Week in Review: What I Ate This Week

I love food blogs. Surfing the internet for interesting recipes to make is one of my favorite things to do. I'm always clipping recipes to my Evernote file to use later (yes , I know I would do this with Pinterest) but I like Evernote better! I do have a problem with following recipes though, I very rarely follow them exactly, and I find measuring ingredients to be dull work, so most of the time I just eyeball things. This could be why some of my meals are complete flops, and other are stupendous! A friend from work asked what I was eating on my diet way of life, because she has problems knowing if a recipe would be worth making. Since I am always trying something new from one site or another I decided to start doing a "What I ate this Week" review with links the the recipes that I cooked.  Hope you enjoy!

	Carrot Spice Muffins from FatFree Vegan Kitchen These turned out really well. They are not a very sweet muffin, but this could have been because I opted to get rid of the sugar in the recipe and replaced it with more agave. Mine weren't vegan because I used and equal amount of plain greek yogurt in place of the soy yogurt. I also added some water at the end because my batter was super thick! I also added a 1/2 tsp of nutmeg and about 1/2 cup of chopped pecans just because. I have a problem with following recipes to the letter. But over all, they turned out great. I've been enjoying them for breakfast with some cream cheese or peanut butter, but they are good plain-jane too.
	Spinach Strawberry Salad I sub honey for the sugar and olive oil for the vegetable oil in the this recipe and add a tablespoon of flax seed to it just because. This is easily my favorite salad to make at home because its almost like eating dessert. I only make in when strawberries are on sale though because I end up using 1/2 of the quart for a single salad! I also add either pecans or walnuts (whatever I have on hand) for some extra protein power.
	Budget Bytes' Spinach Artichoke Lasagna I've always thought that vegetarian lasagna was a little bland in comparison to my Mommy's meat lasagna with sausage and hamburger, but no more. This is a really good recipe if you are looking for something a tad lighter. Not that lasagna is ever really "lite." However this is really flavorful and I make mine with whole wheat noodles so I don't feel too guilty eating it.

This Zucchini "Noodles" with Seasame-Peanut sauce from FatFree Vegan Kitchen was a delicious raw meal. There is no need to spend 30 dollars on a vegetable spiralizer, instead I got a Julienne Peeler from Bed Bath and Beyond for 10 dollars and it worked beautifully for this. Granted it isn't as fun and pretty as having continuous vegetable curls, but its easy to use, clean, and store. I cut all my vegetables the night before and just added the sauce the next afternoon. It was great cold, but next time I think I might sauté the veggies in a little oil for a few minutes, add some tofu and then cover it with the sauce for a stir fry. You can used many types of vegetables in this. I add Summer Squash and carrots to my zucchini. Also, a little agave to the sauce sweetens it up a tad. Allergic to peanuts? I wouldn't hesitate to use cashew butter!

Oh She Glows' 15 minute Creamy Avocado Pasta This dish is so quick and it's creamy from the avocado but is really light and doesn't leave you feeling bloated. I used whole wheat pasta and added a can of chickpeas for some extra protein. I used more basil that the recipe called for because who doesn't love basil? Mine was about to go bad and I needed to use it quick. I meant to add a handful of spinach in there too because I had a little left from my strawberry salad earlier in the week, but I completely forgot! I doubled the recipe for 4 servings so I could have left overs, but it will probably turn brown in the fridge. As long as that doesn't turn you off it should taste the same. Otherwise, its so quick its something that you could pull together in a pinch.

Highs and Lows

Getting out of the 250's has been a struggle. The last month and a half since my last post has been a continual cycle of ups and downs every few days to the point that it didn't feel like I was making any progress at all. It was a really frustrating feeling. I know weight fluctuations are normal, but this felt personal!

For a period of time I was struggling with getting down to the mid 250's and the skyrocketing back to the upper 250's, just as I thought I was about to get a handle on things. 

Goal: 172 lbs

Current Weight: 250.4 lbs

Difference: 78.4 lbs.

Loss to date: 21.8 lbs

Feeling a little down about my progress, I actually did the math, and despite my weight spikes I am back on track for losing 1.5 lbs a week. My average is currently around 1.6 lbs. 

I've still been working through my Pyramid Challenge and have successfully completed Phase 3 of the nutrition aspect of the challenge. I'll be starting phase 4 on Monday. This means I'm cutting out all Carbonated Beverages. We've got into the habit of having sparkling water in the fridge and since sick with the stomach flu this week I was sipping on that and 7 up. Just those few days of 7-up made me crave that cold burning sensation you get as it slides down your throat all the time and I found myself going to the work cafeteria for our 1 dollar pop "Happy Hour" too many times last week. I just have to realize that it's empty calories and even diet soda can wreck havoc on your body in other ways. 

 For me, this challenge is all about gradually getting back to eating a vegetarian diet. I know this is the right move for me, since I have always felt better physically and mentally while eating vegetarian and it's time to get back. A trip to the rheumatologist this week confirmed a diagnosis of Systemic Lupus erythematosus , and auto-immune disease in which your body attacks its own cells in various organ systems. The road toward this diagnosis has been a long one, and while it's been suspected for several years, I haven't been taking care of myself like I should have.  I'm ready to get back to a healthier, plant-based diet and hopefully that will help with the inflammation that is often associated and worsened by lupus flares. 

I was doing very well with exercise until this week. Besides doctors appointment, we had broken pipe in the apartment, and I had a run-in with the stomach flu so my awesome gym streak has been ruined, but I am ready to get back out there. I am getting ready to start Phase 3 of my exercise challenge, but since making my pyramid I have changed some of  my phases. Phase 3  is getting to the gym 3 times a week for cardio, and doing strength training 2 times a week.  For Cardio, I have been working through the Couch to 5K program. It's been exhilarating. I have successfully finished my second go-around of Week 2, and I think I will finally try to move on to week 3. I am apprehensive about the 3 minutes straight jogging that comes with this next week, but I have to keep moving forward!

I'm going to start listing reasons I am trying to lose weight each blog post. 

So my random reason for this week is: Skydiving and Bungee Jumping in New Zealand.  Dann is obsessed with New Zealand and Bungee Jumping is a huge thing there.  I want to be able to say that I didn't go with him because I was scared shitless, not because I'm too fat. =D