Vegan for a Day

I'm calling this post Vegan for a Day because even though I plan to try veganism for a week, I don't want to set myself up for failure and let's face it, I'm not good at sticking to plans.
So, I read Alicia Silverstone's book The Kind Diet and I decided to try her way of life. She made some really great points in the book about how we're not really designed to eat meat or dairy and she talked about all the nasty stuff it does to our bodies. So I thought...why not try this out and see if there's anything to it. Now, my diet consists of lots of cheese. I love it and I eat it frequently. And while I don't drink much milk, most of what I eat contains some sort of dairy or eggs. And truth be told, most of our dinners feature meat as a centerpiece. But another truth be told...I usually feel pretty crappy. I've either got a stomach ache, a headache or just a general crappy feeling going on, especially after I eat.
Alicia swears that by eating whole grains and greens and staying away from meat and dairy, I'll look and feel fabulous. Well..here goes nothing.
So I started the day with oatmeal with a tiny bit of pure maple syrup and blueberries. Yum. I was somewhat concerned about the lack of protein, but Alicia swears that we'll get all the protein we need from a plant-based diet.
For lunch I had these Gardein fake chicken tenders made out of soy (nine grams of protein per tender).

This wasn't the best choice I suppose (brown rice, beans and greens would have been ideal) but I was craving chicken and this brand was recommended in the book. They were delicious. Crispy and wonderful and only 100 calories per two tenders.
I also had a big bowl of sauteed squash and zucchini. Yum again.
For dinner, I roasted sweet potatoes and sauteed some kale. I love sweet potatoes and kale, especially together. I added in a little sticky brown rice. It was fantastic. My husband grilled chicken and I did get a little twinge when I saw it, but I stuck to my veggies.

My day as a vegan was so relatively easy, I decided to go for another day. For breakfast today, I ate the leftover sweet potato and kale.
And again the soy tenders. These really are pretty awesome.
For dinner, I'm going to have "chorizo" tacos and collard greens.
We shall see what tomorrow brings...

Letter to Abigail

Dear Abigail,
You are due to arrive in a little over two weeks, but I'm secretly hoping you decide to come a little early, safely and by your own choice of course.

I feel as though I've been waiting on you my whole life. I've wanted to be a mother for as long as I can remember. It's the one thing I knew, without a doubt, that I wanted more than anything else in life.
When we learned you were a girl, I cried tears of happiness. My very own baby girl to love.

These past few weeks, I've grown ever more inpatient. I just can't wait to see your face and hold you in my arms. I dream about you every night. I know you will be the most beautiful thing I have ever seen.

I'll admit, pregnancy has not been easy on me. Even without any complications, I've had a hard time dealing with all of the symptoms that come along with this crazy nine-month journey.

But I know each and every ache and pain will be worth it.
I know as soon as I look at you, I will forget every complaint.

Still Pregnant

Well...here I am, in the homestretch, six weeks to go and I could not be more ready for this pregnancy to be over. Sometimes I feel like I've been pregnant for years and will never again experience the old comforts I used to take for granted. Like being able to tie my own shoes without pain.
When I look back over this process, I wonder how in the world I will ever be able to do it again. I know they say you forget all the bad stuff of pregnancy but I have a feeling my husband will be there to quickly remind me of how miserable I was, and how miserable I made him. This baby girl might just be an only child.
I hate that I've been so terrible at this. I've complained every step of the way and often forgotten to cherish the fact that I have life growing inside me. I must confess: I'm an ungrateful bitch when it comes to being pregnant. 
On the other hand, I am thrilled about the baby girl I am soon to meet. I can't wait to see her, hold her, love her. She will be well worth the swollen puffy feet and ankles, back pain, weight gain, sleep deprivation. And I'm sure I will quickly forget about all that stuff when I look at her sweet face.
For now, however, I will moan and groan my way through the next six weeks. Bear with me.

pregnancy blahs

Before I start this, let me say that I am absolutely thrilled to be pregnant and can't wait to meet he or she in six months! Okay, now that I've gotten that out of the way...what the f**k is happening to my body?! Being pregnant might be one of the hardest things I've ever done. To be fair, I didn't do myself any favors by starting a new, full-time job just after finding out I'm expecting. Dragging my tired-ass out of bed every morning, fighting waves of nausea and sitting in front of a computer all day, with about half of the coffee I'm used to consuming, is not something I would recommend to anyone. All of this might be tolerable if I knew that when I crawled back home along the interstate with the rest of the corporate zombies at the end of the day, there was a giant bottle of red wine waiting for me. But the cruelest part of this whole pregnancy thing is that you can't drink. Just when you need it the most, the bottle is ripped from your swollen hands and you're left to face the whole nine months sober. I've never really heard pregnant women complain about this and I don't know if there just saintly bitches or if they're suffering silently. What I do know is that going to a party where there is alcohol and not being able to partake is my personal version of hell. I've discovered that I have very few social skills when not imbibing. I don't even know how to have a conversation without some sort of cocktail in my hand. Sad, I know, but unfortunately true.
I'll leave you with this for now, but I'll be back to explain how my boobs feel like over-inflated tires that could blow at any minute.

Boot Camp Update

Well...I haven't quit yet, which is surprising considering what I thought after the first session. The second session nearly killed me. We did circuits, a minute each of crazy exercises like burpees, mountain climbers, engines, etc. And we repeated this over and over and over until I thought there was no way they could possibly ask us to do them again, and they did. I barely survived. And the grass we did all this on made my skin itch well into the night. It kind of felt like the point of no return, like I've come this far, there's no going back now. When Friday came around, the last thing I wanted to do was end the week with a 90-minute workout in 98 degree heat when most normal people were enjoying happy hour. But there I was, running through an obstacle course at 6:30 on a Friday night. I felt pretty good about making it through the first week and thought there wasn't too much else that I wouldn't be able to handle. Then Monday came and they ordered each of us to grab a 50-pound sandbag. Trying to grasp these sandbags while doing chest presses, squats, bent-over rows, and bicep curls was beyond challenging. I prefer dumbbells any day. What really got me was that the sandbags leaked sand into my eyes, mouth and all over my chest. Plus I broke two of them when I slammed them to the ground, which frustrated the instructor. I tried to remind her that we were in fact at a gym and there are plenty of real weights inside, but to no avail. Tonight marks session five of boot camp and I'd be lying if I said I wasn't absolutely dreading it.

Boot Camp

Signed up for a four-week boot camp class at my gym, which began on Monday, one of the hottest days on record in Northwest Arkansas.
I was already regretting this decision and then when I got there, the instructors were measuring everyone's body parts and body fat percentage (by pinching the hell out of our arms and sides) in a tiny office with hardly any room to stand.
Once that torture was over, they handed us dog tags and said we had to wear them for the next four weeks. Dog tags don't exactly match my style, so I made a mental note to try and keep it in my car at all times so I won't forget to bring it to class, which results in extra push-ups and sprints.
Then I took the opportunity to look around at the people I'd be spending Monday, Wednesday and Friday evenings with for the month. Moving around a lot as I kid, I've gotten pretty good at measuring people up and deciding who I would befriend. None of these people seemed like friend potential and most of them annoyed the hell out of me with their over-enthusiasm for exercise.
They were actually excited about their dog tags.
Regardless, I tried to keep an open mind and even managed to smile at a few people. (Not the woman wearing a visor and carrying a lunch box and first aid kit.)
So, we started out with some really lame stretches that were yelled out in military style by instructors wearing combat boots. We were instructed to repeat the name of the stretch or exercise back in the same military-style cadence. I quickly wondered if I could get a way with just mouthing the words and found that I could not, they were actually watching each of us to make sure we yelled loudly, so I reluctantly chimed in and thanked God that none of my friends were there to witness.
We looked like a bunch of fools in front of the gym, doing jumping jacks and yelling in unison.
I swallowed my pride and reminded myself that I could not get my money back.
We then had to do fitness tests, seeing how many sit-ups and push-ups we can do in a minute. I told myself not to go overboard, as this was just the beginning of a 90 minute class. Plus if I kept my numbers low, I would impress everyone with my increased numbers at the end of the course.
Still, I managed to do more than everyone else and realized I'd set myself up for high expectations from the instructors.
But then it came time to complete a one-mile run, in 100 degree temps, with the sun beating down on us. I've never been able to run very much. I've tried numerous times to become a runner and it just doesn't work for me. My lungs burn and I get sharp pains in my side, not to mention I just plain hate running with no particular destination in mind. So, I walked a lot of the one-mile, gasping for breath the whole time.
I'm pretty sure I brought the instructors expectations back down.
We then waited for everyone to finish the run...we're were encouraged to run back to our teammates and cheer them on to the finish line but my body wasn't going any where. Nor was I in the mood for cheering.
So after that it was time to do the obstacle course. It was fairly simple until we got to some wires that we're supposed to crawl under on our hands and knees.
I was hot, sweaty and had no desire to get grass and dirt on my knees but I obliged. When I got up, I could feel the hives forming on my arms and legs because of the itchy grass. I knew I had about five to ten minutes before a full-on allergic reaction set in.
So I tried to wash the offending grass residue off with water and pretend I wasn't itching like crazy while the instructors handed out a "spirit stick."
Just how cheesy was this going to get?
I'll find out tonight, when I go back for round two. Lord help me.

I did it

I guess I should update the below post finally. I made it through the cleanse, although I didn't really complete day five because it was my grandmother's funeral and it's just nearly impossible to bring your own food to a wake. Regardless, I lost five pounds and I felt great. The best part though was that I'll continue to eat like this. I've been eating quinoa and lentils and kale and spinach and I LOVE it. Making those foods a priority in my diet makes me feel so healthy and clean. I don't think I could go back to eating cheeseburgers and tater tots. At least not as frequently as before. It's amazing what we put into our bodies without giving it much thought. This cleanse made me slow down and think about the role of food in my life. Food was intended to nourish, heal and help our bodies perform. When I think about that, I'm way more likely to eat a big bowl of fresh vegetables than a bag of Cheetos. I may or may not be wearing the dress this weekend, which was my initial goal, but I'm happier, healthier and wiser now thanks to that five-day cleanse. I think I will do it again soon and I know I will continue to incorporate all of the foods and tips I learned about into my daily diet. I just might have an occasional beer and slice of pizza every now and then ; )