My Summer Diet: Slack, but Happy Ending

Hey! Here's my update for the end of my summer diet! It worked great, I am very happy with my results. However, I do wish that I would have been more diligent this past month. Since June I have lost the 9 very necessary pounds that I gained due to an over loaded carbohydrate diet that I ate while I was in Peru. Pretty much all I ate there was potatoes, rice, bread, plantano, fries, bread, oatmeal, quinoa, cream of wheat, and cake.

Now to lose those 9 pounds I did not do any real serious dieting, the main thing that I did was change my lifestyle diet and started exercising on the reg. I refused to eat rice (except with sushi) and tried to eat as little non-whole wheat items as possible. I added many many more fruits and vegetables and even some more protein (meat) and dairy.

I would have been able to lose the last 4 pounds that I do seek to lose if I would have been more diligent this past month as I mentioned previously. I am not 4 pounds overweight, just 4 pounds out of my comfort zone. I did injure my foot a few weeks ago and have had some pretty dramatic allergies in this past month, so I have let life be my excuse to be lazy.

Now my foot is pretty much completely healed, my allergies are under control and I am ready to restart this fall semester with an energetic hop, skip and a jump. I started my graduate classes today at Winthrop, bought some great veggies yesterday at the Grand Asian Market, and I'm headed to the gym right now. It appears as though a little more order is all I needed to have the encouragement that I needed to get back out there an exercise.

This is the last post for My Summer Diet. Thank you so much for enduring with me, encouraging me, challenging me, and keeping me writing. I have had so many great followers and I am so thankful for you all!

Say goodbye to my glasses and allergies and Hello to Fall Semester!

This was My Summer Diet: Slack, but Happy Ending. Stay tuned for The Fall Semester!

My Summer Diet: The Chocolate Chip Cookies

Yesterday I arrived at my grandparent's house and my grandfather, Bob, told me he's looking for the chocolate chip cookie diet. Then I realized that I was living in the chocolate chip cookie diet all day. Oh, the perfect irony. As, I stepped into the kitchen I rehashed my earlier two chocolate chip cookies, one was a chips ahoy version that I would normally never touch, but it went really well with the vanilla gelato from my cousin's work. Then at lunch I ate half of my other cousin's bakery chocolate chip cookie. All of this rehashing happened as I reached for two mini chocolate chip cookies that my mom had just pulled from the oven.

Cooooooookies!

What do you know, I successfully ate a diet that someone wanted to see slash read about without even knowing it.

But, I will tell you I didn't feel so well. I don't know if it was the realization that I had just eaten way too many cookies and know that this week might make my next few weeks harder in reaching my goal or if it was the overloading of sugar.

It did all pass after my phone tragically died and all of my attention went to the best possible way to replace it.

I enjoyed Costco pizza with the family followed by another cousin's wonderful truly chocolate cupcakes for Bob's birthday.

Get this though, I didn't stop with my 'Chocolate Chip Diet' after 4 cookies and 1 cupcake. Late in the night I was offered baklava... if you know me at all you know that I have the biggest weakness for BAKLAVA! But, be proud I only ate a half piece.

So, here's my resolution: to never again, if I can help it or see it in the happenings, partake in the Chocolate Chip Cookie diet. It's not worth it. I'm sluggish (the time change might have something to do with it) and I just feel like there's negative zen going on within my body today.

This week I am going to make a goal to only eat Breakfast, Lunch, and Dinner. Starting with lunch today, because I already had a snack this morning. Oops. Camping and vacation can be dangerous for the quick grab foods.

This was My Summer Diet: The Chocolate Chip Cookies. Stay tuned for more of My Summer Diet.

My Summer Diet: These Last 5 Pounds!

Okay, I have hit my plateau in both weight loss and motivation to eat well and exercise! This is why I will not reach my goal! I have become lazy with eating right and working out steadily. This week I feel is a major set back....

Help me move the scale!

I am in SERIOUS need of a work out buddy. I need a partner, friend that will motivate me to exercise daily. Challenge me when I am only putting in partial effort. But, at the same time not treat me like I am clueless and like they are my trainer. I need a friend to work out with.

Any takers?

My Summer Diet: Week 3: The Results

I am so much closer to my over all goal this week! This week I lost 3.5 pounds from doing interval changing workouts and eating relatively healthier. I'm not there yet, and I'm not giving up! 4.5 more pounds to go! Send me some fitness challenges, I need motivation this week! :)

Here's a funny picture of me in Peru to enjoy as you think of how you can challenge me!

Ready for anything!

My Summer Diet: Week 3: Friday Saturday Fun Day

High in energy, high in activity, high in fun!

Friday I cleaned my whole room. It was very needed and I did it at record time because we had people coming to see the house. So, when they arrived I resorted myself to the gym. I sat on the recumbent bicycle and petaled 10 minutes average speed of 12 and then 4 minutes increased speed ranging from 14-20. I repeated that twice and then did a two minute cool down. This is so much harder than you think! I wanted to quit the 4 minute boost both times, thankfully I pressured through. My legs felt great. Also, while I was at the gym I went ahead and did my weekly weighing for my week 3 results (sneak preview) I was pleasantly shocked and excited! Then afterwards we had another showing so I resorted to swinging... 100 pumps, now my whole body felt sore and the walk back up to my 3rd floor room was soooo long, but it was great! 

I then babysat 5 kids, all whom I love dearly. 2 of which were sleeping over and I hadn't watched in a very long time... it was a very blessed night baking cookies, painting nails, playing with hair, and having a slumber party. Then I was off to VBGB uptown, it's a fun venue with corn hole, giant jenga, giant connect 4, and table tennis. Unfortunately all of the games were in use while I was there, but I will definitely have to make it back. Afterwards I wandered over to Amelie's (see A Approved: Amelie's) for a nice chat with a friend! Late night though, fell asleep around 3:45.

Saturday I woke up early and headed straight to babysit. We played at the pool and with play-do. It was super fun. For breakfast I had frosted mini wheats and 1 of my secret stash homemade tortillas from La Mesa Tortillas in Tucson, Arizona. For lunch I had a granola bar, apple slices, 2 pb crackers, and a few cheese its. After babysitting I went to lounge by the pool with some friends, there I enjoyed watermelon and a taste of pomegranate juice with whipped vodka. I then went home to eat 2 cupcakes! and dinner which was a refried bean, avocado, cheese, lettuce, salsa salad. I re-met up with my friends and we all had a great time at Cowfish, a most interesting but delicious Charlotte restaurant. I did get to try their tuna sushi and some nutty dipping sauce... super good (but maybe I just hadn't eaten sushi in 5.5 months...) haha. All in all another great night. 

The weekend has always been super hard for me to keep up a diet. Dessert attacks me I swear. My eyes cannot say no when I see anything of the chocolaty form. I am going to hopefully get better at resisting this addiction. By God's mercy will I learn to with stand over eating desserts.

This was My Summer Diet: Week 3: Friday Saturday Fun Day. Stay tuned for more from My Summer Diet.

My Summer Diet: Week 3: Wednesday Thursday Sleepy Day

Both Wednesday and Thursday this week I was abnormally exhausted. I slept in late, I took naps, I had NO energy. Which means I did not exercise, despite my desire to.

Wednesday was also the 4th of July, so I had to monitor what I was eating because celebration days always turn into over eating days. I did eat wayyyyyyy too much cookie dough dip, which is why I am going to refrain from making it again for a while. But, at dinner I knew I wasn't really hungry because of the large lunch I had, so I only took a small sampler plate and was very satisfied. Even though Cedar's (Joel's mom) tomato pie was delicious, that was a hard one to deny for seconds. The fireworks were lovely, my view was great (laying on a hammock), but the noise was rather loud. I could hardly hear all day on Thursday... oh man am I getting old.

Thursday I made watermelon sorbet... yum and a strawberry/blueberry smoothie. These smoothies have become my new addiction as I am trying not to eat as much sugary desserts, fruit is supposed to bring a natural sweetness to the table.


That was My Summer Diet: Week 3: Wednesday Thursday Sleepy Day. Stay tuned for more from My Summer Diet.

My Summer Diet: Week 3: Monday Tuesday Happy Day

Monday I completed my intense 20 minute workout that I described on Week 3: The Game Plan

I recorded my numbers so I can compare my progress

Minute:

1. 42 squats
2. -
3. 30 lunges
4. -
5. 110 calf raises
6. -
7. 67 arm pumps while wall sitting
8. 72 jumping jacks
9. 55 side arm raises while wall sitting
10. 70 jumping jacks
11. 50 grand bat ma leg lifts
12. -
13. 40 sumo squats
14. -
15. 44 squats (more than the first time!)
16. -
17. 19 plie, releve
18. -
19. 21 lowering legs ab work out
20. -

That workout was so incredibly intense, I felt great but at the same time immensely dead.

As far as food went I made a delicious 3 course dinner. Appetizer was broccoli and cheese soup (and I served it in little bowls), Main course was Chicken Creole Gumbo (this contained celery, white onion, red onion, yellow pepper, red pepper, tomato, pinto beans, garlic, carrots, and green onion! Oh and a hint of cayanne which is really good for your stomach, research shows it aids in decreasing your chances for stomach cancer), Dessert was pumpkin, zucchini, and yellow squash bread lightly iced with cream cheese icing (without butter added). This meal was so jam packed with vitamins and nutrients from all of the fabulous colors. I made sure to serve everything in appropriate serving sizes so you wouldn't over eat! 

Broccoli Cheddar Soup

Chicken Creole Gumbo

Serving Sizes

Tuesday I play ultimate frisbee for 1.5 hours in that insane heat. It was hard to run, but just breathing I think was enough cardio. Ha. I did sweat a good deal, and sweating makes for a good work out!

I should have eaten better that day... I pretty much ate breakfast: pumpkin bread, lunch: pumpkin bread, dinner: broccoli soup and gumbo. Yes, it was really great, but I ate a lot more pumpkin bread than I probably needed/could afford :) 

So, my advice when baking... SHARE :D

This was My Summer Diet: Week 3: Monday Tuesday Happy Day. Stay tuned for more My Summer Diet.

My Summer Diet: Week 3 Game Plan

Okay my game plan for week 3 is based off of this article called Lose the Last 10 Pounds. (Click here to go straight to the website).

My goal in this next month is to shed 8 fat pounds. So, that is almost 10. I say fat pounds because I have a number in my head for the weight I want to be, but with all of the exercising I plan to be doing that might not happen due to increased muscle tissue.

Okay so here is the set up: Vegetarian (can have skim milk, and eggs) 2 meals a day. Meat, cheese/creams/yogurt once a day. Why? Because meat is high in fat and so is cheese, cream, and yogurt. And even if I buy fat free yogurt I add sugar to it... so it is counter intuitive. In my imagination I envision a day looking something like this: Breakfast: oatmeal, Lunch: fruit smoothie with yogurt and a piece of toast (trust me has more calories and vitamins than you think), Dinner: chicken and vegetables. Dessert (only 3 times a week).
Oh to answer the question, yes I will eat at least once a day the appropriate color, getting my well balanced nutrition from my well balanced color palate.

Okay fitness here's the fun part!

Monday: 20 minute circuit [1 minute with weights, 1 minute cardio]*
Tuesday: 30 minutes of cardio, 10 minutes normal, 4 minutes high energy boost
Wednesday: 20 minute circuit
Thursday: 30 minutes of cardio, 10 normal, 4 boost
Friday: 20 minutes circuit
Saturday: 30 minutes cardio, 10 normal, 4 boost
Sunday: 30 minutes cardio, 10 normal, 4 boost

*I'm going to combine my sexy leg routine from last week with my cardio
So, it will look something like this:

Minute

1.  Squats with arm weights 
2. Jump
3. Lunges with arm weights
4. Jog in place
5. Calf raises with arm weights
6. Jump
7. Wall sit with arm weights
8. Jumping Jacks
9. Wall sit with arm weights
10. Jumping Jacks
11. Leg lifts with ankle weights
12. Jump
13. Sumo Squats with arm weights
14. Jog in Place
15. Squats with arm weights
16. Plank
17. Plie, releve with arm weights
18. 6 inch hold
19. Lower legs ab work out with ankle weights
20. Jump

My Summer Diet: Week 2 Results

Okay so the results are in!
From a week of eating desserts and adding fat back into my every meal. Plus at least 30 minutes of exercise.

Drum roll.

I gained back the 2 pounds.
However, this could have to do with muscle development, as my shorts actually fit looser than last week (and they were just washed shorts, not reused ones). So, verdict is I need to balance the fitness with the low fat eating. Thankfully every week there will not be foods readily available like during wedding week!

This was My Summer Diet: Week 2 Results. Stay tuned for more of My Summer Diet!

My Summer Diet: The Switch: Week update

This week has been one of the busiest weeks of my life. I had a test Monday, project due Wednesday and Thursday, final Thursday, rehearsal dinner Thursday, and my sister's wedding Friday!

First mistake to attempting a colorful diet during a busy week, was not planning each meal and buying everything ahead of time. So, this week I did not follow my diet plan very well. In fact the only thing that was followed accurately was vegetarian breakfasts and at least 30 minutes of fitness. I'm going to go ahead and tell you about what fitness options I chose.


Monday
20 minutes recumbent bicycle
1.5 hours of ultimate frisbee


Tuesday
7 minutes recumbent bicycle
35 minutes of a leg routine


Wednesday
45 minutes recumbent bicycle
25 minutes upright bicycle

Thursday
Running around like a crazy person to dress alterations to my final exam, to several stores, to setting up the receptions. Qualifies I'm sure as exercise.

Friday
Dancing at the Wedding!


Saturday
Sitting outside in the 104 heat (even under a tent) sweating for 4 hours. Counts as exercise, I was exhausted.

I'm there, just not looking at the pic.

This was My Summer Diet: The Switch: Week update. Stay tuned for more of My Summer Diet!

My Summer Diet: The Switch. Fitness

So, last week I ate only vegan breakfast and lunches with a specific color emphasis.  This week I am going to eat lacto-vegetarian breakfast and lunches. Which means I cannot eat eggs or meat until dinner time. I also will not be eating dessert until Friday, like last week. However, the new focus is Fitness. I will be blogging not only about the foods but also about the different exercises I choose to do.

I will try any fitness exercise recommended to me this week, so if you want to challenge me feel free!

I will be doing at least 30 minutes a day of some type of exercise. I will try to post pictures as I can. We're going to see if this week will have more effects than last week. However, last week is an unstable week to compare it to as I did have allergic episodes which could have aided in a weight loss process. The overall goal is not weight loss for me, but a healthier me. So, if eating healthier causes me to lose weight that means I was over the weight my body prefers. However, if I gain weight, for example through muscle growth (due to increased exercise) then my body was at a weight it desired and my muscles now have more tone.

Next week I plan to add back in the availability to eat eggs during breakfast and lunch, definitely I do not have to, I just can. And the week after I will add back availability to eat meat. Right now I am testing fat content and encouraging veggie and fruit use. So, let's see where this takes me!

My Summer Diet: When Allergies Strike

So, for the end of my weekend I ate a lot of blueberries and eggplant. The high antioxident colors of blue and purple might be good at fighting cancer cells, but they sure are lousy at fighting allergens.

On Friday I experienced terrible allergy eyes. I wear the really advanced Acuvue Oasis contacts that expose your eyes to more Oxygen during the day, well they also have only 14 days of good wear in them. If I forget and put them in on day 15 I pay for it. I could hardly see once the afternoon hit. I put on my glasses, used allergy eye drops, took singulair and sudafed, ibuprofen, and took a nap. Nothing still blood shot and tears just dripping down my face. (That's a pretty image isn't it?) I had to cancel any plans I had for the evening and opted for bed early with a warm rag over my eyes. Thankfully I woke up Saturday morning cured. And, I put in new contacts.

So, I was already bewildered at my chances of having two allergy attacks, if you will, in one week, that when Saturday's came I was taken by full force surprise. (As you may have read in My Summer Diet: Red Disaster, I experienced a reaction to Stevia). 

In the years past I had had reactions to eating gluten-free baked goods. The baked goods are more dense and contain ingredients that my body is never exposed to, and apparently is extremely sensitive to. However, since I had been back from Peru I thought that maybe my body had changed, because I had eaten 2 gluten-free cupcakes on June 3 at my sister's bridal shower. I was so relieved to be cured, because it is so much easier for me to not react to gluten-free products since my sister-in-law reacts to gluten full products.

Well.... I had not be cured. I baked gluten free baked goods for my sister-in-law's tea party that I threw for her birthday on Saturday. (Which you can read about in All About Baking: Gluten-Free Tea Party). I ate 1.5 small scones, 1.5 lemon curd tartlets, 1 mini cucumber sandwich, and 2 mini cupcakes. I tell you the amounts to allow you to imagine how little I ate of gluten-free products. Because they were so little, I would say normally I would have eaten more, but I wasn't too terribly hungry. Anyways with just that small amount of food, I was soo soo sick. I could hardly stand, I wasn't hungry at all. My stomach hurt so badly, I couldn't sleep well. Sunday morning I woke up early and the first thing I did was lay on my floor for an hour. I felt terrible. I'm pretty sure I even ran a low grade fever. 

The best I can explain to you how I felt is as if I had food poisoning. My body for some strange reason reacts to the flour or xanthan gum or something as if it were food poisoning. 

So, with 3 allergy attacks in one week combined with my diet plan I lost 2.5 pounds. My guess is allergies can really kick ya into weight loss. This week I am using a different strategy, see My Summer Diet: The Switch for more details.

This was My Summer Diet: When Allergies Strike. Stay tuned for more!

My Summer Diet: Hello Yellow

You are my sunshine when skies are grey!

Today was a busy bee day. Which works out since it was a yellow day.

Secret Ingredient: Lemons

High in Vitamin C, natural detox, flavors water beautifully.

For breakfast I ate a yellow apple with 2 T peanut butter and drank a glass of lemon water.

My yellow apple and peanut butter.

For lunch, I was not sure if I was going to have the time to create something yellow. I was starting to stress about it, just a little. So, I prayed a quick prayer that God would help me through this yellow day. It might sound like a silly thing, but He is where we should turn our hearts in every stressful moment, no matter how big or small. Stress affects our soul and He is our soul keeper. Anyways today in lab we ended up making three different types of vegan recipes. They were tofu stir fry, analog meat dip Mexican style (which is a soy product made to look like meat), and hummus. Chick peas and LEMON!!! It couldn't have been more perfect. Not only was I able to eat my yellow color, but I was able to eat vegan! God is faithful in every part of our lives :)

My bee trail led me next to the pool with two precious kids that I babysit. And, afterwards when we were relaxing I did indulge in 3 saltines, I didn't bother to see if they were vegan, but they're relatively healthy.

I did some fun work outs before dinner time. Which I ate my left over pumpkin soup from yesterday, palm size of boiled chicken, a half cup of non fat cottage cheese, and 2 slices of sunflower bread.

But, then it happened, 11:00pm I am starving. I mentally calculated my caloric intake for the day and it was only around 1100, and 1200 is the minimum anyone should have for a regular day. Especially since I swam and exercised. SO, I had to do it, I ate 1 serving size of my carrot muffins that I made the other day and froze. So, they were still healthy containing whole oats on top and carrots inside.

So, note to self, eat the appropriate amount of calories, so I won't have to eat late at night.

That was My Summer Diet: Hello Yellow. Stay tuned to hear about Mr. Green tomorrow!

My Summer Diet: Code Orange

Code Orange day was a success of bright colors!

I must say I love the color orange. 

I love giraffes, sunflowers,

harvest moons, sunsets, 

bonfires,

elevation, my GFO watch,

and just the ever boldness that orange brings to your day.

So, the secret ingredient for today: PUMPKIN!

You do not just have to wait until fall to eat pumpkin, you can indulge any time of the year with Libby's canned pumpkin. 

Here's what I ate today:

Breakfast: Pumpkin Oatmeal

Pumpkin Oatmeal. 1/2 cup of pumpkin added to 1 serving of steel cut oats and 1 T of brown sugar plus 1 t. vanilla!

Lunch: Pumpkin Soup and 2 slices of Honey Sunflower Wheat bread.

The ingredients.

Chopped.

Rinsed.

Supporting orange day with my new Give Fifty One watch!

Boiling.

Pureed and ready to eat.

Dinner: Pumpkin soup, 1 serving of cheddar cheese, sweet potato chips, and 1 serving of boiled chicken.

Mira a la color!

That was My Summer Diet: Code Orange. Stay tuned for how tomorrow's yellow turns out!

My Summer Diet: Red Disaster

Today was the first day of my summer diet program. Let me tell you... disaster. 

I decided today that I wanted to try Stevia to sweeten my breakfast. I had just learned in my food class that Stevia is a natural sweetener made from a South American plant, and it bonuses by containing no caloric value. 

 Little did I know that after sprinkling a little sweet packet onto my poorly cut, but ever so beautiful red grapefruit, that I would feel like I wanted to gag.

The expectation. Looks lush right?

I hadn't had a grapefruit in YEARS, so I thought maybe it was a mind thing and I just had to press through it. The more of the grapefruit I ate the more my throat hurt and the more I was beginning to think I was full. I had just spent 30 minutes cooking my new steel cut oats, and I was very excited to try them. But, I couldn't even try them, I felt off. I had no desire to eat and my stomach was in the 'I'm not sure if I'm too full or going to be nauseous stage'. So, I went ahead and sweetened my oatmeal with Stevia and placed it into the fridge to eat for tomorrow. 

I left for school, feeling shocked by the fact that 3/4 of a grapefruit could possibly have made me full. It wasn't until during my class that I realized my throat still felt stiff and that my stomach was upset. I drank all of my Nalgene thinking that would do the trick. I even force fed myself my beets and quinoa at lunch time, thinking I would feel better if I ate something. Maybe I was just over hungry?

During class we made baked goods that I couldn't try because they weren't vegan, however, this was one of the first times in my life where I wasn't even tempted, food sounded horrible to me. Then I decided to ask my teacher if Stevia could make me feel this way or if it was the grapefruit. She told me it was probably the Stevia, that sometimes they mix it with sugar alcohols. (When I got home tonight I discovered that they did not mix it with sugar alcohols).

Because of my nauseous state I had to break my diet. I bought Reed's Extra Ginger Root ginger ale from Earth Fare. Also, to cleanse my palate of the lingering Stevia flavor, I bought a vegan 72% dark chocolate bar. I did not eat the entire bar, in fact, I ate the squares in segments of time over a 4 hour time period. The bar I am not including as a dessert this time, just because it was high in anti-oxidants and low in sugar and was still vegan. I plan to finish the bar on Friday for my black and brown day. 

I highly recommend this beverage. It one eliminates most nausea and two has a wonderful flavor. If I drank sodas this would be the top of my list.

I then ate dinner around 7:45 having a whole wheat, turkey, lettuce, TOMATO, and mustard sandwich from McCallister's with the lovely Erinn Honeycutt. Along with it I ate the small fruit cup which included 2 grapes, 1 STRAWBERRY, 3 pineapple chunks, and 5 honeydew. And, would you believe I ate the whole thing? Me, Andrea Urban, I finished a fruit cup. I know I was shocked.

Upon returning home I did some research. And, it turns out that a common allergic reaction includes throat swelling/stiffening and nausea. Thankfully I took my Singular and Sudafed before I left today.

If you are allergic to ragweed, there is a high chance that you will be allergic to Stevia.

Plant allergies.... 

Anyways I am now ending my Red day, excited about my Orange day. Hoping for wonderful results. And, now I know that I am not compatible with Stevia. Oh, and in case you are wondering, I will not be eating the premade oatmeal from today, I will make a fresh non-Stevia containing serving tomorrow.

That was My Summer Diet: Red Disaster. Stay tuned for more My Summer Diet!

My Summer Diet: The List. Week 1

Grocery List:

**Prices according to Harris Teeter website, only priced what will be completely used this week, the other stuff will be used in the weeks to come as well.

• 1 red grapefruit $0.78
• 1 red apple       $1.00
• 1 beet               $4.00 (most stores sell in bunches, so save for next week)             
• 1 sweet potato  $0.87
• 1 yellow apple   $1.00
• 1 yellow squash $1.00
• 1 avocado         $1.27 (2 count bag)
• 1 eggplant         $2.00
• 1 red onion       $1.16
• 1 cucumber      $0.99
• garlic clove       $0.50
• 1 sweet onion   $1.16
• choice of tomato
• carrots
• russet potatoes
• celery
• arugula
• spinach
• frozen blackberries 
• frozen blueberries
• bag of lemons (for drinking in your water as well)
• peanut butter (natural)
• Parmesan cheese
• pinto beans
• 3 cans of diced tomatoes
• 1 can of crushed tomatoes
• 1 can of tomato paste
• green chili peppers
• refried beans
• can of pumpkin
• whole wheat, water mix pancake mix
• whole wheat pasta noodles
• quinoa
• whole rolled oats
• whole grain artisan bread
• almond milk, if you want for flavor, not necessary
• 96/4 ground beef
• meats of choice, remember 2 nights you need to eat fish

NOTE: Most of these ingredients will be used in week 2 or later on in week 1, so since this is the first week it will be the longest list. Please freeze and refrigerate appropriately.

>>Keep everything to 1 serving size<<

Monday

Breakfast: Red grapefruit + red apple cinnamon oatmeal*. 

Lunch: Beet quinoa salad*

Dinner: Your choice of tomato with your choice of meat.

*Signifies recipe at bottom

Tuesday

Breakfast: Pumpkin oatmeal*

Lunch: Pasta Fagoli*

Dinner: Baked Sweet potato with choice of meat.

Wednesday

Breakfast: Yellow apple slices with 2 tablespoons of peanut butter

Lunch: Lemon quinoa salad*

Dinner: Incorporate yellow squash with choice of meat.

Thursday

Breakfast: Avocado spread on toast (Whole grain artisan bread)

Lunch: Arugula and spinach salad (Incorporate extra vegetables from the week, like tomato, carrot, onion)

Dinner: Meat with your choice of greens, I would recommend more spinach just a different way.

Friday

Breakfast: Blueberry pancakes* 

Lunch: Vegetable quinoa salad*

Dinner: Eggplant parmigiana* made with meatsauce.

Saturday

Breakfast: Blackberry oatmeal*

Lunch: Refried beans*

Dinner: Russet potatoes prepared how you like plus a meat of choice.

Sunday

Breakfast: Potato and white onion hashbrowns, cooked in very little olive or canola oil.

Lunch: Roasted galic spaghetti*

Dinner: Leftover vegetable medley or leftover pasta fagoli (stir fry) plus choice of meat.

*Recipes

1. Red apple cinnamon oatmeal. Prepare 1 serving of oatmeal with water using the stove top, adding half of the red apple, cut into small chunks, into the bowling water and oatmeal. Cook until the oats and apple are cooked all the way through. Add 1/2 to 1 teaspoon of cinnamon, plus no more than 1 tablespoon of brown sugar. Flavor with 1-2 tablespoons of almond milk if desired.
2. Beet quinoa salad. (This makes 1 serving, if you want to make more than one and save the other half for your green salad day you can, as this also has greens in it). Prepare this the night before to save time!                     
   • 1/3 cup of sliced beets (Steam until tender, about 7-10 minutes)
   • 3 tablespoons quinoa (cook with water until tender and water is fully absorbed, about 15 minutes)
   • 1/3 cup water
   • 1 tablespoon olive oil (whisk following ingredients, until star, to create dressing)
   • 1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
   • 1/4 teaspoon white sugar
   • 1 clove garlic, crushed
   • 1/8 teaspoon salt
   • 1/8 teaspoon ground black pepper *
   • 1/4 cup red onions, sliced (Mix with beets and qunioa)
   • 1/2 ounce arugula, chopped (small hand full) - Place salad on top of arugula and serve
3. Pumpkin Oatmeal. Prepare 1 serving of oatmeal with water, using stove top or microwave. When fully cooked add 2 tablespoons of canned pumpkin (refrigerate the rest in a new air tight container) and cinnamon. You may add walnuts or almond milk for flavor addition.
4. Pasta Fagoli. (This makes more than 1 serving, a serving size is 1.5 cups). Prepare this the night before to save time!     Chop or dice 1 potato, 1 cup of carrots, half of the white onion, half of the red onion, 1.5 cups of celery, and a few pieces of fresh garlic. Add all of the chopped vegetables to a saucepan with 1 tablespoon of olive oil, cook until the are softening. Add can of diced tomatoes and the can of pinto beans. Cook until evenly heated and all the vegetables are softened. Flavor with basil, thyme, rosemary, garlic powder, fresh ground pepper, and sea salt. (To your liking).  Freeze extras in 1 serving sizes so you can grab and reheat easily. This is a mixture of colors, so you can eat this for lunch on a red, green, white, or brown day if you don't have time to prepare the other! 
5. Lemon quinoa salad. Prepare the night before for best results. (1 serving size)
• 3 tablespoons quinoa (cook with water until tender and water is fully absorbed, about 15 minutes)
• 1/3 cup water
• 3 tablespoons of fresh lemon juice (whisk together with the following, until star)
• 1.5 tablespoons of olive oil
• 1/4 teaspoon dill
• 1/8 clove garlic crushed
• 1/2 teaspoon parsley*
• 1/2 cucumber sliced into half moons
• 1/8 cup of white onions, diced
6. Blueberry pancakes. Whole wheat pancake mix, mix with water. Add desired amount of drefrosted blueberries to your pancakes. (Great thing about only add water mix, you can make just 1 serving!). Use canola oil spray for the pan. Sprinkle with powdered sugar (tiny amount).
7. Vegetable quinoa salad. Dice red onion, cucumber, carrots, celery, and other vegetable you choose. Eat no more than 1.5 cups of total vegetables. Mix with cooked quinoa, prepared the same as early that week. Pour on 1-2 tablespoons of a vinaigrette of choice.
8. Eggplant parmigiana. Slice your eggplant into the desired thickness. Soak them in water. Brown 96/4 ground beef with remaining red onion. Pour in can of diced tomatoes, crushed tomatoes, and tomato paste. Add basil, thyme, rosemary, oregano, a sprinkle of sugar, salt and pepper. Grill your eggplant either on a grill or on the oven racks. Place grilled eggplant into a pan, cover with sauce, sprinkle with parmesan cheese. Bake. Eat! **Freeze extra sauce**
9. Blackberry oatmeal. Prepare oatmeal as usual. In a saucepan place desired blackberries (1/4 cup) with a tablespoon of sugar and a tablespoon of water, cook until broken down. Mix with oatmeal. Flavor with almond milk if desired.
10. Refried Beans. Eat refried beans with avocado, carrots, green chili peppers, and diced tomatoes. (Read labels to create 1 serving size). **Fridge what you do not use from beans, peppers, and tomatoes**
11. Roasted garlic spaghetti.  Roast garlic in the oven with a tiny bit of olive oil. Turn on a sauce pan, heat the rest of your diced tomatoes, add basil and oregano and roasted garlic. Boil whole wheat pasta. Mix and enjoy. Add an arugula or spinach salad for a nice balance crunch!

My Summer Diet: The Set Up

So, this summer I decided to create a diet plan for my sister. Then after thinking about the plan, I realized how healthy this is and that I want to try it out for myself! 
Why?
1. Because I hate to recommend something I have never tried.
2. To know if it is a bad set up and plan. To learn ways to tweak it. Because this is for overall health advantage, not necessarily for people to lose weight. Yes, if you are overweight you will lose weight, but this is a step process diet that will teach you to make healthy choices over time. 
3. To see if there are physical benefits. Am I less tired? Do I have more energy? Am I starving? Am I satisfied? All worth while questions to consider when changing your diet.


Disclaimer: A diet is your everyday food choice system, it is not necessarily a miracle drop 10 pounds and get off the diet program. This is a set up that will adjust the foods every 3 weeks, to eventually have you eating normal without thinking 'diet' but yet you will be eating super healthy.


I will be updating my blog every week with a grocery list, breakfast and lunch plan, and suggestions for dinner. I also will update every day or two to tell you if I enjoyed my food, hated my food, or just how I felt that day. Enjoyment is a big part of eating, and I don't want to lose it!


So here are the plans for the next 3 weeks (starting Monday) of my life. [In 3 weeks I will make adjustments, making it less strict]


Daily goal: at LEAST 10 minutes of vigorous exercises a day. (Run, jog, brisk walk, jumping, skipping, etc.)

So the set up:

Breakfast and Lunch everyday is VEGAN. That means absolutely no dairy or meats. (No eggs, butter, milk, cream, cheese, meat, mayo etc.)

Dinner you can have 1 serving of meat (that means no bigger than the size of the palm of your hand and no thicker than a quarter inch).

Dinner you can have 1 dairy serving, only 1. So, that means you can look at the serving size. You CAN add together different types to make 1. For example, you can have 1/4 serving of butter plus 1/2 serving of milk plus 1/4 serving of cheese.

Dinner: have fish at least 2 times a week, if not more.

You MAY have 2 desserts between Friday and Sunday. 2 desserts means if you have 2 servings of cookies on Friday that is all you can have that weekend.

Drink only water or lemon water. No alcohol, we will add that back during adjustments, but for 3 weeks no alcohol. Drink 10 - 8 ounce servings a day, at the least. 

Food Rules: Absolutely NO processed foods. Do not boil vegetables, only grill, stir fry (use spray canola oil), or bake, because boiling loses important nutrients. You can boil if you make a soup.  Only can you eat whole grains, so if you want bread buy whole grains, but make sure it is vegan. Multigrain does not mean whole grain. Also, try incorporating quinoa and oatmeal as much as possible.

Overwhelmed? Well, here's a way to make a vegan crunch more appetizing and fresh and fun. 

The Color Days. So, in order to ensure that you are getting all the nutrients that your body needs and craves you are going to incorporate one color of food (still eating others as well) into each of your meals.

Monday: Red. You must eat something red for breakfast, lunch and dinner. 

              What is red? Red apples, blood oranges, cherries, cranberries, red grapefruit, red pears, pomegranates, raspberries, watermelon, beets, red peppers, radishes, radicchio, red onion red potatoes, rhubarb, and tomatoes.

Tuesday: Orange. You must eat something orange for breakfast, lunch, and dinner.

               What is orange? Cantaloupe, grapefruit, mango, nectarine, orange, papaya, apricot, peach, tangerine, butternut squash, carrots, pumpkin, and sweet potato. (Sweet potatoes are super healthy!)

Wednesday: Yellow. You must eat something yellow for breakfast, lunch, and dinner.

                   What is Yellow? Yellow apples, yellow figs, golden kiwi, lemons, yellow pears, pineapple, yellow watermelon, yellow beets, yellow peppers, yellow tomatoes, yellow potatoes, yellow squash, corn, and spaghetti squash. 

Thursday: Green. You must eat something green for breakfast, lunch, and dinner.

               What is green? Avocado, green apple, green grapes, honeydew, kiwi, lime, peas, artichoke, arugula, asparagus, broccoli, brussel sprouts, cabbage, green beans, celery, cucumbers, leafy greens, leeks, lettuce, okra, green peppers, spinach****, and zucchini.

Friday: Blue/Purple. You must eat something blue or purple for breakfast, lunch, and dinner.

           What is blue or purple? Blueberries, purple grapes, plums, purple figs, purple asparagus, eggplant, purple potatoes, purple carrots, purple peppers, and red onions.

Saturday: Black/Brown. You must eat something black or brown for breakfast, lunch, and dinner.

           What is black or brown? Blackberries, black currants, prunes, raisins, black olives, brown pears, russet potatoes, mushrooms, dates, and ginger.

Sunday: White. You must eat something white for breakfast, lunch, and dinner.

            What is white? White nectarines, white peaches, jicama, onion, parsnips, potato, shallot, turnip, popcorn, white corn, cauliflower, celery root, and garlic.