Day 1 :: Volume II

It’s been a few months since I first journaled A Week in the Life of my Plant-Based Diet. (I use the word diet as a noun here – not a verb. In other words, it is my food style of choice not a diet filled with restriction in an attempt to lose weight.) You see, I want a redo on publicly tracking my plant-based diet, since I got sick two days after starting my last 7 day journey! I spent the majority of my illness on the couch, sleeping off a horrible cold and trying desperately to get better before my marathon. It wasn’t exactly the example of a standard week for me! Typically I’m burning 500-900 calories a day with workouts and when I was sick that wasn’t happening so food was minimal. I’m all about redemption and today I turned 36; what better way to kick off my 37th year on the planet than by sharing it with my blog followers and those interested in plant-based eating.

In an effort to always maintain a healthy weight, tracking what I eat periodically has proven very helpful. If I had to do it ALL the time, it would drive me crazy. But doing it for a few weeks at a time is beneficial. For me it is more than just the calories, fat and carbs too, it’s about choosing food that is colorful and nutritionally dense as much as possible and limiting refined sugar. Writing it down (or using MyFitnessPal.com) helps me to stay mindful of what I’m putting in my body.

I started off my birthday with a 3.6 mile run in honor of 36 years. It was a balmy 87° and there was partial sun, so it was a great workout! What a way to start the day! I also got to try out one of my birthday gifts; a running skirt! (Thanks Amy!)

After my run a smoothie sounded good, so I loaded up the Vitamix with water, green grapes, celery, fresh blueberries, spinach, fresh lemon juice, carrots and a banana. It was delicious! (381 calories, 73 carbs, 7 g protein, 0 fat)

I don’t mess around with my smoothies. They are always LARGE and filling. I use the giant QT (gas station) cups we get on road trips and fill it to the brim!

Every morning I take some supplements and vitamins. They have changed a little since my last entries. I take oregano oil for antiseptic properties (seems to help with my allergies), glucosamine, fish oil and a multi-vitamin. Not pictured is Cordychi, which I take immediately when I wake up. It helps support immunity and lung function. 

I like to chew things for breakfast, so typically after a smoothie breakfast I will have one of these about an hour later with my coffee. 🙂 (120 calories, 18 carbs, 5 g fat, 2 g protein)

Since it was my birthday, Mr. Zucchini Runner prepared my lunch based on my specific made-to-order requests. It was awesome; especially since I was craving brussel sprouts for about 4 days! I say it often, but I am one lucky gal.

It was brussel sprouts, asparagus, carrots, onions, portobello mushrooms, broccoli, sugar snap peas cooked with a little grape seed oil and white wine over a bed of cooked quinoa and topped with some homemade spaghetti sauce from the fridge. Heavenly. (436 calories, 71 carbs, 11 fat, 18 g protein)

I felt like a little something sweet for dessert, so I ate one of the Joe-Joe cookies from Trader Joe’s! So yummy and sweet. (65 calories, 10 g carb, 3 g fat, 1 g protein)

At one point, I ate some of this mix that was laying around the house, leftover from our 3rd of July party. But I have no idea how to track the trivial amount I ate. I allow for some of those. It’s not about being obsessive, it’s about health after all. 🙂

Just before dinner, the gift Mr. Zucchini Runner purchased for me came in the mail! SKINS! He remembered! He is amazing when it comes to gift giving. I had completely forgot that we spent 10 minutes at the Skins booth at the San Diego Rock ‘n’ Roll Expo! I really wanted a pair, but talked myself out of it since I had purchased a new Garmin minutes earlier. You should check them out, they are very lightweight compression based out of Australia. 

For my birthday dinner we went to my favorite Vegan/Vegetarian restaurant Pomegranate Cafe. I ordered the BBQ “Chicken” Quesadilla with a gluten-free tortilla and kale salad as the side. This is entirely an approximation, but gives me/you somewhat of an idea nonetheless. I should also note here, that Mr. Zucchini Runner ate 1 of the 3 triangles of the quesadilla and these numbers include dessert! (677 calories, 75 g carbs, 29 g fat, 30 g protein)

We went with our friends Tom and Sarah, who also tried some of the amazing desserts!

After we ordered the desserts, I decided to tell one of the employees it was my birthday. He promptly said, “Oh! Happy Birthday! You get a slice of cake!” WOO HOO! It was AMAZING. The four of us sampled all the desserts, including my cake and then boxed up the leftovers to take home – they are very rich. So good. 🙂 I also got a decaf coffee with coconut milk. 

We said our goodbye’s and headed home to enjoy a couple games of my favorite card game – my family calls it “Oh Hell” but I think the actual name is Nertz. I had a cup of tea with fresh lemon and honey while we played, before heading to bed! I’m such a party animal, I know. But it was a perfect way to spend my evening! In Phoenix in the Summer, you need to get to bed early so you can wake up before the sun and enjoy the coolest part of the day – especially if you are a runner. 😉Estimated grand totals for the day:

1,679 calories

247 g carbs

48 g fat

58 g protein

100 g sugar (WAY over. Whoops!)