Read your labels!

Evening Veggies!

The weekend is here. Probably the hardest time to stick to dietary plans, so make sure your refridgerator is stocked with healthy foods.
I have been doing some soul searching, and I decided for the time being to apply the 80/10/10 diet (low fat - high carb vegan diet), however to also incorporate a healthy cooked vegan dinner into the mix. I really like the concept, however I am looking for a lifestyle...key word LIFE. And I honestly can not see myself happy with eating no cooked foods forever. So I came up with a happy medium. Thus I will still apply the macronutrient ratio, eat plenty of calories (2500 per day), eat mostly fruits/vegetables/nuts/seeds. If for some reason I feel compelled to take it a step further I will...but for right now...this is best! I never felt like I was "missing out" when I transitioned to vegetarianism. And I certainly don't want to develop that mind set now!
Today my son was in daycare and I decided to go to Whole Foods. I am happy I did because they were selling organic oranges for about 80 cents/pound! I stocked up for sure! I love apples from Whole Foods too. Mmmmm! I can not wait until the spring and summer because then I can do some shopping at the local farmers market, and probably pick out cheaper organic produce. I also bought a nifty solution called REBEL GREEN which can be used to clean fruits/vegetables, ridding them of chemicals, pesticides, and other unwanted yuckiness transferred on the surface of the food during production. Unfortunately, I thought I bought vegan cheddar shreds, because on the label it boasted no badness whatsoever, including lactose. HOWEVER! some "veggie" cheeses actually contain casein, which is a milk protein!!! I opened the package and used some of the cheese before realizing this! It was good...but I will not be buying this product in the future. Transitioning to a veggie based diet is a process or journey, therefore I know eventually my diet will be 100% animal product free. No use in sweating the small stuff OR wasting food. That's just not my style. That being said, vegans must check labels carefully! Hell, we all should! You need to know what you are consuming! I know for a fact DAIYA brand cheese is vegan. Alternatively, simply stick to whole foods in their most natural state.
Here is what I ate today:
Breakfast = 4 banana/strawberry/3 date shake
Snack = 5 banana/strawberry shake
Lunch = celery/red pepper/tangerine soup
Snack = Unsweetened organic soy milk w/espresso
Dinner = Vegan  (almost) style tacos and grapes
(Organic wheat tortillas, vegan boca crumbles, lettuce, avocado, fresh salsa, tofutti "sourcream", veggie cheese)
Calories = between 2000 and 2500
76/12/12
Here is what I did in the gym:
Legs legs legs. I am still healing my arm. Leg press, machine squats, knee flexion/extension machines, abductor/adductor machines, calf raise machine. I am thinking about beginning a daily yoga practice for flexibility! However, I will elaborate on that much later.

I just want to leave you with a tidbit about exercise and SEX! I was reading the magazine Fitness. There was an article which discussed an experiment regarding women/self image and exercise. In the article, women who saw magazines with thin models had decreased libido than women who did not. In other words, insecurity and poor body image equals unhappy sex life. However, self satisfaction and confidence of course, is a plus. Another interesting factoid was that satisfaction improved following exercise due to blood flow, which of course prompts "desirable responses." All in all --- I took away that you need to be happy in your skin no matter where you are in your fitness journey. Also, this is just another reason to work out. Not to be raunchy but a healthy sex life is part of overall wellness for many of us. And I am all for that!
Peace and Love!