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Plant-Based Eating :: Volume II Day 5

July 10, 2013 by Zucchini Runner in Food, Life | 6 Comments

Day 5 Volume II

There are two main reasons I’m doing this food journal. I want to show people what it truly means to eat food that focuses on plants first and foremost. Plants get a bum wrap most of the time, because farmer’s aren’t paying for billboards in the same way fast food chains are. Our society is currently not built on the principle that good food, with high nutrients, which takes more time and thought to prepare should be a way of life. Our society has devolved to quick, cheap, unhealthy. I’m doing this food journal to show you that even when every minute of your day is accounted for, you can (and should) make time for healthier foods. You deserve it! I’m of the strong belief that eating fast food is a good way to punish your body. But, I’ll save THAT rant for another day! Reach for a plant first, or make the plant at least part of the snack or meal, even if it can’t be the star every time. It CAN be done. My journaling is proof. Not every day is ideal or how I want it to be – it’s not all planned out a week in advance either. But we (Mr. Zucchini Runner and I) have made a choice to make clean eating a priority. 

The second reason I wanted to journal my food, I’ve already touched on in Day 1… to hold myself accountable and have a little check-in. If I had to track my food every single day to the extent I am now, it wouldn’t last; I would burn out. But I like to do it for a few days every month to remind myself and educate myself on WHAT’S in the food I’m eating. Even foods that seem to be healthy, sometimes aren’t so much! 

Having said that, I have been BUSY this week. So incredibly busy. So, I apologize if this post feels abrupt! Happy, healthy eating my friends! Remember, it’s all about small, simple choices every day, every hour. 

Breakfast was in two parts: cereal with homemade almond milk and fresh cherries at home, then at work I had oatmeal with more homemade almond milk, dried cherries, dried pineapple, almonds and water. (560 calories, 100 carbs, 12 g fat, 13 g protein)IMG_2844

Tasted WAY better than it looked!! 
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For lunch I had what you see pictured below 😉 (330 calories, 32 carbs, 19 g fat, 10 g protein)IMG_2847

As a gross afternoon snack, I had this banana that should have been used in bread. (110 calories, 30 carbs, 1 g protein)IMG_2848

I was starving and had a tough workout ahead of me, so I ate a Clif bar on my drive home from work. (240 calories, 40 carbs, 6 g fat, 11 g protein)IMG_2849

 

As soon as I got home, I did my P90X plyometrics workout, followed by a 2 mile run to help shakeout my legs for the next morning’s run! (Trying to keep the lactic acid from building up too much!) I’m not entirely sure how many calories I burned, but I sweat A LOT and got an amazing workout. I am not smiling in the plyo pics either, that is a PAINED face! lol The one in the middle is after my run!IMG_2908Once I cooled down a bit, I took Vega’s Sport Recovery Accelerator with some almond milk and water. (Lots of homemade almond milk today!) (95 calories, 18 carbs, 1 g fat, 5 g protein)

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Lots of good stuff in there!IMG_2876

Just when I was trying to figure out what to eat for dinner, Mr. Zucchini Runner called me on his way home sounding exhausted and hungry. We met up at the grocery store and shopped quickly to get our groceries we so desperately needed! We both grabbed a Synergy and drank them in LINE (after it was scanned…) (75 calories, 8 carbs, 3 g fat, 2 g protein – I only drank half, I needed FOOD not more liquids so I didn’t want to fill up…)IMG_2878

It was 10 p.m. and we whipped up this dinner in 20 minutes from the items we needed to get rid of in the fridge. We realized once we sat down to eat, that the only NEW items from the store were tomatoes and spinach! Ah well 🙂 Now we are set for a few days anyway. (200 calories, 34 carbs, 5 g fat, 7 g protein)IMG_2879

I was still hungry and wanted something sweet, so I ate one of these, which we’ve had in the freezer FOREVER. One of the banana slices were clearly freezer burnt. Mmmmm… (kidding.) (Calories 100, 13 carbs, 5 g fat, 1 g protein)IMG_2880

Grand totals for the day were LOW, given the workouts I did, but I did my best and I will try again tomorrow!

Calories 1,709

Carbs 275

Fat 51 g

Protein 50 g

Sugar 120 g (YIKES too much sugar today for sure…)

Plant-Based Eating :: Volume II Day 4

July 8, 2013 by Zucchini Runner in Food, Life | 2 Comments

Day 4 Volume II

Today was my first day back to work in 5 days; yes FIVE days! So I was back to “planning my meals ahead”… which I’m not very good at. 🙂 I will say I’ve resigned myself to the fact that convenience foods are better than no foods! In the past if I didn’t have enough time to prepare a lunch from scratch, I would either make due with tidbits (almonds, cereal, oatmeal, etc) hidden in my desk drawer or simply eat out. Neither of these options are what I would consider ideal. Too much eating out, no matter how healthy it is, seems to catch up with me eventually and I start to feel run down. Not eating enough food during the day, leads to a HUGE dinner at night. I’m a work in progress.

As I was trying to get myself out the door by a specific time this morning and failing miserably, I threw together an über healthy smoothie chockfull of broccoli, celery, zucchini, spinach, banana, water and a scoop of vanilla protein powder. Now, before I go on, ask yourself what was missing…

Give up? SOMETHING COLD. Not only was this smoothie warm because it had no ice and nothing frozen in it, but it was “spicy” (for lack of a better word). I’m not sure how or why, but it was. Look at the size of that thing!

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I was bound and determined not to waste it, so I vowed to chug it down. I hopped in the car and along the way gulped down the green “goodness” (if I keep telling myself its good, it will be good, right?!). Plus, it always helps to take my morning vitamins with something besides water. IMG_2788

By the time I had swallowed the last pill, my stomach wasn’t feeling so hot and my throat felt like I put pepper in the smoothie. What the?? Chemicals maybe? Whatever it was, it couldn’t be good. (This lead me to a lunchtime surf of the web, clicking on topics relevant to ‘Do’s and Dont’s for juicing/smoothies’. I learned a lot! And let me tell you, that smoothie is still in the fridge. I haven’t been brave enough to give it a second shot.)

The plus side to this morning, was that my cube was decorated by one of my co-workers as a belated birthday. Made me smile, despite the horrid smoothie.

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Yes, those are army men, mixed with farm animals and dinosaurs… and glitter balloons.IMG_2795

I will keep it up for a couple days. 🙂IMG_2800

So, the smoothie was a bust and once my stomach settled down, I ate a Clif Bar (convenience food #1). MUCH BETTER. (240 calories, 40 carbs, 6 g fat, 11 g protein)IMG_2801

For lunch I had a pre-packaged salad from Trader Joe’s, called the Vegetable and Grain Country Salad. From my first bite, I fell in love. I think it’s because it has fresh dill in it! There is also cabbage hidden under all that bulgar. (convenience food #2… 400 calories, 52 carbs, 20 g fat, 10 g protein)IMG_2804

After lunch, I had some black tea with a little honey. IMG_2805

Then, of course, there were some office treats! HOMEMADE. Thanks a lot Melissa! 🙂 I had a little chunk and it was incredible, as always! I estimated the nutrition information on this one… (125 calories, 17 carbs, 6 g fat, 2 g protein).IMG_2806

Late in the day, I had green peas and a frozen Trader Joe’s Veggie Burger as an early dinner. (convenience food #3, pulled from my newly purchased emergency frozen stash – I needed SOMETHING green in the emergency stash! See… making progress…)I didn’t get my workouts in this morning (I really needed sleep… I haven’t slept well in a couple weeks…) so I needed fuel before my workouts! (335 calories, 46 carbs, 12 g fat, 13 g protein)IMG_2809Still feeling exhausted, I came home from work and reluctantly got started on the P90X workout, Shoulders, Tris and Chest + Ab Ripper X. I LOVE to run, but really don’t like any other type of workout. I only do them so they will help me become a better runner. 😉 Shortly after finishing ab ripper, I stepped outside to get a short run in. Mr. Zucchini Runner worked on a second dinner for me and a first dinner for himself. It was a recipe I found on a blog earlier in the day for zucchini ribbons with a vegan alfredo sauce. Thank you Lisa’s Project: Vegan! Its a jellyfish! AH!!!!

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Did I mention it was 102°F when I finally made it outside for 5k? No? Well, it was. Thank goodness for the volleyball courts having cooling sprinklers for the sand on them! A group playing basketball turned them on for outdoor A/C and I was able to run through them and cool off at the halfway point. I didn’t push nearly as hard as I normally do. Running in that kind of heat is a whole other type of running. I made sure my heart rate always felt comfortable and as a result I was able to cool down pretty quickly when I got home. I also had a 3/4 frozen water bottle with me to drink and squirt on my arms.

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Dinner was waiting for me on the counter, since it was raw, it didn’t need to stay warm. It. Was. Amazing. LOVED it!! You should go check it out on Lisa’s blog. (176 calories, 13 carbs, 11 g fat, 6 g protein)IMG_2833

Final totals for the day:

Calories 1,276

Carbs 168

Fat 55

Protein 42

Sugar 52 g (getting better everyday!)

Well, because of my smoothie mishap I was way low on my calories for the day. Fortunately, I wasn’t hungry in between meals and there is always tomorrow to do better!

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