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 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 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.

Scattered Thoughts...

I am overwhelmed by the thoughts floating around my head these days. They are all bound and wound up together so I'm just going to put them on here and hopefully clear up some space! Sheesh. 

Here are the random words floating around my head...

transitions....50 shades of hotness...cooler 1... argh... kids who don't fall asleep...tea...(oops, very strong tea now... it's been steeping for 10mins)...running shoes...GF beer (New Grist)...missing popcorn...cravings...shoes on or off...running in the rain...laundry (wet)...peaches...weight gain...

Here is the stream of thoughs... in real time!

I can't beleive so many women are reading the 50 Shades trilogy, is it every hot and totally educational.  I mean I've read erotica but this is like hello Twilight meets Clan of the Cave Bear (by Jean Auel) with a spinkle of Anne Rice (her Sleeping Beauty trilogy).  By the way when you read on an ebook, teehee no one knows what you are reading :)   And insert baby crying again....  ohhh god who just made the 3 year old wake up crying.... who also doesn't want to sleep!  Arrggg ever!  It's like he has ants in his pants... He is twitchy at bedtime???  I mean I swear the other two kids didn't give us that hard of a time falling asleep. And yes we are doing everything to help.  His room is like a cavern of darkness, no toys in the room, no tv before bed, he's been playing and running lots during the day.  O... that wasn't bad they are now quiet.  But in the brief silence I'm reminded of my trip this morning to Exhibition place in Toronto to watch the Toronto Triathlon.  While I was waiting for the train, I could hear the birds chirping.... the birds!  That is silence my friends!  No screaming excited children, by the way I am actually looking forward to the end of summer vacation (3 weeks home with the 4 kids is long enough for me... I'm just saying)... Ah right back to the silence, I beleive I texted Mark something like "basking in the sweet silence".

So now onto the triathlon, before today I was really nervous.  In all honesty I have never even watched a triathlon on tv.  All I knew is that it involves 3 events with 2 transitions between each of these.  But now I feel pretty confident.  My first triathlon is Aug 12, something like 3 weeks away!  I'm ready for it!  Mostly because I've decided to do the shorter distance.  Then the next one is Sept 2nd and it will be the sprint distance, which is 1/2 the Olympic distance.  I was paying close attention to how the swimmers "look" in the water, are they kicking each other in the face, where would be the best place to position myself (either I swim fast and make it up front) or go on the outside of the group (that way I can pass as I want).  Anyway then I watched them as they got out of the water (no one fell over!) I've gotten dizzy when I get out the pool too fast and start to run.  They know where their bikes are, obviously they paid attention to the row and such when they were setting up.  There were something like 1200 participant so that many bikes in the transition area... Could be confusing.  Anyhow, I did observe many different methods of transitioning.  Some people didn't have to do much, they were swimming in their tri-suits (no wetsuits) so they just took off their cap, while running to their bikes.  Put on their helmets (some put on socks), and off they were.  Some of these super fast athletes already had their shoes clipped into the peddles, other people ran in their bike shoes, some people ran barefoot up to the start.  I think I'll run in my shoes.  Even though it sucks to do that, better than falling on my butt trying to put my feet into my bike shoes as I'm peddling! Ok so that's transition #1, the  second transition is from bike to run.  Again I watched many different dismounts, shoes, no shoes...etc... I think if I will have enough time I will try to take the straps off my shoes while I'm biking (I've tried with success), peddle with my feet on top of the still clipped in bike shoes, then just jump off my bike before the LINE.  This is a penalty line, at this triathlon if you missed the line you had to sit out for a 2 minute penalty.  I thought that was funny!  But anyway.  Get to the bike rack to rack up my bike, take off my helmet and put on my running shoes.  Which by the way I still don't have yet!  I need shoes!  So many options to choose from. 

Next stream... food... drinks... ahhh beer. You know since going gluten free I haven't been able to drink beer.  I've been drinking apple cider.  Which is delicious with ice on a hot day.  But that is the problem, I'm usually so good about keeping my diet really clean. But now I've been drinking a few "cold beverages" every couple of days.  And when I do that I then get the munchies for my favorite -junk food- popcorn (smart food)... stupid name, it is not smart... it is absolutely terrible for me. Mostly because I always have like 5 cups at a time.  Something like 900 mg sodium and 25g of fat.   As I re-read this paragraph I realized I know why I'm drinking so much more, I'm spending all day with my kids and when I'm not with them I'm training (or doing yoga).  I'm so wound up tight that the booze helps me chill out and enjoy the season.  And then I found New Grist, a GF beer that is made with rice and sorghum (i think a grain?), it is sooo good!  But again, not for me.  I've consciously tried to tighten the belt with processed foods (or anything with refined grains in general).  ps. I just checked wiki and sorghum is used for sugar.  Ahhhh sugar!  Evil sugar... It lurks everywhere!    So here's the thing I can live without almost no refined sugar, very little salt (mind you I do have electrolyte drinks) but cooler 1 is so strict when it comes to fruit.  And tis the season of the most amazing fruit/berries.  Strawberries/blueberries/raspberries and peaches!  ohhh the peaches are amazing right now!  Our house is on our 3rd basket of peaches this week!  I know fruit has tons of sugar, granted with a lower glycemic index than refined sugar.  But how to say no to seasonal fruit???   Well I wonder if part of my weight problem, not that it's a really big problem, but the scale is very slowly climbing up.  I'm up 4 lbs in 2 months.  Is it the different training, the massive water retention because it's hot (my clothes generally feel the same), my friends have said I'm looking beefier??  (I know that's weird even for me to write it), or lets be brutally honest... Booze + smart food = weight gain??  

Is this post too long? Ya I think so too!  I should post more often!  I'll get on that. 

Cheers

ps. space significantly cleaned up!

Pictures of Clean Lunches for Cooler 1

Super clean Toco salad: ground turkey with cherry tomatoes and grated zucchini and chili spices, chili flavoured sweet potato chips on spinach. (dusted with flax meal)

Sweet potato and zucchini pancakes (made the on the bbq because it was to hot outside to turn on the oven) over spinach, topped with cherry tomatoes, cucumbers, parsley, balsamic and flax seed oil. With a protein smoothy:cucumber, frozen apple slices, protein powder (plain, unsweetened), squeezed lime juice, parsley, ice and water

Curried sweet potato soup (sweet potato, celery, cherry tomatoes, zucchini, garlic powder and curry powder) drizzled with pumpkin seed oil, in the back is a piece of leftover frittata [made with some leftover grilled veggies from the other day (broccoli/tomatoes), some grated sweet potato and zucchini (leftover from the sweet potato pancakes) a green onion and celery] and steamed green beans.

So what do you think? Do I eat like a rabbit? (maybe a giant carnivorous one???) and yes these are the types of meals I make myself daily.  I use leftovers to make leftovers.  Did you notice a pattern in my ingredients? That is because I went shopping once on Sunday and bought tons of zucchini, sweet potato, celery, cherry tomato, spinach and cucumber (among other veggies) not much fruit though, only the apple that I cut up and put in the freezer to add to my smoothy.  Did you also notice that I add a healthy oil to every meal? I am very conscious of making sure that me and my baby get enough omega's. Good for my metabolism and good for her growing and developing brain.

 Cheers!  Happy clean eating.

A Day in Cooler 1 (ok actually a really long lesson on food)

Here's the thing, cooler 1 might be restrictive but by no means does it lack in quantity of food.  And no I don't mean I'm eating like a rabbit (bushels of greens).  Many people will assume that because I'm losing weight I must be starving myself.  Ohhhh couldn't be farther from the truth, I actually get very tired of eating by day 5.  The other thing that people assume, "ohhh I guess you aren't eating fats and carbs".  Again, not true.  But I suppose it would be easier to beleive me if you read what I actually consume in a day. 

First of all I consume all the macronutrients which are essential in keeping me alive, I am consuming all the nutrients needed to support my body, my activity level and my baby.  Ok short biology lesson, skip the next few paragraph if you don't want the lecture!  Macronutrients are: protein, carbohydrates and fats.  We pretty much know what protein is, but just in case, proteins are made up of amino acids; basically these fit together like jigsaw to create what ever is needed, muscle (obviously), all cells, hormones, enzymes...you get it right?  They make things, they fix things... So obviously you need protein to live!

 Next is carbohydrate...  ooooohhh that big scary word that everyone on a diet thinks they don't need or should cut out!  Oh lord!  That thought actually pains me,  would you expect your car to run on water!  Nope, your body needs carbs because it is the energy (I think a high school teacher once told me a car would run on sugar water???)  Your body needs energy to LIVE!!!! Just in case you don't beleive me, understand this at least, your brain can only use carbohydrates to work (not fats,not proteins)! Ok seriously now that we understand that conscept.  Lets understand that carbs are not all made equal. Simple carbs are short chains of sugars that cannot be broken down anymore. These are the ones that I try to avoid at all costs.  These are the "white poison" of the food world.  These are the carbs that spike insulin levels which then makes your body "store, store, store"... NOT what you want when you are trying to lose weight!  Complex carbs..(complex and long strings of sugars) in short, are pretty much everything else (that isn't a fat or protein).  So yes, my celery is a complex carb, my oatmeal, my apple, my sweet potato, my green juice, my cherry tomatoes....All carbs.  Now I'm not going to bother with the fancy shamcy words like disachharides, oligosachharides, poly-sachharides... just know that fibres are also carbs, and the higher the fibre content of food the longer it takes your body to break down these "long" chains of carbs into "usable form" aka, glucose.  (anything ringing any grade 11 biology memories??)  I'm not sure if you've ever head the term Glycemic Index, well this basically means "how long it takes your body to break down and process carbohydrates into usable fuel", the lower the number the better!!!  I know it doesn't make sense, but trust me.  High GI foods (white bread, white potatoes, pineapples) think this, they have a high number, ZOOM into your blood stream.  Not good!  Low GI foods (oatmeal, sweet potato, celery) low number, SLOW into your blood stream.  Make sense? 

And now Fat...  ohhh the lovely and most delicious of all macronutrients.  It is the most energy efficient form of food.  Saturated fats,Monounsaturated fats,Polyunsaturated fats,Trans fatty acids = these are all fats.  Ok simply put for me: monounsaturated fats,polyunsaturated fats are the good guys.  The other two should be avoided as best as possible (if you want to lose weight or maintain a healthy weight).  So let me be a bit more practical.  Fats from animals (not so good) fats from plants, seeds, nuts (good).  Some of my favorite fats are peanut butter, almonds butter, flax seed oil, olive oil, coconut oil, walnuts, avocados, chia seeds, hemp hearts, sunflower seeds and pumpkin seeds.  I've learned a few tricks over the years of weight loss and educating myself.  Eating a healthy fat in combination with a carb will essentially lower the GI of the meal (overall), ha ha I've also learned that this can also be manipulated, ie a peanut m&m has a lower GI than an apple.  Doesn't mean I should be eating m&m's all day!  It just means that the fat from the peanut lowers the overall average (because obviously the candy shell and the chocoloate contain simple carb chains.. )  But as I discussed in yesterday's post, eating healthy fats can essentially lubricate all your body's metabolic functions so everything runs more smoothly and efficiently. 

Wow that was long winded!  Getting back to what I ate yesterday.

• 1/2 c. GF oats with Bee pollen (basically the multivitamin of the "naturopathic world), cinnamon, 1 tbsp chia seeds, tbsp flax seed oil and a bit of unsweetened almond milk
• 4 egg whites (one yoke)
• a serving of turkey chili (packed with veggies)
• chicken and veg stir fry with a tbsp of flax seed oil
• 1/2 sweet potato made into crunchy chips and 5 inches of cucumber
• a protein smoothy made from cucumber, 1/2 frozen apple, parsley and water
• a hand sized piece of salmon (made with dill and lemon), half a plate of grilled asparagus drizzled with lemon juice and flax seed oil (yes I love my flax seed oil)
• green juice (celery, cucumber, kale, parsley, lemon and apple)
• and well over a gallon of water throughout the day

Now you tell me I'm not eating enough!!!!    

Cooler 1 preperation: a lesson on GOOD FAT!!!!

Well this is the third times since having the baby that I'm getting ready Sunday night for the big "cooler 1" event.  And hopefully the last in a long while.  I really can't live without berries and peanut butter.  I could easily live without GF bread/buns, corn products and rice chips.  But it's the nuts that I miss the most.  It's funny today someone mentioned to me that they thought I was a vegetarian.  Ha ha, I giggled because last night was my big date night with Mark and I had a 9oz steak with a plate of steamed veggies. "Steak!!! medium rare please!!!"  Red meat is a special treat, mostly because of all the fats it contains, not the good kind of fats.

 I am always consuming fats while on my "strict" diet plan, but those are used to increase my body's metabolism.  Did you know "good fats" (EFA's = essential fatty acids) cannot be produced by our body so we need to get them through food.  You've all heard of omega 3 and omega 6, well these are the two types of EFA's that contribute to fat loss.  Here's why: "Both types of EFAs are required for the production of the eicosanoids – hormones that are responsible for regulating the major body functions, including digestion, insulin production and the storage of fat."

So here's the thing...  insulin is KEY in weight loss.  You do not want your body to produce insulin (in excess) because it will promote fat storage, we want the opposite.  We want our body to use the fat that is stored on our body as fuel.  It was found that EFA's could reduce the amount of insulin production by 50%, SOOOOOOo have a healthy fat with every carbohydrate you eat.  It makes fat burning more efficient.  Try to get the old mantra "fat is bad" out of your head.  Because truly good fats (EFA's) are your best buddy in weight loss. 

my peanut

This is how the chores got done today!  Her little belly was sore and would only settle being smooshed up against me.  I think I know how she feels.  Today is day 2 of cooler plan 1 and my stomach is bloated and I have a head ache.  It's amazing this is the second time I "detox" so to speak since she was born and I do remember last time she got really fussy also.  I am nursing her full time so it makes complete sense that my milk composition is changing.  I am also finding it rather amazing that I'm actually detoxing, even though I really didn't eat that much crap during my "off weeks".  Because even during those off weeks I was still following cooler plan 2, with the addition of a bit of alcohol.  I guess it all adds up.  Last time I did cooler 1 I lost 13 pounds in 2 weeks, but the first 3-4 days I totally felt like crap.  I'm hopeful that I'll only feel like crap today and tomorrow will be a good day!

Cooler 1 preperation

Today I've been getting ready for the big start of my cooler 1 challenge.  I've created some meals that will make my mouth and stomach happy for the next couple of days.  Cooler 1 is going to be tough and I know it so I want to be ready when I'm hungry!  Here's some of the pictures of what I've done!

Salad dressing, using a tiny bit of sweet potato (about the size shown), water, some balsamic vinegar, and for spices I used a mild curry and a dash of ginger.  Blended in the bullet.

Soup:  I used a container of no salt added broth, 1 and half sweet potatoes, 2 handful of cherry tomatoes, and 2 handfuls of celery and 1 pressed handful of spinach.  I added more water and some spices, garlic powder, parsley and mild curry after it had boiled.  (I guess about 25 minutes)

I used a hand blended and mixed it all up, then added a cubed chicken breast (baked earlier today) to each jar.

Then just before closing it up I added some chopped kale (I scrunched I tight handful, chopped it up and diveded it among the 3 jars).  So each soup contains, 1/2 a sweet potato, 1 serving of protein, and 1 serving of veggies (2 handfuls).  

Protein smoothy- within the limits of cooler plan 1.  I froze apple slices the other day so these were ready.  This smoothy has 4 slices of apple (is exactly 1/2 an apple), 1 scoop of protein powder (no sugar added), some ice, about 1/4 cup of frozen spinach (the kind that you buy already frozen) and a little squirt of lemon. 

eggs. boiled alot of them! so that come morning I don't have to spend 10 minutes waiting for them to finish cooking.  My C1 breakfast will have 4 egg whites (1 yoke).