Plant Strong!

I am on day 14 of eating plant strong (day 13 if you count out day 1 dinner when the hubby insisted we get rid of meat and consumed previously discussed, disgusting turkey burgers). I feel so excited about these changes! It hasn't been too much of a challenge because I have eaten all of my meals at home and packed lunches for James to bring to work with dinner leftovers or wraps. Here is what a typical day looks like:

Breakfast: Green Smoothie: 8 oz unsweetened almond milk, 3-4 handfuls organic baby spinach, 2 branches dino kale, 1 banana, 1-2 cups frozen mixed berries, 1 T ground flaxseed, 1 T Plant Fusion protein powder in vanilla bean flavor

Lunch: Whole wheat wrap with garbanzo beans, spinach, diced tomato, a sprinkle of turmeric, and a drizzle of Health Starts Here balsamic dressing from Whole Foods or dinner leftovers such as the Engine2 NY Times veggie burgers which are incredible!


Snack: Depends on how hungry I am but it can be anything from a bowl of whole wheat cereal (like the Engine 2 Rip's Big Bowl) with fresh fruit or 1/4 cups cashews and a piece of fruit

Dinner: Rip's Sweet Potato Lasagna from the Engine2 diet on complicated night or on simple nights brown rice with steamed broccoli, Brussels sprouts and carrots

Dessert: Frozen grapes or frozen bananas blended into "ice cream"

Sometimes I eat more, sometimes I eat less, that is the beauty of this way of eating. I don't starve myself, I don't count my calories, I just listen to my body and if my body wants a huge bowl of cereal to tide me over until dinner,  I give it one! Simple as that. I feel amazing and clean at the end of the day, not bogged down with meat, dairy and processed foods. I am amazingly not craving the sugary sweet treats I had become so accustomed to having after dinner. It seems like I am finally tasting the natural sugars in fruits and I am enjoying them as if they were some sinful dessert....seriously I found myself oohing and ahhing over how my pink lady apple tasted the other day!

I also keep finding more and more doctors who advocate this way of eating as a way to prevent and reverse disease, lose weight and feel happy and energetic. I have loved reading this information and doing my research. It is endlessly fascinating to me and I am brainstorming ways that I can incorporate this zeal for nutrition into my career and schooling...no answers yet but who know!

Watch Out World, We're Going Vegan

The hubby and I have had an addiction to food-related documentaries on Netflix for quite some time now and they have always managed to inspire one or two lifestyle changes for us. Well, I have been toying with the idea of giving up on this low-carb "crap" to control my hypoglycemia and instead trying to heal my body from the inside out by eating a plant-strong diet. So, hubby, being the financially savvy one in the relationship, has enlisted one rule: we have to eat what we currently have in the fridge. So we had one night of turkey burgers with cheese and honestly, I felt sick. After making the decision, and stock piling educational materials on why meat and dairy products are so horrible for the human body, it was a dinner (an old favorite none-the-less) that was hard to swallow. I have been having so much fun at Whole Foods attending their "Health Starts Here" classes and learning about new recipes and their HSH products are awesome. It makes it so easy to shop for healthy food choices. ALSO, the food is amazing. I never realized how wonderful fruits, veggies and grains were (and I REALLY MISSED the grains & fruits eating low carb). My favorite new discovery, although I realize I am way behind the times here, is adding kale and spinach to my morning smoothies and shakes. It is absolutely delicious and I feel so great getting all those leafy greens in first thing in the morning! If you add vanilla bean plant fusion protein powder it is like a shake and if you don't it's like a smoothie. Either way, delicious! 3-5 oz fresh baby spinach, 1 branch kale leaves, 1 c frozen strawberries (or fresh, just add in a few ice cubes in that case), 1 c frozen blueberries, 1 banana 8 oz almond milk, 1-2 T ground flaxseed. Yum, yum yum!!! I suddenly can't wait for breakfast, there are SO many amazing vegan breakfasts out there. Tomorrow night I am attempting not only my first vegan lasagna, but my first EVER lasagna, so, fingers crossed. I am so excited to start this journey!