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.