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Plant-Based Eating :: Volume II Day 9

Day 9 Volume II

This morning I woke up at 4:00 a.m. and could barely open my eyes. I kept blinking in the hopes that my vision would get clearer… eventually it worked. If I didn’t have two friends showing up in 45 minutes, I most certainly would have crawled back into bed and put off my run until tomorrow and then feel guilty all day for doing so. Thank goodness for the buddy system. By the time Dana and Amy showed up, I was about half awake and a few more brain cells had charged up. Running is incredible, because as soon as we were out the door and hitting our feet to the ground, I felt fine. No more foggy head, no more sleepiness and I forgot all about my crazy week and lack of sleep every night. It was cooler this morning than it has been, but very humid! We did a shorter run than normal for a Saturday (5.5 miles), because we all wanted to head to head over to a local 5k where we knew a lot of the people racing; we joked about bandit-ing the course, paying for registration if they’d let us and just running around the park. We stretched for 2.5 seconds and then got in our cars and headed to the 5k!

Oh yeah, before my run I ate a piece of toast, but due to my hazy head, I forgot to take a picture of it… so here is the package. 🙂 (65 calories, 11 carbs, 2 g fat, 2 g protein)
IMG_3041Knowing my appetite, I grabbed half a banana for the car ride to the 5k – again – no picture because we were in a hurry! (26 calories, 7 carbs, 0 fat, 0 protein)

We arrived in plenty of time to pay for registration, only it was cash or check only and none of us had planned THAT far ahead.;-) We succumbed to simply running 2 miles and timed it so we could be at the finish when the first runners crossed the line. It was great to see so many familiar faces – all excellent runners too! From left to right, Derek Delancey of Parents On The Run (finally got to meet Allison!), Priscilla Schultz of Going Running Mommy and Rob Byers who doesn’t have a blog, but I’m going to plug his painting business, ACP Contracting. 😉

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After the race, Amy and I went to breakfast at a local restaurant. Look at the size of that protein pancake! I’m proud to say I ate almost the entire thing! (I had to totally guess on this one… 440 calories, 88 carbs, 7 g fat, 11 protein – sure, why not…)corine_protein_pancake

We split ONE ORDER, which contained TWO of these suckers! So much flour. Geez.
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I came home, took care of all the pets and decided I wasn’t done running for the day. I hopped on the treadmill and ran 4.3 miles while listening to an audiobook! That made a huge difference in passing the time. Total estimated calorie burn for the day: 1,195, but who really knows.

IMG_3077I’ve been waiting for this next moment, anxiously for about 3 days now… my first taste of Shakeology. If you haven’t heard of Shakeology, it is a meal replacement powder (or in my case, a snack) produced by Beachbody. Great. Who is Beachbody? They are the company behind P90X, Insanity and the newly released T25 home workouts and many, many more. I’ve been extremely curious about Shakeology for a long time, but never wanted to invest the money to try it. Thanks to the beauty of social media, I have “met” a few Beachbody Coaches and one in particular stood out to me, especially with his approach to the Vanilla Shakeology giveaway and just his overall approach to coaching and motivation. Thanks Coach Eric!

Along with the packets, he sent a recipe for me to try. I modified it slightly based on the ingredients I had available: water, vanilla Shakeology, half a banana, 1/2 cup of mixed frozen berries, 12 raw almonds and ice. (271 calories, 33 carbs, 9 g fat, 20 g protein) Have you tried Shakeology? If so, what did/do you think?

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I was really impressed with the ingredient list and I know the vegan ones are even better, since all the nutrients come from whole foods which are more readily absorbed in the body. I have two more samples to use up and then I will decide if ordering the vegan chocolate is a GO! 
IMG_3086The smoothie filled me up, but didn’t last very long since I had burned so many calories already… so I ate a Envirokids bar while I iced my feet and calves. It actually only has 6 g of added sugar, so I felt ok eating it after all my sugar research yesterday! (120 calories, 18 carbs, 5 g fat, 2 g protein)

IMG_3088Once my legs defrosted, I made myself a healthy but filling lunch! Baked yukon gold potato drizzled with some grapeseed oil and a little salt, topped with pan seared brussels sprouts, carrots, garlic, dill and walnuts. Really tasty! (423 calories, 61 carbs, 18 g fat, 16 g protein)

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I’ve had a hard time rehydrating today and a big glass of ice cold water with fresh cucumber and lemon sounded so good! You can witness firsthand the humidity in the air in the desert right now, from the perspiration on the glass!
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For dinner Mr. Zucchini Runner and I went to Pomegranate Cafe… our favorite vegan place! We started out splitting their Blood Builder juice which has red & golden beet, carrot, orange juice and pineapple. (~135 calories, 31 carbs, 0 fat, 2 g protein) I LOVE that flower! Does anyone know what it’s called?IMG_3099

For my final meal of the day, I ordered their Green Bandito Burrito: grilled spinach wrap stuffed with broccoli, spinach, quinoa, vegan cheese, Baja sauce, and seasoned tofu. (560 calories, 63 carbs, 24 g fat, 23 g protein) S T U F F E D. IMG_3100

On our drive home our monsoon season brought us some beautiful clouds and an amazing sunset. 🙂IMG_3101

Grand totals for the day:

I had room for more of everything according to My Fitness Pal, but I was pretty darn close. I am still stuffed as I’m typing this up and I’m heading to bed to sleep for probably 10 hours. I’m not even joking. Saturday night is my catch up on sleep night!

Calories: 2,080

Carbs: 312

Fat: 70 g

Protein: 76

Sugar: 99 g (this is mostly intrinsic sugars…)

Plant-Based Eating :: Volume II Day 6

Day 6 Volume II

Yesterday I talked about making healthy, plant-based food choices a priority. My other priority is working out. I have to say that my standard Wednesday workout that I usually “sleep run” through – was the HARDEST run I’ve had in a long, long time this morning. I really need a temperature gauge that tells me the humidity too. It straight up lied to me this morning when it said 84°F. I thought I was heading into a Neverland of easy, breezy running. NOPE. Sweat fest instead. Ok, so it wasn’t JUST the weather’s fault, it could have been the lack of sleep and killer workout I got yesterday too. Everything that jiggles when you run, hurt this morning. Not only was I hurting from yesterday’s plyometrics workout, I was also hurting from Monday’s chest, tris and shoulders workout. Oi. Anyway, I got it done, I pushed through and I survived, because talking myself out of it wasn’t an option. In the past, as soon as I mentally gave myself that out, I would almost always take it. If I tell myself, “This is what you are doing.” I get it done. (Is that a bib of drool, or sweat? Sheesh. I am not used to 50% humidity! It is typically 15% here in AZ.IMG_2883

day 6 run

I made a “small” smoothie of water, a banana, frozen cherries, frozen pineapple, fresh spinach, fresh blueberries, maca powder and juice from one lemon. (247 calories, 62 carbs, 0 fat, 5 g protein)IMG_2890

I added ACUTE to my vitamins today, to help with inflammation in my muscles. The cherry and pineapple in the smoothie also help with that as well. IMG_2891

The other portion of my breakfast was an egg white omelette with onion, garlic, tomato, and spinach topped with tomatillo salsa and some leftover cashew cream from Day 4‘s raw zucchini dinner. (211 calories, 15 carbs, 3 g fat, 30 g protein)
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Pre-packaged and delicious salad from Trader Joe’s! (240 calories, 25 carbs, 14 g fat, 3 g protein)IMG_2910Some almonds before my chiropractic appointment. (68 calories, 2 carbs, 6 g fat, 3 g protein)

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This was an amazing snack! It tasted like a healthier version of a caramel apple with nuts! The only sugar was from the apple and it was high in protein! All the fats in this were good fats too, with the exception of the peanut butter which has saturated fat. But I’d eat this over a store bought sugar fest apple any day!  Peanut butter, pepitas, sunflower seeds, sesame seeds and an apple. (457 calories, 29 carbs, 31 g fat, 17 g protein)IMG_2915Before heading out the door to ceramics, I ate a peanut butter chocolate bar by EnviroKids. 😉 (120 calories, 18 carbs, 5 g fat, 2 g protein)

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I also had the rest of my Synergy from Day 5… there are two servings in a jar… fyi. 😉 Here is a good reminder to check the serving size on foods and drinks, because many times, there is more than one serving! (75 calories, 8 carbs, 3 g fat, 2 g protein)IMG_2918

It has become tradition that on my way to ceramics class – my *me* time – I stop by Dutch Brothers and get a tasty coffee beverage. My latest favorite is a half caff iced latte with coconut milk. SO GOOD. I’m GUESSING on this info… (160 calories, 20 carbs, 9 g fat, 0 protein)IMG_2919Tonight’s class was a good one, because I had some pieces from both the glaze firing and the bisque firing. I was also able to throw 4 small vases/pots. If you live in the Valley of the Sun and you are interested in taking a ceramics class, I highly recommend Mesa Arts Center. They have a wide variety of classes! I’m always eyeing the glass blowing class next door to the ceramics studio, but then I think I don’t want to get burnt by 13,456,345° glass! o_O

IMG_2939I always need to have a small dinner when I get home, since class is right when I would normally eat dinner (which also explains all the snacks beforehand!) I microwaved a potato, added some more zucchini cashew alfredo from two days ago (see Day 4) and topped it with some salsa. It was really good AND quick. (439 calories, 34 carbs, 6 g fat, 6 g protein) I’m stuffed!!! Which is a good thing, I need to fuel those muscles to help them heal from all the wear and tear from the last 24 hours.

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Grand totals for today were:

Calories – 2,017

Carbs – 213

Fat – 75 g (a little high – darn you peanut butter, why do you taste so good?!)

Protein – 67 g

Sugar – 105 g (highest culprits today? banana, apple, coconut milk and the DRESSING from Trader Joe’s salad!)