A resource from Reina · No. 01
The Weekly
Table
The question I'm asked most is some version of what do you eat.
The honest answer isn't a list of foods. Refinement, I've come to believe, is less a set of rules than a way of paying attention — and it doesn't stop at how we dress or how we speak. It reaches the plate. What follows is how I eat from Monday to Thursday: one week, held loosely, built so the small daily deciding is done long before the hunger arrives.
A few things I hold to
The day opens with a ritual
Before anything else — a glass of lukewarm water, then a spoon of olive oil on an empty stomach. A small, deliberate beginning. The first attention of the day, paid to the body.
The morning follows the hour, not the day
Before nine, I want warmth: a banana, two boiled eggs, half a steamed sweet potato. After nine, something cool: Greek yogurt with berries — raspberry, blueberry, blackberry, a kiwi if there's one about — a teaspoon of chia, and a broken protein ball for a touch of peanut butter. The clock decides, so I don't have to.
Never arrive at a meal starving
Hunger left too long chooses badly — it reaches for the fattiest, fastest thing within grasp. So I don't let myself reach that edge. On the way to a restaurant, or waiting on a late dinner, I'll have a mandarin or a banana first, to line the stomach. The meal is then met with appetite rather than desperation, and the ordering stays considered.
One thing, cooked once, carried forward
I cook a protein a single time and let it travel through the week. Monday's turkey becomes Tuesday's lunch; Tuesday's chicken carries into Wednesday and Thursday. Less waste, less thought, and the week comes to hold together on its own.
What fills the glass matters too
Water and coffee through the day; a clear tea, or plum extract in warm water, come evening; the occasional ginger kombucha. Nothing sugary, nothing fizzing. Kept simple, the palate stays clean — and so, I find, does the wanting.
The shape of the week
Monday
Per the rule — warm, or cool
Pan-seared salmon, boiled broccoli, a little sweet potato
Turkey taco salad
the turkey carries to TuesdayTuesday
Per the rule
Yesterday's turkey, broccoli, potatoes if I want the carbs
from MondayMediterranean roast chicken thighs, potatoes, carrots, courgettes
the chicken carries to Wednesday & ThursdayWednesday
Per the rule
The roast chicken and its vegetables
from TuesdayCod, rice & quinoa, boiled broccoli
the grains carry to ThursdayThursday
Per the rule
Rice & quinoa, broccoli, the last of the chicken
from Tuesday & WednesdayA wagyu burger, a loaded salad — leaves, cheese, nuts, a little fruit
the week's small indulgence, earnedFriday I leave open. The week has done its work by then.
The printable
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