Thoughts on Veganuary

How did I do?:

Overall, I did really well with Veganuary.  I did totally cheat on Saturday 1/30 and had a burger with cheese and bacon.  I also cheated one day during the snow storm, I was at work and the cafe salad bar was not open so I bought a chicken sandwich.  Could I have just had snacks and had an early dinner, sure, but I chose to eat the sandwich.

In all honesty after eating the burger, I went and walked around Target for an hour because I was beyond full and feeling groggy.

While participating in Veganuary, I noticed that after lunch I didn't get that afternoon slump.  I can really only attribute that to eating better and more nutritious food.  Does being vegan take some serious planning and food prep? Yes, it sure does.  You basically will cut out all processed food.  Imagine that? A lifestyle where you don't eat processed foods.  That HAS to be better for us.  

Lifestyle Changes:

Yes.  From this experiment, I will be eating mainly vegan, but if I truly WANT a burger or something like a warm goat cheese salad, I will eat it.  I will be more thoughtful with the food I am eating.  As a cheese lover, giving up cheese was the hardest part for me, BUT, I got over it.

This has helped to realize that I need to view food as nutrition first, taste second.  I think often we miss that aspect of it and we do not eat for nutrition.  I will be much more mindful about eating for nutrition from now on.

Take a chance and challenge yourself!  You can do this challenge for any month during the year.  

Final Thoughts:

I will be more mindful of the food I'm eating and will treat meat and cheese as special items to have only occasionally.  Food = Nutrition and Fuel

What is the next challenge?

Discussing with the ladies at work this week!  We are a little thrown off by the snow days last week so we are behind. 

What I'm eating this week

Breakfast:

Oatmeal (not quick oats) with chia seeds/hemp seeds pomegranate/blueberry.  Pick 1 seed and 1 fruit.  Also add 1 scoop of almond butter. Very filling!

Stuffed Shells:

I found this recipe on Pinterest for stuffed shells.  I did add marinara sauce on the top because the cashew sauce really dried up when baking.  Alternatively, you could make extra cashew sauce to put on top after baking is done.  Also don't be afraid to add some seasoning to this, especially the spinach and tofu.  This could be really bland if you make as listed.

Quesadilla:
Roasted Sweet Potato and Bean Quesadilla - I opted to use black beans because I have tons of them at home and want to use them.  I made a mash, by cooking them with seasoning and then using a potato masher.  Works for me!  Lol :)

Snack Attack:
Roasted Cauliflower
Avocado with balsamic vinegar
Crispy Broccoli Florets (a dried item sort of like kale chips from Trader Joe's)
Trek Mix (Trader Joe's - cashews, macadamia nuts, dried cranberries and dried pineapple)

Sweets:
Star Crunch (clean) 

The biggest trend I'm coming to terms with is that I have to make most of my food myself.  This requires meal planning, shopping lists and prep time.  I am super lucky that Joe is so into this and he is into helping me food prep.  We were talking about our weekend plans and he brought up meal prepping on Sunday.  He is the BEST.  

Massage Time!

Back in November I had purchased a Groupon for a Thai Massage.  The promo was going to expire later in January so I decided I had better get on that!

I made an appointment with Thai Healing House in Herndon for Sunday afternoon (yes during the Skins game).  You guys...I have only ever had table massage and this was a whole different experience.  You check in and then they take you to the room and give you pants and a t-shirt to wear.  There is a large mat on the ground you they tell you to lay on your back.  I would seriously sleep on this thing, it was so comfy.  Then June my massage lady comes in and she starts with my feet and legs.  The whole time we are talking and she is explaining to me how this massage is different and really focuses on stretching and pressure points.  She is really into the philosophy of it and explaining how it is different from a table massage.  She is AMAZING.

At one point, June is standing on my hamstrings.  FOR SERIOUS!  She was really able to get into the tension areas.  I was all kinds of stretched out and felt amazing afterwards.   If you get a Thai Message, be prepared for some serious close contact with your massage person.

I highly recommend the Thai Healing House  and if you go, please name drop so that I can get a $20 credit.

I plan to book a 2 hour session in March to really get in there and get relaxed.

Restaurants Week 2

Going out to eat while vegan can be challenging at mainstream restaurants.  This weekend I went to the Olive Garden and 701.

Olive Garden:
I had the make your own pasta with cavatapi pasta and primavera.  I also had some salad b.c OG (I just looked at the ingredients and realized the dressing is NOT vegan...my bad). The pasta dish was a large portion (of course it is OG).  The veggies were crisp and crunchy and the sauce had a little flair to it.

701:
Appetizer: Savory Funnel Cake.  FOR SERIOUS!!!!!! This was glorious.  There was a spicy carrot sauce on it along with roasted cherry tomatoes.  So good.

Dinner: Cauliflower Shawarma with hummus and tomato.  YASSSSS.  So filling and delicious!  I did avoid the white sauce as it looked creamy and probably dairy.

Cauliflower Shawarma

I was truly full after eating at 701.  They have a small menu, but the food is excellent.  Worth the trip to DC!

Where are the Veggies?

Veggie Love

Food Tracking:

Just a few days into tracking my food and I'm realizing that I turn to fruit as a snack but not veggies.  As a result, I'm eating WAY more sugar than I should.  My focus for the next few days will be to incorporate more veggies and less fruit so that my sugar intake can be reduced.

I am going to the grocery store tonight with a new game plan and more recipes to try.

Today at work is our Vegan Potluck, I will share the results later on!



Do you have some favorite veggie snacks?  Please share if you do!

I Get By with a Little Help

I need to mention some people that are great resources to me on this journey.  This whole thing would be much more difficult without help.

Lisa - a friend and vegan.  She has emailed me some great resources such as cookbooks, documentaries, easy recipes etc (and she is a resource too!)

Joe - The Chef!  He is helping me so much by playing along when we are on dates.  He has made two different types of hummus for me, dinner etc.  This would be much more difficult without him.

My Lady Loves! -  asking me questions, sending me encouraging notes, planning walks with me etc.  I really appreciate all of that.  You ladies rock my world!

The Ladies at work - we are certainly in this together!  Excited for our upcoming potluck.

Chugging Along

MyFitnessPal

I made sure to eat enough food and am also now using myfitnesspal (mingomo9, if you want to be friendly) to track my food, not my exercise though.  I hate when you enter in your exercise and they give you more calories to consume.  Ummm I'm trying to have a deficit here. So I skip that part of it completely but am using it for food. 

I didn't track food yesterday but I made sure to EAT more food so I did not get a headache. 

Food for the day:

Breakfast: coconut yogurt with blueberries (make sure to get the kind that is dairy free!), 16 oz coffee with coconut creamer from Trader Joe's and no sugar

Snack peanuts, chia bar, chamomile tea (plain, no sugar or "milk"

Lunch: Broccoli Soup, avocado with balsamic vinegar

Snack: none

Dinner: whole wheat rotini with veggie ratatouille 

Dessert: 2 cookies, vegan

For most meals I drink water, I do have coffee in the AM though.  I had extra food today, an apple and an orange.  Just holding onto those for another day at my desk.  

Overall, feeling so good!  I haven't done a really  hard workout yet though.  I'm saving that joy for Thursday evening.  I will make sure to add an afternoon snack in for that day. I have lost 5lbs so far.  Crazy since I have done nothing other than walk and change my food. 

Drinking More Water:

The best thing about drinking water is that I had switched to this years ago.  I drink water as soon as I wake up and then I have a large stadium cup from the Nationals 2012 season that I keep at my desk.  I drink 3 of those each day while I'm at work.  I have water with my dinner so no empty calories or sugar.  

When I'm at a restaurant I usually get unsweetened tea (occasionally sweet tea).  I just feel blah when I consume too much sugar.  I also rarely have a soda.  It should be a treat, not a daily item.