WIAW
WIAW = What I ate Wednesday. Sharing a full day of eats, from start to finish.
Hi friends! How’s the day going so far? I have 1:1 clients this morning and am starting wrapping extravaganza after school. I only have two days to do it, so I better get crack-a-lackin.
For today’s post, I thought I’d share a WIAW style post, since they’re already being requested in my annual survey and I haven’t done one in a while. To be honest, I’ve developed mixed feelings towards these types of posts. I really thought they were just designed to share new ideas and food combos, but then I realized that they can also become a source of comparison. (An account I follow on IG did a great post about this, and I completely agree with everything she said.)
WIAW
I LOVE reading these types of posts, but can absolutely see how the comparison trap can rear its ugly head. “She had more vegetables than me. Oh, her husband cooked dinner; must be nice. I don’t have time to eat lunch like that. I want to buy those ingredients, but budget is tight.” etc.etc. It can go on and on, and so many aspects of the health and fitness world can unintentionally invite the potential for comparison.
At the end of the day, I’ve realized that I have to focus on myself and what I can control within my means. Comparison serves zero purpose whatsoever.
At the same time, it can be really tempting to compare, and I do it to myself, all the time, especially with other creators who have huge teams and bigger online followings. (I hate that I have to care about numbers, but like I mentioned in my last post, brands care a lot about numbers.)
But, I realized that by comparing, I’m stealing my own joy. Instead of using comparison to feel bad about myself, I use it as inspiration. What tiny piece can I implement for myself? With the example of other creators, I can think of something like, “Ok, I don’t have a huge team, but I can definitely outsource x,y, and z.” Or “Even though I don’t have as many followers, I LOVE all of the people who chose to follow me.” I’m proud of the fact that I’ve never (and will never) buy followers or engagement just for the sake of numbers. (Not saying everyone who has huge followings does that, but quite a few people do.)
Just wanted to add this little note in here as I head into this particular day of (*imperfect* but delicious) eats. Hopefully you can get some new meal ideas or combos from this post!
6:30am:
Coffee: a decaf coffee with collagen, almond milk, and Stevia. I drink about half of it while I get dressed and take the rest in the car with me.
I have to take the kids to get COVID tested before school, so I don’t grab any snacks and end up eating half of P’s discarded waffle in the car. Testing takes forever, they’re over an hour late to school, but we make it.
10am:
Breakfast! Two hard boiled eggs with a Trader Joe’s overnight oats. I also take my supplements and drink another decaf coffee while talking to 1:1 clients
Noon: Lunch is leftovers! I LOVE leftovers for lunch because it makes life so much easier. I have some smoked turkey with Primal Kitchen buffalo sauce, asparagus, and vegan pumpkin curry soup (from the Whole Foods deli). Super easy and delicious.
Post-workout: a smoothie with frozen berries (I love the frozen berry packs with spinach from Costco), spinach, a banana, almond milk, Organifi harmony, and vanilla Nuzest protein powder. I didn’t snap a pic of the smoothie, but did snap one of my outfit lol. It’s always a good day when I can wear rain boots! It’s been cloudy and lovely here in Tucson.
Dinner: Taco Tuesday! Two chicken tacos, 1 margarita, and approximately 1483 chips at Calle Tepa
What I liked about this day of eats:
It was a higher carb day according to my Lumen, and I feel like it was the perfect recharge for my muscles. I used to avoid higher carb days because it felt unnatural to me – I ate lower carb for so much of my life, because it’s what helped me in my initial weight loss journey. I was very used to this eating style, but I’ve worked on switching it up and increasing my carb intake over the past handful of years.
This day also included a margarita, which automatically made it a gold star. I’m not drinking a ton these days – trying to just have 1-2 glasses per week because my energy is so much better without it – but I still love wine and ‘ritas.
What I didn’t love about this day of eats:
It was a little lower on the veggie side. I got three-ish servings of veggies (spinach, asparagus, and pumpkin soup), and my goal is typically 4-6 fists of non-starchy veggies.
So, tell me friends: what do you think of WIAW style posts? Do you like them, or nah?
What do you do when you feel yourself getting sucked into the comparison trap?
xo
Gina
12 Comments
Leave a Comment
This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.
I love these posts! It gives me great ideas and is always nice to see what others struggle/succeed with! Thank you!
Love WIAW!
I love WIAW. I definitely use them for inspiration, not comparison. Thanks for the post!
I like them, but don’t love when they include portion size notes. Not sure if there’s a way to avoid that, because of the photos which are sort of the point, but sometimes when people make sure to note “my bowl is REALLY big, trust me that’s a huge serving!” or “this, plus an unpictured five handfuls of chips” I guess that’s where I feel like the comparison trap can come in, or they’re trying to seem like they eat a lot and it’s a wink-wink thing that I don’t love. I don’t know! But I do like seeing the variety of foods people eat and get ideas myself, so I’m more pro-WIAW than anti!
I love WIAW. It always gives me great ideas. Lunch is always my hardest meal to be creative and these posts definitely give me inspo. I totally understand your hesitation towards comparison but I think your posts are always authentic and readers know that.
I like the WIAW posts and I use them as inspiration or to discover new ideas. For example, pumpkin curry soup?? I would love that and am going to look for it at my local Whole Foods. Also love your outfit, especially the sweater. Where is it from?
I like them- although I think I read the same post about comparisons and totally get that some people are triggered by them. I think as long as you’re using them as a “new fun food combo ideas!” instead of a “why is she skinnier than me and eating more than me” kind of comparison, its good. Personally, I enjoy yours more than others because you use a lot of products from trader joes, whole foods, costco etc that I haven’t heard about and thats helpful to me, especially for getting lunch and snack ideas.
I love these posts, I can totally see how people could pay the comparison game but you can’t control other people! I like them just for different ideas for meals and such!
I like these posts! I am not a huge comparisson person, but I can see how someone might easiy fall into that park. I like these post because I am just naturally curious about what other people eat. I find it facinating.
Thanks for giving the background on why you don’t love WIAW posts. I totally agree with your perspective but still enjoy getting a glimpse into someone’s day in the life. As I think others have mentioned, the reaction from your readers is not in your control. My therapist always reminds me that you’re not responsible for how other people react, which is helpful for those who tend towards people-pleasing. Honestly I always find it refreshing to see the random half waffle or the 7am piece of dark chocolate! I am much more likely to read your WIAW posts than someone who just drinks green smoothies and eats kale salads all day long, lol 🙂
“I’m proud of the fact that I’ve never (and will never) buy followers or engagement just for the sake of numbers.”
Respectfully, you did exactly this when you participated in a loop giveaway a while back (I believe it was related to peloton?) Loop giveaways are transparent follower grabs facilitated through a material prize, which you paid to contribute to. I’m a longtime follower but I remember being so disappointed in you when I saw that. I’ve since checked back in with your blog because I think you make great and genuinely helpful content. It doesn’t look like you’ve done a loop giveaway in a while, and I found this post through your most recent WIAW.
I so wish you’d address your participation in a stunt like that. We all make mistakes, but you owe it to your followers to hold yourself accountable when our engagement drives your profit.
Hi! Thanks so much for sharing your feedback with me. I have participated in a couple of loop giveaways, with other bloggers friends – and we each paid for the prize as a way to support a lucky follower. We have similar accounts and often share readers and audiences, so it was a nice way to introduce our followers to some new health-related accounts and different voices/viewpoints. This is very, very different than going to a website and paying a thousand dollars to purchase followers and likes. I’m sad to hear that you think it’s the same thing and would imply that I have dishonest intentions.
Also, I’ve never worked with Peloton or given anything away that’s Peloton-related 😉