What I Eat In A Day: Matt Boyles Personal Trainer
Ever wondered what a personal trainer eats in a day? How do they stay so lean and fit? Sundried ambassador Matt Boyles talks us through what he eats in a day.
Breakfast - Protein Shake
Some people take a while to recover their appetite in the morning, but as soon as I open my eyes I’m ravenous and I’m always thinking about food. As a Personal Trainer, I have to be up early to train clients, so I need something convenient that feeds me and my muscles without needing to get up two hours early to chew and digest it. Because of that, I usually start with a high calorie, high protein, high carb Mass Gainer shake. It tastes delicious and delivers the macros and energy I need to get me through three consecutive sessions on Clapham Common from 6.15am. I also add in some fibre in the form of 5g of Psyllium husks and top it off with 3g of Creatine.
Flexible Dieting
I’m always studying and researching health, fitness and mindset as I know I don’t have all the answers. Over the summer, I’ve specifically been using flexible dieting on myself, and introducing the concept to various clients.
Flexible dieting means eating set ratios of protein, carbs and fats each day, keeping to an overall calorie target too. It was surprisingly easy to fit into my life, just using a food diary to track what I eat, getting better at hitting my numbers each day.
What this means is I can eat what I want, as long as it fits into my macros. Not that I’m advocating eating 3,000 calories of ice cream, it's within reason! I apply the 80:20 rule to the quality of food I eat (80% of it is good quality, healthy stuff, 20%... is less so), but it means that if I do want to eat something ‘bad’ I can, as long as I keep an eye on my tracker.
When I’m on it and being really good, I’ll prep lots of meals on Sunday night so they’re always to hand and this means I don’t have to make any stressful decisions when I’m hungry. Plus, I know what’s gone into them, so they’re traceable.
Lunch - Sushi Box
I believe I invented sushi boxes! Very simply, you cook up some sushi rice, buy some sushi-grade fish, then line a Tupperware box with Nori seaweed, chuck in the rice, chuck in the fish (chopped into chunks for convenience), chuck in half an avocado (also chopped up), pop some wasabi in the corner and you’re done! (My Japanese client says I haven’t invented these and they’ve been around for years, but what does she know).
Three of these boxes will keep me going during the day.
If I’m going to the gym for me, I’ll also have a post workout shake, containing 50g of whey protein, 500ml of skimmed milk, a squeeze of honey and 3g of creatine.
Dinner - Home cooked meal
My partner Tom and I will alternate turns cooking. Generally it will follow the formula I’ve applied all day: good protein, good carbs, some veg. However Tom is French, so there will also usually be some bread and cheese on the table, but you know, everything in moderation!
