Peloton Instructor Kendall Toole Calls This Her 'Electric Jolt' Smoothie
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Peloton instructor Kendall Toole has a "never say never" mentality when it comes to what she eats. She just has one rule: She wants to be able to pronounce everything in the ingredients list.
“Food is one of the most beautiful forms of self-care we can give ourselves,” Kendall tells Women’s Health. But that doesn't mean skipping out on foods you love. She says that eating has been villainized, making women feel like they have to live up to a certain set of standards to be validated, and that can affect eating habits.
But there was a time when Kendall couldn’t eat everything she wanted. Before her first year at college, she developed an autoimmune response that caused her body to reject certain kinds of foods. Her body reacted badly to ingredients such as gluten, dairy, soy, yeast, shellfish, pork, red grapes, strawberries, and tomatoes. So she removed them from her diet.
That’s when she fell in love with cooking, particularly seafood and Japanese cuisine. She also learned about alternative flours and switched to a mostly plant-based diet.
“It became this exploration and kind of what started my interest in food, wellness, and nutrition, as well as fitness, because I was so frustrated,” says Kendall, who recently launched a partnership with the clean fragrance brand Good Kind Pure.
“Frankly, I was hangry for so much of my first two years of college that I got to the point where I was like, ‘Let me just work out. I'm pissed off and stressed out.’”
After two years of living like that, she said “screw it” and had what she calls her Eat, Pray, Love moment when she studied abroad in Italy. (“I'm Italian. When I bleed, I probably bleed tomato sauce," she jokes.)
While in Italy, Kendall had all of the things that were supposed to make her sick, but surprisingly had no issues. She found that Europe doesn’t process foods like the U.S. does, since Europe has higher standards for its products.
“What you're going to find is something that you would find in the healthier potato chip aisle of Whole Foods, but it's not marked up,” Kendall says. To this day, her doctors are still trying to figure out exactly what caused her body to initially reject certain foods. Looking back, Kendall acknowledges that it may have likely been part stress-induced and part diet-induced.
For now, she sticks to eating a mostly plant-based diet while practicing intuitive eating, a form of eating that focuses on internal cues, like hunger and satisfaction to inform eating choices. She also likes getting as close to the source as possible, which means shopping local and supporting farmers.
She embraces foods that make her happy. “[Eating] is never something that we need to label as good or bad. I hate the concept of ‘clean eating’ and ‘dirty,’” she says. “It's not one or the other. There is nothing wrong with enjoying a mozzarella stick. I love me a frickin’ mozzarella stick.”
Kendall takes that mentality with her throughout her day when it comes to what she eats. Here's what her daily menu looks like:
Breakfast
When Kendall is gearing up for a morning of leading workout classes, she opts for a smoothie that she makes herself. It often includes orange juice (freshly squeezed, if there’s time), banana, coconut water, frozen pineapple, and greens.
If she needs an immune boost, she’ll add ginger, but her secret ingredient is microgreens. “I grow them at home and they're so nutrient-dense,” Kendall says. “They're like little baby powerhouses. I throw them in anything, since they have like five times the nutrient density of the mature actual vegetable.”
If she has time for a proper sit-down breakfast and isn’t teaching a class, Kendall makes her own hash browns in the oven, and some eggs, and then pairs that with sausage or another type of protein to get her prepared for the day.
“I want to have everything,” Kendall adds. “I want to have my protein. I want to have my healthy fat. I want to have my carbs because I know I have a big day ahead.”
Mid-Morning Snack and Hydration
After classes, Kendall reaches for an Aloha protein shake or bar to replenish the nutrients she depleted while working out. Her favorite flavor is vanilla.
Kendall reaches for X2 Performance energy drinks. It’s made with real cane sugar and green tea caffeine, so “it lifts you up, but you don't ever get the crash,” Kendall says.
When it comes to hydration, Kendall is always on top of it. She always has three drinks with her at all times. She of course drinks lots of water, but also has a “sick iced tea obsession.” Girl, same.
Lunch
Kendall’s go-to lunch is an Asian chicken salad. When she doesn't throw in reg chicken, she'll add in some air-fried paleo chicken nuggets to it. Then she mixes in some greens, scallions, and edamame.
She likes a little crunch in her salad too, which she gets from wonton strips. “I'm a big crispy girl,” Kendall says. “I'll sometimes add a nut mix of pistachios and cashews and almonds for healthy fat in there.” When it comes to the dressing, she keeps it simple: Fresh lemon and raw olive oil.
Snacks
“I'm always snacking,” Kendall says. Whether it’s almonds and cheese or homemade hummus and pita, she always has her snack stash ready to go.
Because her diet is heavily Mediterranean-influenced, she’ll often put some feta and olive oil on sliced cucumbers. In Italy, she learned about Bresaola, which is air-dried, air-cured beef fillet. She’ll wrap that in arugula for a mini salad wrap that she calls “a win.”
Dinner
Dinner is really where Kendall gets to play in the kitchen. “I love to cook. So I go through all different things. I love trying new recipes,” she says.
One of her favorite dishes is pistachio pesto grilled chicken coupled with roasted broccolini. When she cooks, Kendall often reaches for ingredients like lemon, red pepper, pecorino, Romano cheese, and garlic.
Of course, everything goes back to Kendall’s Italian roots. Pasta is her comfort food. If she’s looking for something quick, she'll whip up some pasta con aglio e olio (pasta with garlic and oil) with almonds.
When it comes to cooking gadgets, there's one that has really upped her cooking. “Air frying changed the game," she says. She loves putting salmon and steak in the air fryer, which she pairs with her fave veggies.
Another fave: Throwing Hasselback potatoes in the air fryer with grapeseed oil, ghee, or Irish butter, fresh parsley, and salt and pepper. YUM!
Kendall's always down to experiment with different recipes. “Whether it's making shrimp skewers one night, a one-pan meal, or picking up something that's easy to kind of toss-up from the grocery store that I feel good with." For her, it just all goes back to having good ingredients.
Dessert
For dessert, Kendall takes an Aloha sea salt chocolate protein bar, drops it in a mug, and heats it up in the microwave. Then she takes a dollop of Truwhip, plops it on top, and then throws some shaved dark chocolate on it. “It's like a gourmet hot chocolate, but it's protein.”
Sometimes she’ll even just put the Truwhip in the freezer and scoop it out like ice cream. Talk about genius.
Supplements
As for her vitamins, she goes with Ritual, a female-founded company with ingredients that are as close to the source as possible. “I'm always forgetting to take multiple things at once, so it's good. It's like everything in one,” she says.
Kendall’s Electric Jolt Smoothie:
- 1.5 cup fresh squeezed orange Juice (amazon.com, $4.99)
-1 banana (amazon.com, $1.59)
- 1/2- 1 cup (depends on what you like) frozen pineapple cubes (amazon.com, $2.99)
-big handful of spinach (amazon.com, $2.29)
- 1 scoop favorite greens powder (amazon.com, $23.99)
-1/2 teaspoon ginger (amazon.com, $1.08)
- half fresh lemon juice (amazon.com, $0.89)
- pinch of cayenne pepper (amazon.com, $14.99)
-pinch of Himalayan salt (amazon.com, $14.99)
Directions
Combine all ingredients into a blender, blend until your desired consistency, and enjoy!
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