March Madness

Sorry I've been absent lately.  I've been getting refocused.  February didn't turn out the greatest when it came to my goals, and I had to sit down and assess what I did wrong.  I narrowed it down to these:

1. I didn't stick to my no alcohol rule.  San Antonio friend in town = drinkage.  I didn't overindulge, but when I let one thing slide, others tend to follow.
2. I had a bit of fried food the week my friend was here.  With the exception of some fries, I limited it to two pieces each time.  So one day I had two onion rings.  Another time two zucchini sticks...
3. I was also depending on gluten too much.  Apparently, sweet potato gnocchi with basil-parsley-hazelnut pesto is my weakness!
4. Most of all, I stopped doing pilates and kickboxing regularly.

February Weight Loss: 4.4 lbs
Total Weight Loss: 13 lbs

But the totally awesome thing is I lost 1/2 inch in my waist and hips...and 3 effing inches in my chest!  My back pain has eased a lot so that's great.

So this month I stepped my game up.  High raw.  Tons of walking.  Pilates and yoga with the occasional kickboxing.  I've also been putting my daily food/water intake and exercise on a site called Nutrimirror.  It calculates everything for you.  I've been eating the right amount of stuff, tons of healthy fats from nuts and such...so I feel good about it.

Mon 3-1-10
medium jonagold apple and 1 tbsp smooth almond butter
black grapes, 2 tbsp almond butter and agave
blueberry smoothie (from Ani's Raw Food Kitchen)
big green salad (romaine, spring mix, broccoli, cucumber, walnuts) w/ Basic Favorite Dressing from 500 Vegan Recipes (used Italian seasoning and added salt, pepper, and fresh garlic)
60 oz water
EXERCISE: 40 min walking, 1 hr Wii Fit (yoga and strength), and 30 min pilates.

Tues 3-2-10
green smoothie (spinach, kale, banana, dates, blueberries)
raw pb cookie bar (peanuts, dates, vanilla, salt)
medium jonagold apple and 2 tbsp almond butter
salad (cucumber, shallots, tomato, nooch, white balsamic)
8 oz almond milk w/ 1 tbsp blackstrap molasses
50oz water
EXERCISE: 20 min walking

Wed 3-3-10
raw pb cookie bar and medium anjou pear
smoothie (blueberries, molasses, tahini, strawberries, kale)
coconut water
raw nori wrapped power wraps (curry flavor)
ginger snap larabar
big green salad w/ Basic Favorite Dressing from 500 Vegan Recipes (dijon insted of oil and same addins as above)
80 oz water
EXERCISE: 20 min walking

Well, I'm off to class.  I will be updating again today with a smoothie recipe and some other stuff.  Happy Friday!

Sushi Assassin and Allergy/Sinus Remedies

This week has been hell on my allergies/sinus troubles.  I've had to take those extreme allergy and sinus pills, so I've been walking around like a zombie.  I had to stop taking them because I barely had enough energy to go walking.  It was insane.

But I'm still on track.  In fact, I think I might shorten the rest of my goals to five pound increments because this is already going so much better than expected.  But I don't know.  I'll feel it out.

This weekend a friend flew in from San Antonio so we picked her up at the airport and four of us went out for sushi.  Let me tell you something about Era and our friend, Roy...they are sushi assassins.  Era especially.  It's like he's got a bottomless stomach when it comes to the stuff.  I think he ordered something like four regular sized rolls.  Alls I know is that they had to make about 4 or 5 trips to the table.  I enjoyed some agedashi tofu, inari, and the most beautiful veggie roll ever.

It seriously looked like a jewel.  The most brightest and beautifulest seaweed salad, cucumber, some carrot, sprouts, avocado, and some sorta pickled radish in the middle..all wrapped up in nori.  The radish was this translucent yellow.  Mmmm.

So, here's what happened last week.  I'm probably posting again today with the rest of this week.

Thurs 2-11-10
veggie scramble (yukon potatoes, red chard, creminis, roma tomato, and Italian Daiya)
acai juice
tofish taco w/ broccoli slaw, avocado, and cilantro lime crema
cinnamon puffins w/ blackstrap molasses and almond milk
2 bean and cheese chalupas w/ avocado, tomato, cilantro lime crema, and broccoli slaw
40 oz water
EXERCISE: 40 min walking

Fri 2-12-10
cream of rice w/ soymilk, evaporated cane juice, goji berries, cinnamon and vanilla
about 2 tbsp white choc peanut butter
hashbrowns w/ Italian and cheddar Daiya, gf bacn bits and broccoli slaw
french dip sammich (small baguette, sauteed onion, thinly sliced seitan, avocado, mayo, and dipping sauce) w/ a mixed green salad and balsamic vinaigrette*
60 oz water
EXERCISE: 20 min walking.  1 hour heavy duty cleaning (it counts!)

Sat 2-13-10
rice cereal w/ bananas and soymilk
chickpea flour pizza (sauce, gf bacn bits, Italian Daiya, cremini, kalamatas and fresh basil) w/ cucumber salad
goji berries
unsweetened plain soy yogurt w/ banana, pecans, and cinnamon Puffins
Irish breakfast tea, evaporated cane juice, and soymilk
40 oz water
EXERCISE: 20 min walking.  30 min Wii Sports (bowling, baseball, tennis)

Sun 2-14-10**
sliced potatoes w/ Italian and cheddar Daiya, gf bacn bits and salsa
agedashi tofu, 2 sm inari sushi, 1 veggie roll
40 oz iced tea
agua de coco paleta***
10 oz gingerale
1.5 glasses of wine
2 sourpatch kids
handful of tortilla chips
20 oz water
EXERCISE: 30 min pilates. 10 min skooling fools on Wii Fit Plus

*The French Dip was from Native Foods.  One of the best sandwiches I've ever put in my mouth.  And that dipping sauce!

**Not the greatest food day because of the wine, soda, and stale sourpatch kids (blech), but we were all hanging out and having fun.  Also, it didn't affect anything.

***Paletas are these Mexican popsicles made with fresh fruit, sometimes sugar, water and/or milk.  I got the coconut one that's made with coconut water and coconut cream.  It also had toooons of grated coconut.  So good.

So that's how last week went.  Depending on how many more of the sweet potatoes I attack, I may have even more blog action this afternoon.

Until then, I'd love to hear your home remedies for allergy and sinus problems.  Well, I'm off to get ready for class.

Daiya Hard Obsession

Howdy folks!  I took last week off because I did a bad, bad thing.  You know when you stick to your diet technically, but make a bunch of not-super-great choices?  That was me last week.  Eating a lot of processed foods because I was too lazy to cook.  Plus I was seriously slacking on the freshness.  So, I was at a plateau.  Instead of making excuses this week, I totally kicked my butt into gear again.  Thus, I have reached my first goal.  I am down 10.4 lbs as of this morning.  This means I can eat gluten again.  I haven't had seitan or non gf bread since December.  I'm proud I made it this long.  I might even do the robot.

Mon 2-8-10
cinnamon Puffins w/ soymilk and molasses
gf sausage crumbles and 1/2 cup applesauce
white chocolate peanut butter
2 small pears
2 tofish tacos w/ broccoli slaw and avocado
60 oz water
EXERCISE: 40 min walking, 30 min pilates, 35 min Wii Fit (rhythm boxing, balance games, step aerobics, and hula hoop)

Tues 2-9-10
lemon ginger herbal tea w/ agave
hashbrowns w/ cheddar Daiya and broccoli slaw
rice cereal w/ dried cherries, cardamom, coconut, and soymilk
strawberry banana smoothie
2 tofish tacos w/ broccoli slaw, avocado, tomato, and cilantro lime crema
60 oz water
EXERCISE: 40 min walking, 50 min Wii Fit (yoga, strength, and step aerobics)

Wed 2-10-10
chickpea pizza dough w/ tomato sauce and Italian Daiya
coconut water w/ peach & mango and 2 small Enjoy Life chocolate chip cookies*
quinoa veggie pasta w/ 5 bean salad & Italian Daiya and 1 tbsp goji berries
2 dk chocolate mint thins and Kashi's Mayan Harvest Bake (soooo good)
tahini coffee (from Vegan Comfort Food)
40 oz water
EXERCISE: 20 min walking

*I love these things.  Free of the top 8 allergens and these particular cookies are fruit juice sweetened.  So frickin good!

Okay.  Must talk about that Kashi dinner.  It's got plantains, sweet potato, kale, black beans, an 8 grain polenta, and it's covered in an ancho sauce.  The plantains MAKE this meal.  So ridiculously good.  I was not expecting that.

If  you can't tell, my latest obsession happens to be Daiya.  I don't know what it is, but when I have some in the house I'm covering ever'thang with cheezy goodness.  I ate pizza for breakfast yesterday!  Ridonkulous!  Especially since it wasn't leftover.  I made that chickpea crust (from The Ultimate Uncheese Cookbook) right before I got ready for class.  Hee hee.

I'm also obsessing over molasses.  Who frickin knew it tasted so good in soy and almond milk?!  Really good stuff.

Two things I think that are really helping me with this weight loss:
1. I'm finally thinking in small terms.  In the past, when I thought about all the weight I had gained things became seriously overwhelming.  Taking it ten pounds at a time and aiming for 8 a month helps me stay focused on small goals.
2. Not eating past a certain time.  These days I've been going to bed between 9 and 10 (because I get up at 6:30 to go for my morning walk).  I try not to eat a few hours prior to bed and it makes me feel more refreshed in the morning.

At the end of this, I'll definitely be talking about the things I've learned.  But for now, I'm concentrating on the next 10.  Well, I've got blogs to catch up on and a 4 day weekend ahead.  Awesome sauce.