Oatmeal was the first meal of the day. Mikhaila Friel, Insider
I have to be honest and say that I'm not the type of person who usually puts effort into their breakfast. Usually, I'll grab a bowl of whatever cereal we have in the office kitchen, and scroll through my morning emails between bites.
The duchess, however, enjoys a bowl of oatmeal to kick start her day, according to Self. The breakfast meal is even said to have helped combat morning sickness while she was pregnant with all three of her children.
The royal family carries out 2,000 engagements each year. Since Middleton is a full-time senior royal, it's likely that she takes part in a great deal of these and will need a boost of energy to do so.
Although my schedule isn't as jam-packed as Middleton's, as a royals reporter it sometimes feels like it. I found that changing up my breakfast routine and staying consistent with it really boosted my own energy levels throughout the week.
I managed to stick to oatmeal every day, and kept things interesting by adding different fruits each time.
A bowl of fruit made for an early afternoon snack. Mikhaila Friel, Insider
Mango, kiwi, pomegranate seeds, and blueberries made for a refreshing post-breakfast snack, and I changed this up by adding strawberries, grapes, and oranges to the mix later in the week.
Middleton favors raw foods "to achieve radiant skin," a friend of the duchess told the Mail Online and according to a dermatologist, it actually works.
"It's a no brainer that fresh fruits are good for your skin," dermatologist Elizabeth Geddes-Bruce MD, MS previously said.
I changed things up with blueberries, grapes, and strawberries. Mikhaila Friel, Insider
"I try to have a little fruit with every meal. Fruits like oranges, strawberries, mangoes and papayas have high amounts of vitamin C," she added. "Vitamin C is essential to forming tight collagen fibers. It also works as an antioxidant protecting your skin from damage from UV radiation and pollution.
"And while many skin care products contain vitamin C, not all of them are formulated in a way that guarantees the vitamin C will remain stable and penetrate to the target areas."
Watermelon salad. Mikhaila Friel, Insider
My version of watermelon salad, which consists simply of watermelon (of course), cucumber, tomatoes, peppers, goat's cheese, and lettuce, quickly became my go-to lunch.
Bear in mind, I wasn't eating just raw foods for the week, so this is difficult to have an opinion on.
However, I did notice that my skin stayed clear and bright for the entire week that I was on the Kate Middleton diet. Whether this was actually down to the watermelon salads and fresh bowls of fruit, I don't know but I'll certainly be incorporating more of these into my diet in future.
Green juice at Pret. Mikhaila Friel, Insider
Like her sister-in-law Meghan Markle, Middleton is a fan of the green juice trend, according to the Mail Online.
Half-way through the week, I paid a visit to my local Pret for a 3.99 ($5) Super Greens juice, which included a blend of cucumber, avocado, baby spinach, ginger, and apple juice.
Unlike the royals, who often favor the drink as a breakfast option, I chose to have mine after my oatmeal and let me tell you, I'm certainly glad this wasn't my only breakfast.
Look, I know green juice is supposed to come with a multitude of health benefits but I couldn't even finish half of the drink I had in my hand, never mind one every day for half of the week.
Green curry at Rosa's Thai Cafe. Mikhaila Friel, Insider
I had originally planned to put my cooking skills to the test for my first Kate Middleton dinner, but after some (okay, a little) convincing from friends I ended up in Rosa's Thai Cafe in east London instead.
The restaurant's green curry, made with chicken, aubergines, bamboo shots, basil leaves, and chilies, was pretty tasty.
However, after eating light and mild food all day, it was a bit of a shock to the system to taste something so hot and spicy. I know they say the key to good health is a balanced diet, but this was a little too much of a contrast for me.
Like the green juice, I only ended up consuming half of the portion.
I didn't feel too bad, though, as Prince William has previously said he struggles keeping up with his wife's dining habits.
While Middleton said she likes her curry hot, William said: "Me and heat, not so good."
"I love spice but not the heat," he added.
With my taste buds still burning, I only dared to eat another curry (a much milder, homemade recipe this time) once later in the week. For the majority of the time, however, I stuck to chicken-based dinners mostly chicken and rice, so I would feel like I was at least half-way eating like the duchess.
I thoroughly enjoyed my last meal. Mikhaila Friel, Insider
Now this is something I could easily keep up.
Sushi is one of the duchess' favorites, according to her husband. However, I can count on one hand the amount of times I have tried the dish over the years, so this was still a relatively new experience for me.
On a first glance at the supermarket-bought sushi I had taken back to my flat, I didn't think it would be filling enough for my final duchess dinner.
Surprisingly, though, it was an ideal portion. It obviously wasn't as heavy (or spicy) as a curry, or the chicken-based meals I had consumed previously in the week, but it also wasn't as light as the watermelon salads a happy medium.
All in all, by the end of the week I was slightly disappointed in myself for not being able to stay consistent with some of Middleton's favorite meals, such as the green juice or the curry.
However, the meals I did eat were super easy to prepare, and left me feeling energized and revitalized throughout the working week.
I may not have dined exactly like a duchess but the results were still pretty great.
Read more:
I ate like Meghan Markle for 10 days and could easily keep it up forever
I lived like Meghan Markle in London for a day, and it made me appreciate my life as a commoner
The most surprising confessions made by the Queen's dressmaker in her new tell-all book about life at Buckingham Palace
Original post:
I tried to eat like Kate Middleton for a week, but I couldn't get through it without cheating - INSIDER
