Sunday, January 8, 2012

My Workout Plan, What We Eat On a Daily Basis and Why My Jeans Look Awful These Days...

photo via http://www.tefldaddy.com


My Workout Plan
Have I mentioned that I love bodyrock.tv? Free home workouts that are short (12 minutes average), intense, and fun. Back when I was trying to lose the baby weight I was working out about 6 days per week. Now, since I am at a really low weight I am working out 3 times per week- enough to maintain strength but not so much to make me lose any more weight.

Wow. I never thought I would be in the position where I don't want to lose any more weight! In fact, Chris keeps telling me I need to put on a few pounds. I am convinced this is because all of my pants are lose and saggy in the butt making for a very attractive saggy-diaper-butt look. Even my "skinny pants" are falling off! Same with all of my shorts...it's a good problem to have, right?

But how did I get to this point? (I haven't weighed this much since high school!) Before I changed my diet I was close to this weight, maybe 10 pounds heavier, but I certainly wasn't looking to lose any more weight. My only goal was to be as close to a plant-based, whole foods diet as possible. Thus, I am convinced I lost the "last 10 pounds" once I eliminated the meat, eggs, and dairy from my diet along with the processed food (chips, crackers, cereal, etc.) I (we) eat way more fruits and vegetables than I used to and also more whole grains: oatmeal, whole wheat tortillas and bread, brown rice, quinoa. Brandon snacks on almonds and homemade trail mix along with fresh fruit now instead of chips, crackers, etc. It's a beautiful thing!

Also, I loved the above cartoon! It is a myth that a plant-based diet doesn't offer adequate protein. In fact, vegetables, beans, grains, fruits, etc. all have protein! And they have it without saturated fat and cholesterol.

I thought I would post what we eat in a typical day because that is a frequent question I get when I start blathering on about my new diet change (which comes up quite a bit because of my obvious weight loss and fore-mentioned saggy-butt-jeans).

A Typical Day of Food
Breakfast:
  • Oatmeal with chia seeds and banana. I may add berries, raisins, walnuts, etc. to this depending on what I am in the mood for.
  • Whole wheat bagels with tofutti "cream cheese"
  • fruit
  • whole wheat waffles with agave syrup

Lunch:
  • PB &J
  • assorted fruits and veggies
  • veggie sandwich (whole wheat bread or wrap with hummus, avocado, sun-dried tomatoes, spinach, sprouts, cucs, etc.)
  • bean burritos or quesadillas
  • leftover dinners (see below)

Dinner:
  • Asian veggie stir-fry with noodles and tofu
  • veggie enchiladas, burritos, tacos, tostadas with fresh salsa and avocado and tofutti "sour cream"
  • vegan stuffed shells (stuffed with tofu, spinach, nutritional yeast, and spices)
  • spaghetti marinara
  • homemade whole wheat pizza crust with veggies
  • orzo pasta salad
  • stir fried veggies over brown rice
  • vegan "beef stroganoff"
Snacks:
  • veggies (plain or with hummus or other dip)
  • fruit
  • nuts
  • trail mix
  • granola bars
Book and Movie Recommendations
I have to recommend a few books and movies to anyone looking to improve their diet and health. Some are more motivational and some are instructional. After reading the first 1/4 of The China Study I was already convinced that I needed to change our diet and eliminate meat and dairy! Powerful stuff...

Books:


Movies (all available on Netflix!):

Forks Over Knives (based on the first 2 books listed above)
The Beautiful Truth
Foodmatters
Fat, Sick, And Nearly Dead

In the next post I will share some of my new favorite "health blogs." :)




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