March is over!

So let's see how I did over the course of March.

1. No alcohol for 30 days.

Ha! I actually didn't do too bad but I did drink. I went two weeks straight then drank some. But basically I cut my daily happy hours out and most weekends and can count on one hand how many evenings I had either a or a couple drinks, so there's an improvement. Scale shows it too.

2. Eat a 80/20 raw diet.

This I did pretty well with. Some days I was all raw. If I didn't have to cook it, I didn't. I rarely ate out so it was primarily my food. I'd say the most I cooked were my sweet potatoes.

3. WORK OUT

Big improvement. I was consistently working out 3-4 times a week, doing 530am classes and classes on the weekend. This week I've not been going at 540 bc of feeding conflicts with the kittens, but that's not stopped me. Instead I used my groupon and hit up the elliptical and weight room for lunch time workouts. Can feel a huge difference with that.

4. Water

80% of the month I went well over100oz a day. Otherwise I drank at least 60oz.

5. $$

Didn't save a 1000. Actually, only saved $500 but I had some bills I had to take care of and things like Warped Tour tickets to get for my brother. =P

So I didn't hit all my goals but I made big changes. Expect a new list of goals for April.

I feel blah

That is all really. I went out for St. Patty's Day and because alcohol bloat hangs onto me I'm up and probably will be for another day, even though I increased my workouts and up-ed my water elsewhere. This is why alcohol is bad news, kids.

Oh well, I'll be down again before the weekend so hopefully I'll have a good weigh in on Monday. I should probably start recording my measurements monthly.

....

The sweet potato and half apple almost make up for oversleeping and missing my workout class and having the biggest hole in my tights that I didn't know was there until I got to work. But it's okay, I can rectify the workout by making a stop at the school tonight after work. I just really hate cardio machines. If the weather were nicer, I'd do something outside but the treadmill and elliptical are a pain. And the weight room is a giant sausage fest. It's okay, run on the treadmill tonight because Saturday and Sunday are 2 hr cardio/strength training classes.

Nothing much else to talk about with me. I'm still losing at a steady pace and can feel my body getting stronger again. I'm officially on spring break. The roommate is going to Montreal tomorrow for a few days, so although I will miss her, I'm secretly excited about having the kittens all to myself all weekend. I get them in the evening and overnight but I don't get to really play with them since their box is in her room and sh

e's usually sleeping. They are doing amazing though. I was worried about the lack of pooping that they were producing for us (ie my roommate), but then I checked their box and it had turds in various spots. Awesome.

So, I will leave you with this precious face.

SWEET POTATOES

I cannot get enough sweet potatoes lately. Japanese, Jewel, Garnet, any kind I just love them. I've been eating them for dinner almost every night for the past week. If I get home in time, I just bake them and pair it with a small green salad or spiraled zucchini and it makes for a pretty satisfying dinner.

I say that because this morning after feeding this CUTIE PIE

I had the energy to go work out, even though it was 5am and I had only slept 3.5hrs. I'm glad I went though, I've been really focused once there so I've had some stellar workouts. Passed out on the train though, so at least I got another half hour nap. But once at work, I dug around for my earbuds and found a sweet potato! I bought two y

esterday, and since I try to use as few plastic bags as possible, I stuck it in my bag and forgot about it.

This meant that I got to have this wonderful, happy breakfast:

Just one sweet potato cubed and microwaved for five minutes. I try to steer clear of a microwave when possible but eh, my work doesn't have an oven. To add a little protein, I paired it with 2 tbs of my left over, homemade hummus. I don't put oil in my hummus so it's a little thicker. Breakfast stats were: 203 cal, 43 carbs, 3 fat and 3 protein.

Ugly breakfasts

Seriously, I eat the ugliest breakfasts. Take a look:

So yeah. Unattractive. But I'm attempting to not buy any food until payday, so I'm scraping the barrel here. I also just haven't had the time to go to the grocery store between work, school and kitten feedings. But this, in case you are interested, is 1 bartlett pear chopped, 2 tbs quaker oats, 1 tbs peanut butter and 2 tbs ground flax seed, all mixed with water until I get the consistency I want, then microwaved for a minute. Stats are: 308cal, 35 carbs, and 16 fat.

I've not been sleeping much due to the kittens (which are eating lots and growing like little kitten weeds) so I've been determined to keep up eating whole and exercising more. Went to an amazing circuit training cardio class last night and it was the first time in a while that I've left the gym with soaked hair because I was sweating so much. I'm going to be a long, lean vegan machine in no time.

This post is kind of blah, I know, but I'm too tired to think so I'll just leave you with this precious picture taken in the middle of the night:

Day......8? Yes? I think it's day 8.

My one week weight loss (weighed in yesterday) was 5.2 lbs. I know so much of it is just bloat and water weight but hey, I'll take it. Also, it's really really hard for me to not weigh myself everyday. I'm addicted to my scale. I typically weigh myself twice a day, but seeing how this is not healthy behavior, I'm weighing myself on Sundays, Wednesdays and Fridays. This way I can see midweek what it's looking like, and on Friday I have a reminder to not blow it. I've also worked out four times last week. Some of the classes I took really kicked my butt and I'm still feeling it.

I became a foster mom on Saturday to three babies. Three, three day old abandoned kittens. They are such hard work. I keep telling myself we just have to get through the weekend. When we get through the weekend, they'll be two weeks old and I feel like that's a huge benchmark. They'll be able to walk more steadily, it won't have to be 9 million degrees in Elise's room, they won't need feedings every 3 hours, their eyes will be open and they'll actually look like kittens. Until then, keep these babies in your thoughts as they will hopefully continue to grow and get strong and healthy.

Day 6!

It crept up behind me and bit me in the butt. Surprised me for sure but I welcome its return. I don't know where it's been hiding for the past several months but it's back.

My motivation!

Seriously, I don't know how many times I've said "oh yeah, I'll go to the gym tonight" then not go. Or I'll mean to go in the morning but I don't. It's even free! Part of my tuition. Or I'll bring my lunch then spend money on something twice the calories and carbs as what I brought. But yesterday was a wake up call. I can improve my eating like I've been doing, and I'm a firm believer that health is 80% what you put in your mouth, but my body has changed since severely cutting down my workout regimen. Last year I was out there nearly every day doing something and my body showed it. My arms had definition, my legs were getting strong and even though I weigh not much different than when I was working out a lot, my clothes felt snugger, my body felt puffier and I just looked softer overall.

So last night after class, I schlept myself and my roommate to the gym. My class ran a little late so we only had time for 30 min cardio but we did it. My endurance and stamina haven't dwindled as much as I thought which made me happy. Then I came home, ate a great dinner of a big salad with tomatoes and a baked sweet potato. Then this morning was the true test. I could take a cardio/strength training class before work at 545. Those are offered three days a week, then on weekend mornings, which would give me enough time to work out and come home and get ready.

And I did it.

Didn't want to. Was super tired after only 4.5 hrs of sleep. But I felt great afterwards.

I'll have to readjust my sleep schedule and force myself to go to bed earlier (not easy for me) but I feel great. I'm 6 full days into eating more whole foods, eating in and (now) working out and I already feel less bloated and gross. Plus I haven't gained back my stomach bug weight loss, so just gonna keep moving forward.

But now, food. I started measuring everything again. It's really the only way I can be sure that I know exactly what I put in my mouth isn't more than it should be (that's what she said). Ahem. Anyways, after working out I ate a bartlett pear to hold me over until I got to work at 9. Then I made this:

It doesn't look pretty, I know, but it's full of things that hold me over all morning, it's cheap, and make my insides happy to do what it is they are supposed to do. It's basically a scaled down version of Kath Eat's basic oatmeal recipe. For mine, I use 1/4c quick oats, 1tbs organic crunchy peanut butter, 1tbs chia seeds, 1 packet of sugar in the raw, pinch of salt and enough water so that it's not gummy. I drain the oil out of my peanut butter when I get it (and please, I know, all the good stuff is in the oil but I don't like it. It's too greasy, I hate stirring it in and I don't eat it on bread), so I put everything in the bowl together, use the hot water from the water filter thing, then microwave for a min. I usually have to add more water because the chia seeds have exploded, so I'll add more, let it sit for another min or two, then decide if I like the consistency. It's not pumpkin pudding, but it does last me hours and I don't have the sugar crash that I get if I add a banana or have another high sugar breakfast.

Stats? Myfitnesspal says for the bowl: 260 cal, 27 carbs, 13 fat, 10 protein, 7 sugar. And again, it's probably a little lower because of the lack of oil in the peanut butter but I'd rather overestimate than underestimate.

Days 4 and 5

Stomach bug!

Holy moley it was bad. I'm still a bit queasy and my stomach is still sore so no cooking for a little while. Good news though?

Lost 4lbs during the whole thing.

Now to keep it going!

Day 3

I really need to get a better control of my eating when I'm home. After class I was starving so it started with a normal dinner that put me under calories, then branched out to mindless snacking. I did work on my alien project for school though, so last night wasn't a total bummer. I also went above my water requirement and did not spend any money yesterday, so both pluses on my side.

I also made roasted chickpeas. These I have to be careful with because I looove chickpeas but they are high in calories. So when I make them, I store them in single serving bags so I don't overdo it.

I love salt and vinegar anything. Since going vegan, I've really missed crabs and vinegar, so maybe that's where I've tried to substitute it elsewhere. Anyways, super easy, super quick snack.

Salt and Vinegar Chickpeas

1 can chickpeas

Sea Salt

White vinegar

Cooking spray

Drain and rinse the chickpeas, then simmer them in 1 part vinegar 1 part water for about 10 min. Drain, place on sprayed cookie sheet and roast at 400 for 10-15 min. Shake them every few min. When you take them out, sprinkle with sea salt while they are still hot.

I like my roasted chickpeas to be a little more crunchy, so just eye their color as they roast. Enjoy!

Curry soup

I opened my fridge yesterday and noticed a drawer full of produce that was on the edge of being too ripe. Sarah had been talking about making soup on Saturday, so I thought why not? My problem though was my produce wasn't exactly soup friendly. I had in my possession: small acorn squash, yellow squash, handful baby carrots, two very small yellow potatoes, 1 green pepper, 1 yellow pepper and 1 orange pepper.

Oy.

So first I cut up (except the peppers), sprayed them with cooking spray, sprinkle of salt, and roasted them until they were all soft. Once they finished, I added them to my dutch oven that had 4 cups of vegetable stock simmering. The green pepper never made it because when I opened it up, I found a grub type worm baked inside. Soooo gross.

Anyways, I let all this simmer away on med-low with the lid on, occasionally mashing them. I decided I wanted to have this thick base which, if I had an immersion blender, would have been easy. Once everything was happily mushed, I decided on a curry soup because I had those things on hand. I added a can of coconut milk + 1/2 can water, 1 can organic pumpkin puree, 1 28 oz can of diced tomatoes and about a cup of dry brown rice. I seasoned liberally with curry powder then added a little salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, garlic and cayenne pepper. Let it all simmer on low with the lid on for about an hour, just until the rice had softened.

It turned out well. I wish I had lentils instead of the rice but still pretty good. At work I found a red pepper that was about to go, so I chopped that up and added it to the top. Made a huge pot, so at least I'll have lunches all week.

Stats: makes 8, per serving: 224 cal, 28 gm carbs, 11 gm fat, 4 gm protein

Day 2, part deux

I failed over the weekend. Yesterday started anew, today doing better =P

I even worked out over the weekend!

Breakfast was the juice of 1lb carrots, 1 grapefruit and a nugget of ginger. Later in the afternoon I mixed 1tbs chia seeds with 1/4c coconut milk and had a bagel thin with 1tbs smart balance light. Lunch is this curry soup I made yesterday with rapidly spoiling produce, which I will post more on later.

Day 2, my breakfast beats your breakfast

Did well yesterday! This is reminding me of when I first went vegan and couldn't remember what/how to eat, so I starved the first couple of days. After the pumpkin pudding, I ate cauliflower mash with shredded zucchini and a little bit of tomatoes and was starving by 3. Like, hands shaking starving. So I caved and ate a clif bar but I recovered by dinner with nearly raw spring rolls, detox salad and a little raw "chocolate" mousse. Preeetty awesome. Thursday nights with Sarah at Great Sage need to be worked into my budget.

Anyways, CHECK OUT THIS BREAKFAST. It's amazing. A champagne mango, handful of grape tomatoes and half an avocado with lemon squeezed over top.

I need to work on my presentation skills. If Julie were preparing this, it would look more beautiful.

Day 1, pumpkin pudding

So far so good! Better be though, it's only 10am. Anyways, I started my day juicing kale, a grapefruit, some ginger and half a cucumber. Then I made my current favorite breakfast.

I've mentioned over and over and over about my love of pumpkin. When I saw the recipe for this, I jumped on it and as a breakfast, it's pretty good. It has enough fiber and protein that I don't get hungry. Plus, it's fairly cheap.

Just doesn't look pretty. Anyways, it also opened my eyes to the wonderful world of chia seeds. These little things are a super food and in my eyes, better for you than my trusty flax seeds. Rich in omega-3 fatty acids, they are also full of antioxidants (so much that they don't go rancid quickly), fiber, calcium, phosphorus, magnesium, iron and zinc. You can eat them raw, but I think the best way to eat them is to soak them in some water or whatever liquid you are cooking with and when you do, they expand 10 times their size in the water they are retaining.

For this recipe, I soaked about a tablespoon, maybe a little more, of chia seeds in about 1/2c vanilla coconut milk for 10-15 min. Really I just soaked them while I juiced then cleaned up. After, I mixed the gelatinous mixture with half a can of pumpkin, a little cinnamon and two sugar in the raw packets. For added protein, I melted 1tbs of organic crunchy peanut butter with a touch of hot water and mixed that in.

There you go! A healthy, raw breakfast.