What I Ate Wednesday – Vegan, Gluten-Free Fitness Food for the masses!
Good Morning!
Things have been really, super, very busy around these parts. I used to think “oh, as soon as XYZ is done, I will have ALL THIS TIME to do SO MANY THINGS”. Recently, I had the realization that I will likely always have projects and it makes sense to get used to having a lot going on. This is the life of a person who is willing to #workthathustle in order to live an enjoyable life. It is full, of course, but that doesn’t mean it’s bad.
There are a lot of moving parts in terms of my day to day and I don’t take that for granted. While I’ve always been driven by projects and achievements, for years I didn’t do much outside of my eating disorder. I am honestly still getting used to the fact that I have a big life, with friends and clients and a partner. When I start to feel overwhelmed lately, I try to remind myself of times when I would simply mope all day and go to bed at 7PM, because I just wanted my day to be over. My life was therapy, the nutritionist, OA meetings, and compulsive cardio. I hated my body. My friendships were limited, and even with people I felt alone.
I don’t forget where I’ve come from.
ANYWAY, I am supposed to be telling you about my meals and snacks, not the deep dark shit in my past. What I am basically trying to say is that with my business, my side hustle recipe formulation, writing, friends, the podcast, my partner, a wedding in less than three weeks, kauai right after, and a move to Portland in September, shit is definitely happening. I am not living on the sidelines and I’m super grateful! Here is a peak at my food:
6:00AM – Pre workout, AKA breakfast number one:
My daily morning steez has been a FitQuick waffle with banana soft serve lately, and I cannot recommend this combo enough. The carbs give me quick energy to get out there and crush it at the gym, and a waffle and ice cream breakfast makes the kid in me really, really happy. After this waffle I hit the gym for the first day in my de-load week. I did the following workout:
A. 1 clean and 2 front squats- 4 sets at 70% of your clean one rep max
B. Back squat: 3 sets of 8 at 60% of your one rep max
C. Behind the Neck snatch grip push press- 5 sets of 3 at 60% of your one rep max snatch
D. Superset: 2 sets- 20 hip extensions, 20 weighted walking lunges
E. Cardio: 90 double unders, 30 back squats, 60 double unders, 20 front squats, 30 double unders, 10 overhead squats . (finished in 17 minutes and 36 seconds) Incidentally, my friend Ed was filming his back squat PR as I finished my overhead squats and he captured me here. I felt truly fucked as I completed this workout, but I’m looking strong! I’ll take it.
9:30AM- Post workout, aka Breakfast number two:
I love the fitness life for many, many reasons and how good exercise makes food taste is just one of them. This meal was a Stumptown Cold Brew in honor of my beloved Portland, paired with some Bread SRSLY vegan gluten-free sourdough, nooch, and some super-eggy style tofu scramble. This recipe is soooo simple, but the Kama Nalak salt takes the scram to a serious next-level. As a vegan who used to love eggs, I find this to be divine.
1:00 PM- lunch!
In the past, I have always had green smoothies for one of my two breakfasts, and it has taken some adjustment to just be getting my first veg serving after noon. I personally find that old orthorexic thoughts can still creep in from time to time, so I am actually enjoying the challenge of letting myself have what I want, as opposed to what I think I should have. Who says green smoothies are the only breakfast? Really, I think the answer is that no one said that, and that somewhere along the lines I made it up as a rule and stuck to it regardless. My breakfasts are directly around my workouts, and I find myself significantly more satisfied when I chew to get my nutrition at those times. Maybe you feel the same?
What was I talking about again?
Oh, yeah. Lunch.
So, by the time lunch rolled around, I was super ready for some veg-action. This pile is kale, steamed yukon gold potatoes, Beyond Meat grilled Chicken Strips, and Rita’s Chipotle Salsa, all piled on Food for Life Corn Tortillas. The tortillas are sprouted (yay, digestability!) and made of whole corn kernals. I LOVE them.
6:00PM- Dinner
Dinner was a new recipe I formulated for the KeVita blog that I am actually really excited about. It involved eggplant, chickpeas, tomatoes, onions, capers, olives, cilantro, zucchini noodles, and – of course- some KeVita. It was topped with So Delicious Unsweetened Cultured Coconut Milk and it tasted awesome. At the time of writing, that recipe has yet to be posted, but keep checking back. It should be up there soon!
8:00PM- Dessert
It is definitely on the liberal side to call a protein chia pudding a dessert, but it was sweet and cold without the blood sugar spike, so I think it’s kind of perfect. Basically, I soaked 3 Tablespoons of Chia with unsweetened homemade pumpkin seed milk, 1 scoop of Vanilla Vega Sport and some frozen berries, and it tastes fucking awesome. I eat some variation of a protein pudding, ice cream, or pancake (typically using Vega) almost every day and I LOVE the flavor.
In between my foods and my workout I promoted a post I had written on emotional eating, cleaned the gym that I do a trade with, got groceries, answered client emails, formulated a meal plan, met with a client in person, formulated and photographed said KeVita recipe, trained a client, showered, and recorded my Podcast.
With the exception of the dinner recipe (which I formulated and took time with as part of my work), each meal took me less than 10 minutes to prepare. It may seem overhwhelming to eat healthy, but once you get in the flow it can actually be super efficient.
What are YOU eating lately? Links and pictures, PLZ!
What I Ate Wednesday #5
Good Morning!
I am excited to tell you about this day of food, mostly because of my brunch. I have an ongoing, ever-present brunch date with one of my closest friends on Sundays, and I managed to document it this week for the first time ever.
But first, my smoothie: This baby is made of romaine lettuce, avocado, banana, cucumber, and raspberry. It is topped with Tasty Makes granola, because texture- it rules. A sprinkle of granola makes me feel a litttttttle less like I eat baby food on a daily basis. COOL.
After this I went to the gym and busted out five heavy sets of five back squats and a quick Tabata sprint. Do you do Tabatas? I absolutely love them, and I love the way doing them has changed the way I work out and my body. I used to run for probably an hour a day and never felt like I was looking any more toned or lean. Lifting heavy + four of the worst minutes of cardio possible changed everything.
Post Workout I had an almond milk and Vega Sport shake followed by this food at Grease Box (An All-gluten free diner!) This meal was green juice, avocado toast, salad, sauteed collard greens with gratuitous amounts of coffee and hot sauce. YUM.
Can we talk about the importance of social health? I live with my partner and also with some super tight homies, but beyond that, I work so much that my social health is often the first thing to go. If you’re having an event past 7PM, pretty much no matter how much I want to go to it, I am going to be too tired. HOW SAD IS THAT? Also, how often does that keep me from seeing my friends? Answer: a lot. And that is some bullshit, because my friends happen to be some of the most real, reflective and cool people I know. Things like this Sunday brunch date help keep me in check. Both my friend and I have super busy lives, so each week we skip the small talk and dive right in to the real deep down stuff that is happening in our lives. Basically, when I’m done I feel like I’ve had a therapy session, and that’s just about the free-est coolest and most fun way to do it. BRUNCH DATES FOR LIFE.
Dinner was tacos with kale and Beyond Meat Meatless Crumbles, plus home made heirloom tomato salsa, corn chips, and a bunch of carrots and peanut butter. This is no different from most days of life, because I’m on a taco kick lately, and I don’t expect it to go anywhere anytime soon.
Tell me about your life, your food, and your favorite taco recipe!