A Vegan Weight Watcher

An Emotional Day 4 Leads to Some Tough Choices

veganweightwatcher — Wed, 05 May 2010 03:14:57 +0000

On day four, I felt like I was being hit from all sides. Work, family, friends…there were more issues then I could handle today. And my first inclination was to get home and have a glass of wine and a piece of chocolate. WHAT?! I was appalled that that is what I was craving. Until I realized that my mind was craving the stress relief, and not my body. And then I remembered the Chocolate Cherry Bomb recipe on Kristen’s Raw blog. Is is possible? Could I satisfy the craving while eating healthy and staying on plan.

Chocolate Cherry Bomb - WF Challenge Style

Raw Cacao - pretty tasty stuff

I was sure going to give it a try. I went to my local health foods store and bought Raw Cacao, and threw 2 Tablespoons into the blender with raw spinach, water, Trader Joes’ frozen cherry berry blend and a banana. First sip out of the blender did not taste that good. The chocolate flavor was a little bitter…and honestly I just wanted creamy and rich. I think if I had used soy or almond milk, I would have been able to achieve this. Maybe after the challenge . Instead, I added a few raw cashews, and seemed to help with the rich flavor.

So I wasn’t totally impressed with the beverage, but it certainly helped cure the craving. What I was impressed with was how much energy I had after I drank it. I felt like zooming out of the house and going for a run. I made way too much tonight, and have a glassful left. And can’t wait to drink it tomorrow morning on the way to work.

Day 3…And The Work Week Challenges Begin

veganweightwatcher — Wed, 05 May 2010 03:00:47 +0000

I thought it would be hard to stay on plan during the work week, but I found that if you plan ahead, and have many food options on hand, you should be fine.

My original plan was to eat left over steel cut oats for breakfast. But when I took them out of the fridge, and remembered what it was like to eat them fresh and hot, I just couldn’t choke them down. So instead, I just drank coffee on my hour long drive to work. Not a good idea. It threw my appetite off throughout the day. I snacked on some fruit and nuts in the morning and afternoon, and as a result a minor work crisis, I forgot to eat lunch.

Food during the day - verdict: NOT ENOUGH

Also not a good idea. Usually when this happens (and it happens from time to time) I am about to pass out I am so hungry. But yesterday I didn’t really have an appetite. I can’t decide if it was the work stress, or that the whole foods are keeping my fuller longer. Either way, I am not pleased with my food choices yesterday, and know I need to make better ones in order to stay healthy on this challenge.

On another topic, I did have my weigh- in last night, and it went pretty well. Down 1.6 pounds. I even had the opportunity to share my experiences with the WF challenge. The group thought it was cool, but a little nutty. Then I shared that it was hard to feel satisfied eating only my points allowance. And my leader gave me a big “a ha” moment. It’s like I’m doing the old core program, so I should just eat until I’m full, since I’m eating only filling, wholesome foods. Duh! Why didn’t I think about that? So going forward, I am not going to count points, but focus on eating enough wholesome foods to feel satisfied.

So all in all, feeling pretty good about the challenge. It’s starting to feel like 30 days is going to be a long time…but I am determined.

An Experiment in Cooking

veganweightwatcher — Mon, 03 May 2010 02:19:52 +0000

For the past six years, I have been a vegetarian, and took the plunge to full fledged vegan about 4 months ago. For those first six years, I have to say, I was a very unhealthy vegetarian. It started in college with pizza and beer, and lack of working out. Which led to the weight gain. And now, looking back, I can see what a toll I had put on my body.

The choice to go vegan was partially about ethical treatment of animals, as well as doing my part in fixing the environment. But it was also about trying to find my health. What I didn’t know was how much junk food you can still eat on a vegan diet. Perhaps I was naïve in thinking that the choice for ethical eating would automatically make me healthy. Wrong. You still need choose healthy foods each and everyday. Soy nuggets, boca burgers and Amy’s vegan pizza are all tasty, but perhaps not the best choice if you’re going for health and weightloss.

Which is why I was so excited to try the 30 day challenge. And on day 2, I realized how much work it is to prepare healthy whole foods. Don’t get me wrong, I enjoyed every minute of it, but I did spend the majority of my Sunday in the kitchen. Steel cut oats, beans, brown rice, homemade vegan burgers, millet “mashed potatoes”, and of course brightly colored salads all made their way through my kitchen. One question – how do you make steel cut oats taste good without processed foods? Not really, I’m asking, because my oats were just awful.

Cooking the Whole Foods Way - Christine Pirello - inspired the millet mashed potatoes

So the dinner pic is not that great, but was really tasty. The millet mashed potatoes come from Christina Pirello. She’s like the queen of Whole Food cooking. Check out christinacooks.com

Daily food log:

Steel cut oats with 1/2 green apple and raisins – 3 points
Green Monster – 2
Rice and Chili (LO from last night) – 7
Salad with scoop of guac – 2
Air popped popcorn with nooch – 1
Millet Mashed potatoes – 3
2 veggies patties – 4
Carrots – 0

Total – 22 points (hit my daily target!)

Tomorrow should be a challenge. It’s the start of a work week, and my game plan is to have a ton of challenge friendly food on hand. That way I will be ready when hunger strikes. Also, I have a weigh in at Weight Watchers tomorrow, and I’m kind of nervous for it…I had a few “last processed meals” this week

One Day Down…29 To Go

veganweightwatcher — Sat, 01 May 2010 09:10:54 +0000

I’m really glad this challenge started on a Saturday. It gave me the chance to really plan out the day, and think about how I wanted to approach the kitchen.

Breakfast started out with two cups of straight black coffee. I’ve decided not to give up coffee for the challenge, because I love it too much. However, I am used to putting in soy creamer, so that was a change. I had bought steel-cut oats, and planned to make them for breakfast, however, that just didn’t seem appealing. What I really wanted was a green smoothie. If you had asked me two months ago what I thought about green smoothies, I probably would have rolled my eyes and gagged. But thank goodness I decided to get over my fear of green monsters, because now I am addicted.

Water, Spinach, Banana, Frozen Strawberries, Fresh pineapple and slash of lemon juice = 3 points*

3 point Green Monster

For lunch I was inspired by a place I used to go when I lived/worked in Chicago. A place called Freshii. I used to always get a brown rice, tofu, veggie, chickpea bowl, with a cucumber/dill/avocado dressing. And this is my version:

6 point rice, chickpea delight

1 cup brown rice, 1/2 cup chickpeas, veggies and dressing = 6 points*

I found I was pretty hungry again not too long after the rice dish. Knowing I didn’t want to spend a ton of points on an afternoon snack, I decide to make a nice side salad. This contained mixed greens, chickpeas, fresh salsa from the Blue Goose, 1/3 avocado and mixed veggies.

greens, 1/2 cup chickpeas, salsa, veggies, 1/3 avocado = 5 points

After a nice salad, I hit the gym for a lovely 45 minutes of cardio, which equaled 2 activity points. Bonus!

Dinner was a great vegan chili and brown rice, which totaled 6.5 points for the meal. The chili recipe comes from EnLIGHTened, a book I recommend to all busy working women, trying to find peace and happiness with themselves. Oh, and I made a beautiful salad. Look at all of the colors!

6.5 points for rice and chili - delish!

Side salad - spritzed with lime juice - ZERO POINTS!

And after a lovely dinner, I wanted to be done with food for the night. But I was still pretty hungry. So I counted out 14 cashews, which equals 1 serving= 4 points

So all in all, a very successful first day of the challenge. I had fun cooking today, thinking about what I was going to eat and how. I made my first batch of non-canned beans (chickpeas) and they turned out alright. I did use canned items for the chili, but I did make sure that they complied with the challenge. So I have to say, I am quite impressed with myself

Daily points total = +.5. So I went over half a point, but I think it’s worth it. I found myself much hungrier than normal, but my body felt great all day. And as pleased as I am with my food choices today, I can tell 30 days is going to be tough. But I am determined, and can’t wait to try again tomorrow. See you then!

A journey begins…

veganweightwatcher — Fri, 30 Apr 2010 10:30:27 +0000

For months now I have been diving into the fitness/health/vegan blog world. I have found tremendous inspiration and education. I’ve been toying with the idea of starting my own, and I now have the perfect reason to. But first, a little bit about me.

In a nutshell, I am a twenty something, working an office job in the Chicagoland area, trying to find health, happiness and weightloss through a vegan diet. I’ve been struggling with weight for over ten years, and have recently returned to the Weight Watchers* (for perhaps the fifth or sixth time). But this time is different, and this time I’ve already lost 17 pounds. But I still have 20 to 25 pounds left to lose. But more importantly, I want to find health. I’ve taken my health for granted for far too long, and it’s time for that to stop. And with that, I am pleased to announce that I will be joining the Happy Herbivore and her:

Blogger Challenge: 30 Whole Days

photo courtesy of happyherbivore.com

The rules are simple: eat and drink only whole foods. From the Happy Herbivore, “A good rule of thumb: does it look the way it did in nature? If not, is there more than one ingredient? While fresh foods are ideal, I plan to incorporate some frozen veggies and dry spices. And remember, real foods don’t come in a cardboard box.“

I think this challenge is amazing. I have told a lot of friends and co-workers of my plans, and they all have the same response. They roll their eyes, assuming that this just another crazy idea from Katie. And maybe it is. But I am determined. I am determined to live 30 days without processed foods. Oh, and one more thing, I will counting the weight watchers points. I will be combining whole foods and weightloss. And hopefully you will all join me on this ride

The challenge starts May 1st, which is only a few hours away. So get ready, and get excited. I know I am.

*Weight Watchers and Points are the registered trademarks of Weight Watchers International.