Wednesday's Weigh In: Week 6

I've lost another pound. There really isn't much to report as of now. Life is just really busy, so Veganstein is not my biggest priority at the moment. I've been drinking a lot of homemade smoothies lately and it just helped me remember how much I like them and how healthy they can be. I don't add sugar to them, just frozen fruit, fresh fruit, fresh vegetables, flax seed, and some almond milk- that's it. They're so good and my kids love them too! I'm feeling good too. I'm sure everyone is wondering this, so I'll finally give you the info you want, this diet has helped me become so much more regular, predictable even, this is a first for me. That is a definite benefit!

Monday's Menu

This is going by pretty quickly. Here's a list of my meals from last week:
Monday
Breakfast- Spinach, Fruit, Flax Seed, and Almond Milk Smoothie
Lunch- Lentil and Brown Rice Burrito
Dinner- Whole Wheat Spaghetti with Marinara
Tuesday
Breakfast-Slow Cooker Oatmeal
Lunch- Leftover Spaghetti, Dill Rye Toast
Dinner- NVM
Wednesday
Breakfast- 1/2 Banana
Lunch- Lentil Soup and Sauerkraut
Dinner- NVM
Thursday
Breakfast- Spinach, Fruit, and Almond Milk Smoothie
Lunch- Smoothie
Dinner- Lentil Soup and Tortilla Chips
Friday
Breakfast- Spinach, Fruit, and Almond Milk Smoothie
Lunch- Salad and Vegan Whole Wheat Bread
Dinner- Chickpea Noodle Soup
Saturday
Breakfast- a plum
Lunch- Potatoes, Rice, and Vegetables
Dinner- Pasta Salad and Green Salad
Sunday
Breakfast- Spinach, Fruit, Carrots, Almond Milk, and Flax Seed Smoothie
Lunch- Peanut Butter and Strawberry Preserves on Vegan Whole Wheat Bread, and Smoothie
Dinner- Chickpea Noodle Soup
I've been feeling great! My skin is breaking out a lot though and I have to wonder if it's at all related to this diet. I usually don't have acne or skin problems, but I have had some issues for the past month or so. Of course, it could also be due to the weather changes. The chickpea noodle soup I made this week was super yummy, I just followed a recipe for chicken noodle soup and substituted the chicken broth with vegetable stock and the chicken with chickpeas, delicious! Is it just more or are most vegan meals soups? I'm fine with that, except that 75% of the year where I live it is just not soup weather, thank goodness it's beginning to be cooler now.

Wednesday's Weigh-In, Week 5

I've lost 1 pound since last week and, although I'm not fully focused on my weight, I've got to say, I'm happy to see the scale tip in the right direction- even if it is only 1 pound down. This means that since I've begun, I've lost 4 pounds and am 24 pounds away from my goal weight. I'm pretty well on track this week so far as my menu plan goes and since I have a plan, I should be doing great by the end of the week. I'm trying to incorporate flax seed more into our diet here and I have done so successfully so far, adding it to smoothies and oatmeal and today I'm going to try adding a little to my vegan whole wheat bread. I'm exercising regularly, even after being sick last week and over the weekend, and I am seeing my body change a lot from that. I'm doing the Jillian Michaels 30-day Shred and I love it! It's only a 20 minute workout every day, but it's great and after only a couple of weeks of doing it I'm seeing results. I have to return it to the library next week, so we'll see what I end up doing next.

My biggest concern right now is continuing this experiment while on vacation. I'm going to be taking two trips soon, one next weekend and another the following week. We're going to be traveling quite a long distance for one of those trips, which usually means we opt for less healthy food just for the convenience. We'll also be staying with family and I'm always concerned about being a bad house guest- making too many requests outside the hosts' normal routine/diet. I'm sure I'll be fine though, hopefully my husband will keep my in check a little while we're away. I'm planning to make some granola and other snack foods to have on hand while we travel, so that should help somewhat. I'll have to come up with some Veganstein travel tips and post them once I can get it figured out.

Monday Menu Week 4

Ugh! Last week was bad. I started off the week super busy- catching up with stuff after my husband was sick the previous week. Then, I got sick along with my 4 year-old. It was brutal on my experiment here. My husband took good care of me and our children while I was sick, but, since he was in charge of meals, there wasn't a whole lot of Veganstein going on. I was feeling a little better by Saturday, although even today I'm not 100% back, but by then my diet was already all out of whack. Luckily, I made a meal plan and did some grocery shopping that should get us through the next couple of weeks, so we'll just call last week a loss and start this week off much better. Okay? In addition to being busy and sick, I didn't get on the computer much because my hubby has been swamped at work and has been working from home during his regular hours as well as after hours, so I wasn't great at keeping record of my meals last week. Here's what I've got, forgive me for my laziness this past week in keeping track.
Monday
Breakfast- Plain Everything Bagel
Lunch- Black Bean and Corn Burrito
Dinner- NVM
Tuesday
Breakfast- Plain Everything Bagel
Lunch- Sweet Potato Minestrone Soup
Dinner- Vegan Stir Fry and Rice
Wednesday
Breakfast- 1/2 banana and a handful of raspberries
Lunch- I stalk celery with peanut butter, 1 piece of vegan dill rye toast
Dinner- Couscous with Vegetables
Thursday
Breakfast- Nothing
Lunch-Peanut Butter and Strawberry Preserves on toast
Dinner-NVM
Friday
Breakfast- Strawberry Preserves on toast
Lunch- (can't remember, probably toast again)
Dinner-NVM
Saturday
Breakfast- Nothing
Lunch- Black Bean and Corn Burrito
Dinner- Vegetable and Chickpea Stir Fry with Brown Rice
Sunday
Breakfast- Slow Cooker Oatmeal
Lunch- Peanut Butter and Strawberry Preserves on toast
Dinner- NVM (Yes, I know I exceeded my goal, but it was a delicious meal with family, totally worth it)

I'm finding that I'm not sure what to do with myself when it comes to meals with family or friends. We're new to our community, so I don't want to be the weirdo "vegan", especially since my diet is not truly vegan and I don't categorize myself as a vegan. Plus, when I go to see family the food is always so delicious, I'd hate to miss out on something I love just because of this experiment. I do cut back a lot, though, and that is something I'm proud of. I think, too, I'm just more attracted to the fruits and vegetables made available wherever I eat rather than heading straight for the meatiest, cheesiest food available and eating that in excess- so that should count for something. I certainly feel better when I eat healthier and I'm beginning to feel when my dietary choices are not as good as they generally are and I think that's great. I think it means that this experiment is making me more aware of how different foods effect me, my health, my mood, and my overall opinion of myself and that is such a valuable tool that I can use to make better choices for myself and my family in the future.

Wednesday's Weigh-In Week 4

It's week 4 of Veganstein and I'm feeling really excellent about how things are going. I have been, however, a little lazy about cooking though, so I need to snap myself out of that. I have not lost any weight, but I can tell by the way my clothes fit that my body is changing. I'm feeling strong and energetic. My monthly grocery budget is not liking this experiment though, as it has nearly doubled our grocery bill, so I'm going to have to find out how to eat plant-based while being thrifty, and fast. It may be just because there aren't a lot of options where I live to shop around for deals because I'm in a small town, but I hope I can get back to my normal grocery budget. I'm really looking forward to the harvest of different fruits and vegetables coming up soon and seeing what we can do with that. My guess is that pumpkins, squash, and apples will accompany many a meal in the coming months- yum! Meanwhile, I find my 4 year-old talking to a lot to his friends about food and exercise. He and his friends, while I was teaching preschool, talked all during one snack time about what kind of milk they each drink- cow's milk, almond milk, coconut milk (Noah's favorite). It was cute. I've also overheard Noah talking to his friends about how we shouldn't eat a lot of meat, but we can eat lots of fruits and vegetables to be healthy and strong- he's learning! It's so nice to have these conversations as a family and to see that my son is thinking about his body and how to take care of it.

Week 3 Monday Menu

Here's what I ate last week. I have to say last week went much better than the previous week. I found it much easier to stick to my experiment. I started up again with my exercise routine Thursday morning and that always helps me make better dietary decisions. The Sweet Potato Minestrone was so delicious! The Vegan Korma was tasty and very filling. I don't yet have a concrete plan for this week's menu, but I'm going to experiment a little more with tofu.
Week 3
Monday
Breakfast- Vegan Bread, plain
Lunch- Vegan Bread with Peanut Butter and Raspberry Preserves
Dinner- Sweet Potato Minestrone Soup
Tuesday
Breakfast- Apples & Cinnamon Oatmeal
Lunch- Black Bean and Brown Rice Burrito
Dinner- NVM
Wednesday
Breakfast- Bowl of Fruit (Green Grapes, Pineapple chunks, Banana slices)
Lunch- Sweet Potato Minestrone Soup
Dinner- Spaghetti
Snack- Dinner
Thursday
Breakfast- Plain Everything Bagel
Lunch- Miso Soup and Whole Wheat Crackers
Snack- Popcorn
Dinner- Vegan Korma
Friday
Breakfast- Cheerios with Almond Milk
Snack- a small glass of Almond milk
Lunch- Sweet Potato Minestrone Soup and crackers
Dinner- Black Bean and Corn Enchiladas
Saturday
Breakfast- Plain Everything Bagel and Almond milk
Lunch-NVM
Dinner- Black Bean and Corn Enchiladas
Sunday
Breakfast- Plain Everything Bagel
Lunch- Black Bean and Corn Burrito
Dinner- NVM

Wednesday's Weigh-In Week 3

Once again, I haven't lost or gained any weight, that's okay though. I haven't been feeling very healthy lately, though, and I know it is because I haven't been as consistent with my workouts this week- darn! Tomorrow I am starting back up with doing it in the mornings, regardless of how I feel. I've been feeling lethargic and I wonder if it's because of my diet. I have noticed that I don't sleep well the nights after my NVMs partially because my mind just won't shut off and also because my stomach is usually pretty upset. I wonder if there's a connection to my mind racing and eating meat and dairy- do they help with brain activity? I'm going to have to research that. The stomach aches, I think, are primarily caused by my eating cheese (especially if it's in a considerable amount)- darn again! I really like the taste of cheese, but I'm not liking what it does to my stomach after I eat it. I'm also beginning to see where/when I make bad decisions with my family's diet, it's when we're busy, which, lately, has been a lot. Even when I plan ahead, one little kink in the plan makes me wish I could just run to the nearest grocery store and pick up a frozen pizza, but I haven't because of this diet. Last night, however, I was thawing a vegan meal I had made a while back for my husband and I to eat after the kids went to bed so we could have a little dinner & movie at home date, but it didn't thaw enough and I really didn't have a back up plan, so he ran and picked us up some food which was tasty, but did not make me feel good afterward. Things like that just bother me, I don't like it when I plan to do something healthy, and end up really botching it. Today is a new day, right? Thank goodness for that! Needless to say, this past week hasn't been the easiest for me, and it's only 3 weeks in, but I'm still motivated to keep this up and see how it goes more long-term. Wish me luck.