June Two

June first came and went and I totally missed it. Blogging wise that is. And you know what? I'm going to let it slide. It was a weird-bad (as opposed to weird-good) eating day so it's going to go down in history outside of the blog. It wasn't a disaster or anything, I mostly just want to stay caught up to the present and I'm already a day behind! I never knew it would be so hard to keep up with myself.

Anyways, happy June!

Workout

I finally completed Day 10 of the Jillian DVD! I am finally ready to do level 2 and I am betting it's not easy. Can't wait!

Breakfast

Yesterdays overnight oats were a bit bland but still successful. The night before I prepared in my oats bowl:

• 1/2 cup oats
• 1/2 cup soy milk
• 1/2 cup water
• 1 tsp. chia seeds
• 1 tsp. milled flaxseeds
• 2 tsp. raisins
• shake cinnamon.

The next morning I added a banana and a scoop of peanut butter.

I rehydrated with some H2O and took my Women's One a Day like a good girl.

Snack

Yesterday was the last day of Advanced Tonal Analysis and because our professor is awesome, she called the last day "Happy Day!" (which she actually wrote on the chalk board, hahaha) She brought in her pet rabbit Max and made chocolate chip pecan cookies. I couldn't resist these precious cookies and actually, she told us that she's been organic for 3o years! I completely enjoyed this non-vegan exploit.

Lunch

After 50 of talking about euthanasia in intro to ethics I was soo ready for something innocent and tasty...like sweet potato fries! I sliced those fries up myself! No prepackaged, pre-sliced business. Not that there's anything wrong with buying them sliced, don't get me wrong. I'm just proud that I can cut a yam into a fry shape. The only thing I was frustrated about with these fries was that they were not crispy and firm like a fry should be but rather limp and mushy. They still tasted great but Savannah and I discussed the matter and and concluded that yams and sweet potatoes really make a difference if you're making fries. To make them I coated them with a little olive oil and sprinkled them with salt, pepper, and garlic powder.

My sandwich is the same ol' same ol' except I added a slab of roasted bell pepper. On the side, a pickle and some grapes and pear slices.
I enjoyed the other half of my Mate Mojito from last night's dinner.

Snack

After work I had some biz to take care of. I had been dying to try this PB&J flavored Lärabar ever since I saw it on Carrots 'N' Cake.

Delicious! Peanutty and Jelly-ie?

Dinner

Some Three Bean Quinoa Salad on some spinach, sweet potato fries, and roasted broccoli and cauliflower made up my terrific dinner last night. Savannah and I enjoyed reruns of Gray's with dinner. I have been completely sucked in to the series, I have no idea how it happened!

Dessert

I made up a little dessert recipe that is definitely a keeper: Fruity Pudding

• 1 package silken tofu
• 2 peaches
• 1 banana
• agave to taste (I probably used about 2 Tbsp...maybe a little more)
• vanilla soy milk, just enough to get the blender going

I put everything in a blender and whipped it up till smooth. That's all it took! It reminded me of yogurt but without the live bacteria. I topped it with some cinnamon puffins. Delish.
Happy June 2!

Weirdo Wednesday

Dessert

See, I knew I had dessert! No not for breakfast lol this is from two nights ago. Lucky for me I had enough left over ice cream and cake to make a single layer version of my dish for the Green Chef to have at home!

Breakfast

Yesterday morning I started the day with a bowl of mixed up cereals to finish off two nearly done boxes. I topped it all with soy milk, a banana, and some cherries. Oh, and a scoop of peanut butter of course. On the side, half-caff hazelnut coffee with hazelnut soy cream and stevia, water, and a Women's One a Day.I prepared the rest of my coffee from the morning in this adorable thermos that my bestie Lisa got for me back in high school. I started sipping in my tonal analysis class and busted it out again in intro to ethics. When I opened it up though, it started dripping everywhere. ugh.

I had to go wipe everything down in the bathroom and grab a paper towel but then finally was able to just sit and enjoy.

Lunch

For lunch I had some of the lentil soup I made a few nights ago. I didn't think I was going to like eating it cold but it was actually really good. This is one of those soups that flavors itself and continues to get better as it sits.

Snack

I really had no time to eat lunch today which was frustrating but I was able to cram in this apple before work.
After work I had this Cinnamon Roll Lärabar. I love this flavor. Definitely in my top 5.

Dinner

For dinner I mixed some raw zucchini pasta with regular spaghetti, home made pasta sauce, and a vegan italian sausage.

Dessert

I know it probably sounds like an odd combo but for dessert I had a scoop of dark chocolate coconut milk ice cream with chunks of carrot cake. Girl just needed some chocolate!
Yesterday just did not feel like wednesday. Maybe it's because we're getting so close to the end of the school year!

Recap on Going Raw

Recap on Going Raw

The raw food diet is officially over and I feel great! (By the way, I am writing this two days behind so forgive the mix up of tenses!) I really enjoyed the raw diet and I think Kelsey and I did a particularly good job at preparing actual meals rather than copping out and just having a bunch of raw produce. Props to those of you out there who are raw every day; it takes so much preparation and creativity. I enjoyed cooking and preparing food but I disliked how few options there were when I went out to eat. I hope to incorporate some of the things I learned and ate on the raw diet into my normal eating but I enjoy cooked foods too! After doing the intense Urban Revitalizer Cleanse and then going raw for a week, I am really noticing some physical and mental changes:

• I feel in control of portion control! The stringent cleanse and the caloric density of the raw food forced me to portion out and prioritize my food. I am motivated to adopt this mindset in my regular diet because I know I can do it.
• I am at a more comfortable weight and it feels totally maintainable.
• I am more motivated to maintain the good I've done by exercising compared to the way I felt before the cleanse.
• There are foods I can live without! For instance, I've gone two weeks without eating a slice of bread or a spoonful of granola, two of my normal vices. It feels good to be free of them and I know that when I have them they will be treats to savor.
• I am so much more wary of added, refined oils and sugar. My eyes were opened to the density of oils and I am doing my best from here on out to avoid going over board when cooking. If I can help it, I'd rather consume sugar in more natural forms like dates, agave, maple, and honey. Also, I really like salty intense flavors and I used to put lots of salt on everything! Now, I am training my taste buds to be happy with less.
• Along with trying to cut back on salt, I am also back on track with drinking more water!
  
• I learned that if I write down or even just mentally plan what's coming up for my next meal rather than eating whatever I find in the kitchen, it helps me keep my head on straight when I get hungry.

So many good things came out of this experience, the list could go on and on but I will keep it to those most important changes. Please feel free to ask me any questions at all about the cleanse, going raw, the changes, what I'm up to now, or anything else! I'm here!

One of my favorite readers comment on my last post:

muffin said...

What's next?

April 27, 2010 7:08 AM

Well, I'll tell you! I'm back on cooked foods but with a few twists. Hopefully you will start to notice

• smaller, more fruit oriented breakfasts
• more veggie packed lunches
• more whole grains as opposed to flour
• less oil in my cooking
• more attention to calories and portion size
• more exercise
• and as always, delicious food!

Help keep me on track with my new goals and let me know what you're doing to stay healthy! It's not easy to do it alone and I really am interested in what works for you!

Everyone Notice: I now have a Recipe tab that actually has recipes! I also added a Contact tab in case, for some reason, you are unable to comment directly on the blog or want to communicate a personal message.

Breakfast

Finally, on to Sunday's breakfast! My first day being back on regular food I was delighted to discover that my soy yogurt was still good and so was the banana bread! I came up with this mess:

• 1/2 cup vanilla soy yogurt
• 2 Tbsp. of Kelsey's flaxseed coconut banana raw pancake mix
• 1 small banana
• 1 small slice of banana bread, in small pieces
• 1 Tbsp. pumpkin seeds

I also had some peppermint tea. The rawness couldn't have ended at a better time. My throat was starting to feel funny and I really needed that mug of hot tea. I also took my Cleanse tablets and my Women's One a Day.

Before the matinee showing of the opera I headed to the laundromat to take care of some much needed laundry. Luckily for me, the smaller farmer's market was going on right across the street. Restock time!

Snack

I couldn't believe it but I forgot my camera. Otherwise I would have documented the whole thing. Sorry! At least my iPhone takes decent pictures. I bought this almond butter (I couldn't resist) and I was dying to have some.

While I waited on my laundry to finish I chopped up one of the organic Fujis I bought and enjoyed it with my almond butter. The apples are so sweet! You really can tell a difference when they're organic and an even bigger difference when they're not commercially produced. These are a bit smaller and not as 'beautiful' but man do they make up for it in flavor.

I also bought oranges at the market and later backstage I enjoyed a big juicy one! I hate eating oranges that are dried out and flavorless. This one was opposite on both counts.

I also snacked on this trail mix since I didn't really have time for a substantial lunch. I grabbed these on my way out before rushing to my 2 o'clock call. There's three servings in one package so I poured it all out on a napkin and started with what I thought was one serving.
In between acts I tried to get a little work done on my paper. I refueled with this Cinamon Roll Lärabar.
There's just something about cinnamon that I love! It's definitely one of my favorite flavors.
Serving number two of the Cashew, Almond, Raisin trail mix.
After the show there was a cast party at The Elephant Bar. There was an assortment of food: chips and salsa, shrimp spring rolls, creamy spinach dip, fried shrimp, chicken, and cheesey garlic bread.
Naturally I stuck to the veggies and salsa :)
A few people ordered Mai Tais and gave me their decorative pineapple. yum!
I ate the cherry too haha.
I wasn't feeling well and made my appearance at the party brief. I think I have a sinus infection or something. Maybe a combination of allergies? Who knows. As long as I am better by this Sunday for my recital!

Dinner

I came home and got to work making a plate of Claire food! I have been on a real beet kick lately. They're so flavorful. This completely made up concoction included:

• approx 1 cup snow peas
• 1 beet, skinned boiled and chopped
• 1/4 cup red bell pepper, diced
• 1 tsp. garlic
• 1/2 Tbsp. olive oil
• 1/2 Tbsp. nama shoyu

My salad included

• 1 1/2 cup chopped red cabbage
• 3 small tomatoes
• 1/4 cup sliced cucumber
• Tahini Dressing that I made a while ago

A whooooole lota veggies!

Dessert

For dessert I enjoyed a slice of banana bread that I heated in the microwave (which I haven't used in two weeks haha) and some fresh strawberries.

It was an exhausting weekend! I am planning on going to bed super early every night this week and doing everything I can to make myself healthy again. I'll be all caught up soon I promise!

Belated Saturday Post

Workout

I used Savannah's workout DVD which ended up being a really good workout! It was Strong Body, Ageless Body with Erin O'Brien.

Breakfast

For breakfast I whipped up another SIAB. This time I used

• 1 cup frozen strawberries
• 1/2 banana
• handful spinach
• 1/4 cup almonds
• 1 carrot, shredded
• 2 pitted dates
• just enough water to get things mixing

I topped my SIAB with

• the other half of the banana
• 1 tsp. chia seeds
• 1 tsp. sunflower seeds
• 1 tsp. pumpkin seeds
• 2 tsp. cacao nibs...cause it was Saturday :)

Such an opera singers breakfast with all those flowers! hahaha

Snack

Later, Savannah and I spent the day shopping around for our recital dresses and we were successful! We both were getting really hungry by the time we finally made out decisions so I split my Cherry Pie Lärabar with her. All the credit goes to Savannah on this shot!

Lunch

Even though it was really late in the day to be having lunch it was technically lunch for us. We decided on Silvergreens where I built my own salad. This is why I love Silvergreens, all the nutritional info comes on the receipt.
My salad had

• baby spinach
• almonds
• apples
• broccoli
• carrots
• cucumber
• green onions
• cabbage
• snap peas
• tomato
• sprouts
• lemon-tahini dressing.

Devoured! That salad was humongous!
On my way to opera I had one of Kelsey's Coconut Cashew Cookies. yum!
In between acts I throughly enjoyed the last of this Righteously Raw chocolate.
soooo good!

Dinner

When I got home I was pooped. But I was also hungry so I had the other half of this Polenta with Mushroom Ragout.
And one more of these Coconut Cashew Cookies!
This was my last day of being raw and I stuck to it. Recap of the raw-ness coming soon!

Lounge Cat

Lunch

My Friday has turned into my Saturday and I ended up doing nothing at all this afternoon. It was great! For lunch I split a sun burger into these two red cabbage leaves (which are not easy to get off without tearing let me tell you) and topped them with half of a portion of Spring Pesto. Then I topped all of that with onion, sprouts, cucumbers, and salt and pepper. Delish!

I ran one measly errand and decided to take this Pecan Pie Lärabar to go.
It was so soft and sweet! Definitely a fan of this flavor. In fact, I have yet to meet a lärabar I didn't like.
I'm contemplating taking a nap. That just sounds good. I love being a lounge cat today!