One Week!

So today is my one week mark in this adventure of eating healthy. I have to say that I'm really loving it. Really, really. I really had no ideas to start eating vegetarian or vegan, and to be honest, I'm not entirely sure how it happened. It's like I woke up one morning (last Tuesday, to be exact) and was like: I'm sick of eating like a jerk, I want veggies. Checking out the salivating pics on Diana's blog only fueled the fire, and that's why I decided to create this blog, to chronicle all the bad bad things I put in my mouth -- only, I suppose, the catch is that I've been putting some of the best things in my body that my mouth has ever seen!

I'm really enjoying trying all the new recipes I'm finding on various blogs. I love reading other peoples' stories. And most of all,

I love the way I feel. My skin is clearer, my tummy always feels good, and I have steady and sustained energy throughout the day. In fact, I haven't even been moody!

It has only been a week though, and I have a history of dropping projects whenever the wind blows a different direction. I'm really hoping this sticks though, and I somehow think it will -- why stop something that is both fun and tasty?

I feel so satisfied by how I've been eating, I don't even crave the junk that used to be my norm -- I actually passed up Panera, Chipotle, and Paparazzi's (our fave italian joint). We're heading to Orlando at the end of the month and I actually booked us a condo so that I'd have access to a kitchen, and made sure the Whole Foods was close (under 4 miles!) so that I can get all the fresh food my little heart desires. I'm not going to label myself anything, nor say I won't eat anything -- all I know is that I'm very happy eating this way for now, and so is my body.

In food news for today, I had my first GREEN SMOOTHIE

and it was pretty darn delicious. I picked up some spirulina powder today at WF. So, I put 2 tsp of that in with 3/4 cup almond milk, 1 tsp almond butter, 1 tsp agave, and a sprinkle of frozen goji berries. Greengasm!

Also, as a side note... I lost 1.4 lbs this week. I haven't been hungry and I've been eating to my heart's content. Too awesome. Tomorrow I'm going to see about returning some of that NutriSystem stuff to get my $$ back.

Time to get crackin'...

Today I have one mission: get that Johns Hopkins application OUT. I've pretty much been getting everything else done besides that, and it's kind of looming over me and ruining my beautiful winter break. All I have to do is write a two page critique of my writing portfolio. Seems simple, no? Well, no. It must not be, because I've been writing/erasing/writing all morning with little to show for the wasted time. But! I will conquer. In fact, I want to be in one hour. Then I can tidy up the house a bit, clean out the fridgy, and maybe get my run in before I have to take the Chloe to the doctor at 2:45.

I just had a little breakfast of the mac'n cheese from last night with half a grapefruit, and am now sippin' on some lemon water with a little Stevia. I'm down one pound from last Weds, so that's actually very nice to know. I'm trying not to be obsessed with numbers but I keep having these nightmares about looking like a stuffed sausage in my wedding dress!

Anyway, picture posting later. Writing now.

Breakfast

Lunch - mixed green salad with tahini dressing and my little pizza

Dinner, more quinoa mac'n cheese with purple kale, carrots, and tahini dressing

And these little beauties... Laura's Wholesome Junk Food chocolate chip oatmeal "Bite-lettes"...Can I say, WOW. Wow. So yummy. Like delicious, healthy cookie dough. Found them today a Whole Foods, they are also Vegan.

Good day today. Got my application out and made it to the gym, which went well. I did spend a little too much at Whole Foods, but... what else is new. ;)

Manic Monday

Today I finally got my lounge-loving butt back into the gym to get myself back into running shape. It was slow going, but I'm glad that I went. I think the key for me is to get it done first thing, otherwise I think of too many reasons not to go. I'm very glad I made Lindsay's delicious muffins yesterday, because I had a quick grab-n-go snack on my way to the gym, so I wasn't completely starving. It's gonna be a busy week with wedding invitations and getting my grad school apps out, but it shouldn't be too bad. Looking forward to my mom and sister + bf coming up to visit for mom's birthday this weekend!

This pizza is just my favorite ever. And so quick! I will definitely be using this recipe for when I go down to Orlando at the end of the month. Topped with some yummy mango salsa.

Okay, wow. So I tried the vegan mac'n cheese that Diana mentioned today on her blog, only I went a bit closer to its original recipe, from the Pure2Raw Twins. SO AMAZINGLY GOOD. My tummy felt so happy with this and the side of bok choy sauteed with a little soy sauce, chili pepper flakes, and agave syrup.

Sunday Funday... Kinda

So in looking over the post from yesterday, I noticed that I pretty much barely ate any veggies, which is never good. Thus, in an effort to fix my folly I have visited Whole Foods and purchased some greenery, in the form of baby spring mix salad, zucchini, and bok choy. I've also gotten the ingredients to try out that Alfredo sauce finally, and the Tortizza. It's also time to start addressing my wedding invitations by hand, so... Sunday should indeed be a Funday.

Take two of this breakfast.

My own version of the tortilla pizza, using rice cheese, soy parm crumbles, thinly sliced zucchini and marinara sauce. Very yummy! Had two.

Happy Herbivore's Chocolate Zucchini

muffins. Yummy! And only 100 calories each because I made them in a 12 tin tray.

Dinner! Vegan Alfredo sauce over whole wheat shells -- de-freakin'-licious. Next time I will add veggies and do it up a little. I was a bit suspicious, having never used tofu as a sauce before but... wow. So creamy and rich!

Cuteness.

My little munchkin Chloe keeping me company while I blog.

Saturday Stuff

I'm not in the best of moods today, so I'm making a couple of cakes to eat. One is with soy flour, which actually smells a bit funky but also contains chocolate. The other is my less healthy backup, because it has regular flour and it apricot flavored, and does not smell.

Breakfast:

1/2 Arnolds thin with sliced appl

es, peanut butter, and a little agave.

Lunch:

Tofu lettuce wrap

The Apricot Cake, ate about two bites of it.

Dinner - Mock Tofu sandwich with olives

The soy brownies. Actually not bad! The weird smell/taste went away once they were baked.

Someone got a late start today...

I blame it on the workout yesterday. It literally took me an entire minute to lower myself into this chair. Because I wasn't really in the mood to even microwave some oats, I made a quickie breakfast using the leftover mock tuna (of which I have copious amounts, yum yum) and an Arnold Sandwich thin. I'm also pleased to say that I went to Whole Foods yesterday and found substitutes for my normal Coffeemate creamer and splenda routine, because it just seems like a darn good idea to not drink in all those chemicals every day. I am super pleased with the alternatives. The creamer is especially delicious, it's even called SO Delicious and it's made from coconut. Mine is French Vanilla. Yum. Today I am eating up on the leftovers from the past few days, but I might try my hand at a vegan alfredo sauce later on.

Breakfast

Coffee with Truvia and SO Delicious creamer, 1/2 Arnold's Whole Wheat thin with mock tuna, 1/2 grapefruit.

Lunch

So I did have a picture with all the food, but this close up was so pretty I just wanted to use it instead. In addition to the leftover Turkish lentils, drizzled with a dressing of tahini, a

gave, rice vinegar, and a little soy

sauce, I also had a big salad with cucumbers and carrots, also smothered in aforementioned dressing. Delicious.

The tahini is very calorie dense, as are the lentils, so this meal is quite filling. It took a lot of willpower not to drench the entire thing in that delicious dressing!

Tonight is date night and we are going to Paparazzi's (our fave local joint) and a movie after. I've decided to eat beforehand, so I'll probably have a repeat of breakfast sans the grapefruit before James picks me up around 5:30, and bring a Larabar with me to munch on at the movie. I'm going to allow myself one cocktail, either a glas

s of wine or a dirty martini, which

I've been craving lately. GO WILLPOWER. We shall see. :)

So, here's how it went... that VERY dirty and delicious martini was my second. But I did not eat any bad stuff, and instead had a Larabar, which I definitely forgot to take a picture of.

Upon returning home, I quickly

toasted half an Arnold thin and topped it with my mock tuna, a few slices of cucumber and a drizzle (OK, a quick shower) of the tahini dressing I made earlier. Then I promptly dug in and forgot the picture until a few bites later, voila!

All in all, a successful date night. We saw a wonderful film -- The Blind Side -- and met some cool people at Paparazzi. So now I'm off to wash my face, disrobe, and go join my hunny in the bed. Happy Weekend!