Day 14 - The End

Well this is it for my valiant attempt at a vegan cooler 1.  Instead of drinking the big glass of red wine that I've been craving,  I went shopping today for some new clothes.  And I fully intend on getting rid of the two pairs of pre-baby jeans that I just can't fit into.  For now I'll just be "good"!  I'm happy with my job, I'm happy with Mark being home, I'm happy with my life!  Joy is a choice and I'm choosing it! 


Breakfast -oatmeal and a smoothie

1/2 cup GF oats
1/2 apple
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tbsp almond butter
unsweetened almond milk
water
decaf coffee with soy

1 banana
3 tbsp natural peanut butter
1 scoop unsweetened protein powder
ice
unsweetened almond milk

Lunch - salad

2/3 can of Eden chickpeas
1 tomato -diced
1/2 orange pepper-cut
2 leaves of kale - finely chopped
(dressing of olive oil/ balsamic/apple cider vinegar/1tsp honey mustard)
basil

1/4 of an english cucumber
apple
water

snack-
roasted chestnuts (about 5)

Diner - lazy tuna casserole

can of tuna (low sodium)
3tbsp salsa
2 cups steamed broccoli
1 orange pepper
olive oil
couple sundried tomatoes
water

snack - popcorn and tea

1/3cup corn kernels
1.5tbsp coconut oil
chili powder
sesame+nutritional yeast (blended in bullet mix)

rooibos and herbal tea mix with almond milk

Day 12 and 13- It's not a faillure if you forgive yourself!

 I could try really really hard to remember what I ate over the last 2 days. But come on it's Sunday night and I just did 2 hot yoga classes!  It was mostly cooler 1 (except for the bowl of popcorn I had with butter- I know can you believe it!!!) Me either!  I told myself only a few of the kernels that missed the butter, but OMG my hand picked up a buttered popcorn and I ate it! Let me tell you the neurosensors in my brain went ballistic!
                        <<<Beep beep!!! endorphins, brain lighting up!!! Weeeooouuu weeeooouuu!!!!!! animal fat and salt! Do not stop eating, this is the most amazing thing you have ever tasted and your life depends on it's ability to store fat in case of famine!!! SOOO EATTTTT the popcorn! >>>

So yes! I am a human being, with a brain genetically programed to "enjoy" food that really isn't good for it, but food that would stick to my hips, and provide extra "cushioning" when lean times were to arise. Which obviously doesn't happen in this culture!

I ate the popcorn! It had butter, and yup my eczema flared up!  But while doing a double yoga class today, I forgave myself this treat!  It doesn't mean I'm weak, which is what I thought, it doesn't mean I've failed cooler 1... I just means that I'm normal!  I also know that I should probably keep staying clear of animal fats and salt since I clearly have no ability to restrain myself. Better for me to just substituted something healthier!

The next treat I've found and this time it actually would fit in the clean diet (not cooler 1, but probably cooler 2) is a banana and peanut butter smoothie!  I'm not sure if it's because my palate has rebooted since laying off the sugar these past two weeks but this smoothie is heaven!!!  

Peanut Butter Banana Smoothie

one banana
2 or 3 tbsp of natural peanut butter
scoop of protein powder (unsweetened)
ice
unsweetened vanilla almond milk

So simple but sooo bloody delicious!  (I had one tonight after my classes) and half of one yesterday after my combat workout.

Day 11...getting there!

Friday's as we know are tough! But I'm surviving... I really did eat alot today! But still better than I would be eating if it wasn't for "trying"( being the key word here) to stick to cooler 1.

Breakfast:
same as every day
water
decaf with soy milk

snack:
serving of sweet potato lentil greens shepards pie
1/4 cucumber
water

lunch:
1.5cups tomato tempeh soup
1/4 pomegranate
water

snack:
handful of veggi chips
cucumber
couple tbsp salsa
water

diner
8 vegetarian California rolls (rice and veggies)
2 salmon sushi
2 tuna sushi
water
decaf ice coffee with unsweetened almond milk

snack
can of tuna
1/2 cup salsa
2tbsp olive oil
2 cups shredded broccoli (that salad kind you buy pre-shredded)
decaf tea with almond milk
a square of dark chocolate (non dairy)

Day 10- Reinventing Shepard's pie

 

So this was my version of tonight's diner!  Vegan, clean, veggiful and colourful!

As you can see my hungry family chowing down on "regular Shepard's" pie, or as it's known in our house as paté chinois. This is how I made my vegan clean friendly version.

 

 

This is lentils, garlic, onions and tempeh mixed with some chili seasoning (I know it's weird, but it's what our family is used too, because I refuse to allow Mark to use the packages for Shepard's pie or even use gravy since it has too much salt) mixed with the water from the boiled sweet potatoes.

 

 

 

Mashed sweet potatoes with just some of the water and some onions.

 

 

Athletes (Cooking Greens) mixed with a bit of frozen corn.

 

 

Assemble and bake at 375F for 30mins (or so).

 

 

 

Enjoy!

Today's eats:

 

Breakfast (same as yesterday)

 

snack

1.5 cups of tomato tempeh soup

water

decaf tea with unsweetened almond milk

 

Lunch

can of low sodium tuna

a head of romaine lettuce

1/4 cup salsa sauce

1/4 cucumber

2 tbsp olive oil

water

 

snack

 

a large handful of veggie chips (the ones from bulk barn with probably too much oil)

water

about 3 sun dried tomatoes in olive oil (while I was making my diner)

 

Diner





a serving of my version of Shepard's pie

water

 

After diner snack...

 

a pot of herbal tea  (Caramel Almond Amaretti) and some vanilla almond milk (yes I know the sweetened kind... ) But this is desert!!!

 

 

 









Day 9- The best part of cooler 1 in the fall is the SOUP!!!

Well I am happy to report that apparently ranting to the universe pays off because this morning when I got on my scale FINALLY I lost some weight! Thus began a great day :)  Well pretty much nothing can tarnish Wednesdays in my view since I only teach 2 periods in the morning (yes I am only 68%) so that means I do have time off school.  Today after school I rushed to the yoga studio and did a hot class, then browsed the Chapters looking for some cute Halloween books for my kids, then it was back home for some lunch. After a very late lunch I got to go on a fantastic bike ride because the weather was absolutely perfect for it!  I rode up North of my place and the fall leaves are just stunning, yes the route north is uphill, but damn if it isn't worth the ride to see the sights. Plus what goes up must come down, my ride back home was easy-peasy.  Did I mention the temp was in the 20's!!!! So yes today was awesome!  So anyway here are my eats...

Breakfast
1/2 cup GF oats
3 tbsp hemp hearts
1tbps almond butter
1 tbsp ground flax
4 strawberries
unsweetened almond milk
water
decaf coffee with soy milk (because that's what they have at Strabucks- I know I'm working towards quitting)

Snack
3/4 of an orange pepper
2 cups of carrot ginger chick pea soup
water

Lunch: (this was slightly warmed up)
can of tuna (low sodium)
1/2 cup of salsa
1 large tomato diced
water
decaf coffee with unsweetened almond milk

snack (before bike ride)
brown rice cake (lundenburg)
water

Diner:
tomato tempeh soup drizzled with olive oil
green juice (collards, zucchini, 1/2 lemon, 1/2 apple, 2 carrots, 3 green tomatoes and mint)
water
tea with almond milk

Ok so yes tomato soup with tempeh is strange... but it worked because it's all blended up together!  And come on who doesn't like, tomatoes, garlic, basil and olive oil???? 

I sort of just threw a bunch of tomatoes from our garden about 7 or 8 in a pot
with a jar of Mark's tomato's sauce
lots of garlic
1 onion
1 carrot
some broccoli stems
about 2/3 of a pack of tempeh (plain, no salt, no flavour)
some dried basil and parsley
a dash of cinnamon
water

Day 7 meet Day 8! (with bonus rants)

I'm getting a little behind because I'm getting behind in everything around here.  Yesterday Mark was fixing our dishwasher so the whole kitchen/dining room area looked like a tornado hit it, I barely managed to squeeze in the fridge to get my soup out to eat.  So anyway, yesterday was in fact a lovely day!  I had my Monday morning free from school, so I went to the gym and did a body pump class (and yes as I am writing this now, a day latter) I ponder the wisdom of that decision, as I can barely lower myself down unto a chair..  actually chair is fine because I can brace along the back part... the toilet bowl... omg that is agony...  It's like squatting while someone is running daggers through my quads. ) and wow that was a tangent.  Back to awesome morning, after pump I had a massage, then home for some lunch.  Then it was off to school.  Short and sweet :) I love my Mondays! 

So here are my Monday's eats:

Breakfast
1/2 GF oats
1 scoop veg. protein powder
3 strawberries
1 tbsp chia seeds
unsweetened almond milk
water

snack:
 1.5 cups carrot ginger chick pea soup
decaf coffee
water

lunch:
1/2 cup sweet potato humus
7 stalks of celery
water

snack:
pack of seaweed paper
1/2 apple

Diner:
-serving of tempeh (about 80gs)
- 1.5 cup athletes mix
-1/4 cup of the curry sauce
served with a scoop of sweet potato humus on top
water
decaf tea (a couple of ounces of the vanilla almond milk - yes it was sweeter)

Today I had a full schedule at school, so I packed my "cooler" but I'm wondering if I didn't eat enough at school today for the amount of running around I did?  Could be.  But again NOTHING off the scale this morning (however I've been reminded my a friend that weights are great for weight loss but terrible for water retention).  And more or less to torture myself I made myself wear the jeans that "used to fit"... well that was just mean and cruel, because even by day 8, not enough changes have happened... not exactly a muffin top, but a little too tight for comfort. However I did receive complements on them??? So is it that uncomfortable jeans are the more flattering ones? Can someone please post the brand of jeans that will make my parts look amazing!  Trying to fit into 3 year old jeans is getting silly!  

Breakfast:
1/2cup GF oats
3tbsp hemp hearts
1 tbsp raw almond butter
3 strawberries
1 tbsp chia seeds
unsweetened almond milk
water
decaf coffee

I did have a few artichoke hearts (perserved in vinegar and olive oil) this morning when I was waiting for my decaf, they were imported from Italy and used in the panini sandwiches at the Longo's kitchen.  My buddy Tony is very italian and he is always getting me to taste only the best condiments used in his signature sandwiches... Last week he opened up a 12$ can of Italian sun dried tomatoes in olive oil and herbs.... ahhhh mazing...  I've never really been into antipasto... but I can always be converted :)

snack:
sweet potato curri hummus
broccoli and tomatoes
water

Lunch:
carrot ginger chick pea soup with about 3/4 cup athletes mix (mixed in while it was hot)
water
decaf tea

snack: (when I got home from school today I was dizzy and disoriented, I kind of felt drunk and this scared me so I decided to have some fruit with my protein and also some carbs in the form of popcorn with salt - I've had blood pressure issues in the past, my BP gets too low and I need a little extra salt to stop getting so dizzy) this is new from the summer time training...
-protein smoothy: veg.protein powder, frozen raspberries, ice, wheat grass, coconut water and a scoop of almond butter
-1/2 cup of air pop popcorn with about 1-2 tbsp of melted "Earth Balance" a vegan butter alternative

I did feel much better so I went to the gym for a combat class. drank lots of water again.

Diner:

BBQed Salmon with sun dried tomatoes
some broccoli and orange pepper
water
lots of decaf tea in the evening

Last rant for the day! 

I know I'm not adhering to the cooler plan as strictly as I used to in the past, but I also can't believe how slow the weight loss is that this point.  I am only down 1 pound!!!  I still am literally 5 lbs away from pre-baby.  Truly you see what I eat... what else should I do? more exercise? weights? This is really hard!  I want to quit because I'm not seeing any changes in the numbers, and I guess I'm not sick anymore so that's a plus, but I just want to lose those last few... For goodness sake at the rate I'm going I'll have to keep doing this for another 3 weeks!!!  ugh or more!

Day 6- really that's it?

Honestly I feel like I haven't had a refined carb in sooo long! I miss the crunch of rice chips, the warm crust on my little GF vegan diner rolls...umm with their soft chewy centers...ahhhhh  Oh and scoops of natural peanut butter right out of the jar...ohhhh  And the worst part is I think I'm not going to lose any weight!  This morning the scale told me I went up???  really!! Come on... I've only been cheating a bit, but I wonder if because I'm feeling so hungry I'm in fact eating more calories? sigh** I guess I'll keep going and give it a few more days before actually throwing my hands up in defeat.  So here's what I had to eat today! 

Breakfast:
1/2cup GF oats
4 strawberries
1 tbsp raw almond butter
3tbsp hemp hearts
1 tbsp chia seeds
unsweetened almond milk
water
decaf coffee with soy milk (I know..I know I have to give this up!)

snack:
- 1 cup of sweet potato curry humus
- 5-6 stalks of celery
-1/3 cucumber
- 1 roma tomato
-water

Lunch:
-pack of Norri (seaweed paper)
- med. apple
- cup of carrot/chick pea ginger soup (see pic)
- decaf tea and water

snack: (or second lunch)
- 4 kale leaves (chopped)
- 4 romaine leaves (chopped)
- 1/4 cup salsa sauce
- can of tuna
- 2 tbsp of humus
-decaf tea and water

Diner: (see pics)
- asparagus stalks (about 8)
- broccoli florets (about 5)
- small onion
- garlic
- 3 slices of tempeh
-sauce made of 2 tbsp carrot soup and 2 tbsp humus
-decaf tea and water

So here are the pics for the carrot ginger chick pea soup...

 

Just your basic carrot soup recipe: simmer till soft then add chick peas and ginger and blend!
1.5 lbs of carrots
couple of stalks of celery
an onion
a clove or two of garlic
1/2 sweet potato
1/4 zucchini (bc it was left over from the other day)

These aren't organic and they probably have BPA in them but they have no salt and were available in a pinch!



The chick peas make this soups so thick!  It's amazing.

 

 It was amazing outside today so I had this on the back deck, with my book and hot tea!

And for diner because I'm obsessed with this humus and can't stop eating it with nearly every meal, I found a way to add it to my soup and used it as a sauce for my "power bowl" 



 

Sweet day 5!

Today I overslept and woke up to a panicked house getting ready for swimming lessons.  So all I had time to do was make a smoothy for my breakfast.  Then the rest of the day I just felt kind of off. I missed my oatmeal, I was starving by 10, and had my leftover curried apple stir fry, but then I felt so tired!!!  so I had a nap, then back up to bring Annaliese to her gymnastics.  I ate a bag of sweet potato chips, 1 once, ha ha... I had to laugh at that!  But they said they were kettle cooked.  What does that mean? I'll have to look it up later. Anyway, decaf coffee in hand I enjoyed my time "watching" ie. reading most of the hour and half.  Then back home to chaos and cleaning!  Thus is my Saturday.. fun stuff isn't it! But you'll notice the theme of today's food was "sweet" because I just felt so much better after having a bit of "allowable" sugar.

Breakfast:
- 1/2cup frozen strawberries
- scoop veg. protein powder
- acidopholus/bifidus powder
- wheat grass powder
-ice
- tbsp raw almond butter
-unsweetened almond milk

Snack:
leftover apple curry (that had tempeh and athletes mix, tomatoes and onion)
water
decaf coffee with some soy
(a bit later- my sweet potato chips)

Lunch:
1/2 cucumber
can of tuna with olive oil
veggie chips
water

Diner:
a nice big serving of sweet potato curry humus
7 or 8 celery stalks
1/3 cucumber
1/4 of a sweet potato made into chips
1/2 a giant apple
2 big mugs of decaf rooibos tea with unsweetened almond milk

Pics!

This sweet potato  humus is amazing!  The secret is to warm up the chick peas before adding them to the food processor. 
- 1 can of washed and drained (no salt added) chick peas
- a smallish or medium sized sweet potato (cooked and soft)
- 2 tbsp tahini
- curry powder to taste (add as little or much as you would like)
- a sprinkle of garlic powder (probably not necessary, but I like it to offset the lack of salt)
- add the water leftover from heating(boiling) your sweet potato

sweet potato chips used to scoop up the dip!

After all that humus I only had room for 1/2 this apple. 

My kids absolutely love this humus!  I was hoping for some leftovers for tomorrow... no such luck!

Day 4... the day I cheated.. or treated myself...

Friday are never easy when you are on a strict diet plan.  I figured if I could just make it till night time and then I would reward myself with a small treat.  I wasn't sure what I was planning yet but I did manage well all day! 

Breakfast
1/2 cup GF oats
1/3 cup strawberries
3 tbsp hemp hearts
1 tbsp chia seeds
1 tbsp raw almond butter
unsweetened almond milk
water
decaf coffee with unsweetened almond milk

snack
leftover homemade hummus
orange pepper
cucumbers
sundried tomatoes in olive oil
water
decaf tea with unsweetened almond milk

lunch
2 cup spinach leaves
can of tuna
1 tbsp olive oil
1tsp apple cider vinegar
garden tomato
raw zucchini
water
decaf tea with unsweetened almond milk

snack:
couple handfuls of dried peas
a small handful of dried veggies
protein shake:unsweetened almond milk, handful of strawberries, veg.protein powder, wheat grass powder, 1000mg vitamin C, probiotics (acidopholous) and ice

diner (apple curry stir fry)
athletes mix (about 1 cup)
serving of tempeh (is about 18g of protein)
curry sauce
an onion
a garden tomato (fist size)
an apple diced (actually made this really savory)
water
decaf pumpkin spice tea with almond milk

My reward for making it till today! 
 a grande decaf soy misto with a pump of pumpkin spice!  (Mark bought it for me as a "romantic gesture") I couldn't possibly tell him to bring me home a bunch of asparagus. 

So I'm not really expecting much from the scale tomorrow.  I was happy with what I did read today, so yes partially I'm doing this to lose the last couple of lbs, but I am doing this because I just needed to force a REBOOT!  You know, I was feeling sick and frumpy!  I'm already feeling much better. Headaches are gone, I'm not feeling nearly as sick as I was and no dizzyness or shaky feeling today! However that could be because I added strawberries this morning (extra sugar) and clearly ate more!

Day 3: surviving...

The third day of any cleans always seems to suck, it's the day that I try to drink more water.  My headache wasn't as bad but I did notice that I got shaky a couple of hours after eating breakfast, so that was my cue to eat asap.  So anyway here are my eats.  No gym today for me!  I am going to bed super duper early because I still want too fend off this cold that is plaguing me.

Breakfast

1/2 cup GF oats
1tbps chia seeds
1/4 cup strawberries
unsweetened almond milk
1 tsp bee pollen
water

scoop vegetarian protein powder
1/2 cup frozen strawberries
ice
unsweetened almond milk
2 tsp wheat grass powder

decaf americano with some soy milk

First lunch

1.5 cups of athletes mix
serving of tempeh
1/4 cup curry sauce
water

Second lunch

mug of roasted red pepper soup
3 tbsp of hemp hearts
water

pre-diner snack

a couple of handfuls of roasted peas (from bulk barn) and a few dehydrated veggie chips

Diner

homemade humus (chick peas, tahini, garlic, lemon juice, olive oil, garlic powder and a bit of basil)
kale leaves
sun dried tomatoes in olive oil
yellow pepper
water

evening tea... I found a decaf pumpkin spice black tea at Bulk barn by Stash.  I'm on my second mug!!!

Well as you know, or not, meh either way.... Tosca Reno does not include humus in her cooler 1 plan, however since I didn't eat any sweet potato today I thought I would get my starch-like carbs and protein from chick peas! 

Second day of cooler1- a la GF sort of vegan style

Day 2 of post thanksgiving detox.  No dizziness, at least, but a faint annoying headache all day.  I managed to get more protein in today. Tomorrow I still need more.  I had a funny teaching day, it is Wednesday but I had my Monday schedule so I didn't start teaching until 1:55 in the afternoon.  So I had a lovely morning.  I had my breakfast, then went to the gym for a 30min CXworks class (I didn't think I would be ready for a double just yet).  I surprised myself because I wasn't as out of shape as I thought I was.  Anyway after that I stopped at the grocery store to pick up my coffee and some produce to get me through the day. Then I met with Mark at one of the early years centres to play with kid #3 and kid #4 (aka, Patrick and Ellie-Lynne).  Then home, lunch, cooking food and off to work!  Here are my eats.

Breakfast:
1/2 GF oats
3 tbsp hemp hearts
1 tbsp raw almond butter
1 tbps chia seeds
2 tbps apple sauce
1 tsp cinnamon
unsweetened almond milk poured over
water

snack:
field cucumber
decaf americano with a bit of soy milk(I'm trying to cut it out, I only had about an inch today)

Lunch:
zucchini noodles(most of a small zucchini)  - see pic bellow
a cup of homemade pasta sauce
tempeh (about the size of a deck of cards)
water

snack:
1.5 cups of homemade roasted red pepper (rrp) soup - see pic bellow
3 tbps hemp hearts
decaf coffee with unsweetened almond milk

Diner:
a can of tuna with olive oil drizzled over it
a mug of rrp soup
water

rooibos tea with unsweetened almond milk

Sliced zucchini so it has the look of pasta! I kept it raw.

Tempeh cooked in the pasta sauce Mark made for me last month!


Soup:
3 red peppers roasted on BBQ - skin peeled off (or most of it)
1 onion
1 celery stalk
1 carrot
1 small sweet potato
1 tetra pack of no salt added veg broth
a bit of chili pepper to flavour



After attacking it with my hand blender!

 

Post Thanksgiving DETOX!!! Ouch...

Oy!!!!  So game on.  I had my fun, ate my gluten free diner rolls, had perhaps too much apple cider (the alcoholic kind) and red wine.  I indulged in sweet salad dressings, had syrup added to my decaf americano's,  and overall let my "white poison" philosophy slide a bit!  Ok well alot... I haven't actually gained any weight (well nothing significant) about a pound or two. But I feel terrible!!!  I've been sick for a week and a bit now, I haven't workout nearly enough and I feel frumpy! And so let the cleansing begin. 

Day 1:   headaches, shaking, foggy mind, I just felt crappy all day but... I did a 90 minute deep flow hot yoga class and then felt much better!

Breakfast:
1/2 cup GF oats
3 tbsp hemp hearts
1 tbsp chia seeds
1 tbsp raw almond butter
1/4 cup strawberries (I know not really cooler 1)
with unsweetened almond milk poured over
water

Lunch:
can of tuna with olive oil
a tomato from my garden
1 cup of athletes mix with some tomato/onion curry sauce - see picture below(athletes mix has mostly greens, a bit of red pepper and a bit of white beans) - see picture below
water

Snack:
pear

Diner: (this was eaten in 2 phases - part at 4:30 and the rest at 6:00)
a can of salmon with flax seed oil
2 cups of athlete mix
a giant tomato diced
1/4 cup of the tomato/onion curry sauce
1 cup of mixed string beans 
(the above 4 ingredients were heated with extra water and were like a soup)
water

rooibos tea with unsweetened almond milk

No I don't use it on chicken, but I'm sure it would be good! I buy it at Longo's it's about 5$ for the jar.  But  check out these ingredients and nutrition label.