But what did I eat?

On Saturday and Sunday I had Irish oatmeal with cranberries, agave nectar and a splash of almond milk.

Saturday lunch was a bit of a cheat. Kevin and I had lunch with my grandmother. She made asparagus quiche and fruit salad with ice cream for dessert. But the portions were reasonable, and I didn’t let it turn into a “cheat day.” I was back on track by dinner, which was taco salad (no picture *tear*) with beans, lettuce, tomato and a little guacamole.

Sunday, we had lunch at Fuzzy’s! Mmm! I had the grilled veggie tacos (no cheese!) with black beans and rice! I forgot to take a picture! And for a snack later that afternoon, we headed to Frog Berry for some of their amazing yogurt! The 6 oz only has 100 calories!

All natural, no sugar added! I got the original flavor, which is a little sweet and a little tart, and topped it with fresh pineapple!

I’m kind of ashamed of Sunday’s dinner. Since none of our usual places are open on Sunday (except Spiral Diner, but they close early), we somehow ended up at Macaroni Grill. Disaster! I had a garden salad and did the build-your-own pasta with whole wheat penne, spicy tomato sauce, artichokes, sundried tomatoes and olives, and I ate half, brought the other half home. So I didn’t do too much damage.

That bring us to today!

Breakfast: Oatmeal
Snack: watermelon & pineapple
Lunch: Strawberry Whirl smoothie from Jamba Juice (all fruit! no dairy!)
Snack: oil-free popcorn

Then for dinner I made a taco salad. I baked drained black beans with the spices from Happy Herbivore’s Chickpea Tacos and mixed them with some lettuce I needed to use up NOW, roasted corn, and low-fat vegan ranch dressing. I wish I’d had some tomatoes, but it was still good.

Tomorrow, I weigh in. I’ll let you know the results (unless I don’t like them . . . just kidding!).

But seriously. I found this video link on the McDougall forums, and after watching it I pretty never want to eat an animal product or processed food ever again. He doesn’t just talk about the Atkins diet either. He talk about high fructose corn syrup, the failures of the four food groups and the food pyramid, the dangers of too much protein and more. The video is pretty long, but I think it’s well worth the time.

I used chili powder instead of curry powder. It was spicy and satisfying, and I have enough left over for lunch tomorrow. Next time I make it, I think I’ll add some chopped red bell pepper. At the pancake house, I ordered a bowl of fresh strawberries and tea. Oh, yeah. Who was a strong girl today? Honestly, I wasn’t even really that tempted by all the pancakes, eggs, French toast and desserts everyone else ordered.

For lunch I had some steamed veggies and beans. Just the frozen kind you steam in the microwave—-nothing too exciting, but it was filling and healthy. For breakfast there were bagels again! Damn it! At least they arrived before I’d made my oatmeal. I had a whole wheat one. Should have had oatmeal, but on the plus side, the bagel kept me full until lunch. I didn’t even have to have a mid-morning snack.

Exercise was light today, just 30 minutes or so of walking.

So that was the day. Two major dietary crises averted. Not bad, right?

Anyway, had oatmeal with a little sugar for breakfast. Then, at work our manager brought in bagels from Panera! I LOVE Panera’s bagels; they’re probably my favorite thing there! I ended up splitting a blueberry one with a co-worker, and I took the smaller half, so hopefully it didn’t do too much damage. It did contain white flour which I’m trying to eschew . . . minor infraction. Could have been worse, I suppose.

For lunch I had some mixed veggies (squash, zucchini, onions, etc.) and brown rice and an apple of dessert. Around midmorning I’d developed a HORRIBLE headache (it was so bad I felt like I was going to throw up), so I went home early and tried to sleep, but I think lying down just made it worse. Had some oil-free popcorn around 3:00—-I get really munchy when I don’t feel well.

Then, for dinner, my boyfriend and I walked down the street to King Tut—-mediterranean food! I ordered the vegetarian schawarma! It’s basically a big pile of grilled veggies—-squash, pepper, tomatoes, potatoes, etc. and 16 spices with rice. Yum! I need to figure out how to make this myself. It’s a great way to eat a lot of green and yellow veggies. I’ll have to scour the internet for a recipe. After dinner, I had a Zevia soda.

My headache is mostly gone now. I think the walk to King Tut helped. I didn’t do any official exercise today; I’m useless when I have a headache, though exercising may have actually helped. I’ll be getting plenty of exercise later this week. Friday is Arts Goggle, which my boyfriend and I are walking and Saturday morning is Joe’s Run, which I’m also participating in. And of course, I’ll probably be doing my usual walking and biking in between.

That’s all for now! Time to figure out what I’m going to take in my lunch tomorrow!

The walks to Walgreens and Jamba were pretty leisurely, so I don’t count them as official exercise, but calories, however few, were burned. On my evening walk I forced myself to walk a little faster than usual. I wish I’d gotten more than 4 hours of sleep, because it’s perfect bike-riding weather today, but I think I’m wiped. Maybe after I rest a bit I’ll go for a short ride.

EDIT: Decided to go for a 20 minute bike ride after all.

Sweet Potato & Hummus Tostadas!

This dinner came together really fast—-like 15 minutes! And, I’ll use any excuse to combine sweet potatoes and hummus. I didn’t measure anything, so here are general instructions:

Ingredients
1 small sweet potato
splash of unsweetened almond milk
salt and pepper to taste
hummus
3 corn tortillas
Frozen corn (about 1/4 cup)
lettuce, tomato, other veggies you desire
vegan ranch dressing

Peel the sweet potato and cut into medium-size chunks. Steam, microwave or boil until tender. Mash with a small splash of almond milk and salt and pepper to taste.
Toast the corn tortillas in the dry skillet over medium heat until crispy.
Roast corn in a skillet over medium heat until golden. Add salt and pepper to taste.
Smear each toasted tortilla with hummus (as much or as little as you want). Top with some of the mashed sweet potato. Top sweet potato with lettuce, tomato, roasted corn and ranch dressing. Enjoy!

I think this lunch confirmed that I do not like tofu shirataki noodles. I’d been on the fence. This pushed me onto the loathing side. There’s just something unsettling about the texture. The pesto was good, though, as were the green beans and faux tuna salad.

On break today I walked to Jamba Juice and got one of their “light” smoothies. Not vegan. Should probably avoid, but it’s just 160 calories, and I got the flax & fiber boost. May have to break my JJ habit and stick to homemade smoothies. I can make them dairy-free and with less sugar. Live and learn, I guess.

I’ve been making these muffins for years. A slightly different version of it appeared in Veggie Life and in my old vegan cookzine, The Rabbit Fodder Addict. These are low-fat, vegan, wheat-free, and sugar-free, and they taste amazing! Have a few for breakfast with a glass of unsweetened Almond Breeze. While I don’t have equipment for doing nutritional breakdowns, according to my math, these muffins yield approximately 70 calories and 1 gram of fat each.

You’ll need:
2 cups oat bran (uncooked)
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
2 cups soy, almond, or rice milk (I use unsweetened Almond Breeze)
Substitute for 1 egg (I use 1 Tbs. cornstarch mixed with 2 Tbs. water)
1/4 cup applesauce
1/2 cup dried fruit (I use dried cranberries, but you could use raisins, currants, chopped dried mango, etc.)

Preheat oven to 425F. Combine all the dry ingredients in a mixing bowl (except dried fruit). Then add milk, egg sub and applesauce and stir until just mixed. Fold in the dried fruit. Fill cups of muffin pan almost full (just below the rim; these don’t rise too much) and bake for 20 – 25 minutes. Let cool in pan 5 minutes before removing.

Variation: You could add 1/4 cup chopped nuts, but keep in mind this will add fat and calories. Also, you can substitute canned pumpkin for the applesauce. You can substitute fresh chopped fruit or berries for the dried fruit.

Enjoy, and let me know what you think!

Since July 23, 2008, I have lost 23 pounds following the McDougall Program (more or less). These last three months or so I have slacked a bit, and it’s been reflected in the lethargic movement of the numbers on my scale. I haven’t been eating junk left and right–I’m still eating better than I was a year ago, but when you need to lose 60 pounds, sometimes that’s not good enough. A few more cheat days were sliding in here and there. On Valentine’s and my birthday (March 1), I totally blew it. This last week I’ve discovered two blogs that have inspired me to experiment in the kitchen again–Happy Herbivore and Vegan Dad. Today is my first “official” day back on track. I plan on posting pictures and recipes (or links to recipes if the recipes aren’t mine) of what I eat each day. Hopefully having to be accountable to my blog will help eliminate my “cheat” days (I’ve been having 1 or 2 a week for the last month or so–cheat days are bad news). Here are a few of my goals on my path to eating better:

1. Eliminate white flour from my diet, and try to minimize flour products in general.
2. Instead of “cheating,” find ways to make low-fat vegan versions of “bad” foods (Happy Herbivore’s blog is a big help in this area).
3. Eliminate all sodas, diet or otherwise. We have free soda fountains at work, and the Diet Pepsi can be hard to resist at times. I may occasionally have a Zevia soda now and then. We’ll see.
4. Cut back on unnecessary fat that has crept into my diet.
5. Keep sugar intake to a minimum. The majority of sugar should come from fruit.

Luckily, even though my diet’s been spotty these last few months, I’ve stuck to exercising at least 5 days a week. I usually walk or ride my bicycle for 40+ minutes per day. And I lift light weights 2-4 times per week.

I didn’t get a chance to take pictures of today’s meals, but in the interest of full-disclosure, here’s what I consumed today:

Breakfast: Oatmeal with raisins and brown sugar
Snack: Banana
Lunch: Mock Tuna Salad over lettuce
Snack: Apple
Snack: Banana
Dinner: Ezekiel tortilla pizza w/ small amount of soy cheese, tomato sauce, pineapple, faux bacon bits
Later: black coffee (big mistake–that’s why I’m awake now!)

Exercise: 30 minutes on bicycle; 40 minutes walking

Dinner should have had more green veggies. I was trying to use up a few things in my fridge. Tomorrow’s dinner will be better.

Hopefully tomorrow I will have pictures! I did a lot of prep work tonight to hopefully make eating healthy easier this week. I’ve already got tomorrow’s lunch all ready in the fridge. All I have to do is stick it in my lunch box before I leave for work!