In SELF’s new franchise, The Meal I Eat Once I’m Feeling…, we speak with cooks, celebs, athletes, and other people within the culinary house concerning the particular meals or meals they flip to amid sure feelings—and the way consuming their favorites performs a significant position of their self-care.
As a Peloton teacher, podcast host, motivational speaker, Nike athlete, and best-selling writer, Tunde Oyeneyin is aware of what a packed schedule appears like. However, as she’s realized, it’s not essentially the precise occasions, and even the variety of actions, that may drain you. What performs an even bigger position? Her headspace as she prepares to deal with her to-do record.
“You’ll be able to have 17 issues which are excessive precedence on that record, and in case you are recent and in way of thinking, then these 17 issues can really feel simple, like simply a part of the day forward,” Oyeneyin tells SELF. “On the flip facet, you possibly can have simply six issues which are excessive precedence, and for those who’re not coming from a spot of relaxation, then these six issues can really feel like 100.”
Oyeneyin’s day-to-day might be bodily taxing: Her biking lessons, bike boot camps, and new full-body energy routines are recognized to be sweatfests to the tens of hundreds of Peloton subscribers who tune in to every one. Her days might be mentally taxing too: Her talking occasions—whether or not she’s on stage for Nike or final yr’s e-book tour for Communicate: Discover Your Voice, Belief Your Intestine, and Get From The place You Are to The place You Need To Be—are simply as high-energy. However for those who put together your physique and thoughts for these efforts, you possibly can deal with them feeling uplifted reasonably than depleted, Oyeneyin says. “You don’t have to attend for this final breakdown to occur or so that you can be fully empty [before focusing on replenishment],” she says. The important thing, in keeping with Oyeneyin, is to find time for your self to loosen up and recharge earlier than your physique battery begins to fizzle.
“On my greatest days, I’m rejuvenating myself once I discover myself at 70%,” she says. “Not solely do you’re feeling good and recent and full, however you’re feeling like you may have a lot to provide to all people you work together with.” An necessary a part of Oyeneyin’s self-care routine—which she describes as “soul care”—is taking the time to nourish her physique with meals that prepares her for these bodily undertakings and provides her pleasure and satisfaction when consuming it. One dish she typically finds herself reaching for? A watermelon and feta salad with onions, mint, a sprinkle of salt and pepper, and a contact of honey balsamic glaze. “It’s such a cool, refreshing salad,” Oyeneyin says. “The watermelon is so hydrating, the mint provides you that mojito-next-to-the-beach type of really feel, and who doesn’t love a bit little bit of salty cheese?”
SELF sat down with Oyeneyin to speak about how the meal replenishes her—and the way it simply may hit the spot for you too.
1. Don’t be afraid to stray outdoors your consolation zone.
Although Oyeneyin has thought of the watermelon and feta salad a staple for the final 10 years or so, she admits she didn’t discover it fairly so interesting at first. “The primary time that I heard about this salad, it was type of off-putting,” she says. The pairing of candy and savory—the watermelon and cheese—appeared an unlikely combo, Oyeneyin says, and he or she wasn’t positive how tasty it will be when these two flavors merged.
