This weeks My Day On A Plate comes from Tess from Wellness By Tess.
As weekdays are usually super busy I like to get started early. That means getting up around 5am. My ritual consists of 20 minutes of mindfulness or meditation, 20 minutes of journaling or writing my To-Do’s for the day and then one hour of exercise – either running, surfing or walking the promenade from Bondi to Bronte. I never deviate from any of those things. It’s become a habit and makes me ready to charge for the rest of the day. That being said, with such an early rise I also fade pretty early at night. Being in bed by 9pm is pretty standard.
Food is an important part of my day, as for anyone I suppose, but I try to choose very wisely – without obsessing – and to make food choices that will be truly nourishing to my body. Because of autoimmune issues, I steer clear from grains and dairy. In saying that, I sometimes have my long black with a dash of milk. It’s all about balance for me.
Breakfast is by far my largest meal of the day. My flatmates and I sometimes joke about the fact that we should open up a breakfast café on our balcony. At 7 am we take turns at poaching eggs, baking veggies, making colourful salads and decorating our breakfast plates best we can. This usually includes vegetables, salad, avocado, eggs, different dips, cultured kimchi and some type of meat, which has been left over from last days dinner. It’s a big meal and keeps me full all the way through to 2 pm.
My lunches are a little lighter and since most of my days are spent doing deliveries and seeing customers, I often grab lunch on the go and eat on the road. It can be anything from filling smoothies, sashimi or bunless burgers. If I have enough time I will make sure I stay at any of the cafés where we deliver.
Not only is it a great way to catch up with my customers, it also breaks up my day and allows me to sit down for a while. In my business I never really do, it’s a constant go-go-go and I spend most of the day on my feet.
I don’t usually snack too much during the day since my main meals tend to fill me up. However, I always make sure I have lots of nuts and water in the car for those long hours in peak hour Sydney traffic.
If I have had a chance to finish my day before 6 pm, I go to the gym - Crossfit Bondi, where I train at least 3-4 days a week. I love that exercise completely exhausts me but that the endorphins also make me thrive. I am at my happiest when I have a nice rhythm and balance of eat-sleep-train-work-repeat.
Dinners are mainly eaten at home. We cook a lot together where I live, and take turns in doing big cook-ups for everyone. It can be anything from slow cooked meats, steaks, barbecued fish, Mexican burrito bowls or frittatas. Anything hearty and protein-based goes!
After dinner, I get ready for the coming day. This means packing the gym-bag, getting the invoices in order, responding to emails and doing general business admin.
Once my head hits the pillow I could never count to more than 3 sheep and I am fast asleep. Work hard and sleep well is my day to day motto.