2013-06-05

Day 3, Week 5

Ah, today was a long day....

Food log: 

  • Breakfast: steamed spinach, cashews, nutritional yeast, spicy balsamic vinegar
  • Lunch: spinach salad with carrots, celery, red onion, broccoli, and cannellini beans with tahini dressing
  • Dinner: Happy Herbivore enchilada casserole, watermelon
  • Extras: 3 beers (dinner and trivia)
My salad for lunch
Enchilada Casserole
Topped with vegan nacho cheese, guacamole, and salsa
Exercise log: yoga in the morning

How I felt:  Today I felt just exhausted.... Let me tell you why: before Kevin and I got married last September, I went on the pill a few months before to get used to it and had been on it up until I started this six week challenge a few weeks ago.  I went off the pill for several reasons, the most important reason being that I had extreme fatigue and migraines from it.  So, today started my first "time of the month" since going off of the pill.  It has been hell!  I haven't had this heavy of flow or this bad of back pains since I can remember. :( It's as if I wasn't having a full period since I had been on the pill, and my body is taking its wrath on me because of it.  I hope as I continue with my Nutritarian lifestyle and rebalance my hormones, that it gets better.  My eating for the day went very well.  I forced myself to eat steamed greens for breakfast (maybe it will grow on me), then had a large lovely salad for lunch. After work I went over to my parents for dinner.  My mom made a dish from Happy Herbivore, one of her favorite cookbooks, for the first time: Enchilada casserole.  It. Was. Delicious!  I had to stop myself at one serving, but I could definitely have eaten more.  On top of it I put the nacho cheese recipe from the book, some homemade guacamole, and salsa. Yum!

What is your favorite Nutritarian-friendly cook book?

2013-06-04

Day 2, Week 5

Here is a quick (and unformatted) daily log.... This work week will be a long one!

Food Log:
Breakfast: 1 apple, 4 small plums
Lunch: romaine lettuce topped with Mexican black beans, pretzels on the side, 1 peach
Dinner: steamed collard greens with mango balsamic vinegar, 1 peach
Extras: 2 beers at our weekly friend meet up

Exercise log: we were planning on going on a hike in the afternoon, but instead went on a wild goose chase to figure out why my husband's laptop wasn't working... Waking up tomorrow for some at home Pilates and yoga... Very early tomorrow.

How I felt:  Today went by so quickly. It seems to be such a busy week at work, and in the evening it was just as busy running around for computer errands (grr!) and meeting up with friends.  I was inspired for dinner tonight by a post earlier this week on Healthy Girl's Kitchen about how Chef AJ eats steamed greens for breakfast in the morning, so I decided to give it a try for dinner.  It was plenty filling and tasted great with this new spicy mango balsamic vinegar I got a week or so ago. I think I might give greens for breakfast a shot tomorrow morning after my work out.  Also, Kevin and my Chive shirts came in the mail yesterday! Any fellow Chivers that read?  I was pretty happy to see that the shirt I ordered fit perfectly... Hopefully it will be a bit oversized as I keep moving forward with improving my Nutritarian lifestyle. :)

Have you ever eaten greens in the morning besides in green smoothies?

2013-06-03

End of Week 4 & the First day of Week 5

I hope everyone had a great weekend.  I did much better limiting my drinking than I have in weekends past.  Although this is technically my 6-week challenge, I have not stuck to it 100%... but you could have figured that out from looking at my logs.  I am just trying to focus on changing bad habits.  Since the start of the challenge I have not had any coffee, no SAD desserts, and have exercised more than I was before.  I think these are definitely good habits I can continue even when the challenge is done.  For the rest of the challenge, I hope to eliminate all processed breads and grains (except for Dave's Killer Bread, which I eat only once or twice a week), to increase my bean/legume intake to 1 cup a day (now at 1/2-3/4 cup), and to add more cooked greens to my dinners.  Now on to my daily logs...

Saturday, Day 6 of Week 4
Food Log:

  • Breakfast: 1 apple, 1 banana
  • Lunch: veggie sandwich with hummus, guacamole, and spicy mango balsamic; 1 slice Greek artisan bread; whole grain chips and hummus; strawberries
  • Dinner: salad with cashews and tahini dressing, bean burger on 1 slice of Dave's Killer Bread
Exercise Log:  Walking along the beach

How I felt:  On Saturday, Kevin and I went with my parents to go boating on our favorite local lake.  I was a fun day, but at the end of the day I felt a bit dehydrated.  In the evening Kevin and I watched a couple of movies that we have been meaning to get to on Netflix.  Overall it was a good eating day, but perhaps with a bit too much processed bread/chip products.

Sunday, Day 7 of Week 4
Food Log: 
  • Breakfast: 4 small plums
  • Lunch: green salad with nuts, black beans, and homemade tahini dressing; 1 beer
  • Dinner: tomato, onion, and shrimp bruschetta; Red Lobster Cheddar biscuits; 1 beer
  • Extras: dessert of homemade vegan strawberry milkshake
Exercise Log: walking around the mall, shopping

How I felt:  We spent most of the day out and about with our couple friend on the North side of Spokane.  This included going to Flamin' Joe's (wing and burger place), where I ordered a plain garden salad and brought my own nuts, beans, and dressing to add to it.  I was a little ticked, because the menu said "mixed greens" for the salad, but when it came, it was clearly all iceberg lettuce.  Not to be a greens snob, but that is one of the least nutritional of all greens.  I wish it was more of a spinach or spring mix.  Bummer.  After hanging out with our friends for the afternoon, Kevin and I decided to stop in at Red Lobster to use up a gift card my work had given me.  I ended up getting a bruschetta covered with tomatoes, onions, and a little bit of shrimp.  I was happy to see so much tomato on the dish, but unfortunately, I filled up on Cheddar Biscuits (I know!  It's a huge No-No!), so I didn't eat too much of the appetizer I ordered.  Then, in the evening when we got home, I made myself a strawberry smoothie, while Kevin had angel food cake* with strawberries and whipped cream.  At least I didn't cave for that!  Overall, not the healthiest day of eating, but I tried my best and gave in to a little bit of temptation.

Monday, Day 1 of Week 5
Food Log: 
  • Breakfast: 1/2 cup blueberries, 1 apple, 1 peach
  • Lunch: spinach salad with broccoli, red onion, cashews, black beans, and tahini dressing; tortilla chips
  • Dinner: salad with leftover tomato bruschetta
  • Extras: 2 beers in the evening
Exercise Log: Engine 2 workout in the morning (Morning!?  I know, I did it!)

How I felt:  Today I felt a bit bloated, probably from a bit of the saltier foods I ate the day before.  Overall, I'm feeling optimistic to finish out these last two weeks strong, and probably continue with what I have been doing.  This morning I did a work out before I got ready for work.  Normally I am not a morning exercise person, but I actually kind of liked getting it out of the way.  I made sure not to let it be an excuse not to do well on the other aspects of my day.  Hopefully I can get in 3-4 more solid work outs in before the end of the week.

What time of the day to you try to exercise?  How does it make you feel for the remainder of the day?