Monday, February 23, 2015

Cleanse Recap

Well, it's over. I greatly enjoyed a mug of coffee this morning and a chocolate coconut Larabar, my new version of a candy bar. I did the cleanse without cheating. Well, I went off the meal plan a lot but I stayed within the guidelines for each week. Sunday I was craving chocolate and caffeine something crazy, but for the most part it wasn't that bad.
I did like prepping with Kate. It forced me to hang out with her on Saturdays, when I would have otherwise probably hid in my room after my mentally exhausting mornings when I have to do a million microbiology labs. Kate often made all the lists and organized recipes and everything when I was at work, which made me feel a little guilty but I also realize it's probably harder for Kate to wait for me to do half the work than for her to just do everything. I think we did pretty well keeping the actual prep work even, except one Sunday when I got home and was ready to prep and Kate had done everything. We approach things differently (like when I said we should get a big package of spinach because it was cheaper, we needed to use it all, and they don't have the big package of kale and the greens are all interchangeable and Kate looked at me and said, "sometimes I like to follow the rules!" She loves rules. I do what I can to get around rules while still technically following them.) The smoothie making was pretty evenly split as well when it was possible. Oh, and I only lost a grand total of 3 lbs. Which I could easily gain back in a day, but hopefully it will keep going in the right direction.

And what's next? Well we still have another week with no sugar, and I'm going to try to make it an occasional treat after that and not make desserts at home. Even "healthy" desserts I tend to go a little overboard on.
I occasionally follow this blog about minimalism, and the other day I was reading about one of the guy's views on his own diet and health. He practices intermittent fasting, which I think is probably a good idea in general for some people. I had also just read an article about fasted exercise, and I guess I've known all along that I feel better working out on an empty stomach. This isn't for everyone, but I haven't technically given anything up for lent yet and I think this would make me take another look at my eating habits. He does say snacks are evil, which is the opposite of what my blerch fridge magnet says. This isn't necessarily conducive to my work schedule, but I think it will be useful to think twice before I reach for a snack.


http://www.theminimalists.com/diet/
http://www.theminimalists.com/health/

Friday, February 13, 2015

The Voice

These really have not been a great two weeks for non sugar eaters at work! A giant bowl of chocolate was in the staff room this morning. Our head registrar isn't eating sugar either, and she said she couldn't even keep her food in the fridge anymore because she hates having to walk past the sugar. So she half joked that she wants to get her own microwave up by her desk! We shared the struggle this morning.

Work was fine, but I'm getting sick (no I'm not! I can't afford to!) and everything just felt harder. I went to the grocery store on my break because we needed apples, and I had a moment. The voice in my head, the inner critic, the committee that sits up there and tries to sabotage you, starting going off. I'm actually listening to a book right now that discusses it, and she calls it The Voice. Anyways, it was saying, "why are you even doing this?" "you don't even feel any better" "this is pointless" "you haven't even lost any weight and have experienced zero benefits" "I don't even care about being healthy it doesn't even matter, just quit" and so on, and so on. It was annoying. Maybe something about Valentine's Day set it off, but it's not really an important holiday to me. Anyways, I got a coconut Larabar, which is not technically cleanse friendly but also not technically not, and definitely a lesser evil than pretty much anything else I could have gotten. I also got almond butter and ate it with one of the apples. 

Hopefully I'll be feeling less tired and emotionally worn down tomorrow. Resisting that voice takes work.

Sunday, February 8, 2015

Sun's Out Smoothies Out


Happy Sunday!
It's sunny in Seattle today! After TRX Kate and I made our smoothies and drank them outside. Then I ran down to Greenlake, around the lake, and back. It was so crowded! I saw someone we went to college with as well, which was fun. We just waved to each other as we passed.
I came home and have been doing fun things like filing my taxes and homework. And buying tickets to L.A. for my nonexistent spring break to see 3 of my best friends from college!
I ate my leftovers from Thrive for lunch and made some coconut energy balls for dessert. I'm going to continue doing productive things wearing sweats and sitting in my bed. Clearly I am only somewhat ready to be a real adult. So there you go, a typical Sunday in my life.

Saturday, February 7, 2015

Thrive

This morning I had my first microbiology exam, and then our brains were all hurting but we had to do 3 more labs. It was great fun. I walked home, and after a lunch of quinoa, chick peas, cruciferous mix and a little cauliflower with a side of almonds, Kate and I went about our weekly grocery shopping and food prep. We made carrot ginger soup, baked since sweet potatoes, got some lemon juice ready for the tonics, and I made roasted cauliflower to snack on. I also ground almond butter. We decided as a treat we'd go to a vegan restaurant. Kate got a collard green burrito, and I got a bowl with quinoa and red rice with kale, mushrooms, zucchini, avocado, and some yummy sauces. It was great. I finished the night with a milkshake with cashew milk, frozen banana, cinnamon and a teaspoon almond butter, topped with toasted coconut. Now we're watching Fat, Sick and Nearly Dead 2. Luda is making it hard for Kate to blog. Happy Saturday!!


Friday, February 6, 2015

Cookies Cookies Everywhere

I was planning on writing a post least night and even took a picture of my lunch yesterday, but learning 4 weeks of microbiology in a day took precedence. Anyway, Rachel's been making a ton of cookies so I'm around them constantly. I don't necessarily want them, but I wish I was in a place where I could just eat one and enjoy it. They are pretty much my favorite thing. Basically I just wish sugar wasn't evil and being vegan wasn't better for my health and the planet's.

Tuesday, February 3, 2015

Cleanse Week 1 Day 2

This morning I woke up, drank the morning tonic, and then studied for a while before going to Cycle Fit. It definitely pushed me right back in to working out! I didn't feel too out of shape but it ran 10 minutes late and my legs were tired when I had to rush and bike to work after guzzling my smoothie. It was the same one as yesterday, and one of my favorites of the whole cleanse.

On my way to school I had an apple and almond butter, and then it was exam time. For some reason this material was much harder for me to remember. Oh well, it's over, I'm excited for tomorrow because it's bones time and I already took a whole class on bones! I drank some dandelion root tea with cashew milk after I was done with my test before we started class again. Then I had to go to a super awkward manager meeting at a restaurant. I ate a clementine on the way because I wasn't going to order anything. After the meeting I had some spinach, quinoa, chickpeas, salsa and cherry tomatoes, with a few salted almonds sprinkled on top for flavor and crunch. Blueberries were dessert.

After I taught my classes I had another clementine and some almonds, then biked home and made and tasted almond butter, and then I made our smoothies for tomorrow and ate some slices of the extra cucumber with beet hummus. Then I made the spiced almond milk with some of my almond butter blended in so it was creamy and frothy! Yum. I did some yoga which was cut short when J got home, and I knew she needed to debrief from the day. So I went downstairs and we talked about life. As much as I love working with kids, some of the management and politics going on right now are really stressful, especially for J who is an actual manager.

Anyways, that was my boring day with no pictures. I'll try to remember tomorrow. 

Monday, February 2, 2015

Cleanse Week 1 Day 1

I'm going to try to blog every day of the cleanse, to help keep me from quitting and because Kate probably is too.

Today I had the morning tonic and green smoothie, and then some roasted dandelion root tea with a spot of cashew milk. I think I like it even better with the milk!

After class I went to the store to pick up a few things, and ended up eating some almonds and a lemon larabar. Which is not completely cleanse friendly, but I think in Week 1 it's more acceptable. I only was going to eat a bite but it just tasted so good and I was hungry! I ate some blueberries too. After my first class I had my lunch/afternoon meal with quinoa, sweet potato, chickpeas, greens, and beet hummus. Yum and pink. I had two clementines after work before I broke my lazy not working out streak and went for a 20 minute run. It was hard, but mostly because I just weight more than my body would like and also my knee was still hurting a bit. I busted it last weekend when my foot got caught and I fell right on it.

We still had some food to use up so we didn't follow the menu exactly but we made our own food that fit within the guidelines. Tomorrow I have to go to a meeting at a Mexican restaurant so we'll see how that goes! I probably won't get anything.

Sunday, February 1, 2015

Two Confessions

Last night, after a full day of grocery shopping for the cleanse, Kate and I went to PCC for a couple items we forgot and her beloved celery. Also at PCC are cookies. Delicious, vegan cookies. I'm going to blame Kate with the mentioning of the cookies earlier in the day, and I just couldn't get it out of my head. It is of note that they do, in fact, have a refined sugar free (minus the chocolate chips, but who's counting) cookie, but it is made with chickpeas and very much the type of "cookie" I would make at home. Not what I was craving. Finally, after I wouldn't shut up about it, Kate just told me to get my stupid cookie and I could just pretend the time between January and February didn't exist. So I ate that vegan happy animal chocolate chip cookie and savored that darn flavor, because it's going to be forever before I have something that good again.

Then, this morning (Happy February!) I decided to make toast for breakfast since I want to leave as little non cleanse friendly food as possible in the freezer. I put some almond butter on it, and without thinking started to put some cinnamon honey on it. Luckily I stopped myself, but there was still a little on there! I think I keep forgetting it's February with the cleanse starting tomorrow and everything. Anyways, I'm hoping to see some big changes this month!