Orange Island – Healing Journey Day 15

Journal:
Today was a very lazy day. I didn’t wake up in time to go to church so I grabbed a plate of oranges and stayed home.

I don’t have a lot to write about today as I literally rested for most of the day.

After sundown, I did start prepping some items for tomorrow’s softball tournament. My housemate and I made up more candy bags, made two kinds of popcorn balls and rice krispy squares. Though I did stick to just eating oranges, the smell of vanilla was getting to me. It took some willpower to not breakdown and eat something today. But once again, I was able to do it.

It was a late night, but by 12:30 am, I was asleep.

Review of Symptoms:
-Acne showing no improvement.
-Hair is still not greasy and I’m loving it.
-Digestion is great.

Weight at the end of the day = 174.6 lbs (down a total of 14.2 lbs)

Total Calories = 781 (98% carbs, 1% fat, 1% protein)

Day 18 – “You Got A Problem With Me?”

I have a problem. I brought home that veggie burger last night (and felt the misery of so much grease this morning), and do you think I did “RawTill4”? Absolutely not! I knew that burger was in there, and that’s what I went for. I’ve gotta learn to order only what I can eat that night, and not take things home. It’s not mentally working!

Meals:

Breakfast – Veggie Burger
Lunch – Vanilla Iced Coffee (I know, not much of a lunch…)
Late Snack – 4 Freezies (so hot here!)
Supper – Black Bean Burger, French Fries
Late Night Snack – Blood Orange Kombucha, Vegan Vanilla Cake

I didn’t workout today, but it was a bit of a weird, interesting day.

It was late this evening when we went to Planet Organic. I honestly love that store, and I needed some last minute items to take with me while I’m camping this week with my students.  When we got to the store, there was a very intoxicated man standing outside the doors. As soon as my husband got out of the car, he yelled at him saying something along the lines of, “You got a problem with me?”. Um, no Dude… we just pulled up and we’re going to get groceries. We hadn’t had a problem with you yet… But as we kept walking inside, repeating the word no several times, two bicycle policemen were walking towards him. As we went through the sliding doors, the store manager came over asking if he was still there, and was happy to see the police were there. I’m guessing this guy had been hanging around, causing trouble for awhile. What an extra little “spice” to the night.

Then it comes to me sitting here, eating this vegan vanilla cake. It takes me back to a whole different world…

A couple years ago, I was sitting in my apartment, my husband still unable to work, and living paycheque to paycheque. At times, I had to juggle which bill I could let slide for a month or two. Half of the time, our car didn’t work. It was such a different world. For us, it was such a treat to eat at Tim Hortons or McDonalds, McDonalds being the most frequent because it was the shorter walk from our place. We did what we could with what we had.

One day, we had taken the bus to go shopping down this road, covered with stores on both sides, and that’s when I saw the organic food market. I remember walking through there, not being able to really buy much (much more expensive than a McDonalds-night-out budget), but I so wanted to try this vegan vanilla cake. I had been vegetarian for many years and had heard lots of criticism about vegans and how the lack of dairy made everything taste bad. I so badly wanted to see for myself. Luckily, they sell pieces of the cake for a couple dollars, so I was able to get that and I think one special drink (I believe it was also the first time I tried kombucha). I couldn’t believe how good it was. In fact, I remember sitting at the bus stop, not realizing kombucha was carbonated, had shaken the bottle, opened it, and was quickly covered in what I immediately thought smelled like vinegar. What a smell for the ride home!

Sometimes I think it’s important we look back and see how far we’ve come. My husband is now on his third job in this country, we live in a 3-level townhouse instead of a 1-bedroom apartment, we have 2 working vehicles instead of one that continuously broke down, we have our own washing machine instead of using coin laundry, and I’ve gone vegan, eating as organic as possible. We NEVER eat at McDonalds anymore. So much has changed. It doesn’t mean we’re quite comfortable to where I’d like to be, but we’re in a place where don’t have to worry about bills not being paid, or fun not being had (though still smaller scale). And as I’m sitting here eating this vegan vanilla cake, I can smile and know I’ve come a long way from the first time I was blown away with this delicious treat, and look forward to where I’ll be the next time I have it again.

Day 10

This morning, I woke up at 5:30 sharp. What time was my alarm set for? 7:00. I have so much energy I can’t even finish sleeping in the morning! Seems a little strange…

So the first thing I did was drink a cup of water. Time to start getting the body hydrated!

For breakfast, I had an organic mini seedless watermelon. Almost halfway through the melon, I started wondering how I was even going to finish the thing. It was a beautiful red flesh, sweet flavour, and very little white flesh melon. So delicious. Somehow, I just kept eating and ate the whole thing!

I got ready, went to my chiropractor and acupuncture appointments, and then starting thinking those food thoughts again… I wanted so bad to stop and get sushi. Oh my goodness, it took the whole drive home for me to talk myself out of going. Not that it’s not vegan (cucumber rolls, avocado rolls, etc…), but it’s definitely not rawtill4 and I really don’t need to spend the extra money.

Somehow, I did it again! I beat my mind, came home, made a sandwich with Silver Hills Squirrely bread, an avocado, some lemon juice, cucumber, this raw ranch dip, and some salsa. I then had another fifth of my fresh mango cake with some vanilla coconut yogurt on top. Not the best raw meals, but it did stop me from spending extra money and it will tide me over for now.

For supper tonight, I’ve asked my husband to go to our stir fry place where I can get different fruits and veggies that I want, served with rice and noodles. I can’t believe I’m craving rice! I used to dread eating it. I have such a craving for it today!

After my husband came home, we got ready and went to our stir fry place. Oh, it was so good! I made a mix of carrots, bean sprouts, cauliflower, chick peas, tofu, mini corn-on-the-cob, pineapple, dried cranberries, peanuts, kale, noodles, and coconut rice. I use sweet and sour sauce and coconut milk as a topping. Oh it was so delicious. I even indulged and had a green onion cake. It was just so good and so filling! I couldn’t eat it all.

After we came home and let the food digest a little, we got ready and went to the gym. I did 30 minutes of treadmill cardio, followed by some variations of lunges, walking high kicks, stretches and the chiropractor exercises. It was a good energizing workout.

When I got home, I finished that fantastic stir fry. In fact, I wished I had more. Maybe next time I’ll make my stir fry bigger! 🙂

That was basically it for the day. I’m feeling good!

Day 8

Today was a different day. Today was a busy morning, getting my husband’s clothes ready for his new job that he’s currently stressed about (in school this week, doesn’t have a chance to start making money until next week), as well as making sure I had everything and was ready for my students’ PAT today.

I did not eat breakfast, and pretty much snacked on bananas, apples, Bolthouse Vanilla Chai (which is vegan!), apple juice, and other school-approved snacks that I had bought. I snacked pretty much for the first 5 hours of the day. Oh boy… not the best food, but not necessarily the worst.

Because my students missed their gym time and morning recess, I gave them a 45-minute recess after lunch. They were such troopers, and I was proud of them. After all, they were writing for 2-3 hours straight. It gave me an opportunity to not only get some fresh air, but also to soak up some good vitamin D!

When I came home, I was so happy to find my new Organic Box! It’s like opening a present every time to find these beautiful organic fruits and vegetables. This time, I also ordered some organic seaweed chips for my husband and I to try. They were DELISH! We ate the whole bag (my husband ate more than I did, but I still had a fair share!).

Before heading to the gym, I had two pieces of Silver Hills Squirrely bread with peanut butter and peach jam made with xylitol. I also had some rainbow carrots with a vegan ranch dip I also ordered in my Organic Box. The dip was ok, but I have to be honest when I say the rainbow carrots are not particularly my favourite. Maybe I’ve become so out-of-touch with the taste of real carrots again. We’ll see.

At the gym, I was on the treadmill for 30 minutes, then did some lunges, walking high kicks, some stretches, and my chiropractor exercises. I felt so good and energized the whole time.

When I came home, I took a look at those mangos I still have done nothing with (should have done something with them yesterday. They are really going to go bad soon!) So tonight, I took out the blender, cut all of the good flesh off of them, and pureed it with a little vanilla and macadamia oil. I then took out a bowl and mixed some flour with baking soda, cinnamon, and a pinch of salt. I then mixed the two together, put it in a shallow baking dish, and waited for my fresh mango cake to cook.

While I was waiting, for tonight’s supper (really need to fix my whole eating raw until 4, cooked after 4), I blended 4 bananas (also need to be used asap) with some unsweetened vanilla almond milk and 5 medjool dates.Talk about filling!

Week 3 Day 1

As all school teachers experience at least once per year, I woke up knowing that I didn’t feel right. I wasn’t ready to call myself sick, but I knew something was heading in that direction. So what do I do? Refuse to let it get in my way.

I continue on my way, getting groceries, planning my meals for the next week, and assessing my workouts for this week. Many a time my husband told me he would understand if I did not go to the gym but I simply refused to miss it.

I did my workout and was proud of it at the end. I was rationalizing with myself at points about using lesser weights because I wasn’t feeling 100%. But every time I’d start out an exercise, my body kept up with me and I just couldn’t lower the weights. With everything. And that was two circuits of 4 exercises each. Man I was proud.

Now the whole plan was to sit in the steam room afterwards, but as I refuse to walk on public floors barefoot, I simply couldn’t go when I realized I had forgotten my flip flops. So what did I do instead? 12 minutes of HIIT cardio on the StairClimber!

Now, eating was not something I really wanted to do yesterday. Just being thrown off from not feeling the greatest was a problem. So how did I fix that? I grabbed a smoothie while I was grocery shopping: Bolthouse Vanilla Chai smoothie. It tastes so good, packs 18 g of protein, and fit right into my macros for the day. I know it’s not the cleanest drink in the world, but I honestly needed something easy on my stomach and it helped fill a chunk of my macros.

And so I finished the day on track, praying that I should only get better and not worse!

Gas Station Foods… Be Careful!

So tonight, I needed a quick pick-me-up before my workout and I was on a quick time budget as the gym was closing early for Labour Day. So I did the dreaded stop at a gas station. 

I got a Rockstar Light Vanilla Latte. I’m not one to promote energy drinks, nor to consume them often. But I have found that this one seems to have less of a fleeting heart feeling, while tasting good and not killing the macros. Again, this is definitely not something I do all the time. I don’t believe energy drinks are healthy.

Also, I just took a quick walk around the store. And what I found was awful.

Of course, gas stations offer some healthier options such as beef jerky (watch for preservatives), some veggies/fruits and protein bars. Sometimes they also have hard-boiled eggs. But most of the food is absolute junk.

I picked up a raisin butter tart out of curiosity. Did you know that ONE tart was 490 calories? More than a quarter of my daily caloric intake? I was in total shock. There is no way that one tart could fill in a meal for me. Totally not worth it. Not to mention, most of that tart is guaranteed to be sugar and butter. Incredible.

What do you do in a pinch? Every once in awhile, we will always find ourselves in that gas station scenario. So what do you look for? I’m curious to know!

3-Day Refresh: Day 1

How many of you have heard about the 3-day Refresh by Beachbody? Well, I checked it out, and was happy with what I saw. Yes, it can be used as a kickstart weight loss, but that’s not why I’m interested. I’m interested because it’s all natural, helps your digestion, super healthy, and helps kick and end bad habits. And what have I been doing the past 2 weeks? Vacationing and eating mostly what I wanted. Time to kick that out!

So today is day 1 of the Refresh. So far, I had a bottle of water upon wakening, and now just finished my vegan chocolate Shakeology package (really not bad in terms of flavour and excellent texture), and about to eat my 12 strawberries (you have your choice of fruit).

Incase you don’t know a ton about it, the 3-Day Refresh is a regimented plan of veggies, fruit and healthy fats, also aided with a fibre drink, Shakeology and Vanilla Fresh shakes. It’s a plan where you can still get your protein, but flush out some of those nasty toxins in your body and reset your body closer to optimum function. It is a low calorie meal plan of approximately 900 calories per day, but again, I don’t recommend using it just for weight loss. The nutrition punch you get, especially from the Shakeology each day is phenomenal.

The amount of focus on feeling the changes in your body and the focus on drinking water is also incredibly important for me as I’m not a natural water drinker. I basically have to tell myself to drink water, and essentially forget it or neglect it most days. So for a plan that holds me accountable, and a focus on drinking water when you’re hungry, this plan is great for me.

I’m going to keep you posted on how I feel, what changes I’ve noticed, and what I conclude about this Refresh. Stay posted!