Chasing a Dream

Chasing a Dream
John and I with our LP finishers medals

Monday, February 15, 2010

Day 15

workout: 5 miles outside, on a hilly route about 9:40 pace felt good, although I didn't feel as fast as I would like.

nutrition:
bf: steel cut oats/v8/decaf coffee

before run: gluten-free bread/almond butter

lunch: big salad and leftover celery root soup

afternoon: smoothie from Thrive Diet chocolate/almond

dinner: roasted broccoli/redpepper/green beans and brown rice, unsweetened applesauce

after dinner: blue corn chips/salsa

I spent most of the morning making two batches of energy bars. one of them were Bree's Puaoko bars filled with walnuts, blueberries, maca powder, flax, cocoa nibs, and a few other things baked for 40 minutes.

The other were from the Thrive diet, pear/grated ginger/ hemp powder/and a few other things just processed in the food processor and then rolled out sprinkled with sesame seed and cut into bars/wrapped in plastic and put in the freezer.

I can post recipes if anyone out there is interested, let me know.

I also spent almost and hour preparing 7 big salads. Four of them for my lunches at school this week and the other three for Liz, Meg and I for lunch today. They include beet greens, kale, arugula, romaine and then topped with beets, tomatos, avocado, artichoke hearts, olives, chickpeas, red pepper. I had to take a picture because they looked so good. I also made some tomato basil vinegraitte from the Thrive Diet book. With enough leftover for the week at school.

Confessions-Liz made brownies for school tomorrow and I stole a spoonful of batter. why? who knows.

Other than that, and I really am now wishing that I would have had something other than the blue corn chips for a snack this evening. my stomache is already protesting. They are not agreeing with me.

We are now starting the third week. When day 21 comes, I will be reintroducing a moderate amount of alcohol, a little gluten (but I want to keep that really low), and maybe some added sugar here and there (I would also like to keep that very low). I also REALLY miss my morning coffee. Decaf is just not the same and my Teavana tea is just not the same. I would really like the taste that I get from my strong, dark coffee without the caffeine that comes along with it. I think that I will be allowing myself 1 big mug of caffinated every few days.

The animal products are going to stay gone. I am not going to get extreme about it, at least for now. But I am going to really give this Vegan lifestyle a try. I am not missing it. And I feel better without it. And I think it is the healthiest way to go. And I think it will help me keep my weight where I would like it to be. And the ethical reasons.

5 comments:

Rosemarie Miller said...

Hi Barb! I just popped over here to read your blog after seeing your Team Beachbody post earlier this morning. This is really interesting - I have to read more about this 21 day thing you are doing. I need something to kick start me into more healthful eating. I'm not sure I could DO this!!! I'm going to start reading at Day 1... ~Rosemarie Miller

Amy said...

Hi Barb! Another great post, can't believe you are only a week away from finishing up your 21-day cleanse.

Sounds like you are delving deeper into the vegan lifestyle. I'm finding myself go further into the paleo world myself. We should start a podcast and discuss the pros and cons of both. I really do think it is all about individual needs and bodies.

I'll tell you one thing, the idea of giving up coffee truly scares me!

Barb said...

Amy,
I was thinking about you and this whole thing Paleo vs. Vegan yesterday and today. Believe it or not in many ways they are similar. Lots of fruits and vegetables, whole foods, not processed...then our path diverge.

But what I was thinking is that either way, when you begin to be very AWARE of what you are eating, and ditch the added sugar and processed foods you are going in the right direction. Whether that is paleo or vegan depends on, as you say, your individual needs and bodies.

And...coffee is the hardest thing it has been for me to go without in these 16 days.

Rosemarie,
Hi and welcome. For me, I needed to go this extreme to really be able to make some big progress. Before this I just felt like I could take baby steps, but never felt like I was in control of my food choices. Not that all things are perfect, just that I feel like in these 2+ weeks I have made more progress than ever before.

Anonymous said...

In regards to coffee....being a total coffee snob (I wear that crown proudly :o) and after visiting Kona and Costa Rica, those are the main coffees we drink. (100%, not blended) Anyhow, we mix decaf & reg 50/50 and it is a perfect balance. It keeps caffeine to a minimum while still giving us the antioxidant benefits of drinking coffee w/o over caffeinating ourselves. I find that drinking coffees from these 2 regions far surpasses Starbucks in flavor...even the decaf by itself it enjoyable! The Kona is pricey, Costa Rican affordable--both delicious.

Barb said...

any special 'brand' of Kona or Costa Rica. Do you just mix the beans decaf/caf before you grind them? I will have to look into that, I never thought of mixing some of my caf beans with some decaf beans in my coffee maker. Brilliant.