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Plant-Based Eating :: Volume II Day 8

Day 8 Volume II

It was time to get real today and challenge my sugar intake. Over the years I have cut out more, and more, and more sugar… but according to My Fitness Pal I’m still WAY over what my daily intake should be. I say “get real”, because I grew up surrounded by sweet treats and baked goods. My grandparents started a bakery in 1952 and it is still in operation today! So my outlook on sugar was pretty skewed growing up. We make a pretty tasty product… actually, MULTIPLE products. You won’t find a bakery like this on every corner like Starbuck’s or Dunkin’ Donuts. We have one store, that’s it.

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I could go on an on about our family business, but I think you already get the point. I included the above visual to drive it home. I grew up around sugar, amazing, tasty, addictive, white sugar. My sugar tolerance was abnormally high compared to the average person. I could eat a slice of chocolate cake minutes before going to bed and sleep like a baby. But the older I’ve become and the easier it is to pack on the pounds I’ve learned to make adjustments to my daily intake of foods.

Now to really educate myself today, I looked to the experts. I found an article on the American Heart Association’s website that is really straight forward. The key word in everything I read about sugar, is ADDED. Not sugar from a banana, apple or carrot, that sugar is considered intrinsic sugar since its an integral part of the whole fruit. Added sugar is refined or processed and NOT naturally occurring and offers our bodies zero nutrition – this is the bad guy. The number one culprit is soda or drinks containing sweeteners – shocking I know. The “good” news is the experts say we can have some refined sugar each day – yay!!!! If you are a woman (or small man) – 6 TEASPOONS. If you are a man (or large woman) – 8 TEASPOONS. The current average American’s intake? 22.2 teaspoons a day. Just one 12 oz. soda has 10.5 teaspoons of sugar. (If you want some super serious reading, you can check out this scientific statement released by the American Heart Association.)

For the past year and a half Mr. Zucchini Runner and I have been very careful about our added sugar intake. We don’t use refined sugar when baking, and started making our own peanut butter and spaghetti sauce because most brands like to add sugar of some sort. We always look for extra sugar in anything pre-made at the store; you’d be surprised at how many brands do it! So the sugars I’ve been giving at the end of each journaled day are mostly from fruit! Unfortunately My Fitness Pal doesn’t distinguish between added or intrinsic sugars. They just give you the RED NUMBERS with the negative sign, which freaks me out! All my research today was very useful, and made me even more aware of sugars in general. I watched my added sugars like a hawk today and I STILL got the red number, only this time I didn’t freak out! 😉

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For breakfast I wanted to try something different; no smoothies, no eggs, no oatmeal. I went all veggie and beans, much like my dinner from Day 7. I combined a bit of grapeseed oil, onion, celery, zucchini, kale, tomato and garbanzo beans. I seasoned it with a little curry powder and pepper, topped with some hot sauce. (538 calories, 93 carbs, 12 g fat, 24 g protein, 14 g INTRINSIC sugar)

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Mr. Zucchini Runner was really proud of his egg platter this morning, so I took a picture and promised I would share it!
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As I stated in Day 2, we get our eggs from a local couple, Adam and Melissa, who have their own hens in their backyard. They are very well fed and cared for, and their daughter has a special attachment with each one! I’m of the firm belief that if we are taking from an animal, we should give something in return. They clearly have a great give and take relationship! Plus, these eggs are way cooler looking than the factory-farmed store bought ones. 😉IMG_3007

We skipped coffee today since we ate breakfast so late… so I tried some tea I’ve had in my pantry since Christmas. I tried it once and didn’t really like it. Since I used the last bag of my favorite tea last night, I thought I’ve give this one a shot. I even added some cinnamon. It was really good – and good for me!peppermint_cocoa

For our late lunch, we had spaghetti squash with lentils, onions, tomato and kale – a great standby that is loaded with nutrients and iron! (619 calories, 117 carbs, 3 g fat, 40 g protein, 20 g INTRINSIC sugar)IMG_3032

We went to a work happy hour and I drank nothing but water. I’m sure the restaurant looooooved me! 😉 By the time we came home, I was actually hungry again so I had a gluten-free, peanut butter, homemade applesauce and half a banana sandwich. (191 calories, 38 carbs, 4 g fat, 5 g protein, 14 g INTRINSIC sugar – I do not add anything to my homemade applesauce, it’s literally just cooked apples!)

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Tomorrow morning I’m meeting up with a couple friends for an early morning run, so I made sure to fuel enough today! My legs are pretty sore still from Tuesday’s plyo workout and now this morning’s workout – P90X Legs and Back. The run should be a nice challenge! I’m super excited to try Shakeology after my run too! I had an awesome Beachbody Coach send me 3 free samples of their new vanilla flavor and I can’t wait to test it out. I’ve been wanting to try Shakeology for a long, long time… but just never pulled the trigger because of the price. I’ve recently started researching the ingredients and I was very happy with what I found!

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Final totals today include a couple handfuls of almonds I forgot to photograph 🙂

Calories: 1,495

Carbs: 253

Fat: 32 g

Protein: 74 g

Intrinsic Sugars: 49 g

Plant-Based Eating :: Volume II Day 7

Day 7 Volume II

I was just starting to get into the swing of tracking and journaling my foods meticulously, then WHAM it’s the last day! Yesterday as I was drafting day 6 I thought, maybe I should continue for a few more days?? So I asked you, the readers, via Facebook and Instagram in an effort to engage those who may have been silently following along. (Don’t worry, I do it too… 🙂 But if you are a blogger, you know it’s a dream to have engaged followers, not just get hits on your blog. To receive comments from actual people, and getting to know some in the process; that’s what it’s really about for me. What is life without connections, friendships and community? You want to know you are connecting with people and not just getting lost out in cyberspace. Right? Anyway, I received enough responses for my satisfaction, and I’m going to continue journaling my plant-based eating for a few more days!

I’m going to make an extra effort to share useful tips and tricks for sustaining a plant-based diet. If you have any questions, don’t be shy! I’d love to hear from you. 🙂

Now, today wasn’t a very well planned day. It was my last day in the office (I work from home 2 days a week, in the office 3) so I was running low on my work food supplies! Day 8 will be more exciting food for SURE, since I’ll be working from home! (Remember that yummy apple creation from Day 6? I do!!)

Sorry for the gross photo below… this was my quick smoothie thrown together in 5 minutes as I rushed out the door this morning: fresh spinach, fresh blueberries, maca powder, frozen cherries, frozen pineapple and water.  (132 calories, 32 carbs, 0 fat, 5 g protein)

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Once in the office I needed more to eat, since the smoothie was so small!! Welcome the ever comforting Envirokids Organic Crispy Rice Bar 🙂 (120 calories, 18 carbs, 5 g fat, 2 g protein) These are so good with my morning coffee and almond milk!IMG_2947

This is a tasty little salad from Trader Joe’s. The dressing isn’t vegan – it has dairy in it – so I just toss it and use my own. Today I added balsamic glaze and some fresh lemon juice! (240 calories, 22 carbs, 14 g fat, 6 g protein)IMG_2948

Snack! (220 calories, 23 carbs, 12 g fat, 7 g protein) There are literally only 3 ingredients in this particular flavor – dates, cashews and peanuts. IMG_2949

I was in the mood for some tea with fresh lemon and an apple sounded good too! I try to incorporate fresh lemon juice into my diet regularly because it is so good for you! It is an immunity booster and supports healthy digestion. It also has a high alkalinity when digested, so it helps to balance the body’s pH levels by reducing acidity. Too much acid in the body causes illness and disease, and who wants that? (55 calories, 15 carbs, 0 fat, 0 protein)IMG_2950

We had to meet our local egg provider (last minute) after work, at a location not very close to home. Combine some rush hour traffic, and a hungry Zucchini Runner = crabby. Thankfully we met him right in front of Roadrunner, a running store chain. I went in and purchased a sports bra I’ve wanted to buy since June and also bought a CLIF Mojo bar. I needed to fuel my workout that was yet to come! (190 calories, 20 carbs, 9 g fat, 9 g protein)IMG_2953After I completed the P90X Back and Biceps + Ab Ripper X, I went onto make myself a veggie packed dinner! TOO MANY BARS TODAY. BUT this dinner is an ideal dinner for me! Vegan and gluten/grain free! I combined onion, brussels sprouts, sugar snap peas, zucchini, black beans, a tomato, salt, pepper, dill and a little grapeseed oil and sautéed it all in a pan. I topped it with raw sunflower seeds for some crunch! (555 calories, 78 carbs, 21 g fat, 26 g protein)

IMG_2956An invaluable addition to our kitchen, has been these two simple bottles purchased from Bed, Bath and Beyond. One is filled with grapeseed oil and the other is just tap water. We always use a small amount of oil when cooking, usually 1-2 teaspoons and then we add water if we need to speed up cooking and get some steam going in the skillet. It is also useful to prevent veggies from sticking to the pan!

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This is the problem with not eating enough during the day… I still feel hungry no matter how much I eat!! So, I ate a date. (66 calories, 18 carbs, 0 fat, 0 protein)IMG_2958

Then I forced myself to drink tea, before I ate anything else. Sometimes, I’m eating, just because I’ve had an unsatisfying day of food… you know, like eating 3 snacks in bar form. :- I highly recommend this tea, very flavorful and great for when you want to pretend it’s Christmas and NOT 100° F outside. 😀IMG_2959But, as I’m typing this up… I’m still hungry… and I’m not about starving myself or depriving myself. I got a good workout in tonight with heavy weights and really pushed harder than I have ever before! For those of you that know P90X, I went for the 8-10 reps at a heavier weight versus the 12-15 at a lighter weight – it was ROUGH!!

After proclaiming out loud, “I’m still hungry!” Mr. Zucchini Runner agreed that he was too! Magical. We decided on stovetop popped popcorn. 🙂 (101 calories, 12 carbs, 5 g fat, 2 g protein)IMG_2961The grand totals for today were:

Calories: 1,679

Carbs: 238

Fat: 66 g

Protein: 57 g

Sugar: 104 g (sugar culprits today? bars and that darn date! haha Have I mentioned I grew up in a bakery? Sugar is in my blood. I can’t IMAGINE cutting out more than I already have!! I also can’t imagine how MUCH I USED to consume! O_O)