Days Twenty-Two and Twenty-Three

Guys, I'm in love. We'll get to that later. First, let me recap my hellish Sunday.

Sunday was one of those days where I just couldn't eat. THANKS BEERFEST! (On the plus side, this means I lost any of the beer/illicit andouille sausage weight that I gained on Saturday). 

I ended up driving home around 4 AM because I knew it was going to be a rough morning and I wanted to spend that rough morning in my own bed. I steamed myself in a hot shower for 2 hours (I'm not even kidding. Drinking can after can of ice cold seltzer in a scalding shower really helps). Around 7:00, I decided to heat up a slice of Tofutti pizza for breakfast. I was not patient enough to cook it in the toaster oven for 20 minutes as per the instructions, so I microwaved it and ate it all soggy and weird-like. 

Throughout the day, I drank at least 9 waters (including seltzer) and noshed on some Wheat Thins in bed during my Daria marathon (I mostly kept watching the same episode over and over because I kept falling asleep).

I woke up around 9:00 PM and took all of my supplements, then heated up a cup of TJ's low sodium vegetable broth with 1/2 cup of whole wheat couscous in it. I sprinkled some garlic on top, but it was still pretty bland. But that's exactly what I needed. I am leaning very heavily toward total teetotalism because even though I skipped my dose of Cymbalta on Saturday, beer is still not jiving with me. 

Then My Fitness Pal gave me this warning:

Totals	470	83	16	11	808	17
Your Daily Goal	1,200	150	40	60	2,300	45
Remaining	730	67	24	49	1,492	28
	Calories	Carbs	Fat	Protein	Sodium	Sugar

Don't encourage me to go into starvation mode, My Fitness Pal. That weight is basically my goal! Now that I'm toying with the idea of going to the Dominican Republic with Stacey for Easter, I really need to get more vigilant. But I still have 11 weeks to go :)

Now for today!

I had several doctor's appointments, including one with an orthopedist that I had to wait weeks for, so I took off work. I only had time for coffee + almond milk for breakfast before I left. Oh, I did slather my lips with this, too:

Don't look at my gross nails; I just peeled off my gel manicure

Yes, I'm the vegan in the angora sweater with the bacon lip balm.

The appointment took forever. Diagnosis: Hip bursitis (which I could have predicted in November when the pain started) and radiculopathy, which is going to require an MRI and I am terrified. I have to say, I was very impressed with the doctor and the other staff members, though. If anyone needs an ortho in the Central Jersey/Jersey Shore area, hit me up! He and his technician were wonderful. I did have to remove my daith piercing for MORE x-rays and I have yet to get it back in my ear. First world problems grumble grumble grumble. I also turned down a cortisone shot in my hip since I also had to go get 5 shots at the allergist. That was enough.

After the allergist, I barely had time to eat, but I headed to Starbucks. Guess what? Starbucks does not offer any truly vegan products! I got a grande iced coffee with soy milk (since it was a balmy 45 degrees outside) and a Hearty Veggie & Brown Rice salad bowl, which contains honey in its lemon tahini dressing. Oh well. I'm not going to get all bent out of shape about honey. I can't believe I eat this stuff with kale and beets in it. 

Oh wait, I just realized why I had no time to really eat - I wasted a very long time at Target. I had just been thinking about how much happier and cheerful I've been since I went vegan. Typically, I'm the kind of person to scream, kick, and throw things when I'm by myself and pissed off (particularly if I'm driving). However, now that I'm not pumped full of gross meat hormones, I've been very calm. Nevertheless, when I came out of Target and saw that someone had slammed her shopping cart into the side of my (pretty new) car rather than walking three feet to the cart return on the other side of my car, you can bet that I let some F-bombs fly in the parking lot.

Now on to the most amazing meal of today: Dinner. I had been dying to make these vegan burgers for ages and now I just want to live on them. No, I want to live in them. I used a recipe from Vegetarian Times to make 4 burgers. 

Look at the pretty layers!

Into the Ninja went 1/2 cup of cannellini beans, 1/2 cup of black beans, 1 1/2 cups of shredded carrots, a cup of coarsely chopped onion, 1/2 cup rolled oats, 1/4 cup chopped cilantro, 3 chopped cloves of garlic, a tablespoon of chili powder, salt, and pepper. I pulsed the mixture until everything was mixed together but not pureed. I checked to see if it was ready to be molded into patties, but the mixture didn't seem quite sticky enough, so I added some of the liquid from the beans (make sure you reserve this liquid when you drain your beans). 

All mixed up

I let this sit (and set) in the fridge for about 30 minutes and then I formed the mixture into 4 1" patties. I preheated a skillet with a tablespoon of EVOO and then heat the patty for 3 minutes on one side, 3 minutes on the other side, 2 minutes on the first side again, and 2 more minutes on the other side - 5 minutes total per side, if you're worse at math than I am.

I put this on top of a slice of Tofutti American cheese on a TJ's multigrain sandwich thin. It got nice and melty. On the other side of the bun, I put a thick tomato slice, some pickle slices, and a healthy portion of Dijon mustard. I put both sides together and holy (non) cow, I went to heaven. 

The patty getting all oily and steamy

Garnishing this heavenly burger

Meet the new love of my life

Today's totals:

Totals	993	117	46	28	2,473	21
Your Daily Goal	1,200	150	40	60	2,300	45
Remaining	207	33	-6	32	-173	24
	Calories	Carbs	Fat	Protein	Sodium	Sugar

Did I mention that I've lost 8 lbs already? (probably). Today when I was getting dressed, I actually looked at myself in the mirror and said out loud, "I love my body." It looks like I can take my fat jeans back to the store since I never even wore them!

Anyway, I've fallen off the smoothie game for the past 3 days, but I've continued with (and upped) the supplements. Time to go wash the Ninja so I can have a smoothie breakfast tomorrow! 

Day Four

There are quite a few things that I'm not doing well with in the new year, and waking up for work is one of them. According to my Sleep Cycle app, I should be waking up around 5:15 or 5:20. According to sanity, no. I not only turned off the app and slept until my emergency clock radio 6 AM wake up call, I snoozed until 6:08. I should probably stop staying up and overdosing on Netflix, but last night I decided to start Coming to America at 10, soooo...(Side note: Subways in 1988...!!!)

Here are today's totals:

Fats: 25 g
Carbs: 250 g
Protein: 55 g
Calories: 1,323 ...but I burned a whopping 42 at physical therapy, giving me a net of 1,280!

aaaaand Ziplocs! wooooooooo!

Oh, yeah, that's another thing I'm not doing well with in 2014...getting to the gym. But it's so collllllld, and I didn't even get done with physical therapy until close to sevvvvveennnn (read in a whiny voice). To make matters worse, I went to Target instead of the gym...but I needed food storage contaaaaainers and extra measuring spoooooons! (I also stood in the cheese aisle like I was sneaking a peek at a peep show).

I'm not going to include individual nutrition facts for any of today's meals. Although miércoles is usually la noche de los tacos, today was el día de las sobras. (Side note: Two new years resolutions I should have: A) Avoid Target at all costs, B) Pick up Duolingo again).

Breakfast: Banana oatmeal bite, standard coffee/almond milk

I popped this in the microwave for 15 seconds and then another 15 seconds and it was much better. The outside was still a little dry because I flubbed up the recipe but...

Lunch: Guacamole quinoa and arugula 

This was actually really good mixed together with arugula and served cold. The reviews on the recipe website were right; this tastes even better the next day because it gives the flavors time to come together. As has become the norm, I was too full to finish it so I probably only ate half. I saved the rest and as has always been the norm, I was hungry again by my "break" at 2 PM. I polished the rest of this off then. Side note: Along with the other flavors, the onion gets even more pungent on Day 2. It's a good idea to have gum on hand, or to have coworkers who have gum on hand who don't want to smell your stank breath (sorry, guys). 

Snack #1 (I worked a longer day today so I needed extra snacks): Bakery on Main Chocolate Almond Granola Bar

These made their way in to work with all of the post-holiday goodies, and I hid one on my desk because I saw that it was vegan! I've been craving chocolate something awful and this granola bar saaaaaaaaved me. It was so good and it's also gluten-free. I definitely need to check out more products from Bakery on Main (I was tempted by their gluten-free granola at Target...but they're also an expensive line). This bar - and I believe the granola as well - had only 140 calories (sure beats the 360 calorie Special K bars I was scarfing down).

Snack #2: Zucchini and Hummus

I hate zucchini. I love hummus. Together, they work. I made sure that I coated each strip of zucchini in a wad of hummus so big that it was all I could taste. 

Dinner: Moroccan bean stew and couscous

Maybe it's not just chocolate I'm craving, but sweets. The cinnamon in this stew gives some, but not enough. I thought that golden raisins would be awesome on top of this, but I don't have any. I threw about two tablespoons of low sugar Craisins in and it helped. You know what I don't like in this? Fennel seeds. Yuck, yuck, yuck. Never again. 

Well, this was short and boring, but I'm going to try to get to bed earlier tonight. Maybe I'll let Sleep Cycle control my morning. Or maybe I'll let a marathon of Freaks & Geeks control my night (if it results in dreams of James Franco, I'll settle for the latter). 

Calories: Zero