Nina Kaufmann

It’s the kind of title that pulls you in instantly, right? Sounds like a promise that what I offer might finally be the “right” way to eat.

And it makes sense, I totally understand you – there is something comforting and reassuring about seeing what someone else eats. Especially if it’s a nutritionist, dietitian, or even more common, beautiful skinny influencer whose body you secretly wish to have.
It can feel like if you just do what they do, you’ll finally get their body, it will all finally click.

But here’s the truth I need you to understand instead:

What I eat in a day has absolutely nothing to do with what your body needs.

The Issue with “What I Eat in a Day” Posts

These kinds of posts always perform well of social media (especially if the person posting it is thin enough), and I’m sure they’re meant to help and be inspiring. However, they often do more damage than they offer help.

The most obvious issue with “What I eat in a Day” posts is that they invite you to compare not only your body, but also your food intake with someone (who, btw, might have fabricated the whole thing – we can’t know what they really eat).

Sit with yourself just for a second and remember seeing this kind of post, and honestly consider how it made you feel about your eating habits.

• Did it make you believe you eat too much, too differently, not “perfect” or “clean” enough”?
• Did it make you feel like you’re not “disciplined” enough?
• Like if only you could eat these things, it would all finally work out?

If any of these ring familiar, you’ll notice how comparing yourself to this “ideal” moved you away from your own body’s wisdom, you’re no longer paying attention to what you need, but measuring up to someone else’s “day of eating”.

And the reality is, even if two people ate in exactly the same way their bodies would still respond differently, and it’s very unlikely they’d end up looking the same.

Because you’re unique, and ever-changing – and what works for you will likely not work for me or others.
Which brings me to;

Your Body Is Not a “Copy-Paste” Project

As said, you’re unique. Your needs are different than mine, and they change based on so many factors, such as:

• Your metabolism – which isn’t always the same
• Your lifestyle and activity level – which probably changes throughout week
• Your stress levels – hugely important for digestion!
• Your sleep quality – and how much sleep are you getting
• Your emotional state and how it impacts your eating
• Your environment
• Your hormonal fluctuations – yes, your menstrual cycle matters, and I’m 100% sure you’ve noticed it changes what you crave (sign up for my Nurturing Hormones Course to learn EVERYTHING one needs to know to support healthy hormone production)

Some days you’ll need more food.
Some days less.
Some days you’ll want fresh, light meals.
Other days you’ll want something warm and comforting.

All of that is normal, and good for you!
Trying to make your eating habits fit into someone else’s “perfect day of clean eating” is unrealistic and disconnects you from your body, making it difficult to feel what you really need, and give yourself that.

Speaking of your body being unique,

Negative Impact on Body Image And More

If you’ve ever struggled with dieting, desperately trying to change your body, these kinds of posts can be especially triggering and harmful.

Because they create illusion that there is “right” and “wrong” way to eat, and that by eating like a certain influencer you’ll end up looking like them (and consequently, having their confidence and all the privileges that come from being thin and pretty) – naturally, when this doesn’t happen, you end up blaming yourself, feeling like a failure – while completely forgetting that your body isn’t supposed to look like someone else’s.

Moreover, when you try to emulate what other people eat, you inevitably end up ignoring your own hunger and fullness cues, disconnecting yourself further from them, until you don’t even know when or if you’re hungry or full, and how it feels in your body. I’ve worked with so many lovely women who, when asked, have no clue what hunger feels like except the strong grumbling pain in the stomach – at which point, they’re starved and ready to overeat on anything available.

Long term, this disconnect creates more harm because it reinforces unhealthy relationship with food, bringing you towards starving and overeating cycle.

And sinking into that vicious cycle, your food obsession, restrictive patterns and guilt if you eat something that’s not “perfect” rapidly increase, and before you know it you’re swimming in disordered eating waters.

Sure, this might not – and probably won’t – happen from seeing one or two of these posts, but the way algorithm works, and the way these posts are always performing well, I’m willing to bet you’ve seen more than a few of these posts.

And surely, you will not find yourself jumping in the extremes of food guilt from seeing a few posts, which I believe is the worst part – it moves you slowly towards disordered eating part of the eating habits spectrum, mostly without even noticing until it does become extreme.

Such are the cases with my clients, rarely anyone jumps into food obsession, they usually tell me “it all started with a little, innocent “watching what I eat” diet” and over time it slowly took over their lives.

Which isn’t to say you can’t mindfully choose foods to nourish your body, you definitely can – that’s why intuitive eating offers a whole principle of gentle nutrition. (Which, btw, I talk about in many of my courses – check them out here.)

But your mind-set needs to be flexible and free from dieting rules for you to truly embrace the goodness of nutrition, while understading that all foods fit in a healthy eating world.

And if you need assistance getting to that kind of mind-set, my door is always open to you, simply book your free call and we’ll see how I can support you on your journey – you don’t have to figure it out alone.

A Note on Body Diversity

For many reasons, which are a topic for another day, we’re constantly bombarded with this idea that there is one type of ideal body – if you close your eyes just for a moment and imagine “perfect body”, you’ll likely imagine a thin woman or idealized proportions, likely with long pretty flowing (blond) hair, blue eyes, small nose and perfect jaw. Or something similar.

These are the beauty standards many of us have grown up with, in the movies, magazined, social media, women that fit into this ideal are presented as the ultimate goal we all must strive to achieve to be acceptable.

Naturally, this is not what reality of womanhood looks like.

Our bodies are meant to be different, diverse – and that abundance of different beauties is what makes our world interesting and fun. And you’re contributing to the wonder of the world just by being yourself, and I don’t care how cheesy that sounds 🙂

It’s pretty simple – just like we all have different eye colors, heights, shoe sizes and personalities we also have different:

• Body shapes
• Fat distribution
• Natural set points

Even if two people eat the same way, they are not meant to look the same.

That’s the beauty of it! We’re meant to be diverse, it serves biological purpose for the humankind – the more diverse we are, the more likely we’re to adapt and survive.

So… What Do I Eat in a Day?

Honestly, it simply depends. One thing is for sure – it’s not perfect!

I eat:
– what I feel like eating
– what’s available
– enough to be comfortably full and satisfied
– something sweet daily 🙂
– in a way that supports my well-being, my energy
– in a way that’s flexible and imperfect

Some days are more balanced, other days are a busy mess.
Some days are more structured, other days are spontaneous.
Some days include many different vegetables, other days include many different baked goods.

And it’s all normal part of being a human.

Where Does That Leave You?

Well, with an invitation to notice – notice how these posts make you feel.

Truly take a moment to consider each point from this article and gently notice if seeing these posts makes you feel better or worse, does it help you move in direction of sustainable, flexible, gentle health – or does it help you spiral into trying to eat perfectly.

If you notice it’s not working in your favor, take a step back – click “not interested”, unfollow, even block. Your inner peace and mental health is always worth protecting.

Instead of comparing yourself to others, you can begin to ask:

• What do I feel like eating today?
• What would satisfy me right now?
• What does my body need in this moment?

Because the most important “day of eating” you can learn from… is your own.

You Don’t Have to Figure This Out Alone

Healing your relationship with food requires unlearning and straight up rejecting deeply ingrained beliefs that are reinforced daily wherever you look, listening to signals that may have been ignored for years, and practicing new responses in moments that feel vulnerable and charged.
That’s hard to do without support! And it’s even harder with that mean voice in your head has been shaped by diet culture for a long time.

This is where working with a trusted professional makes a difference.

You get guidance, structure, and compassionate accountability so you’re not constantly second-guessing yourself or wondering if you’re “doing it right.”

This journey becomes easier (and faster, honestly) when you’re supported, when someone helps you connect the dots. And far more sustainable when you don’t have to carry it all on your own.

You can book a free discovery call to see whether my coaching packages are the right fit for you and where you are right now.

You need and deserve support that actually meets you where you are.