The Vegan Society’s Emily McKee reveals what goes into a dietitian’s own daily diet
Nutrition facts
This month I’m answering the question, ‘What do dietitians eat?’, by giving you a little insight into my daily diet. Everyone has different nutritional needs and preferences, so it’s important not to take ‘what I eat in a day’ features as a steadfast guide to your own diet, but they can be an interesting insight into someone else’s life, why they choose the foods that they do, and it might spark your interest in trying something new!
Breakfast
My go-to weekday breakfast is overnight oats, which I prepare in batches to save time. At the moment I’m using a mixture of rolled and steel-cut oats with a hefty spoonful of hemp or linseeds and half a scoop of vanilla protein powder, soaked in fortified soya milk and topped with frozen fruit. I always have this with a cup of black coffee. It may be psychological, but I always need a strong coffee to feel fully awake and ready for the day.
This meal has a good balance of carbohydrates and protein, a source of omega-3 fats from the hemp or flaxseeds, and one of my five-a-day. Frozen fruit is just as nutritious as fresh, and it keeps much longer which helps to minimise food waste.
While it is possible to get all the protein you need on a vegan diet without supplementation, I choose to add a small amount of protein powder because I do frequent weightlifting, meaning my protein needs are a little higher than average. The soya milk and seeds also provide rich sources of protein in this breakfast.
Lunch
I’ve never been a sandwich person – my mum reports that even as a child I’d pick a sandwich apart so I could eat all the components separately! When the weather is warm, I tend to have a big salad for lunch – leafy greens, celery, cherry tomatoes, peppers, pickles, olives and cucumber. To make sure it provides me with enough energy for my afternoon I add a portion of carbs, usually flavoured rice, and top with a source of protein, such as tofu, tempeh or chickpeas, plus a creamy dressing. In the colder months, I like a bowl of ramen, as you can customise it depending on what vegetables you have in the house. My favourite bowls contain soba noodles and air-fried tofu in miso broth. I’ve started topping my ramen with kimchi recently, because it is a fermented food that promotes the health of our gut microbiome.
Dinner
I vary my dinners depending on wh
