Day Nine

Before I begin, happy 30th birthday to my bestie, Kayln. I am posting this link in honor of you and LaToya (see number 9, obvs): 19 Signs You're in a Relationship with Hummus

Why do my days fly by once 3:00 hits? Not cool, man. I'm going to keep this quick because I'm still in a lot of pain, which kept me out of the gym today. I'm starting to feel hungry, but I'm going to try to just drink water for the rest of the night and go to bed soon. Here are today's totals:

Totals	887	153	17	30	1,736	28
Your Daily Goal	1,200	150	40	60	2,300	45
Remaining	313	-3	23	30	564	17
	Calories	Carbs	Fat	Protein	Sodium	Sugar

Breakfast was an oatmeal banana bite nuked for 30 seconds, coffee, and almond milk. 

Lunch was Artichoke Heart and Tomato Salad over a bed of arugula

I made this up last night - it serves two and it's super easy. I don't think it would have been substantial enough for a meal without the arugula, though. Just throw all of the following together: 2 large, chopped tomatoes; a little less than a tablespoon of dried parsley (the recipe calls for fresh, but I really just don't like it); 2 tablespoons of fresh, chopped mint (the recipe calls for 3, but this seems like overkill); a tablespoon of capers, and a cup of artichoke hearts. I upped the calories substantially by using the kind that come marinated in oil, but I did drain them. Top this with slivered almonds as a garnish. 

Does anyone care that I'm not really including nutrition facts anymore? I'm not going by the meal plan's information so everything I have is stored on MyFitnessPal. Anyway, I packed this with a side salad of arugula, shredded carrots, and pea shoots. I drizzled some balsamic vinegar on top (not enough to make me cough this time) and dumped the artichoke hearts and tomatoes on top. It was a lot of food and filled me up for most of the day!

Snack: I brought in the last of my homemade hummus and a TJ's Middle Eastern flatbread, cut into triangles. Jen also made an amazing sun-dried tomato hummus, so I had some of that with carrots, too (forgot to log in those carrots. Please add approximately 13 calories to today's total). I still had hummus leftover, so I had 4 whopping water crackers, too.

Dinner: Confetti couscous salad...over a bed of arugula

I'm really trying to use up all of my produce before it goes bad. Plus, the arugula adds food but not many calories. You know what this recipe is missing? Feta cheese. :(

Look at those wine bottles lurking in the background

Time to make white bean hummus, get my stuff together for tomorrow, and continue to listen to this song on repeat until I go to bed: 

P.S. Did I mention that I booked a trip for Nashville today and I leave in exactly 30 days? Something tells me that I won't be able to be vegan in that city (and I won't want to...pass the ribs, please).

Bring on the pig

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