Update...

Because of a huge super giant thunderstorm with a hint of a tornado watch, I didn't get to go home for lunch today. So by the time the storm quieted and I was able to go to the post office (a part of my daily routine as an administrative assistant, but they were kind enough to not force me to go during the peak of the storm) I was starving.

And I stopped at Taco Bell for 2 fresco bean burritos. Yes, two. No, I probably wasn't hungry for the second one, and yes, I still ate it. Then I ate two squares of some delicious vegan dark chocolate that I found in my purse. So... not a superhero today!

But I'm not going to worry about it. I think that I made the best decisions that I could have in my situation. (Well, 1 burrito and 1 square of chocolate probably would have been better, but hindsight is always 20/20, right?)

Life happens. Rolling with the punches is something that I'm learning to do.

One of the biggest lessons that I'm trying to learn right now is to let go of my "all or nothing" attitude, particularly when it comes to food and exercise.

And in that, I excelled today, and am very proud of myself. :-)

Another Superhero Plan

breakfast: oatmeal, banana

lunch: barley w/ white beans and EVOO, steamed zucchini and greens w/ lime juice and sea salt

dinner: brown rice w/ pinto beans, big salad w/ oil and vinegar, steamed greens w/ lemon juice

snacks: airpopped popcorn, guacamole (avacado, onion, lime juice)

exercise: Curves and Nordic Track (90 minutes total)

I had a gain this last week. I'm back up to 188.2. I know it's because I overate and underexercised for a week, and now I'm back on track and re-focused. Ready to conquer the world as a superhero. :-)

Despite the dietary limitations of the superhero plan, I feel a great freedom with it. I can eat as many whole grains and vegetables as I need to to feel satisfied. No more calorie counting ever. It feels great!

Challenge: Day One

Day One as a Superhero!!!
This is the beginning of my 50% Superhero Challenge! Today will be the first day that I will try to be a Superhero. For those who haven't read "The Kind Diet", when I say "superhero" I'm talking about the ultimate diet plan outlined in TKD, basically macrobiotic veganism.

The differences between the vegan plan and the superhero plan? As far as I can tell, food-wise, there are three:

1. Vegans still eat processed foods, as long as they are vegan. Superheroes don't.
2. Vegans are encouraged to eat a lot of whole grains and vegetables, but superheroes make whole grains and vegetables the center of their diet.
3. Vegans eat as many of any type of vegetable and fruit that they want. Superheroes limit fruit to once a day or so, and avoid all vegetables that are considered "nightshade", such as: peppers, potatoes, tomatoes, and eggplants, and superheroes also try to avoid spinach.

Why would ANYONE want to eat this way? What are the benefits? Can I ever eat potatoes and tomatoes again? Good questions. ;-) I will answer all of these soon, but not today because I'm almost out of time!
Here's today's plan:
breakfast: oatmeal, banana
lunch: steamed greens, miso soup, millet
dinner: brown rice, pinto beans, EVOO, sunflower seeds, sea salt
snack: airpopped popcorn with EVOO and sea salt
exercise: 30 minutes Curves circuit training, 60 minutes Nordic Track skier

50% Superhero Challenge!

I'm big on baby steps. Especially when it comes to changing how I eat. When I decided to cut meat, I was able to do it right away since I had never eaten too much of it anyway. Dairy was another story altogether. Processed foods that contain trace amounts of dairy, eggs, and honey were the most difficult thing to let go of! But I did it, in baby steps.

I did a 50% plan. Every other day, I was vegan. Until one day I was out of dairy, eggs, and processed non-vegan foods. Then I stopped buying them, and was vegan 100%, every day.

Now I want to start cooking more often and become superhero. I want all the good feelings, weight loss, and health that come from eating like a superhero (as outlined in TKD, of course).

So I've made an important decision: I am going to be 100% superhero every other day. So on the road to being superhero, I will be "just" vegan every other day for awhile. Hopefully this will train me how to eat like a superhero with no real pressure. If it's hard, at least I know that I can eat a potato/spinach/soy milk/rice dream the very next day.

I will let you know how it goes!! Today is a vegan day, and here is my plan:

breakfast- banana (small)

snack 1- almonds (about 8 of them)

lunch- Amy's bean and rice burrito, salsa, air-popped popcorn with EVOO

snack 2- raisins

dinner- pita bread, hummus, big salad (spinach, kale, tomatoes, cucumber, onion)

snack 3 (if hungry)- wasa crackers with homemade guacamole (avacado, onion, oregano, garlic, lime juice)

exercise: Curves circuit training (30 minutes), Nordic track skier (60 minutes)

Nothing to Say.

Going through some personal life crap right now, so I don't have too much to say. Just know that I am not perfect, nowhere near superhero status yet. But I can still proudly declare that I am in fact a vegan. :-)

I just wanted to let my faithful followers know that I'm still here, and will be back as soon as something inspirational hits me, which hopefully will be soon!

Thoughts on "detox"

Today I am in detox mode. Mostly because last night I ate a regular chocolate chip cookie and woke up bloated, gassy, and gross.

I ate the cookie in desperation. I was hungry and dinnerless all through my cousin's confirmation (which was great, by the way!) and afterwards (9:30 p.m.) they had cookies and punch... so I ate a very non-vegan, very delicious, very BIG, cookie. I made the choice, and the choice was to eat when I was ridiculously hungry, even if it wasn't vegan (or healthy). I don't think it was a bad choice overall. Better than passing out on the drive home, for sure. Anyways...

Thoughts on a detox day? I could surely use one now, and not just because of the cookie. I've also been eating other crazy crap all week (ruffles and frosting, anyone?), and haven't been exercising as much as usual, due to a lot of family obligations. Well, maybe I shouldn't use that word, "obligation" sounds as if I'm doing something that I don't truly want to do, and that's not the case. So, I'll say family "stuff". Yes, "stuff" sounds much nicer.

Today I plan to eat only fruits, vegetables, whole grains, and nuts. And drink a TON of water. Basically, be a superhero. As a way to detox my body from the processed sugar fest I've been enjoying lately. And to hopefully rev up my metabolism a bit, since I've been kind of inactive this week.

I'll let you know how it goes!

Becoming a Superhero in steps...

I feel like I've really deviated from my quest to become a superhero. Therefore, I'm going to start taking the steps, once again, to becoming a superhero as outlined in the book (and losing 1-2 pounds every week by following most of the suggestions in the "tips for faster weight loss" section).

Leah's 5 Step Plan to becoming more like a Superhero!!!

1) Start at breakfast. Plan breakfast the night before. Put the pot and oatmeal right by the stovetop and set my alarm for 15 minutes earlier to make oatmeal. Acceptable superhero breakfasts: oatmeal, leftover grains, steamed greens, miso soup. Acceptable vegan breakfasts: all superhero breakfasts plus fruit, nuts, seeds; granola bars

2) Start going to the farmers market or produce store every weekend. Try new things, inculding vegetables Alicia considers "magic" like daikon.

3) Cook from the book. Yes, I admit it: I have yet to actually cook even one meal from TKD. I've been a very lazy vegan. (which by the way is the title of the book destined to make me famous and/or rich some day, "The Lazy Vegan"... or does that already exsist?)

4) Make a monthly trip to the health food store. Stock up on bulk whole grains, try some new organic produce, get a couple of vegan junk food items (should probably erase that last thought, but Rice Dream was mentioned in the book more than once!)

5) Keep up with the exercising. Add variety to my routine. Start biking on the weekends and learn how to run! Maybe start the Couch to 5K thing. Anything to keep it fun! :-)

Straying...

Oreos for breakfast? Not very superhero. But vegan! Need to get back on track towards superhero-dom. Here's the plan for the rest of the day:

breakfast: oreos.
snack: almonds and raisins
lunch: leftover millet, white beans, EVOO; steamed greens
dinner: ww tortillas, refried beans and salsa; corn
exercise: 30 minutes treadmill, 60 minutes Gazelle (big cardio day!)

Millet: re-reviewed

Okay, I gave this grain another chance yesterday, since I had a bunch of leftovers in my fridge. (I tend to make a big pot of grains on the weekend and use it throughout the week.)

Anyway, I tried some leftover millet mixed with beans and some EVOO, cold, and it was actually pretty delicious and filling.

Side note, I think that I may be becoming an EVOO addict. But it's better than other food addictions I've had in the past! I add it to everything. I just love the flavor! And so far it hasn't stalled my weight loss a bit. There must be something to the healthy oils and fats after all.

The point is, always try again with grains! :-)

I want to love all whole grains...

... but I just don't. So far, almost every "fancy" grain I've tried, I haven't liked.

When I say "fancy" I mean something that sounds exotic to me, like quinoa, millet, couscous.

I still haven't tried my barley, so keep your fingers crossed!

Leah's Whole Grains Reviews:

1) Quinoa.

I was super excited to try quinoa. I had heard from many people how awesome it is, how delicious, filling, protein-filled... all of it. Gag. I did not care for it. But it wasn't nearly as gross to me as

2) Millet.

Another fail. I am hoping that I made this wrong, because it was kind of crunchy, which is what turned me off. I made it according to the package instructions though, so hmmm...

3) Couscous.

I actually love couscous! This was a pleasant surprise after the failure of both quinoa and millet. Though I had tried it before (thanks, Joel!), I hadn't tried the whole wheat version, and I'm happy to announce that I love it.

4) Brown Rice.

Not fancy, not interesting, but I love brown rice! I could eat it at every meal, and there have been days that I do. I especially love it with some EVOO, sunflower seeds, and beans.

Delicious and filling.

5) Oatmeal.

Another not fancy whole grain. But I LOVE OATMEAL. Some days I will have oatmeal for dinner, which is awesome. Actually, I think I will have oatmeal for dinner tonight. :-)

6) Popcorn.

Yay for popcorn! I love that this is a whole grain. Feels like cheating when I eat this. I have finally learned to embrace air-popped popcorn, after perfecting my technique of preparing it. Want to know my "secret"? Okay, here it is: Put the air-popped pocorn into a bag (plastic or paper both work fine), add a teaspoon or two of a healthy oil (I prefer EVOO) and a dash of sea salt, and shake it up. Then either pour into a bowl or if eat straight from the bag! I haven't snuck it into a movie theatre yet, but don't think I won't.

***I GIVE UP ON EDITING THESE PHOTOS!!! WHATEVER I DO, THE BROWN RICE PICTURE ENDS UP IN THE MIDDLE!!! IT'S VERY FRUSTRATING.***

My new Ticker!

Isn't it adorable?! It shows me, a lovely blonde runner listening to music, jogging through Central Park towards my goal BMI. Love it!

Lost Weight Again!

Down another 1.3 pounds. How exciting, especially after consuming not 1, but 2 entire Amy's pizzas last week. With no outside help, by the way. Wednesday night dinner? Amy's pizza! Thursday night dinner? Amy's pizza! Now if only those things didn't cost $7.99 apiece, I could justify eating them that often every week.

This week, my ultimate food goal is to learn how to make my own vegan pizza. So far my thoughts are: tortilla pan-fried in olive oil, pizza sauce, vegetables, bake in oven for a certain amount of time at a certain temperature, with an end result of a tiny crispy crust pizza! We'll see. I'll definately let you guys know how the experiment goes. (and any advice and/or suggestions would be welcomed and appreciated!)

Anyway, time to get to my new week. Today's plan, you ask?

breakfast: oatmeal
snack 1: almonds and raisins
lunch: millet, beans, vegetables (probably canned today, out of fresh)
snack 2: banana
dinner: bean burritos (tortilla, refried beans, salsa); salad
exericse: 30 minutes Curves, 60 minutes Gazelle