Category Archives: Diet

Mash beans, avocado, and salsa together

My First Day Being a Vegan

Diet, Dietitian, Food, Vegan, Vegetarian, , , , , , , ,

Yesterday, I started the Vegan Experiment Challenge.

The day started off with a true challenge. The breakfast I had planned was mock scrambled eggs made with tofu. Unfortunately, I didn’t research any recipes before I shopped and I got the wrong consistency of tofu. This threw off my plan for my very first meal! Even with a bumpy start, my husband and I perservered and  were 100% vegan on the first day of the challenge!

I felt tired; but I don’t think that was related to diet (more a poor night’s sleep and a busy day!). I felt like I ate a lot of vegetables and the 51 grams of fiber indicates I did indeed eat many vegetables yesterday. I hit my calorie range; but was low on protein. Meal details and nutrition information follow with all the numbers at the end of this post.

Breakfast: Kashi Cinnamon Harvest cereal with almond milk, coffee with almond milk and splenda

An easy vegan breakfast
An easy vegan breakfast

Morning snack: almonds and raisins

Easy homemade snack
Easy homemade snack

Lunch: bean burrito made from a Flatout wrap, mashed black/pinto beans, salsa, avocado, rice, cilantro,  and lime juice served with tomato and cumumber slices on the side

Mash beans, avocado, and salsa together
Mash beans, avocado, and salsa together
Put mixture, rice, cilantro, and lime juice on wrap
Put mixture, rice, cilantro, and lime juice on wrap
Vegan Bean Burrito
Vegan Bean Burrito

Afternoon snack: while I hesitate to call it a snack, I must confess to having 2 beers while relaxing on the beach in the afternoon…

Dinner: Quinoa with red/green bell peppers, red onions, garlic, pineapple, sliced almonds, and a dash of sriracha sauce served with a side of roasted vegetables (beets, carrots, onions) seasoned with canola oil, garlic powder, oregano, and red pepper flakes

Quinoa bowl and roasted garden vegetables
Quinoa bowl and roasted garden vegetables

For those of you out there who like the numbers, here you go!

1560 calories, 209 grams carbohydrates, 51 grams fiber, 37 grams fat, 3 grams saturated fat, 0 trans fat, 0 cholesterol, 47 grams protein, and 890 milligrams sodium. For the daily values, my numbers were 73% calcium, 71% iron, 31% vitamin D, 13% zinc, and 0 vitamin B12.

All images are personal photographs. You may use them as long as you credit (my name and a link back to my Web site).

groceries

Vegan Experiment Shopping Day

Diet, Dietitian, Food, Vegan, Vegetarian, , , , ,

I have found myself wondering if eating a vegan diet for five days will be more expensive than my typical diet. I believe there are two ways to go with vegetarian/vegan eating. One is to use whole natural foods and shop in the conventional grocery stores and one is to use the vegetarian/vegan-specific marketed foods and shop in the specialty grocery stores.

Now, that I write that, I realize that’s true no matter what type of diet one follows.

Today, I spent $55.33 at a conventional store on groceries for the next six days. I already have some staples on hand, such as quinoa and dried beans, and I just got a nice harvest (curly kale, carrots, onions, and basil) from the university’s organic garden. I am so looking forward to those kale chips I’ll be making tomorrow with the beautiful organic curly kale! I couldn’t find a soy-only protein powder, so I still need to pick that up for about $10-$12. Even if I had to purchase the quinoa, black beans, and garden vegetables and adding the cost of the protein powder, I think ~$75 to feed 2 people for six days is pretty darn good! That’s just $6.25 per person per day, or around $2 meal!

Here’s my list. Don’t worry – the meals and recipes will be coming over the next five days as I live this experiment!

Produce: avocado, bananas, green/red bell peppers, romaine lettuce, tomatoes, cucumber, portobello mushrooms, apples, limes, and canned pineapple

Proteins: silken tofu, sliced and whole almonds, peanut butter, canellini beans

Grains: cereal, rice cakes, whole wheat spaghetti

Misc: soup, salsa

Any ideas what I’ll be making?

Quinoa Loaded Bowl

Thoughts on Dieting and a Quinoa Recipe

Diet, Dietitian, Grains, Healthy Diet, , , , , , ,
One Pea on a Fork
One Pea on a Fork

I believe we should all eat when we are hungry.

I interned and now work part-time with a private practice that specializes in eating disorders. We all have that voice inside our heads that sends us positive and negative messages about our bodies, our food intake, our ability to control these things. Eating disorders, like any psychological illnesses, are normal thought patterns taken to the extreme. Those with eating disorders battle with that voice in their heads and that voice begins to win.

I have also worked briefly at a bariatric surgeon’s office who specialized in lapband surgery. I had ethical issues with his post-surgery diet so it wasn’t a good fit. In the time I worked there, however, I saw another form of disordered eating in both the pre- and post-surgery patients.

 
Both of these populations had lost touch with or flat out ignored their body’s hunger and satiety cues and I, in no way, endorse this.

If you are hungry, eat. If you are not hungry, don’t eat.

Yes, that is simplistic and much easier said than done; but that’s the premise for a healthy relationship with food.

I  also do not believe in “dieting” per se. The research shows time and time again that dieting does not work. No matter the method (low carb, low fat, high protein, shakes, meal plans, or simple calorie restriction), the weight comes off (duh), the dieting stops, and the weight comes back on. The diet mentality is not effective.

One can go “off” a diet and therein lies the problem.

 
I’ll step off my soapbox now to share a recipe and picture. I’m working on my food photography skills. Here is a version of a recipe I found in Clean Eating Magazine.

Quinoa Bowl: 1/2 cup quinoa, 1/2 cup rinsed black beans, 7 grape tomatoes halved, chopped red onion to taste, 1/4 avocado chopped, red wine vinegar to taste, lime juice, and cilantro. YUM!

Nutrition Info: 335 kcal, 56g CHO, 9 g fat, 13g protein.

Quinoa Loaded Bowl
Quinoa Loaded Bowl

Original publication date July 29, 2012 at http://newmotivationcoaching.blogspot.com.Images from personal photographs and http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/images