Manchester?
"Breakfast – avocado bagel from Federal.
Lunch – roasted squash, red onion, quinoa, tahini, spinach & dukkah from Evelyn’s.
Dinner – all the veg/vegan plates from El Gato Negro."
