Monday, August 6, 2012

Pina Colada... vega good!

Vega style!
About 1/4 pineapple, 1/2 can coconut milk, vega smoothy pack, and ice.  Blend!

Serve and Enjoy!!!

Sunday, August 5, 2012

Vegan Update

In 2 days I will have been vegan for two full weeks.  I think I passed the ultimate test this past week.  Saying no to both bacon and GF non-vegan treats.  Actually I truly don't miss the meat.  I've been eating so many new dishes because I'm being forced out of my comfort zone.  I realized that if I really wanted bacon, I could make it from young coconut.  Or just go to the Naked Sprout, they have a vegan BLT!

 Anyway I wanted to share with you that being vegan in a house of meat eaters isn't that hard.  Last night I made nacho's for 5 of us.  Mine was vegan, Patrick's was dairy free, Luke's didn't have tomatoes, Mark's had no peppers... you get the point right.  Everyone likes their food just a little different from the other.  Sooo this is what it looks like in my kitchen on a typical diner!

Right: ground chicken with garlic and chili powder... Left can of aduki beans, mushrooms, chili powder and garlic

I heated it until the mushrooms wilted and turned dark.

The assembly station. 

In the oven at 350F for 20 minutes. 
So just for the record, I didn't go vegan because I have any animal right's issues.  I've gone vegan to try to clean out my system.  I want my body to run as efficiently as possible and from everything I read meat as a source of protein just isn't what I want.  I am amazed at how much my training has improved over these last few weeks.  In fact I can't even remember the last day that I took off training.  I've done something every single day and doing it well at that.  I biked 52km yesterday and today ran 7km.  Tomorrow I've got a 25k planned and a short run. Tuesday is power yoga and tri-training with the club, Wednesday is swim/bike....you get the picture!

 I'm eating tons of seasonal fruit (I love that I can do that) I am not hungry because I eat often and really well, my body is shedding the extra weight it gained in July, I am able to run further, bike further/faster, swim faster, with less rest needed between, and all while keeping a lower heart rate!  All in all, not to bad.  I've also been reading Brandon Brazier's The Thrive Diet book and learning tons of fun new tips.  Like how yummy nutritional yeast is, but to boost it's already awesome nutritional content, put it in the coffee grinder with raw sesame seeds, place in a shaker and add as a "cheesy" topping!

 Tonight I made air popcorn, melted coconut butter over it, and used my new topping (plus a dash of salt)... wow it was amazing! I also put a bit of chili powder on it to see if I would like them together... Duh! of course they went well together, chili cheese popcorn!  Clean and healthy!

Wednesday, August 1, 2012

SHOES!!!!



I am thrilled to finally have new shoes.  This triathlon training is expensive but I think I've been doing ok.  I sold my blue steel bike yesterday, and with that cash, plus a bit of money I made selling some of the kids clothes earlier in June.  I walked into The Running Company with my 200$ cash. They were wonderful!  Amazing actually, I tried on about 7 pairs of shoes and ran in each of them (down the block and back)...yes I think I did get a bonus workout today! Greg knew how much money I had, knew that I was with the Mommy's in Motion tri group, and checked out my feet/gait/stride and wear patterns on my old shoes. He did his job and found me a pair of racing shoes (he must have told me 10 times that these are ONLY for races)... lol.  Aren't they cute!  Plus they installed the shoe laces and told me how to use them...  I know it sounds dumb but I wanted to know what to expect coming off my bike (without socks) getting into these.  I practised in the store, under their tutelage!  I am that lame! But aren't they super duper cute!

 And these more hearty shoes are my new training shoes.  I added the red laces to spiff them up a bit! They are great for me, apparently I have a good arch. But from the multiple shoes I tried on Greg deduced that I like a snug fit on my heal and I have a wide toe heal.  Um ok thanks!  But the shoes are very comfy. I'm by no means an expert but I think paying 202$ (with tax and the laces) for 2 new pair of shoes is pretty darn good! And really who cares if it's the placebo effect, but I plan on running stupid fast in the race in my new pretty pink shoes!
 
ps.  The Running Company sells triathlon gear and clothing!