Friday was a beautiful day, so I was really excited when the company I work for released us at 3 PM. Dan and I went running outside together - our first time out on the Prairie Path this year. It was a tough run, because they haven't smoothed out the trail yet. Many people ride their horses on this trail, and there were a lot of divots and uneven ground from horse hooves. We spent most of the run looking at the ground to make sure we didn't hit one and sprain our ankles! We tried running along the edges where it seemed most smooth, but even that was iffy. After our run, we were both tired and hungry. Dan was badly craving Lou Malnati's pizza, so we placed an order for pick-up. I got an individual portion of The Lou sans mushrooms (cheese, tomato, and spinach) and oh my GOSH was it heavenly! We stayed in for the rest of the night and it felt really good to just relax.
On Saturday, I got a lot of cleaning done in my apartment. After that was done, I sat down and planned out my meals for the week ahead. After I selected my vegan recipes for the week, I had to make a grocery list. Here's the menu for the week ahead:
Monday - Eggplant burgers
Tuesday - Taco Tuesday! Seven layer vegan tacos
Wednesday - Cajun pasta with white beans and kale
Thursday - Quinoa stir fry with veggies and tofu
Friday - Leftovers from one of the meals above - I'm sure there will be plenty!
Saturday - ??? TBD...
Dan had to go into work at 3 PM and I worked at 5 PM. I haven't mentioned my second job to a lot of people, but I work about 12 hours a week for a major grocery store that I also worked at back in high school and breaks during college. I started working there again in October for some extra cash to pay some bills down. I really don't mind it much at all, and I always found it kind of interesting to see the types of food people buy. Nerd alert. I had to work until 9 PM and planned on getting my food shopping done after my shift. Much to my delight, I found that pretty much EVERY item I needed was on sale! Tofu was $2. Almond milk was $2. Bags of oranges were buy one, get one free. Sweet potatoes and broccoli were 69 cents per pound. And so on and so on. I happily loaded up my shopping cart.
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Looks like I picked a good time go vegan!
Then I headed home and pretty much went straight to bed, since I had to be back at work at 7 AM on Sunday. I hope everyone had a nice Easter! We didn't do anything special this year, but it is always nice to spend time with the family. At lunch, I ordered a chicken and pasta dish, since I knew it was my last day to have meat and cheese. Then Dan surprised me later in the day and said he wanted to take me to Rock Bottom to treat me to my "last meal" - we ordered our favorite dish, the nachos! And boy, did they load them up more than ever:
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*Drool*...an absolutely amazing "last meal"!
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*Drool*...an absolutely amazing "last meal"!
During the late afternoon on Sunday, I tried a new recipe: eggplant burgers. They're actually comprised of oven baked eggplant, cannelini beans, hummus, grilled onions, green peppers, and garlic. I made a few changes to the recipe. First off, I omitted the pine nuts entirely because a small package of them cost $5.99 ... yeah, I'm too cheap for that. Second, I only put 1/2 a cup of breadcrumbs instead of the full cup the recipe called for. A full cup seemed like a lot, so I only poured a little at a time into my mixture and decided to stop at 1/2 a cup. The mixture also seemed a little dry, so I added a tablespoon of almond milk. I did not make the tahini sauce in the recipe for budget reasons - didn't want to buy any more ingredients! I just spread extra hummus on my burger bun instead. I should also note that I did NOT use a food processor. I don't own one, but will be purchasing one in the future. The burgers were actually very easy to make and smelled delicious! I refrigerated the burgers to save for lunch this week.
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My homemade eggplant burgers
Normally, there are two things I don't do when it comes to my eating and this blog: I don't count calories, and I don't write out everything I ate for the day. For the most part, I don't believe in counting calories. I think it's a great thing to do when you're new to eating healthier and trying to control your portions. I also think it's a good thing to do if you've veered off track or have noticed weight gain. Other than that, I don't think it's a good practice to do every single day. Why? I feel people obsess over a number instead of paying attention to what their body needs and what they are eating. You might be under your calorie goal for the day, but what did you eat? Fast food? Ice cream for dinner? Calories only mean so much. I'm more in favor of goals like eat more fiber, eat vegetables with every meal, etc.
When I do log calories, I use the website / iPhone app MyFitnessPal. Their database of food and nutrition information is pretty strong, and it's easy to use. Since I am making a substantial diet change, I'll be logging my food for a few days just to make sure my nutrition is in line. Since many are curious about what you eat on a vegan diet, I'll be including that information with each blog post I write.
Monday 4/1 Food & Exercise Log
5 AM
-1 cup Multigrain Cheerios with 1 cup Almond Breeze unsweetened almond milk
5:30 AM
-45 minute boot camp session
8:30 AM
-Thomas's 100% Whole Wheat Bagel Thin with 2 tbsp Skippy Natural Peanut Butter - creamy style, 1/3 less sodium and 1/3 less sugar
12:50 PM
-Spinach salad with cherry tomatoes, almond / pomegranate mix and balsamic vinaigrette
-Homemade vegan eggplant burger on an Aunt Millie's Slimwhich bun
3 PM
-Fuji apple and orange slices
6:30 PM
-Homemade vegan eggplant burger on an Aunt Millie's Slimwhich bun
According to MyFitnessPal, my calories for the day were 1,511 and my protein was at 55 grams. My recommended protein intake is 58 grams, so I'm right on track. I was going to go to the gym this evening for a second workout (cardio), but I made the mistake of sitting down to eat first. I should have gone right after work. This is why I go to the gym in the morning as soon as possible - my evening is over in about two seconds! I'll go to Blast for cardio tomorrow, then back to boot camp on Wednesday morning.
Day 1 is done!
According to MyFitnessPal, my calories for the day were 1,511 and my protein was at 55 grams. My recommended protein intake is 58 grams, so I'm right on track. I was going to go to the gym this evening for a second workout (cardio), but I made the mistake of sitting down to eat first. I should have gone right after work. This is why I go to the gym in the morning as soon as possible - my evening is over in about two seconds! I'll go to Blast for cardio tomorrow, then back to boot camp on Wednesday morning.
Day 1 is done!
Thank goodness I didn't raise a picky eater in you that's for sure. I don't think any other member of our family would eat that eggplant thing LOL Good job in your planning for the week. Looks like you're on top of things! The "one" time I saw a dietician she didn't recommend counting calories either but she did recommend counting carbs. Of everything you ate today I'd eat the apple orange slices and spinach salad lol
ReplyDeleteOr in Brandon, since he eats a lot of food now! Thanks, the planning is definitely essential! I am in love with my spinach salad :)
DeleteWait, you ate that eggplant burger for lunch and dinner?? I wish I wasnt so picky-
ReplyDeleteSounds like you're doing great, you are a good eater!
Thanks! Yeah, I had a lot of food planned for the week and I didn't want them to spoil, so I ate them for lunch and dinner on Monday. Maybe you just need to try different things more. I used to consider myself a picky eater too. There was a time where I wouldn't eat Chinese food or Thai food or Mexican food even! Now I love a lot more foods. I have just continued to try new ones over the years.
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