What I Eat in a Day to Stay Lean & Muscular in My 40s (Full Meal Plan)

Do you ever wonder what a fit person actually eats in a day? My full meal plan is below.

People sometimes assume I stay lean because I don’t eat very much. The reality is the exact opposite: I eat a lot of food.

One of the biggest misconceptions about getting fit is that you need to spend your life hungry. But when you build your diet around protein, fiber, fruits, vegetables, and simple foods you prepare yourself, you can eat a surprising amount of food while still staying lean.

Here are three things I’ve learned over the years.

1. Focus on what you should eat

Most diets give you a long list of foods you’re not allowed to eat. I take the opposite approach.

Start by eating the foods your body needs: plenty of protein, fiber, fruits, vegetables, and minimally processed foods. Once you’ve eaten all of that, you probably won’t have much appetite left for junk food. It’s much easier to make good choices when you’re genuinely satisfied.

2. Eat on a schedule

I set alarms for my meals and try to stick to the same general schedule every day. This helps me eat substantive meals before I become overly hungry — which is when most of us make our worst food decisions.

You don’t necessarily need to eat at the same times I do. The important thing is to create a schedule that works for you and follow it consistently.

3. Keep your food simple

Most of what I eat is basic food that I prepare myself: eggs, fruit, vegetables, chicken, beef, potatoes, kefir, and a protein smoothie. It isn’t complicated, and that’s part of why it works.

Restaurant meals and heavily processed foods make it incredibly easy to consume a lot of calories without feeling particularly full. Simple, high-protein and high-fiber meals tend to do the opposite.

What I eat in a day: my full meal plan

For context, I’m 5’11”, approximately 195 pounds, and around 11% body fat at 43 years old. This is what a typical day of eating looks like for me — roughly 220 grams of protein and 60 grams of fiber across four meals.

8:00 AM — Breakfast (65g protein)

• 5 eggs
• 1½ cups plain, unsweetened kefir
• 1½ cups black, unsweetened coffee
• 1 slice sourdough toast with butter, honey & cinnamon
• ½ cup broccoli, ½ cup carrots, ½ cup blueberries
• 2 large radishes, 3 tbsp pumpkin seeds

11:30 AM — Lunch 1: Protein smoothie (45g protein)

• 2 cups greens, 1 cup carrots
• Ginger, black pepper, turmeric, matcha
• 20g collagen, 25g protein powder
• 1 tbsp flaxseed, 1 cup blueberries
• 1 whole peeled lemon

3:00 PM — Lunch 2 (45g protein)

• Large grilled chicken breast
• 1 apple

6:30 PM — Dinner (65g protein)

• 2 burger patties (⅓ lb each)
• 2 slices Havarti
• 1 large potato with shredded cheese & sour cream
• Grilled vegetables or Brussels sprouts

Daily total

220g protein  |  60g fiber. High-protein, high-fiber food is filling. Eat the good stuff first, and junk food gets a lot less tempting.

That is a lot of food — probably much more by volume than most people eat in a day. Of course, plenty of people consume more total calories than this. But some calories are much easier to eat than others.

If you eat this much protein, fiber, fruit, and vegetables first, I’d be surprised if you still had much room — or desire — for a large amount of junk food. That’s the point. You don’t have to rely entirely on willpower to avoid less-helpful foods. You can make them far less tempting by filling yourself with nutritious food first.

This week’s challenge

Create a realistic daily eating schedule for yourself and follow it for one week. You don’t need to copy my quantities — adjust your portions to fit your body size, activity level, and goals — but use the same basic structure:

• Build every meal around protein.
• Include high-fiber foods throughout the day.
• Eat mostly simple foods you prepare yourself.
• Choose your meal times in advance.
• Eat before you become ravenously hungry.

At the end of each day, ask yourself:

• Was this enough food?
• Did I stay satisfied between meals?
• Did I have fewer cravings for junk food?
• Could I realistically eat this way again?

Don’t try to design the “perfect” diet. Design a way of eating that keeps you satisfied, supports your goals, and is simple enough to repeat. If you can get that down, fitness becomes much easier.

—Connor

Frequently asked questions

Can you eat a lot of food and still stay lean?

Yes. When you build your meals around protein, fiber, fruits, and vegetables, you can eat a high volume of food and still stay lean, because those foods are very filling relative to their calories. The key is eating the nutritious, filling foods first.

How much protein and fiber do you eat in a day?

A typical day for me is about 220 grams of protein and 60 grams of fiber, spread across four meals: breakfast, a protein smoothie, a second lunch, and dinner.

What does a high-protein, high-fiber day of eating look like?

Breakfast is eggs, kefir, fruit, and vegetables; late morning is a greens-and-protein smoothie; mid-afternoon is grilled chicken and an apple; dinner is burgers with cheese, a loaded potato, and vegetables. Every meal is built around a substantial protein source with fiber-rich foods alongside.

What’s the easiest way to stop craving junk food?

Fill up on nutritious, high-protein, high-fiber food first. When you’re genuinely satisfied, junk food becomes far less tempting, so you rely less on willpower and more on simply being full.