Elizabeth Narins is the senior fitness and health editor at Cosmopolitan.com. If that’s not impressive enough, Elizabeth was Cosmopolitan.com’s inaugural fitness editor and the first one at Hearst Digital Media. Oh, and she’s also a certified personal trainer, taking her wellness knowledge to a completely different level. Wondering what this health and fitness expert/media boss eats in a day? Find it all below.

Breakfast

What I eat: My morning motto is “but first, coffee,” so I make a cup with a splash of almond milk, first thing. I also down a glass of water, something I try to do every day to hydrate before my morning workouts. The scent of the coffee grinds wakes me up enough to wield a knife while my coffee brews, so I chop up a bunch of fruit—today it’s strawberries, grapes, and an apple. In a small bowl, I mix some fruit salad with a dollop of Greek yogurt for protein and bran flakes for some crunch, then sprinkle it with cinnamon for the façade of fancy.
The time I eat it: 7 A.M. To fuel up before exercise and give myself time to digest, I eat breakfast now, when I log on for my first hour of work from home.
How I make it or where I got it: I made it! I’m the designated chef in the household I share with my husband. 

Snack

What I eat: On my way to the office, I get an iced coffee with a splash of soy milk. (How much coffee is too much coffee?!) At my desk, I eat a string cheese and an apple.
The time I eat it: 11 A.M.
How I make it or where I got it: I got my coffee at Starbucks. The snack came from my fridge—I stocked up on groceries over the weekend. And I snagged an apple from our office fridge. We typically keep lots of chips and fruit around.

Lunch

What I eat: For years I packed sad lunch salads to eat at my desk, but since I began at Cosmo, I let that very responsible habit fall by the wayside. With food at arm’s reach, I realized, I’d never leave my desk and get uber antsy by the end of the work day. Now, I am officially the most boring human alive (but at least I take a break to stretch my legs!): Monday through Friday, I buy the same exact salad from the same exact place. It’s an everything-but-the-kitchen-sink chopped salad with romaine lettuce, chicken, roasted veggies, cherry tomatoes, broccoli, peppers, carrots, peppers, and beets. I typically get red wine vinegar and salt and pepper. (I’m not an oil-hater, but hate greasy salads, so I steer clear of the stuff when eating out.) It comes with a piece of seven-grain bread, a good thing because what’s a meal without carbs?!
The time I eat it: 2:45 P.M.
How I make it or where I got it: A random deli on 8th Avenue where they know my order by heart.

Dinner

What I eat: My husband has been dying to try new restaurants in our new neighborhood, but I’ve been in homebody-mode since our recent move to Brooklyn, and I insisted on making dinner. Every non-breakfast meal I make legitimately revolves around salad because <3 <3 <3, so I made a big one with mixed lettuce, fresh corn, feta, and cherry tomatoes dressed in a homemade balsamic vinaigrette. I also sautéed fresh asparagus with a little salt, and tossed two veggie burgers—one for me and one for the hubs—in a pan for some protein.
The time I eat it: 9 P.M. I typically try to eat earlier but got home from work on the late side.
How I make it or where I got it: I made it! I bought the asparagus on my way home, had salad stuff in my fridge from my last grocery store run, and always keep a stash of veggie, salmon, and turkey burgers in my freezer for fast meals.

Snack

What I eat: Frozen banana.
The time I eat it: 9:45 P.M.
How I make it or where I got it: My freezer. Instead of tempting myself with ice cream—I’m a fanatic!—I freeze ripe banana chunks to satisfy my cravings. Yes, it’s lame, and doesn’t always do the trick quite like a pint of chocolate cookie dough ice cream, but don’t knock it ‘til you try it.

Workout

Workout I did: I’ve always been a morning workout person even though it makes my mornings hectic. Today, I was short on time so I did an abbreviated version of my typical 60-minute workout: a mix of cardio—I love to sweat and clock steps before I get to my desk!—and full-body weight training.
I ran about a half a mile to my gym and clocked 20 minutes on the elliptical, mostly to finish watching a Netflix movie I’d begun (since I discovered this amazing phone mount, I always watch TV on my phone while I work out!) After, I did three rounds of a butt circuit I picked up from a fitfluencer I interviewed for Get That Butt, a Cosmo column I launched earlier this year (although I recently discovered a genius way to enhance my butt without exercise, I can’t resist a good booty burnout!) Without taking breaks, I did about 12 reps of dumbbell squats, barbell traveling lunges, barbell hip thrusts, and kneeling kickbacks. I only had time for three rounds, so I didn’t do my new favorite finisher, supersets of Bulgarian deadlifts and split squats with my rear leg on a bench. Instead, I did about 30 barbell deadlifts and three sets of 10 triceps kickbacks before jogging the half mile home to get ready for work.
The time I do it: 8:15 A.M.

Overall thoughts

While I love novelty, I thrive on routine. The only thing my day was missing is wine.

What are other wellness activities or habits that make you feel like your best self?

Eating the same breakfast and lunch every day, and working out at the same time each day helps me feel my best. I find the fewer decisions I have to make–like whether to lace up and get out or sleep in, and whether to make my first meal a bagel or bowl of yogurt—the better, particularly since I’ve spent years figuring out what foods make me feel awesome.

Anything else you’d like to add

Years of interviewing women on their habits has taught me there’s no one-size-fits-all diet or fitness routine. So while it’s fun to look to others for inspo, you have to figure out what makes you feel fantastic, and do you. Also—and you’ve heard this before—eating well is all about balance. On the weekends and many weeknights, I love eating out—all the better if dessert and that second glass of wine happens!