The Banana Problem

So, because I’ve turned vegan and have been researching a lot, I’ve learned that of course in order for bananas to be ripe, they should have lots of spots on them. The bright yellow bananas are actually still very starchy and haven’t had time for the starch to turn into sugar yet. So I’ve been trying to let the bananas sit longer. But I noticed that I don’t like the bananas as much. I couldn’t figure out what was going on!

I was watching Freelee’s videos (as usual) and I noticed when she would peel a banana, it would stay upright like a normal banana should. My very ripe bananas were almost falling over! Yet the peels looked the same… How are the outsides the same but the insides are so different? I was very frustrated. I couldn’t eat the banana as a banana and so was making multiple smoothies.

Today, since I’m coming off the two days I spent eating cooked meals and going back on RawTill4, I knew I needed to have more than the 13 oranges I freshly juiced this morning. That wasn’t enough. So I looked at my bananas, and picked fairly spotty ones, though not as spotted/almost brown looking as I had been leaving them to ripen, and let me tell you, I ate 13, as is, no smoothies. They were like banana sugar paradise! I have found the right stage for bananas to be! Now I understand what they are actually supposed to taste like! Yahoo!

So here’s what I figured out. Different climates will cause things to ripen in different ways. My fruit is not sitting in the sun, I live in a very dry climate (whereas she lives in a tropical climate), and so they almost certainly are not going to ripen the same way. Duh!

I am seriously so happy I figured it out. It actually saves on time for ripening, and I love them! Such sweet goodness! Have you ever had struggles with bananas? Did you know about the proper ripening of them? Leave your answers in the comments below!

Week 13: Day 4 Extended

I REALLY did not want to get out of bed this morning. I was tired, my body was tired, my body ached all over, and I was just in bad shape. The warm shower really helped with all of those symptoms, except for the fact I was running late, again.

School went well. We had tutoring after school and that was a little bit crazy, but overall it went good again. We’ve finally made plans that after Christmas break, the three of us supervisors don’t need to be there every week, and one of us can do it at a time. That saves me about 3 days of work per month! I can handle that!

I stayed after school to get some grading done. I think I will appreciate later the fact that I’m getting work out of the way so that when deadlines approach, I won’t have quite as much to do. No more procrastinating!

After I went home, I had my celery and protein peanut butter again. Oh my goodness, how I look forward to that treat! As low as my calories are, that specific combination is a taste of paradise. Yum!

My husband was hungry and so we went out to eat. I had just enough macros to save for my protein shake after my workout and a salad with a chicken breast on it while eating with my husband. That way, I didn’t have to watch him eat. Though his burgers did look really good…

Tonight’s workout was hard at the beginning but in a way kind of got easier. I started off with a massive lack-of-food headache and had to have a coffee to get my body and mind in the game. Squats killed me. But I successfully completed the leg workout with 20 minutes of HIIT afterwards. Oh how was I ready to drink that shake and go to bed!