Day Twenty: A quick but late post

I don't know if it's the vegan diet or the garcinia cambogia, but every morning that I get on the scale, I seem to weigh about 1 lb. less. That puts me at 8 lbs. down so far! I can make my stomach flat when I suck it in and my love handles are significantly reduced and almost non-existent (that's what I always notice first). It probably helps that last night, I decided to nap while the dishwasher ran (I needed that damn Ninja again) and when I woke up, I decided that I was tired enough to just go to bed without dinner. So here's how yesterday went: 

Totals	725	123	16	34	1,284	23
Your Daily Goal	1,200	150	40	60	2,300	45
Remaining	475	27	24	26	1,016	22
	Calories	Carbs	Fat	Protein	Sodium	Sugar

This should be a quick post becaue I didn't eat anything new and exciting yesterday and didn't eat much, period.

For breakfast I had the same smoothie + blueberries I had for dinner the night before. Of course when I was in a rush in the morning, it came out so thick it would barely pour from the pitcher. Plus I worried about walking around work with blue lips all day. 

For lunch I had vegatable stir fry leftovers.

I forgot to eat the hummus and celery I had packed for a snack. Then I left it in my car overnight, but it's been so cold, it's probably still good. I did try some delicious Brad's Raw Leafy Kale chips that Nancy brought in and their vegan cheese satisfied my cheese craving (temporarily; I did buy Tofutti cheese and a Tofutti pizza on my way home from work).

I finally had all of the ingredients for the vegan burgers and the satay noodle salad I want to make. I was set on the vegan burgers for dinner, especially because of the tofutti cheese. Alas, the Ninja was dirty again. I was famished so I snacked on a serving of Trader Joe's pretzel flats. Then I deciced to take an hour-long 6 pm nap while the dishwasher ran. I ended up waking up around 7:30 and after 15 groggy minutes out of bed, I decided to forget it and go to bed for the night.

Day Nineteen: JK I'm hungry

As soon as I typed "day nineteen" this popped into my head, of course.

Now that I've relieved my attention deficit, if today's food consumption was ranked on a scale from 1 to 10, 10 being filet mignon, lobster tail, and sour cream and chive mashed potatoes and 1 being a rice cake, I'd say it was a bland 3 (rice cake with a schmear of peanut butter?).

I got to sleep in a little today. We had a two hour delay because it's so cold, the salt couldn't even melt the ice in the school parking lot. For breakfast I reheated a serving of pumpkin spice oatmeal - I didn't add anything this time. I remembered to eat before I left for work and took my standard coffee to go.

I had lunch at a normal-ish time (11:27 as opposed to 10:27) and I had my leftover vegetable stir fry from last night's dinner. See what I mean? Ho hum.

For my snack I had three celery stalks and some white bean hummus. That was the high point of the day. Celery! The high point! Pre-lunch I had had 3-4 kernels of caramel popcorn that Erika brought in from her cousin's popcorn company in Chicago, Let's Get Poppin. It was hands-down the best popcorn and quite possibly the best caramel anything I've ever had, but then I started to worry that it might have butter in it. OMG I want more NOWNOWNOW. Oh crap, I looked online. There is butter in it. Now I have to add another day to this experiment. Now I smell caramel in my apartment. I'm suffering from the "am I hungry or am I bored?" dilemma - especially because I'm watching a movie. I have no calories left for snacks. This is how I feel:

I went to Trader Joe's after work to pick up some stuff for this week (I realize that it's Thursday and didn't I just go shopping?). I have a few recipes I want to try from Vegetarian Times: vegan burgers and satay noodle salad (why does everything have to be called a salad?). I was really looking forward to making vegan burgers for dinner.

Well, all of the "soy cheese" at TJ's had casein in it. I was on my way home thinking "where the hell can I buy some Daiya?! Do I have to stop at Stop & Shop on my way home too?! What is a burger without cheese?!" when it hit me: I have to have a friggin' smoothie for dinner.

Nooooooooooooooo. Today was one of those days when all I can think about is dinner. I actually haven't had a day like that in a long time. I really, really, really wanted a cheeseburger.

Well, when I got home, I realized that my Ninja was in the dishwasher...no biggie, right? I opened the dishwasher and then realized that the stuff in the dishwasher was dirty and it wasn't even half full. Being lazy, I decided to run the dishwasher rather than wash the pitcher by hand, which I knew would take at least an hour (we're on, like, almost hour 2 now).

I decided to have a salad to hold me over before dinner. This wouldn't really count as dinner, since the smoothie is supposed to be a meal replacement. I put together 3 cups of baby arugula blend, a half cup of shredded red cabbage, a half cup of shredded carrots, a half cup of cooked whole wheat couscous (big mistake there at 110 calories), a quarter cup of pea shoots, 2 chopped green onions, 5 sliced Cherub (grape) tomatoes, and 2 tablespoons of balsamic vinegar (perfect ratio). I wolfed this down ravenously. Still hungry. I ate a vegan cookie. Still hungry. I preemptively logged in my smoothie (with no extra ingredients) and I have 101 calories left. I'm sitting here trying to watch a movie over the roar of the dishwasher, pondering what I can add to my smoothie to make it tolerable. I did stock up on 19 cent bananas at TJ's, but those have a lot of calories.

I'm also going to make a smoothie for breakfast tomorrow for three reasons: 1) Then I can actually enjoy my dinner tomorrow night, 2) I am proctoring the SAT on Saturday morning and I don't really want Friday night's dinner to "take effect" while I'm there, and 3) I have one midterm exam first thing tomorrow and there are 2 other teachers with me so if this happens, I should be safe:

Sorry for being gross.

Pink cup, pink robe, blue smoothie

Anyway, my smoothie is ready! I don't know if it's because I was super hungry or if it's just that good, but IT'S GOOD! Blueberries are clearly key. This time I mixed the protein, super greens, almond milk AND a teaspoon of imitation vanilla extract, a teaspoon of (real!) almond extract (another factor in this smoothie's awesomeness - I freakin' looooove almond), 3/4 cup of ice and a cup of frozen blueberries (hoping the ice would add extra volume). 

So this is where I am today:

Totals	1,161	200	21	52	1,398	50
Your Daily Goal	1,200	150	40	60	2,300	45
Remaining	39	-50	19	8	902	-5
	Calories	Carbs	Fat	Protein	Sodium	Sugar

Not too shabby. I guess it's healthier than eating 750 calories. Well, I'd better go get ready for tomorrow...meaning I'd better get horizontal on the couch and finish this movie that's way too long for a school night. 

Day Seventeen: Snow Day Cravings

I am certainly not done eating for the day, but I'm going to post anyway. I will also probably go over my calorie limit since I have a snow day tomorrow and it took me 3 hours to make the 16-mile commute home. The roads were treacherous and terrifying and I need to stress eat and stress drink wine. I don't have anything good to drink, so I probably won't have much, anyway. It's basically just an emergency stash and I think this counts as an emergency. On the other hand, maybe I'll save the wine for tomorrow, when I'll need motivation to dig out my car (thanks again to my awesome co-worker, Andrew, for lending me a shovel! If I had to go buy one on my way home, I never would have made it!). We already have over 6 inches of snow on the ground and we are supposed to get 6 more overnight. Then it's going to get up to a whopping 15 degrees tomorrow. Yes, I'm really going to want to go outside.

For some reason, I couldn't get my act together this morning and I forgot breakfast. I did have - you guessed it - my standard coffee with almond milk.

For lunch, I packed last night's Israeli couscous, seared cauliflower, and a side of white bean hummus with a serving of Wheat Thins (16 crackers - I ended up snacking on this hummus and cracker combo last night, too). Although I picked all of the red peppers out of the couscous, I still could not stomach the cinnamon and vinegar combo. The pearl couscous seemed to get chewier overnight. To be blunt, this recipe sucks. Do not make it. I ate about a quarter of the serving of couscous, if I'm being generous (it was probably more like a tenth) and half of the cauliflower (it still tastes weirdly fishy to me). I did kill all of the white bean hummus and crackers. I really cannot rave enough about that hummus. 

When I got home about 6 hours after lunch, I was obviously still hungry. I had been craving Chinese food on my way home - egg drop soup and noodles and dumplings. Snow days just make me crave junk and comfort foods (grilled cheese and tomato soup!!!). When I went shopping over the weekend, I decided to give Dr. McDougall another try, even though I did not like the vegan tortilla soup I had earlier. This time I bought vegan pad thai noodles, and the preparation was basically the same - add the seasoning packet, fill with water to fill line, microwave for 2 minutes, cover and let sit for 4. When that was all done, I spritzed a little lime juice on top and then crushed 10 peanuts in a plastic bag with a rolling pin and sprinkled the peanut crumbs on top. In retrospect, I should have added green onion but hollllleeeeeeee shhhhhhh this was good. The portion was on the smaller size, but it tasted like legit pad thai - and no sneaky eggs this time! I'm now a full-fledged fan of Dr. McDougall. I'm debating buying his stuff by the case from his website.

After this second late lunch, I decided it was time to veg out and read in bed for a bit. At 6:00, I got up to make my smoothie. This one was no bueno.

This is the height of luxury!

Dinner: Strawberry Kale Green Smoothie

I prepared this smoothie according to the directions, with 3 tablespoons of vegan protein powder, 1 tablespoon of organic super greens, a cup of almond milk (I use original unsweetened), and 3/4 cup of ice. I didn't want to use up any more bananas, so I added a cup of kale (from the freezer) and a cup of sliced strawberries. 

Side note: The green sludge from yesterday's smoothie did not wash off the inside of the Ninja lid in the dishwasher, which completely grossed me out.

Additional side note: This came out an even darker, slimy green mud color. 

Oh, also, this was pretty gross. It definitely missed the sweetness of the banana and the vanilla. It actually tasted a bit sour, which the strawberries may have added to (they were not completely ripe yet). It's also chalky. It took me about a half hour to get through it (this seemed to make around a pint), but I got used to it as I went on. 

Without going into too much detail about my bowels, let's just say that this smoothie did what it was supposed to do and it did it rather quickly.

I followed up with the aloe, probiotic, fiber, and my multivitamin. I've noticed that I've been feeling colder since I started my vegan diet, but I am taking 100% daily value of iron every day. This could be my Raynaud's, but it's not just my fingers, toes, and nose that feel cold (although those are the worst). I thought about doing an hour of yoga (my Roku has a fitness channel with streaming exercises) but since I can't log it into Gympact and I'm so cold and achy, I think I'll settle for a long, hot shower. At least I've resisted wine so far.

Post-Shower Snack: Vegan Oatmeal Cookie and Vegan Hot Cocoa

Remember how I said I loooooove junk/comfort food when the weather is crappy? Well, hallelujah, I have found the remedy! (I'm just hoping my craving for grilled cheese and tomato soup subsides tomorrow; otherwise, I'm walking to Quick Check for bread and soup and slicing up that almond cheese, casein and all). 

I've been mulling over this recipe for a while and I decided that today was the day:

I followed the recipe to a T, except my bananas were not that ripe and therefore a little more difficult to mash. I used Shoprite organic unsweetened applesauce and mashed some more.

I then added the rest of the ingredients:

...and used a teaspoon and my hand to form 16 irregular cookies (my specialty shape) on two cookie sheets sprayed with Smart Balance cooking spray.

Then I baked them on 350 for 20 minutes. The smell was heavenly. However, I remember the same enchanting aroma when I baked oatmeal banana bites on Day One and those came out dry...so I was worried. 

While those baked, I prepared the hot chocolate: 2 tablespoons of unsweetened baking cocoa, 2 tablespoons of light brown sugar, a teaspoon of cinnamon, a teaspoon of vanilla, and a cup of almond milk (I ended up adding more because it looked like the powder would never dissolve). I put this in the microwave for a minute and when I took it out, it was almost cakey on top - but once I stirred it, everything mixed together nicely. I put it in for another 30 seconds and sprinkled some nutmeg on top.

The final result:

Holy Bejesus. The cookie is awesome and a mere 76 calories if you make 16 irregular shapes, too. The hot cocoa is rich and spicy and not sickeningly sweet. That's 158 calories and 25 grams of sugar - a little high. Still, at 234 calories total, this is a decent snack that satisfies my cravings - better than the apple I ate in my marathon commute home. 

I can do a little better, but I can confidently say that I'm done for the day. 

Totals	1,140	192	26	46	1,882	65
Your Daily Goal	1,200	150	40	60	2,300	45
Remaining	60	-42	14	14	418	-20
	Calories	Carbs	Fat	Protein	Sodium	Sugar

Definitely went overboard in carbs and sugar, but it's a snow day! And I don't even want any wine. You know why? I have been so. much. less. stressed. since I stopped eating animal products. Even though (many) parts of my drive home were scary and aggravating, my heart wasn't racing or in my throat and I wasn't screaming obscenities like I typically do if I'm stuck in 45 minutes of summer Shore traffic...or doing a routine drive down any of Monmouth County's super-annoying highways. 

This feels good.

Bonus: Look at this treasure trove of vegan slow cooker recipes I found! 

The First Weekend: Days Seven and Eight

Well, it's Sunday night and I'm reflecting on my first vegan weekend. Yesterday was my "cheat" day, which basically means nothing, except I can drink. I resolved to only drink once a week for January, but that's already going to be shot next week, since I have a concert on Tuesday and two events over the weekend. 

Anyway, here's how yesterday panned out:

Totals	1,558	177	10	28	805	35
Your Daily Goal	1,503	188	50	75	2,300	56
Remaining	-55	11	40	47	1,495	21
	Calories	Carbs	Fat	Protein	Sodium	Sugar

I'm pretty sure I missed something and really consumed more calories, but whatever. 

I had to drop off my cable boxes and equipment at the cable store, since I cut the cord about two weeks ago. The gym chain that I go to has a location next door, so I decided to try it out. I wasn't a fan, but I stuck it out. I also had to pick up groceries for the week, and luckily, there is also a grocery store in the shopping center. It was also possibly the worst grocery store I've been to in a long time. 

At this point, I had had about six cups of water, but I was starving. I had a little leftover green glamour smoothie, so I threw it in the Ninja with some additional kale, banana, blueberries, and strawberries. To be honest, I don't remember if I put in more almond milk or not. 

Why aren't you beer?

But look how pretty all of the colors are

Now I'm just getting artsy

So, yeah, breakfast was a green glamour smoothie. 

For lunch, I had the last leftover curried tomato lentil soup and a TJ's Middle Eastern flatbread spread with homemade hummus, basil leaves (which I think should be tossed because they were pretty pungent), pea shoots, sun dried tomatoes, and black pepper. 

Since I was running all of these errands, my day started pretty late, so I didn't have lunch until 3. I had plans to go to the bar at 6, so I wasn't yet hungry by the time I left. Oops. Therefore, dinner was beer.

Dinner
Dogfish Head - Raison D'etre, 12 oz.	220	18	0	0	0	0
Six Point Beer - Sweet Action, 16 oz	235	17	0	1	0	0
Weyerbacher - Verboten (Belgian Pale Ale), 12 oz.	180	0	0	0	0	0
Ithaca Beer Company - Flower Power Ipa, 16 oz	225	0	0	0	0	0
	860	35	0	1	0	0

Like I said, I think I forgot one. This led me to the following conclusions:

A) MyFitnessPal is awesome for having craft beers in its database

B) I clearly got fat because I love craft beer

C) I wish I still liked/could drink light beer

Today, I felt so ill from having beer for dinner that I basically couldn't eat or move for a long time. I guess if you're going to overindulge one day, it's good to be physically unable to eat the next, right? (insert eye roll here)

I think it's safe to say I'm done eating for the day, so here are my totals: 

Totals	555	111	6	16	977	42
Your Daily Goal	1,200	150	40	60	2,300	45
Remaining	645	39	34	44	1,323	3
	Calories	Carbs	Fat	Protein	Sodium	Sugar

Breakfast was a nap and some Advil. Oh wait, I also had a Sunkist strawberry fruit bar.

Lunch was a cup of Dr. McDougall's Vegan Tortilla Soup

See, this is the bad thing about a vegan diet. When you're hungover, you can't just run to the McDonald's drive thru or get Chinese delivered. Greasy junk food is pretty much out of the question. When you're straddling that line between nauseous and hungry, but you're pretty sure you need food in your stomach now, there aren't many instant options (OMG, I am just now realizing that I have Amy's vegan enchiladas in my freezer, which would have been epic). I grabbed this soup because it was the quickest thing I had on hand. It basically works like a ramen Cup o' Noodles: Take out the flavor packet, add water, microwave...

I don't think I would buy this again, though. Even though lime is one of the last ingredients listed, it was pretty overpowering. I also didn't take a picture of the soup itself, but it looked a little barfy, which was not what I needed at the time. 

Snack: Nap #2

Dinner: Couscous Confetti Salad (with imitation garlic naan)

This was right up my alley because I actually cook stuff like this all the time. I absolutely love Pita Grill, which, if you're not familiar with it, is a chain in the New York City area. Although I'm lucky to reunite with PG this upcoming Tuesday, I don't get it very often, so I starting making my own version of their rice bowls years ago. And since I'm not very good at cooking rice, I usually make mine with couscous. 

To make four servings, I made 3/4 cup of TJ's whole couscous. While that was going on the stovetop, I mixed together 2 chopped green onions; half of a red bell pepper, diced; 1/2 cup of shredded carrots (grated? julienned? whatever comes in the bag. I'm too lazy to get up and look); a cup of shredded red cabbage; 1/4 cup diced fresh parsley (I'd omit this next time. I'm so over parsley); and 1/4 cup of golden raisins. Once the couscous was done, I mixed it in.

In a small bowl, I whisked together a little over a tablespoon of lemon juice, 1/4 cup seasoned rice vinegar, 1/2 tablespoon olive oil (oh, how I missed you, EVOO!!!), 1/2 teaspoon curry powder, and some salt. Then I dumped this on top of the couscous salad and stirred it all together.

My TJ's flatbreads are past their prime, so I decided to use one up and make fake garlic naan. I gave one flatbread a spritz of Smart Balance cooking spray, doused it with a healthy sprinkling of garlic powder, and put it in the microwave for 30 seconds. It was no garlic naan, but it was definitely healthier. 

I just killed off the rest of the green glamour smoothie that was leftover in my Ninja (I need to make hummus!). After a day in the refrigerator, it was more like pudding, but it was still good.

Well, that was my weekend. I still have some things to do before bed, especially if I'm going to make it to work tomorrow (my neck pain is so bad today I'm basically immobile. But that's another story). The moral of the story is that beer is not meant to be dinner, and hangovers are not healthy dieting strategies. But MyFitnessPal is not very encouraging when it says things like:

If every day were like today...   You'd weigh 117.6 lbs in 5 weeks 

If every day were like today, I'd be a very unhealthy person. 

Oh, and here are some bonus links:

21 Meals with Tons of Protein and No Meat (not all are vegan, though)

Steve-o's Vegan Kickstart page (I had no idea he was vegan!)