Happy Sunday!

Breakfast: oatmeal with pepitas and cranberries.
Snack: Green Monster shake.
Snack: Banana
Dinner: spinach, tomato, cheddar omelette. I was in a pickle at the restaurant my parents took us to. There were no vegan options besides salad, so I did the best I could. Also, we went to a hockey game, so I had two snacks an no lunch knowing I'd be having a big dinner. I sometimes think I'm getting the hang of this eating like an adult thing.

Exercise: stationary bike 1 hr. 13.7 miles.

Busy

Busy busy day. The kind of day where you stop and wonder what you've eaten today. Still, I made time for exercise, and cooked three more big meals for the week. It feels really good to be putting me first in carving out time to do this for myself.

Breakfast: Oatmeal

Snack: Banana

Lunch: Salad

Snack: Apple

Dinner: Lemon asparagus pasta. http://minimalistbaker.com/creamy-vegan-lemon-asparagus-pasta/#_a5y_p=2020183

This was insanely good. Like, top ten things I've made for dinner EVER, good. Had to have two bowls good. And bonus, my kids loved it too! I added a good bit of lemon to the sauce, and used whole wheat pasta, otherwise, recipe followed. I had to include a picture, because it was just that good.

Exercise: 30 minutes stationary bike

Weekly Weigh In

185! That is 3.5 lbs this week, and 15 lbs total in just over two weeks. I was aiming for 1 lb, but I am obviously thrilled with more :-D I really am gearing myself up for a 1 lb or even no weight loss next week, as I know this will plateau a bit, and I will eventually need to adjust either my exercise or food for a nice gradual loss. 

Breakfast: Oatmeal with pepitas, cranberries.
Snack: Green Monster Shake.
Lunch: Salad, black bean torta.
Dinner: Scallion pancakes, veggie rolls from Thai restaurant.

Exercise: 45 minutes swimming, 1600 yards. I was aiming for an hour, but my knee cramped up. Darn knee!

Hubris Hurts!

So, yesterday I discussed the fact that I feel satisfaction in my recent commitment to exercise. And today, I woke up sick, as did both girls. I was gearing up to power through it, and just maybe do an easier bike ride, when I slipped on the wet bathroom floor and came down hard on both knees. I was in pain, but more scared than anything. In the interest of not exacerbating my now achy knee, I gave myself the day off. However, here are some food pics for today, because I still did well by my body in what I ate.

Breakfast: Oatmeal

Lunch: Black bean torta with sriracha mayo, as pictured below. 

Sack: Green Monster shake. Note, I had just shaken the cup to mix it all back up, so it looks way more full than it actually is :-)

Dinner: Salad (you didn't want to see that, did you?) Lentil Chard Ragout from the Crazy Sexy Kitchen Cookbook, over quinoa. I'm kind of wishing that today wasn't the day I posted pictures. This tastes delicious, but it looks like cat vomit. This is how I always imagined vegan food looked, and why I always thought vegans were nuttier than the Skippy factory.

Two Full Weeks In!

I'm finding myself making exercise a priority. I still don't enjoy it, necessarily, though it does bring a tremendous sense of accomplishment when I see that I am making time for it almost every day. I know I've touched upon my knee before, and the story of how I hurt my knee, and what's been done to it so far is probably a story for another day, but because of that troublesome body part, the workouts that are "safe" for me to do are limited right now. I can walk, but everything outside is a sheet of ice, and I won't risk falling. I can swim, I can do yoga, and I can ride the stationary bike. I'm investigating other exercises that are interesting, challenging, and "safe" and hoping to add some other possibilities to my repertoire. 

Another factor is that my husband's work schedule is a bit weird, so taking an exercise class on a regular basis isn't really possible. I just signed up for Yogaglo.com to see if being able to take an online yoga class on my own schedule will work for me, and I really hope so because I miss yoga! Bikram, the kind with the hot studio, was the best, but since that can't be recreated at home, I will try a bunch of different classes until I find some that I enjoy. 

Breakfast: Oatmeal with pepitas and cranberries.

Snack: Green Monster shake.

Lunch: Black bean torta, lettuce, tomato, red onion, with sriracha "mayo" from the Thug Kitchen cookbook. Talk about a filling sandwich! The flavors really come together, but I was skeptical about the individual ingredients.

Dinner: Potato and leek soup from the Thug Kitchen cookbook, with homemade croutons. Roasted carrots and parsnips.

Dessert: Banana chia pudding bowl from OhSheGlows.com http://ohsheglows.com/2013/02/18/chia-seed-breakfast-bowl/

Exercise: swimming, 30 minutes

Back to mentally ok.

I woke up this morning feeling excited to get back to cooking, and trying new flavors. This is the first time ever, EVER, that I have managed to not be completely derailed by a "diet" setback like this. Because this is just a change in the way we eat, and not a diet, it is much easier to cheerfully put this weekend behind me, enjoy that the food was so yummy, and move on to a healthier day. And it was a really good day. I found myself craving my salad at lunch, which is a new one for me, and for our afternoon snack, the girls and I sliced up all kinds of veggies and I discovered that if I add a splash of buffalo sauce to hummus, it doesn't taste like dirty feet. Winning!

Breakfast: Granola cereal, almond milk, blueberries.
Snack: Green Monster shake.
Lunch: Salad, miso soup with rice noodles and vegetables.
Snack: Carrot, celery, peppers with buffalo hummus.
Dinner: Quinoa, lentil, spinach stuffed peppers.
Snack: Corn quesadilla with buffalo sauce. Apparently today is buffalo day.

No exercise, no time. But since I didn't sit more than a few minutes today, I'll call that an even trade.

Two Days

Two days and I'm breaking up with My Fitness Pal. While it is a great app, and makes calorie counting easy, it is not for me. After two days of meticulously logging every tablespoon of oil, I was feeling like I was on a restrictive diet, and that culminated in a pizza/potato chip binge. I am returning back to general meal tracking on here, making better choices whenever possible, enjoying the food at family parties, but sticking to vegan meals as often as possible. It may sound silly, but the mental pressure of being on a diet makes me crumble like feta cheese. Mmmm feta, lol.

Breakfast: Oatmeal with apple slices.
Snack: Green Monster shake.
Lunch: Restaurant with family. Corn and black bean empanadas. Not vegan, but vegetarian, and I'm so glad I tried something new because those might now rank up there with favorite foods!
Dinner: Takeout Thai, scallion pancakes.

Exercise: Stationary bike, 1 hr, 13 miles. Yes, leisurely pace, I know, but I'm doing my best to protect my knee, and I have to balance exertion with time.

Friday weigh in

188.5! 11.5 lbs since Jan 1 :-) I also just took my last dose of steroids, so hopefully any side effects from that (like sleeping poorly most nights, and the jitters) will be easing up. After this, I know I will not be seeing these huge drops, but a pound a week is going to get me back into a healthy range eventually.

Breakfast: Cascadian Farms granola cereal, almond milk, blueberries.
Snack: Green Monster shake, granola, cranberries.
Lunch: Leftover Chipotle burrito bowl.
Snack: Banana
Dinner: Pizza (family party)

Exercise: Swimming 30 minutes. I forgot how hungry swimming makes me. I literally had to prevent my hand from shoving another slice of pizza into my face.

I signed up for MyFitnessPal because I've heard great things about it, but I don't love the idea of being so tied to a calorie count. I think I'll try it for a week, but my gut feeling is that MFP is going to lead to a little too much rigidity and worry about numbers, vs. just trying to eat good food.

Too cold in this part of the world.

Today was kind of interesting, mentally. We took the kids to an indoor play space this morning, because the weather is insanely cold, and as it was a last minute decision, we weren't really prepared, meals-wise. By the time the lunch hour had come and gone, we were all hangry, so we went to Chipotle's. Steve and I both stuck to vegan, but we both felt as though we over ate substantially, and really wished we hadn't. Yes, it was good, but it wasn't enough of a treat to be worth feeling so sloggy after.

Afterwards, we were discussing it, and I was kind of beating myself up over what I perceived as "cheating" on the "diet." Smarty pants correctly pointed out that actually, we stuck to our lifestyle changes by eating vegan, even if maybe we should have given some thought to portion control and stopped when we weren't hungry anymore. This is not a diet. This is a way of life designed to improve our well-being. Yes, weight loss is important, and it will come, but it is not the focus. I really needed to hear that. And you know, in retrospect, there is something pretty cool about the fact that neither of us even considered ordering non-vegan meals. Also, if the Chipotle menu is to be believed, the half a bowl I ate is still less than 350 calories, which is about 1/4 the calories of what I would normally eat there, and a totally respectable meal. Brain, quit torturing me, lol.

Breakfast: Banana chia pudding http://ohsheglows.com/2013/02/18/chia-seed-breakfast-bowl/
Snack: Granola.
Lunch: 1/2 Chipotle Sofrito Burrito Bowl.
Snack: Green Monster Shake.
Dinner: Salad, leftover pasta with marinara.
Snack: Cinnamon pita puffs.

Exercise: 30 minute stationary bike.

Great News!

I had some really positive news from the ENT (ear, nose, and throat doctor) which is that my hearing has traveled back into the "normal" range. I still have some issues with the quality of what I am hearing, and that may or may not change, but I have a few more days on the steroids, so fingers crossed! I am so relieved and grateful. I know that in the grand scheme of the world's problems, losing my hearing is a minuscule issue, but to me, it was very sad and stressful and I am so glad to be putting this behind me.

This was the first day this week in which I had to regulate my food choices outside of the house, and it went pretty well though my schedule got thrown off. I packed up a shake, some granola, and a banana so that I didn't get over hungry and succumb to a drive thru on the way home.

I also didn't get to workout today, but it was worth it. The girls did chores all week, saved their money, and this afternoon they picked out treats and delivered them to the dogs and cats at our local shelter. My younger daughter doesn't really understand, and wasn't all that interested, but my older daughter was so proud of herself, and eager to do more. When we got home, she asked if cleaning her room counted towards money, as she bustled around tidying up. Normally I wouldn't pay her to clean her room, but there are only so many chores a 3 year old can reasonably do, so for this, it counts.

Breakfast: Oatmeal with raisins and sunflower seeds.
Snack: Green Monster Shake.
Snack: Banana, granola
Lunch: Leftover burrito bowl, salad.
Dinner: Leftover spaghetti, cauliflower.
Snack: Cinnamon pita puffs.

Feeling like this could be real

Day 6 of committing to this lifestyle, and I am feeling as though I am not persevering, but I'm thriving. I am enjoying eating this way. I have no feelings of deprivation. I have so much more energy and (don't mock) mental clarity. My husband is having a bit of a different journey though. He's having lots of cravings, and is muscling through them, even though he's been enjoying the meals and has yet to feel hungry.

Today, I attempted a version of Chipotle's burrito bowl, and though it was quite a bit smaller, it packed the same interesting melange of flavors. I'm sure there are endless recipes for this online, but my quick and easy version was:

• A Seeds of Change brown rice and quinoa packet.
• A can of drained and rinsed black beans.
• Sautéed onions and peppers.
• Mitchell's Fresh medium salsa.
• Vegan "sour cream" http://theglowspot.com/recipes/2014/02/04/homemade-vegan-sour-cream/

I cooked the rice according to the package instructions, and tossed them in a skillet with the beans. I added the smallest bit of oil, some salt, pepper and chili powder, and just let it heat up. I used about 3/4 of a cup of that as the base of my burrito bowl. Then I cut up the sautéed onions and peppers, and threw in about 1 tbsp, but next time I'll use a little more. Finally, I mixed in some of the salsa and some of the "sour cream" until it tasted the way I wanted it to, about a tsp of salsa and 1/2 tsp of the sour cream.

I was literally licking the bowl, it was so good. 

Breakfast: Oatmeal with bananas and walnuts.

Snack: Green Monster Shake.

Lunch: Salad, burrito bowl.

Snack: Apple.

Dinner: Roasted cauliflower, sautéed spinach, pasta with marinara sauce. 

Exercise: 45 minutes on the stationary bike.

Eat all the food

I love to eat. I like big flavors, and heaping platefuls of deliciousness. I have been finding that eating this new way, and my love of big flavor, aren't mutually exclusive, but meals have been a lot more labor intensive thus far, and a little more expensive than they used to be. I'm trying to have more components to each meal, so that it feels more like a complete meal. I'm also finding it interesting how easily other cultures can translate into interesting and hopefully delicious vegan meals. Middle Eastern, Italian, and Thai are some of the upcoming menus for the week.

Breakfast: I'm just going to say ditto, because I've eaten the same thing five days in a row now. Tomorrow, something different, I promise myself.
Snack: Green Monster Shake. I just love the flavor so much, I don't want to switch it up yet.
Lunch: Salad, leftover burrito.
Snack: Apple.
Dinner: Chili, broccoli millet pilaf. The chili was of my own creation, and the millet from the Thug Kitchen cookbook. While the millet was blah, the chili was good. Really good in fact. I'll gladly share the recipe after I've made it again, as I only wrote down vague amounts and I'll need to actually measure things out this time.
Snack: A few slices of thinly shaved parmesan cheese with balsamic drizzle. I felt a driving desire for cheese, and there didn't seem any reason to subdue such an intense craving. I don't know whether I needed calcium or fat, but I feel so much better now.

Exercise: 30 minutes stationary bike.

Energy

Breakfast: Oatmeal, cranberries, pepitas.
Snack: Green Monster Shake.
Lunch: Salad, leftover potato and leek soup.
Snack: Grapes, carrots, celery.
Dinner: Leftover burrito, tortilla chips and salsa.

Exercise: Stationary bike 45 minutes.

Energy. Oh my goodness, energy to spare. Today I cleaned the whole house, shoveled the driveway, and was looking for things to do. I don't know if this is perhaps a side effect from the steroids, which can give you the jitters, but this doesn't feel like that kind of nervous energy. I feel like I've been sleeping better too, so maybe that explains the feeling better bit.

As another pleasant side effect of this experiment, the kids have been tasting everything I've been making, and going to town on the raw ingredients. They aren't huge fans of anything in its cooked format just yet, but I'm so pleased that they are intrigued by these new flavors and vegetables.

Breakfast: Oatmeal with cranberry and pepitas.
Snack: Green Monster Shake.
Lunch: Salad, lentil walnut tacos which were soooooo flavorful, I actually preferred them to meat tacos. http://ohsheglows.com/2014/06/17/ultimate-green-taco-wraps-with-lentil-walnut-taco-meat-vegan-gluten-free/
Snack: Grapes, granola.
Dinner: Lentil walnut taco "meat" turned into a burrito with quinoa brown rice, black beans, sautéed onions and peppers, and vegan sour cream from the above recipe. I am starting to believe I could happily eat like this 95% of the time. The kids were eating leftover pizza from the party yesterday, and I was not even remotely interested in what they had.
Exercise: 45 minute walk

I went out and treated myself to some pretty sweaters and accessories today. My clothes just aren't fitting right, and even though I am hoping to lose weight, I don't want to feel like 10 lbs. of sausage in a 5 lb. casing in the meantime. There is something so encouraging about looking nice. I feel like if I look put together, I act more together, and life just starts seeming smoother. I know it is sheerly mental, but there is nothing wrong with a boost from any corner.

Gotta love bloat

i woke up this morning to discover a whopping 5 lb loss in 24 hours. At this rate, I'm about 10 days away from my goal weight :-) Since we're already talking numbers, lets continue. I dread writing this, and I debated not, but no one is really reading this anyhow, and even if someone who knows me is secretly reading, it isn't exactly going to come as a shock that I am overweight. So, numbers. Thanks to the steroids, and of course, loving food, I began New Year's Day at 200 lbs even. Today I am down to 195. My goal is 150-160 depending on how I feel. I would like to reach a weight that is sustainable, not a constant struggle. Now that's out there, and I don't really know how I feel about sharing it, but at least it represents doing things a different way than I've done in the last 36 years.

Breakfast: Oatmeal with cranberries and pepitas.
Snack: Green Monster Shake.
Lunch: Salad, small cup of potato and leek soup from the Thug Kitchen cookbook.
Snack: Every time I started to eat something, it was absconded with by a toddler. I had a few bites of apple, some carrot sticks, and almost half of a granola bar.
Dinner: Two slices of pizza and a cookie. Darn these family parties, forcing me to eat the food I would definitely prefer to be eating :-D
Snack: Grapes.

Exercise: stationary bike  x 30 minutes

Vegan plus pizza?

Vegan plus pizza? Could that be a thing? That's what I managed to do today. One slice of pizza with lunch, while visiting family, but aside from that, the day was strictly vegan, and surprisingly tasty. We've been trying to find at least a handful of vegan recipes that leave us feeling as though we've eaten real food, and we had really good luck today.

For breakfast, this super easy oatmeal -  http://ohsheglows.com/2014/11/17/5-minute-oatmeal-power-bowl/

For snack, a Green Monster Shake http://ohsheglows.com/2011/01/13/classic-green-monster/
This, by the way, is becoming my go to website for recipes, along with the Thug Kitchen cookbook.

Lunch was the aforementioned pizza, which I just can't be sorry about eating. When everyone else in the room is eating pizza, I hope I can always find a way to maintain enough balance to be able to eat that slice or two without feeling either guilty, or game on to eat ALL THE FOOD.

For dinner, I kind of adapted a BlueApron.com recipe that neither one of us were wild about in its original incantation; a black rice and barley combo stuffed in an onion and roasted http://www.blueapron.com/recipes/roasted-onions-stuffed-wild-rice-barley-brussels-sprouts-hazelnuts-feta

The flavors were sort of there, but we didn't love the textures, and some of the ingredients didn't seem to blend together. That has been our experience with almost every meal we've tried from Blue Apron, but I'll write a full review one of these days. Anyhow, in my redux, i cooked barley and black rice according to their package instructions, but left them slightly undercooked. About a half cup of each, raw, is what I used. While the rice and barley were cooking, I minced an onion, 4 cloves of garlic, and shredded six brussels sprouts. Over medium heat, I added about a tbsp of olive oil, then the onions. Stirring occasionally, once the onions were slightly browned, I added the garlic and about a minute later, the brussels sprouts. I tossed in some salt and pepper, and stirred occasionally until the whole thing was well bronzed.  I mixed in the rice and barley, and threw the whole shebang into a roasting pan to crisp up in the oven at 400. We liked it almost burnt, which took about 45 minutes, but the flavors were singing 30 minutes in. I served it with roasted cauliflower, and it was a really substantial winter dinner that suited two very different palates.

And no, the girls wanted no part of this meal. They were intrigued by the cauliflower, and gamely tasted it, but one of them commented that she thought a flower would taste better.