Day 9 recap

Good Morning!

Day 9 was another good day. I started my morning off with a big bowl of chopped fruit with a 1/4c of almond flour mixed in. Iced green tea on the side.

At noon I had a So Delicious vanilla yogurt as a snack. Earlier in the day I had stopped by Whole Foods and picked up a brown rice avocado cucumber roll. There were 12 pieces in this roll. The roll tasted good but there was something about that made it not so great :-(

Between lunch and dinner I had 1/2c of plain oatmeal. Dinner was really simple but I forgot to snap a pic. I had brown rice with Trader Joe's Asian stir fry veggies. Dessert was a bowl of cherries and blueberries. I also had a banana a couple of hours later.

I felt really great tummy wise yesterday. I had no issues and also managed to get a sweat inducing circuit workout in!

Now, I'm already on day 10, on my way to work and thinking about breakfast :-)

Woohoo...It's Summer...

Yay!!! Summer is finally here and boy, it's here with a bang! Today is going to be a sultry 97 degrees    :-) I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE this time of year. What do I love about this year?  Well, let's see:

• Hot and humid days
• Spending time at the beach. I love the ocean
• Outside workouts
• Chillin with friends on rooftops
• Picnics in the park
• Night walks
• BBQ's....especially in the park
• Walking the streets of NYC with a popsicle
• Swimming
• That moment when it's so hot outside and you know a FIERCE thunderstorm is on it's way

These are just a FEW things that I look forward to.

Personal goals this summer:

• Volunteer at a shelter
• TEACHING DhoonyaFIT
• Continue getting in shape for Tough Mudder

I am really looking forward to a great summer. Lot's of good times, positive thinking and a positive attitude!

Day 8: Recap....

Day 8 was by far, the best day of my vegan, no oil diet, so far. I think what made me feel good were my snacks.
My day started off with a mug of coffee and a mug of oatmeal. I had half a cup of oats cooked with water and a banana whipped in.

Lunch was easy. I went to Trader Joes and picked up their Asian Veggie Stir fry. I made this whole packet which was vegan and oil free.

In between lunch and dinner I had two snacks, both vegan yogurts. After lunch I was still feeling blah in the tummy. I was trying to figure out what was really impacting my diet. I thought since I'm having tummy issues, did I use to eat something that helped my stomach? Then I thought about all the yogurt I use to have. I would have yogurt at least 4 times a week. Maybe I my stomach was missing some acidophilus? I then walked on down to whole foods and found coconut milk yogurt by So Delicious and almond milk yogurt by Almond Dreams (review on these to come). I first had the coconut milk yogurt. Thirty minutes after this my stomach was already feeling better! Later on in the day I had the almond milk yogurt. By the time evening came, I was able to do a circuit workout! Then I was able to have a good Ju Jitsu class! Finally, some relief!

Today I'm definitely going to have at least one vegan yogurt.

Moving on... Dinner was vegan Indian food made with minimal oil. I forgot to take pics :-(

Well... Now onto day 9!

Day 8

Good Morning!

We are now on to day 8! I still had my usual 4:30am wake up call from my tummy letting me know it's on fiber over kill! I really hope this stops. I can't help it... On a vegan diet everything you eat has fiber. Yes, this is a good thing but it's also very annoying at 4:30 am :-p

Hmmm.... Have I noticed any other changes? I have lost 1 pound and my skin is clear. Other than these and the stomach discomfort... No.

There are still 22 more days left....

Alright... Till breakfast, my friends....

Day 7: Lunch, Dinner and Everything in Between

For lunch yesterday I got a huge chopped salad from Hale n Hearty. In the salad went:
romaine leaves
red onions
corn
broccoli
chickpeas
mushrooms

All of this was chopped up and tossed in vinegar. I have to say, I'd take a chopped salad over a regular salad any day!

In between lunch and dinner on snacked on the following:
banana
half a mango
3 turkish figs
melon salad

Dinner last night was definitely vegetarian. I just don't know if it was vegan. I went out for Indian and got the paper masala dosa, which was served with spiced tomatoes on the side. I say I don't know if this is vegan because I don't know if any ghee(clarified butter) was used.
The dosa was HUGE and I only managed to eat half of it.

So, that was my day. I noticed I'm taking in a lot of fruit... I hope the sugars don't get to me.

Now, to start off day 8!

Day 7: Breakfast Time...

Good Morning!!

Today is Monday.  The beginning of the work week.  Repeat after me:  YOU CAN DO THIS!  Great, with that said, let's move on to breakfast time!  This morning I enjoyed a bowl of fruit with a 1/4c of almond flour mixed in.  I know this sounds blah, but it was actually very, very delicious!  I woke up this morning craving a bowl of fresh fruit.  Also, since there was no almond milk, I used almond flour, which added create texture.  In the mix went:

1 banana, chopped

Half a pint of strawberries, chopped

Half a pint of blueberries, chopped

1/4c of almond flour

Stir all of this together and you have a bowl of fresh deliciousness!!

PS:  I hope this holds me over till lunch time :-p....We'll see....

Weekend Food....Days 5 and 6...

The weekend went by in a flash!! I managed to continue on with my vegan lifestyle :-)  Below are some of the foods I ate this weekend:

Sweet Potato Lasagna....mmm

Brown rice, brussel sprouts, mushrooms and pickles...

Smoothie time:  avocado, mango, mint,almond milk

Home made sorbet: pureed banana and peach..frozen

Puffins, strawberries, bananas

Dinner: Raise-the-Roof Sweet Potato-Vegetable Lasagna

Last nights dinner was absolutely delicious!!! I made Raise-the-Roof Sweet Potato-Vegetable Lasagna. This is a recipe from the Fork Over Knives book, made by Rip Esselstyn, author of The Engine 2 Diet and son of Caldwell Esselstyn, author of Forks Over Knives.

For a lasagna that is oil free and vegan, this was delish!! Also, totally guilt free and felt good to have a second helping!!

Day 4

This morning I woke up at 4:30am with tummy aches. Again, I feel from all the fiber I've been taking in and my body adjusting.

Hopefully, my body is adjusting and today will be better. I think I will also try drinking more water.

Overview of Day 3

Today was much better than yesterday. First off, there were no cravings. Secondly, I felt I was able to control my snacking more.

I am definitely eating a lot more fruits and veggies. I feel like I am taking in a lot of fiber but not really getting rid of it. In other words, I feel bloated and fat, even though the scale is showing weight loss. I'm drinking a quart of water a day. Maybe I need more? Maybe it's the lack of fat in my diet? Maybe it's my body adjusting? I don't know what it is but it better go away soon :-p. Seriously though, today is much better than yesterday.

Today's Snacks...

Chopped apple with almonds
Bowl of puffins with strawberries

Yesterday's Dinner...Today's Lunch...

Lunch today was an easy fix. I took yesterday's dinner leftovers and packed them for today's lunch. In a Pyrex dish went:
1/3c quinoa
Sautéed veggies
1/2c of black beans

Ah, delicious, nutritious, vegan and oil free!

A Fruitful Breakfast...

I managed to have a very healthy breakfast this morning!  In a bowl went one banana, sliced, half of a container of strawberries, sliced, about 10 almonds and a cup of Puffins multigrain cereal. There was no almond milk this morning, so this was had as is!

I was also able to avoid this catastrophe at work: 

How was your breakfast?

Day 3

Today starts day 3. Despite the bread and cheese cravings I had last night, I managed to sleep really well. This morning I woke up at 6:38am with tummy bloat. At 6:40am, this was taken care of :-p

As hungry as I was feeling last night, I did not wake up very hungry this morning. This is good. So, what do I plan on doing differently today? I want to get some exercise in and try to snack less. Yesterday I only snacked twice (bowl of chopped apple and almonds, guacamole and air baked crackers). The snacks were healthy but I have to remember, just because I am eating healthy doesn't mean I can over eat...ahem... I'm thinking about you guacamole :-p

Alright... Off to conquer another day! More updates later...

Last Night' Dinner

Dinner last night consisted of 1/3c of quinoa and mixed vegetables. This is the first time I made mixed vegetables without using oil. I took whatever veggies I had in the fridge (zucchini, bell pepper and kohlrabi), and diced them up. I took cumin seeds and toasted them along with coriander powder for a couple of minutes. Then I added a chopped tomato and turmeric powder. The juice from the tomato helped move things along. I added the diced veggies and let their natural water come out. Then I added some tamarind paste and lemon juice. I let this cook for another 15 minutes.

I have to say, the tamarind and lemon juice added a great tang to this dish. Toasting the spices added a nice smokiness also.

Dinner was filling and delicious and followed by a bowl of fresh mixed fruit mixed with mint for dessert!

Hope you all had a great dinner!

Brief Overview of Day 2

Today I felt hungrier and thought about cheese... A LOT! I also feel pretty bloated from all the extra fiber I'm taking in.

Dinner today was at 7:45pm, followed by dessert which was a bowl of fresh fruit topped with shredded mint.

Right now it's almost 11pm and I feel bloated and hungry. I'm also intensely craving a loaf of French bread with cheese... Any cheese... I just want cheese :-p

Well, it's time for bed... If I can't have cheese maybe I'll dream about it :-p

Good night and sweet dreams!

Day 2: It's a Whole Foods Lunch...

Today's expensive lunch was once again courtesy of Whole Foods! I had vegan, no oil saag (Indian spinach dish), along side some brown rice and beans. Since I was super hungry I also had some Naked Lasagna (vegan, no oil). The lasagna was so so. I could have done with out the tofu.

Lunch was definitely filling but look out for a post on my snacks for the day :-)

Day 2: Breakfast of Champions

Good morning and happy Wednesday!!! Today start's day 2 of a vegan/whole foods diet!  Yesterday went well, except for the tortilla/hummus snafu.

This morning I started my breakfast off with the usual:  1/4c of oats, 1/4c almond meal, 1 mashed banana.  All of this made in a mug with some water.  Once done, I topped it off with a splash of almond milk.  Yes, that is a huge ass mug of coffee next to it! I need my one mug in the morning..otherwise you  don't want to talk to me the rest of the day :-p

I'm hoping this breakfast will keep me full till noon. I plan on checking out Whole Foods' vegan, no oil options for lunch.

What are you guys having for breakfast?

Personal goals for the day:

• Practice DhoonyaFIT (more on this later)
• Get a workout in

It's a Whole Foods Dinner....

Dinner tonight was courtesy of Whole Foods. I stopped by earlier to pick up some ingredients to make blueberry oat breakfast muffins. While at Whole Foods I stopped by the hot foods section and luckily they had plenty of vegan, no oil options :-)

In a little container I packed in "The Green Squad" which had rainbow chard, yellow bell pepper and purple cabbage. I also packed in "The Mediterranean Crunch" which had chickpeas, broccoli florets, tomatoes and olives. Lastly, I layered in some "Detox Salad" which had minced broccoli, carrots, peppers and tons of ginger!! I mixed this all together in my small container and had a deliciously expensive ($10- SERIOUSLY!) vegan, no oil dinner :-p

I also saw Whole Foods was selling books with recipes from Forks Over Knives. That explains the no oil, vegan meals :-)

Day 1 is almost over. So far so good!!

Day 1: Lunchtime

Lunch went really well. I made curried chickpeas and quinoa last night. I added this to a bowl of lettuce and stirred it all up to eat.

Lunch tasted great but was not too filling.










That's when I had some of this:

The ingredients were all whole foods(organic corn tortilla) BUT oil was also listed for both the hummus and chips.

I now know to bring more raw food snacks for tomorrow.

Day 1: Breakfast

This mornings breakfast was not too different than my usual breakfast EXCEPT instead of using skim milk, I used a splash of almond milk.

This morning I made oatmeal with 1/4 cup oats, 1/4 cup almond flour, water, and a mashed banana. I added a splash of almond milk when this was done. I also had a juicy Gala apple on the side.

Forks Over Knives...30 Day Challenge

Last night I watched a wonderful documentary on the benefits of eating a whole/plant based food diet.  The documentary was certainly and eye opener and showed how a plant based diet can reverse heart disease and shrink cancerous tumors.  If you haven't watched this documentary, I highly recommend you do!

I've been meaning to start blogging again for a while.  Thankfully, the documentary has motivated me to try a plant based diet for 30 days, which also gives me a great opportunity to blog about this experience. Today, I am starting a 30 day plant based diet.  Luckily, forksoverknives.com has some great recipes that I'd like to try out.

Would anyone else like to partake in this challenge with me?