Vegan Smoothies, Chicken Burgers, and Wine: Everything a Top Philly Trainer Eats in a Week

A week in the life of Jayel Lewis, personal trainer and new Fitler Club health and wellness director.


Photograph courtesy Jayel Lewis.

Welcome to Sweat Diaries, Be Well Philly’s look at the time, energy, and money people invest in pursuit of a healthy lifestyle in Philly. For each Sweat Diary, we ask one Philadelphian to spend a week tracking everything they eat, all the exercise they get, and the money they spend on both. Want to submit a Sweat Diary? Email ccunningham@phillymag.com with details. 

Who: Jayel Lewis (@jayelllewis), 32

What I do: I’m a fitness professional and the owner of JL Fitness (a personal training and events company). I’m also the creator of the wellness blog Inspirationallyfit.com, where everybody has a story, a fitness business coach, and the new director of health and wellness for Fitler Club.

What role health and fitness plays in my life: I see the fitness industry as more than just my profession. It’s my platform to teach others that it’s not so much about the physical state as it is about the mental state — it all has to start from within. Movement is my universal language, and I’m so thankful I get to speak it every single day. Disclaimer: As a fitness professional, a lot of people expect you to eat a certain way, or be obsessive when it comes to your meals. I eat intuitively, I don’t calculate or track what I eat, I know what my body needs and work around that, but some days I eat too much, and some days I eat too little — meetings will run late, I’ll put my clients before myself, and next thing you know it’s 8 p.m. We’re all human.

Health memberships: I don’t have any. As a fitness professional that works on various influencer campaigns, I often get comped memberships and classes. #winning.

Monday

Photograph courtesy Jayel Lewis.

4:55 a.m. — I can’t sleep. I typically wake up around 6 a.m. on Mondays but my body decided differently today. I get out of bed and have a mug of room temp water with a small shot of ACV (apple cider vinegar). I begin to catch up on emails from the night before, and start to mentally prepare myself for the day ahead.

8:15 a.m. — I grab my Vitamix and throw in this week’s ingredients for my vegan protein shake: chocolate vegan protein powder by Vega Sport, a tablespoon of homemade peanut butter, a cup of unsweetened vanilla almond milk, and cocoa nibs. I guzzle that up, and grab my dog for a quick walk before training sessions with my clients.

11:30 a.m. — Breakfast time! Three eggs, a Scottish muffin, a slice of pepper jack cheese, and all natural turkey sausage with water. I’m a creature of habit so most mornings will feature the same breakfast.

Photograph courtesy Jayel Lewis.

4 p.m. — No idea where the time has gone, but I know I need to refuel before my next round of clients and my personal workout. One of my all-time favorite go-to’s are soup and salad. I throw a hard boiled egg on top of a bed of lettuce along with plenty of other veggies and peanuts and heat up organic lentil soup.

Photograph courtesy Jayel Lewis.

6 p.m. — Post-Art Museum workout with a client, we head over to Whole Foods to pick out a few healthy eats for the week. I grab a sparkling grapefruit Spindrift as a little pick me up ($2).

6:45 p.m. — It’s “me” time! Off to City Fitness for a workout. I do a mile on the treadmill as my warm-up, and hit the weight room focusing on a full-body workout.

8 p.m. — Evening walk with my dog Leo on the SRT (about 45 minutes).

9:15 p.m. — I like to keep my dinners on the easier side when it comes to cooking. I throw salmon in the oven, chop up peppers and add a bit of coconut Thai curry sauce from Trader Joe’s over a little bit of jasmine rice.

9:45 p.m. — My days are jam-packed with high energy so I really like to take time at night to truly decompress. For me, that means no TV, no more checking my phone, and no more music. I grab a foam roller and a tennis ball and “roll out.”

10:03 p.m. — In bed with a good book!

Daily total: $2

Tuesday

Photograph courtesy Jayel Lewis.

5:07 a.m. — I must have hit the snooze button once, but I hop out of bed around 5:07. I get ready for my first client at 5:45 with a few big swigs of water and one hard boiled egg.

7 a.m. — I grab Leo for a walk, and then the next several hours are dedicated to training my clients.

12:20 p.m. — I have a sip of tea that I forgot I made earlier in the morning, followed by a vegan protein shake, and small piece of dark chocolate with pretzel BarkThins.

12:30 p.m. — I head over to our office at Fitler Club. On Tuesdays we have team meetings and we get caught up on everything each department is working on. As the director of health and wellness, I conduct a lot of research and development, which keeps me busy and one my toes. Once our meeting wraps up, I work on scheduling upcoming work trips, and in-person meetings.

3 p.m. — Mexican-inspired salad from TJ’s.

4:45 p.m. — Dark chocolate mocha almond Kind bar on the way to my next client.

6:15 p.m. — Bike ride on the SRT (I think I got in about 42 minutes before the rain came down).

7:30 p.m.Whole Foods spicy salmon roll with cucumber and carrot ($16).

8:15 p.m. — The rain has stopped, so I grab Leo and take him for a long walk yet again.

10:30 p.m. — I’m still hungry, so I grab a handful of peanuts and a hard boiled egg before I hop into bed with my book.

Daily total: $16

Wednesday

5:30 a.m. — I wake up, but I’m not quite hungry yet so I grab my mug and sip on warm water with ACV.

6 a.m. — I grab Leo for his morning stroll.

9 a.m. — I’ve been training clients for several hours, so I’ve certainly worked up an appetite. I make my shake of the week, and munch of half of a Kind bar.

11 a.m. —Research and development time. I hit the gym in order to begin working on fitness programming. That means I get in my own workout while also trying and testing out new movements, different combinations, and how well they flow together. Today’s workout was mainly done on the turf and incorporated a lot of speed and agility drills. Post sweat sesh, I foam roll and stretch because the cool down is just as important as the warm up!

2:15 p.m. — I realize after a couple of hours in the gym that I am ridiculously hungry so I heat up salmon, rice, and veggies.

3 p.m. — Walk the dog on the SRT.

4 p.m. — Training clients for the next three hours.

7:15 p.m. — Dog walk around Rittenhouse Square.

8:30 p.m. — Did someone say dinner? Arugula salad with organic chicken sausage, feta cheese, a hard boiled egg, veggies, and balsamic vinegar along with a cup of lentil soup.

10 p.m. — Lights out.

Daily total: $0

Thursday

Photograph courtesy Jayel Lewis.

5 a.m. — Wake up and grab a bottle of water and chug it. Foam roll and stretch before my first client.

5:45 a.m. — I train clients for the next three hours.

9 a.m. — Once I wrap up with my morning clients, I make three eggs (though I share some of my eggs with Leo — it’s just so hard to say no to him), along with a tablespoon of peanut butter, and a Scottish muffin.

9:45 a.m. — I run Leo out.

10 a.m. — I catch up on emails, schedule meetings, and hop on a conference call.

Photograph courtesy Jayel Lewis.

12:15 p.m. — I take a Pilates class taught by my friend and owner of Thrive Pilates, Hally Bayer. After class, we go to Pure Fare to catch up and talk fitness and fun. I opt for the make-your-own Yoku bowl with chicken, rice, and loads of veggies ($14.75).

2 p.m. — I walk briskly to Old City as I have a meeting at Talula’s Daily. Mother Nature is quite confusing, so I grab a hot tea and we sit outside for about 45 minutes.

3 p.m. — Walk with Leo again.

4 p.m. — I work on more fitness programming and structuring our future health and wellness offerings for Fitler Club.

Photograph courtesy Jayel Lewis.

5:45 p.m. — It’s date night, so I grab a bottle of wine from my wine rack and head out to Fishtown for a home-cooked meal (YES!). Tonight’s menu consisted of homemade chicken burgers, with a homemade aioli, a brioche bun, and potato wedges, followed by homemade strawberry shortcakes with fresh berries, whipped cream, and lime zest. We polish off a bottle of red.

Photograph courtesy Jayel Lewis.

9:30 p.m. — I’m back home (another dog walk), showered, and in bed with a book by 10:30 p.m.

Daily total: $14.75

Friday

Photograph courtesy Jayel Lewis.

5 a.m. — Wake up! I have a glass of water before I do anything. Grab two hard boiled eggs, get ready for my morning clients, and head off to train.

After five clients back-to-back I’m starving, so I grab a Kind bar and run with Leo. We run for about 20 minutes or so. He’s much, much faster than I am.

12 p.m. — I have two meetings at Saxbys with fellow fitness professionals. While there, I grab a medium tea.

2:30 p.m. — I am short on time, so I turn up the tunes, bust out the weights in my apartment, and get in a 35 minute circuit workout.

3:15 p.m. — Walk Leo

3:45 p.m. — I make my shake of the week and hop in the shower.

4:15 p.m. — I log into my Google calendar, respond to emails, schedule out clients and meetings for the upcoming week, and head off to an early dinner with my friend.

Photograph courtesy Jayel Lewis.

6:30 p.m. — It’s Friday, and the sun is still shining. I have dinner with my friend Christie at Rouge. I go for my favorite salmon with greens and a coconut curry sauce, along with a glass of rosé. It’s Friday and I already had dessert the night before so why not (continue) to treat myself? Flourless chocolate cake, please! I eat the whole thing by myself, with the exception of one bite from Christie ($42).

9 p.m. — It’s still nice out, so I take Leo for a long stroll before heading over to my friend’s house for a little rooftop fun.

Daily total: $42

Weekly Totals

Money spent: $74.74

Dog walks: 14

Protein shakes: 4

Workouts: 5

Cups of tea: 3

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