Day 20 - My New Years Resolution

I am constantly trying to reinvent myself. If I don't like something about myself, I don't wait until the New Year to start. I will start on July 5th or October 1st or whenever I need to so "New Year, New Me" doesn't really mean much to me. 

With that being said, I do have a New Year's Resolution.

It's to do the splits.

I have always wanted to do the splits and have attempted to learn but only last a week or two.  I'm not sure how long it takes, but I want to actually complete this task.

Cool Party Trick.

I'm starting tomorrow on January 3.

Day 16 - I got a library card today...

I went to the library today and got a library card. I think it is the first one I have had since I was a kid.  I want to start reading more actual books. I like books. I don't like reading everything online.

But anyways, I got my card and went directly to the health/vegan section. It was a small section and about 98% of it were Vegan cook books which I will definitely be checking out, but I wanted vegan books...about being vegan, not just recipes.

I did end up getting the book, Thrive: The Vegan Nutrition Guide to Optimal Performance in Sports and Life.

I'm not exactly Sporty Spice, but I am wanting to up my fitness so hopefully it can give me some insight on how our bodies work when working out on a vegan diet.

I was disappointed on the lack of vegan books, but I guess it's to be expected. Hopefully as the years go on, Veganism will continue to be a thing and the library section will grow larger.

DAILY REPORT (1289 Calories)

Breakfast.

Strawberry Banana Smoothie

Lunch.

2 Veggie Wraps

Dinner.

Avocado Toast topped with sliced cherry tomatoes, lemon juice, black pepper, and garlic salt.

Snacks.

Green Apple

Water.

7 cups.

EXERCISE.

I walked to the library. Probably 15-20 minutes there 15-20 minutes back.

PS.
As the New Year is coming up, everyone is so fitness and healthy eating obsessed. On Pinterest, everyone is pinning healthy food recipes and blah, blah, blah. I find it a little annoying. Not because they are doing it and trying to better themselves, that's awesome, I wish everyone would do that. It's more of when I checked out the vegan book at the library or I pin healthy stuff on Pinterest, it's like I am just part of the trend, like I haven't been doing it the whole time, not just around New Years. I guess the difference is that most New Years Resolutions don't last. I've been attempting this for awhile now and will continue after mostly everyone else stops. I hope that they don't stop though. Healthy eating needs to be more of a priority for everyone. Things are getting out of control.

Day 15 - Second Weigh-In

Weigh-In Day!!!

Starting Weight: 162.8 lbs.
Weigh-In #1 (12/20/13): 159.8
Weigh-In TODAY: 1.6 Lbs Down...4.6 Lbs Total
New Weight: 158.2 Lbs
Next Weigh In: Day 22

I lost 1.6 Lbs this past week which is great. I'm very pleased. I made a goal to lose at least 4 lbs. each month which would mean I would be at my absolute bottom goal weigh on August 1st. I know that sometimes, especially when you get down to your goal, it is hard to lose weight so I'm not going to beat myself up about it if I don't succeed every month. I just want to make sure I am trying my hardest.

So that means my next mini goal is to be 155 lbs by January 17. I think that is very doable.

I hate that it is going to take me about 8 months to take the weight off, but I know that's just the way it is. As long as I am losing weight, I'm happy.

DAILY REPORT (1303 Calories)

Breakfast.

Strawberry Banana Smoothie

Lunch.

2 Veggie Wraps with Spinach, Yellow Pepper, Sriracha, and homemade Pesto Hummus.

Dinner.

Vegan Burger. I used Morning Star's Vegan Garlic and Quinoa Burger on a Whole Wheat Bun with homemade pesto on top. I only had fresh parsley, and I read you can just use that instead of basil. I wouldn't recommend it. It was definitely edible, but didn't have that basil pesto taste that I love. Oh well. Oh, and I had about 10 baby carrots on the side.

No Snacks Today

Water.

6 cups. I was just lazy today. I thought about needing to drink water all day but didn't go fill up my glass when it needed it.

EXERCISE.

I did 100 half squats or pulse squats, whatever you want to call them.

Day 14 - Food Processors are from Heaven

I used to read recipes for yummy vegan food and be so disappointed when I read that I would have to use a food processor. My blender isn't much good for anything so those recipes never came to be.

But after years of waiting, my mom finally got me a food processor for Christmas, and lets just say I am happy.  The first thing I attempted...Hummus.

I love hummus. I love it on my wraps and sandwiches. I love it as a dip for veggies. I buy all the varieties at the store and love all of them.

But now, I will be making my own because it was super easy.  I would share a proper recipe with you but in all the excitement, I did't take pictures...so next time.

I made a garlic pesto hummus. And the best thing about it is that I used basil from my very own plant. It finally got big enough to harvest just in time for homemade hummus.

The hummus had basil, parsley, garlic, chickpeas, and olive oil. I Blended it for a minute and it was done. Super quick, easy, and yummy.

I am going to attempt regular pesto next time. Tomorrow probably.

DAILY REPORT. (1289 Calories)

Breakfast.

Strawberry Banana Smoothie

Lunch.

2 Veggie Wraps with Mission Spinach and Herb Wraps, yellow pepper, spinach, Sriracha, and my homemade garlic pesto hummus

Dinner.

Avocado Toast topped with sliced cherry tomatoes, lemon juice, pepper, and garlic salt.

Snacks.

Medium Sized Green Apple

Water.

9 Cups :)

EXERCISE.

30 Day Shred Level 1 Day 7

Day 13 - Being Vegan On Christmas

It would be nice to go to Christmas Dinner and all the food was vegan. You wouldn't have to worry if you could eat certain things or not. You could just eat and enjoy. However, only 2.5% of people are vegans meaning most vegans don't go to a vegan Christmas Dinner.

I know I didn't. You know what I hate for Christmas Dinner?

Seven cherry tomatoes and 4 baby carrots. That's it.

And for me, that was fine because I knew that after I went home, I was going to put my favorite vegan frozen pizza in the oven and eat it all. 

I save the frozen vegan pizzas for special occasions. They are really yummy, but I don't want to eat them all the time. But by saving them for every once in awhile, they become a treat to eat, just like Christmas dinner would be.

My point is, when you know you are going home to some yummy vegan food, you don't really care if you only eat 7 cherry tomatoes and 4 baby carrots.

I've gotten to the point where I know I'm not going to starve to death, so it's ok for me to wait a couple hours to eat. And that pizza was so good. :)

DAILY REPORT FOR CHRISTMAS. (1382 Calories)

Breakfast.

Frozen Fruit and Banana Smoothie

Lunch.

7 Christmas Cherry Tomatoes and 4 Christmas Baby Carrots. (By the way, I hardly ever eat carrots. I don't mind them, but I don't think they are the greatest either. Today, when eating my baby carrots, I discovered that I do like them. It's a Christmas Miracle!)

Dinner.

1 Amy's No Cheese Roasted Vegetable Frozen Pizza. 

Snacks.

Homemade Peanut Butter Bar.

Water.

7 Cups...

EXERCISE.

100 Squats

Well, I got through Christmas without feeling guilty for eating too much or for giving in to the "it's ok not to eat vegan today, it's just one day" motto that I seem to hear too often. I'm proud of myself. Hooray to me!

 

Day 12 - Being Vegan on Christmas Eve

My Christmas Eve probably wasn't the most enjoyable event ever, but I had a good time, and I didn't slip up and eat any non-vegan food.  If I had more time to prepare, or I knew the people (my boyfriend's sister's family) better (this was only my second time meeting them)  or if it wasn't an all day event getting there and back, I probably would have had some food to eat.

I made my fruit smoothie before we left so I did get a normal breakfast, but after that, it was on the road. I packed three bananas for me to snack on for the drive/lunch. We drove down with my boyfriend's parents and along the way, we stopped at a gas station where my boyfriend got some donuts for himself for breakfast. I'm at the point now in my healthy journey that I cringe when people eat stuff like that. I know what it is doing to their body, and it's not very nice, but I just sat there and ate a banana.

After driving awhile, we stopped at McDonald's for lunch. I don't eat McDonald's. I was told, "they have salads..." but to me, McDonald's salads seem to be high calorie and not that healthy so I just ate my banana while everyone else ate. I was fine with that.

Finally, we get to my boyfriend's sister's house, and I eat my last banana. It was about 2pm and I was out of "my food" so I'm hoping for the best when Christmas Eve dinner comes around.

When dinner started about 5 or 6pm, there really wasn't anything for me to eat. It was the typical Christmas dinner foods...turkey, green bean casserole, rolls with butter, mashed potatoes, corn with sugar in it ( I guess that is vegan, but I try to keep the sugars I eat to natural sugars like fruit, plus, eating just some corn doesn't really seem worth it) And then brownies and cheesecake for dessert.

I didn't expect for them to have any vegan food so I wasn't disappointed. I actually found out the my boyfriend's sister used to be vegan about 10 years ago, so that was a surprise. She told me that now that she knows I'm vegan, she will have stuff for me to eat next time, which was really nice.

I don't know why I didn't tell them beforehand. I guess I didn't want to be like, "Hey! You don't know me very well, but I'm vegan and make sure there is something for me to eat!" I would never talk like that because I'm not rude, but that's how I felt like they would take it. I know it's my own stupid perception, and I'm sure they would be fine with it, but I guess I just didn't want them to be going out of their way to accommodate someone they barely know.

Anyways, after dinner, we all sat and talked for awhile, and we left about 8pm. I'm starving by this point. I usually eat about 6 pm so my stomach was growling. It was a long drive home and by the time I got to my doorstep, it was past 11pm. I was running to the kitchen. I HATE eating that late, but just going to bed and not eating was not an option. I needed more than some bananas and a smoothie.

I went in the kitchen and made two of my veggie wraps, and I've never tasted anything better. =)

I know I am getting stronger on my vegan path, because during this whole day, I didn't crave eating the non-vegan food like I normally would have (and given in, by the way). I was starving and had cravings, but it was for my yummy vegan food waiting for me at home. I had no desire to eat anything non-vegan, and that is amazing to me. It's taken me about 10 months to get to this point, but I'm so glad I'm here.

Now, I don't necessarily think not eating most of the day was the best option even if it worked out for me, so here is what I probably should have done different.

1. Told my boyfriend's family that I was vegan or had my boyfriend slip them the news. With just a little heads up, maybe they would have put out a fruit or veggie plate. Who knows, maybe even something better considering the sister's vegan background.

2. I could have made something and brought it along. I didn't do this because it was a long car ride, and I am pretty simple in my eating. I don't know very many recipes that would have been good for Christmas, but with a little research, I'm sure I could have found one.

3. Brought more bananas.

DAILY REPORT (1280 Calories)

Breakfast.

Fruit Smoothie

Lunch.

3 Medium Sized Bananas

My late dinner.

2 Veggie Wraps. Hummus, Spinach, Yellow Pepper, and Sriracha.

No Snacks.

Water.

I didn't do very well today. I drank about 8 oz before I left and then brought a water bottle with about 24 oz in it which I drank during the day. Then about 8 oz when I got home. So 5 cups.

EXERCISE.

None. On my off days, I at least try to do 100 squats which I usually do right before I get in the shower, but I was so tired after eating dinner at now about midnight that I totally forgot until after I got in the shower. So actually a real rest day today.

Coming tomorrow. Being a Vegan on Christmas. Not much travel involved to a little bit different.

Day 9, 10, and 11 - My Laptop is a Nitwit!

I'm here. All vegan aspects of my life are just peachy, my laptop however, went through some issues.

Well, I downloaded season 4 of Full House on my laptop...(Yes, I just said that) and somehow, I also downloaded some Adware annoy-the-heck-out-of-me-stuff. So, every time I tried to write a new post on my lovely blog, it just brought up ads. 

I hate people that create these viruses and adware programs by the way. "How Rude!"

And after that little Full House quote there....here's my daily report.

(1317 Calories)

Breakfast.

Banana and frozen berry smoothie.

Lunch.

Avocado Toast topped with tomatoes, black pepper, garlic salt and lemon juice.

Dinner.

I ate at a little place called Lemontree. It's basically a subway style restaurant but with Mediterranean Food. And it's very delicious. I had a falafel pita that had rice, cucumbers, tomatoes, hummus, and sriracha. On the side, they give you homemade potato chips. It's one of my favorite quick places to eat.

Snacks.

No Snacks.

Water.

8 cups.

EXERCISE.

Not really anything today, but I did do 100 squats in a row so I guess that counts.

So tomorrow, I have to go to a Christmas Eve Dinner. I know there isn't going to be much for me to eat, but I'm not really worried to much about not eating. I just don't want people to think I am being rude by not eating. Do you ever go to dinners or parties that you know won't have any vegan food for you? How do you make sure you stay true to yourself while still coming off like you aren't a total snob? 

I still don't really have a plan for what I am going to do. We are leaving at 9:00am to drive to Indianapolis and I don't know when we will be back...I'm thinking late though which means I will have my smoothie in the morning, then I don't know what. I was thinking about maybe bringing some bananas or something for the drive but it might be weird if I whip out a banana at dinner time. I don't know. I guess we will see how it goes tomorrow.