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Day 5: A Week in the Life of a Plant-Based Diet

DAY 5

Today was a rough day for me fighting this cold. My positivity was almost non-existent and my head felt like a medicine ball trying to balance on a teeny, tiny, floppy pole. My back aches from sneezing all day yesterday and being unable to breath through my nose is getting old. Anyway, it wasn’t pretty. Head colds are my go-to colds. It’s the same thing every time – luckily this one seems fairly fast moving for me, so for that I am thankful. Having said that, the food for today was pretty boring, but again very real.

Pre-Breakfast (religiously, every single morning)

Just like the start of  Day 1Day 2Day 3 and Day 4, I had my Green Machine by Naked Juice, to wash down all my vitamins/supplements. Today like yesterday, I went for a full 8 oz. to give me extra cold busting nutrients. Of course I also took my Barlean’s Omega Vegan Swirl  3-6-9 supplement~ 200 calories, 38 carbs, 5 g fat, 2 g protein

Breakfast

Breakfast didn’t happen until lunch today. I’m not burning any calories besides fighting this cold, so it took me a while to get hungry after pre-breakfast. 😉2013-02-26_11-39-21_412  I wanted something warm and comforting, so oatmeal fit the bill! Oats, homemade almond milk, dried tart cherries, almonds, banana, honey, cinnamon and Maca Powder for extra nutrition as well. (You should check it out!) This meal was LOADED with calories (mostly due to the almonds I ate while making it and PUT in it…) and I could barely finish the bowl! ~ 645 calories, 99 carbs, 24 g fat, 18 g protein2013-02-26_11-41-53_159

Snacks

Throughout the day I had a few snacks. A cup of butternut squash soup from last night, the last of the chia seed pudding, a gluten-free oat cracker and an apple with homemade peanut butter with a little honey. Can you tell I was feeding my emotions today? Oh yeah. ~ 496 calories, 77 carbs, 20 g fat, 14 g protein

2013-02-26_17-54-13_363 2013-02-26_16-30-58_106imageDinner

To complete the need for comfort food today, I made breakfast for dinner. Cause why not? Exactly what I had yesterday morning, only I used more yellow squash and zucchini today. ~ 173 calories, 20 carbs, 0 fat, 22 g protein

2013-02-26_19-53-51_2662013-02-26_20-05-34_316One final note for the day: Besides LOVING the warm water with lemon and honey I’ve been drinking numerous times each day, there are a few things that have really helped my cold. Since we are in the season of sickness, I wanted to spread the knowledge. These Herbal Pastilles by Traditional Medicinals work wonders! They are completely sugar free and are more than just a cough drop.

2013-02-26_13-06-25_596Now, this puppy. WOW. Dan picked this up for me tonight on his way home, per my request. It is SPICY. The taste isn’t bad and it really opened things up for me! Just two sprays in the mouth as needed. I would highly recommend this if you are fighting a head cold. It has everything from cayenne to horseradish!

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Grand totals for today:

Calories = 1,514

Carbs = 234 g

Fat = 49 g

Protein = 56 g (that’s 11 g over my RDA…)

Thanks to My Fitness Pal for making it so easy to track calories!

Day 4: A Week in the Life of a Plant-Based Diet

DAY 4

I ALMOST didn’t do this post tonight due to this cold I’m fighting. But I watched a little TV in bed and suddenly got a second wind. I hope that means this cold is turning a corner. I mean, it SHOULD I’ve been trying to conquer it with every natural remedy I have in my home and tons of positive visualizations!! Today is a MUCH better day to represent how I wish I could eat every day. 🙂 When you are home sick from work and have nothing but time and a kitchen at your disposal, it makes it much easier.

Pre-Breakfast (religiously, every single morning)

Just like the start of  Day 1Day 2 and Day 3, I had my Green Machine by Naked Juice, to wash down all my vitamins/supplements. Only today, instead of my usual 4 oz. serving I went for a full 8 oz. to give me extra cold busting nutrients. NO DONUTS OR REFINED SUGAR TODAY MY FRIENDS, there is a war between my body and this cold and I want my body to win and SOON. The morning wouldn’t be complete without my Barlean’s Omega Vegan Swirl  3-6-9 supplement. ~ 200 calories, 38 carbs, 5 g fat, 2 g protein

After cleaning up the kitchen and not feeling ready for solid food yet, I swiftly made myself a warm cup of water with lemon juice and honey. If you haven’t tried this when sick, you really should. It feels so good on a sore throat and coats your body like an ice cold drink on a hot summer day. Seriously. I think I might go make a third one right now… ahhhh. It’s finding the joys in the little things when you are fighting a cold… especially when you feel like your head will pop at any moment. 🙂 I tracked the amount of juice in 3 whole lemons for this segment, but that’s it. I know the honey is just straight sugar and carbs and I’m sick and I’m lazy. ~ 48 calories, 12 g carbs

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I also had about 5 pieces of crystallized ginger (ignore the misspelling on the lid 😉 throughout the day since I know fresh ginger is good for cold busting too. Since I didn’t have fresh, I figured this might work too! ~ 46 calories, 12 g carbs 2013-02-25_11-10-52_161

Breakfast

After a nice morning nap, I finally had an appetite. I made an amazing, vitamin and antioxidant packed version of my usual breakfast. I had about a 1/2 cup of chopped white onions, 1/4 c. zucchini, 1/4 c. yellow squash, 1 elephant sized garlic clove, 1/4 c. spinach and 1 whole tomato + 3/4 c. cage-free egg whites. It was amazing. (As a side note, I use a little bit of olive oil spray heated in the skillet before adding any veggies, then after the veggies are added and have cooked for about 2-4 minutes I just add water to steam and cook. This way, you taste the veggies and not the oil.) ~ 154 calories, 15 g carbs, 0 fat, 22 g protein

2013-02-25_11-28-57_636Lunch

I wanted to eat a veg only lunch, but wasn’t sure how it was going to turn out. We joined a CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) this year with Maya’s Farm, so we get veggies that we normally wouldn’t buy. As a result, I have to step outside my comfort zone in the kitchen. Sometimes this works out well, and sometimes its very, very bad. Today for lunch I am pleased to say it went very well! I ate a plateful of boiled queen scarlet turnips and beets. I have never boiled beets before today, so I wasn’t sure what I was going to get. When I took my first taste, I was drawn back to my childhood and remembered I had tasted boiled beets before! We had a garden growing up and I’m sure my mom boiled beets from the garden. They tasted delicious! While cooking, I also had 2 small, raw carrots and 5 prunes. ~ 251 calories, 60 carbs, 0 fat, 6 g protein

2013-02-25_14-02-55_417 2013-02-25_15-25-20_482 2013-02-25_13-48-14_764Snacks

By the time lunch came and went, this cold was peaking. I was flat on the couch holding my head and wondering how on earth I was going to make dinner. My Amazon order even came (2 gluten free and vegan cookbooks and an awesome new kitchen gadget) and I wasn’t phased. I just pulled the box inside, plopped it on the couch and went back to lay down.

I put off dinner as long as I could with some additional snacks. An orange and a medjool date. ~ 135 calories, 36 carbs, 0 fat, 1 g protein

2013-02-25_17-02-10_483 2013-02-25_13-52-08_703Dinner

Luckily, I have THE most amazing husband. After his day at work, his swim at the gym, walking our dog and trying to relax before his softball game, he made dinner for us, while I laid on the couch nearby and gave him verbal instructions. He is handy in the kitchen all on his own, but what I had planned, he had never made. Like a champ, he successfully made us butternut squash soup and cooked lentils with onion and spices to put on top a bed of mixed greens. By this point, I was barely keeping my eyes opened, so I asked him to take a picture of his plate of food and send it to me. I swear there were lentils under all those chips. 😉 I had some chia seed pudding for dessert – sorry, no photo see Day 3. 🙂 ~ 455 calories, 78 carbs, 13 g fat, 19 g protein

photoWell, I think I’ve rambled on long enough – didn’t know I had it in me with this cold. haha Please pardon any type errors as I’m sure there are plenty. But my brain isn’t fully functioning right now.

Grand Total Day 4 

Calories: 1289

Carbs: 251 g

Fat: 18 g

Protein: 50