Eating Vegan Paleo / Baked Sweet Potato with Beans and Greens

For the past several months since I’ve gone grain-free, I’ve been on the search for really quick, easy to make “lazy day” meals that will keep me satisfied without hitting up Seamless for takeout.  These types of recipes are especially important for me when my work schedule gets insane and my days really long.

While perusing Pinterest one day I came across this recipe on the Kitchn and have been hooked making variations of it ever since.  The formula is pretty simple.  Take a baked sweet potato, and stuff it with a tasty combination of beans and greens. Depending on how you cook the potato, it can be ready to eat in 10 minutes start to finish.

If I have some extra time, I’ll actually roast the sweet potato in the oven (which takes an hour).  Otherwise, if I’m being super lazy it just goes in my microwave on the baked potato setting.  The beans and greens get sautéed in a pan with olive oil, garlic, and maybe some onions or shallots while the potato cooks.  They also can be mixed and matched depending on what you are in the mood for.

Here’s some examples of the different variations I’ve made:

The Original

(i.e. the Kitchn version)- Sweet potato, kale, white beans.

The Mexican

Sweet potato, spinach, black beans and top with salsa and avocado.

The Italian

Sweet potato, broccoli rabe, chickpeas and a squeeze of lemon juice. (shown above, this one was AMAZING)

The Clean-Out-the Fridge

Sweet potato, whatever greens are in my fridge, whatever beans are in my cabinet.  It can also include other “leftovers” from that week.  One particularly good version included some leftover lentil salad I had made for the bean component.

The possibilities are pretty endless.  Plus it’s pretty damn tasty.

What’s your favorite “lazy day” recipe?

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The Intrepid Civilian Military Combine

If you follow me on Twitter or Instagram, you may be aware that on April 6th I woke up ridiculously early to head over to the Intrepid Air and Space Museum in NYC to participate in the Civilian Military Combine.

If you’ve never been to the Intrepid, it’s pretty cool.  It’s a museum on a retired aircraft carrier.  I remembered visiting it as a kid and loving it.  So when my friend Lindsay from my Crossfit gym asked me if I’d be interested in participating in the event and that it came with free tickets to the museum, I was sold.  I joined Team Down Bottom Position (named after a popular phrase one of our coaches often uses) and signed up for the event.  Lindsay and our teammate Kristi even made us some great shirts to rock during the event.

The Civilian Military Combine is a competition that puts civilians against military personnel in a test of fitness.  It starts off with a Crossfit style “WOD” strength component, and then you move onto a 1/2 mile long obstacle course.

The PIT element consisted of as many rounds as possible in 7 minutes of

• 7 45 pound push presses
• 7 26 pound kettlebell swings
• 7 20″ burpee box jumps

So the goal is to get as many reps as you can in the 7 minutes.  I completed around 89 reps, mostly because I’m slow (or so my coaches tell me).  I’ve been working pretty hard to try to get faster during these types of workouts.  It really makes you have to push yourself outside of your comfort zone.

After the PIT, you were immediately sent over to the half a mile long obstacle course.  It consisted of a weighted sled push…

Carrying an insanely heavy sandbag up three flights of stairs and back down…

Monkey bars…

Rope wall climbs…

Scaling numerous walls…

Ladder type walls….

Carrying large buckets filled with water through a maze…

And this lovely obstacle at the end.  It was basically two rope meshes, one on top and one on the bottom.  You had to roll your way through it and pull yourself out the other end.  Holy ab workout.

We all finished and had a fantastic time!

Immediately after we finished, we got to explore the Intrepid Museum.  Although it was pretty cold out (it was in the 40’s!), we still had a crystal-clear perfect day to check out all the planes.

Have you ever visited the Intrepid or completed a CMC Event?  If so I’d love to hear about it!

*Special thanks to Chris for getting all these photos the day of the event.

I’m Going to Wanderlust

IMAGE CREDIT // AbbeyLey

My friends Glenna, Sharon and I have been talking about going to the Wanderlust Festival since early this year.  We all met years ago doing marathons with Team in Training, so to say we’re all pretty active and athletic is an understatement.  While we all enjoy yoga, I wouldn’t describe us as die-hard yogis.  I haven’t been able to go as often as I used to now that I’m Crossfitting.  Glenna and Sharon however both practice yoga as supplements to their current race training.

This past week we finally booked the trip and made it official.  I’m so excited!  We all went out for dinner on Monday and decided on activities to book together, which include Ashtanga (my personal favorite style of yoga), paddle boarding, sunset hikes, lectures, and even hip-hop yoga!  There also should be some yummy vegan eats according to the event’s website.

We’re making it a long weekend and leaving Thursday evening after work, doing the festival on Friday and Saturday, and on Sunday exploring the town and later leaving that afternoon.  The weather in June should make for a perfect road trip, and from what I hear the scenery in Vermont is not to be missed.  I’ve never been to Vermont so I’m really looking forward to it.

Are you going to Wanderlust?  If so, let me know.  Maybe I’ll see you there!

Eating Vegan Paleo / Masala Tofu and Cauli-Fried Rice

As I’ve mentioned since my Paleo Challenge at my Crossfit gym earlier this year, I’ve since maintained a totally grain free vegan diet.  I had such great results I now can’t fathom eating any other way.

When I mention I’m grain free to other vegans, their first usual reaction is “I love grains!  They’re the basis for every meal for me.  I could never do that!”  This is kind of ironic to me considering it’s the same type of answer we all usually get when speaking to an omnivore about eating meat, dairy or eggs!

Truth is I’ve actually found it pretty easy to make similar recipes to what I’m used to by using grain “substitutions”, similar to how people will eat faux meats and cheeses when transitioning to veganism.  Over the next few weeks, I’ll give you some of my tricks as to how I’ve easily made this transition along with some of my new favorite recipes I’ve both adapted and created to make it possible.

First up today is grain free rice!  I used to absolutely love rice, especially fried rice.  Believe it or not,  grated cauliflower has a very similar taste and texture to the real thing, so it works perfect in these kind of dishes.  It’s also really easy to prepare.

Here’s my vegan adaptation of Urban Poser’s Paleo Masala Cauli-Rice.  To make this more of an entrée for vegans, I’ve added some delicious dry rubbed masala tofu to the dish.  This recipe smells as amazing as it looks and tastes!  When I brought leftovers of it into work one day everyone kept ducking into the break-room to see where the smell was coming from.

Masala Tofu and Cauli-Fried Rice

Serves 4

INGREDIENTS

• 3 tablespoons coconut oil
• 1 medium cauliflower head, grated (about 4 cups)
• Half a large yellow onion, diced (about 1/2 cup)
• 2 medium-sized carrots, diced (about 1 cup)
• 1 whole jalapeno, seeded and diced or 1/4 cup diced green pepper
• 2-3 cloves of garlic, minced (about 1 teaspoon)
• 2 inch piece of fresh ginger, peeled & grated ( about 1 teaspoon)
• 1/3 cup frozen petite green peas
• 1/2 teaspoon brown mustard seeds
• 1/2 teaspoon ground coriander
• 1 1/2 teaspoon + 1 tablespoon Garam Masala seasoning (I used the pre-made type)
• salt and pepper to taste (amounts will vary depending on if your masala mix was salted or not).
• Garnishes: lime wedges & cilantro

DIRECTIONS

PREP:

1. Set your broiler to high so it gets nice and hot while you prep the rest of the ingredients.
2. Press your tofu to remove as much moisture as possible.  Then cut into triangles.  Dry rub each piece with the reserved 1 tablespoon of Garam Masala.  Lay on a broiler safe baking sheet coated in cooking spray and set aside until we’re ready to broil it.
3. Grate the cauliflower with a hand grater or with a grating blade on a food processor. You can also use the regular blade on the food processor but it may result in a wetter, less “rice-like” product.
4. Prep the rest of the veggies minus the frozen peas (dicing, mincing) and set aside.
5. Mince the garlic and pepper, grate the ginger mixing them all together in a small bowl.
6. Mix together the spices in another small bowl and set aside.

COOKING:

1. Pop the tofu under the broiler for 6 minutes.  When browned, flip the tofu and give it another 6 minutes.  Tofu should be golden and crispy on the outside.  When done set aside.
2. Heat a wok over high medium/high heat (on the “high” side), add 1 tablespoon of coconut oil and then add the cauliflower. Toss it in the oil then spread it out in a thin layer as evenly as possible. Turn the burner up to high. Allow cauliflower to fry till it starts to brown a little then stir/flip it around, again spreading it in a thin layer. Do this a couple of times till the cauliflower starts to get brown and black flecks all over it, almost like it has been grilled. Transfer to a large bowl and place the wok back on the heat, turning the heat back down to medium/high. Spreading out the cauliflower and cooking it at a high heat like this keeps the cauliflower from steaming itself and getting soggy, and produces a very “rice-like” texture.
3. Add another tablespoon of coconut oil, then add the garlic, ginger and jalapeno/green pepper mix to the oil. Fry for about a minute but not so long that the mixture burns. Stir & toss often to keep from burning.
4. Add the prepared veggies (minus the peas) to the wok and cook just as you did the cauliflower. Spreading out and allowing them to fry and brown, stir & toss often till the veggies are cooked through and browned slightly. Transfer to the bowl with the cauliflower.
5. Return the wok to the heat and add the last tablespoon of coconut oil plus the spice mixture. Fry the spice mixture in the oil for 30 seconds to 1 minute, then add the rest of the ingredients back into the wok. Add the green peas and continue to fry and toss all the ingredients together for about 1-2 minutes more. Add coarse sea salt and cracked pepper to taste. Salt amounts will vary depending on if your masala mix was salted or not. If it doesn’t contain salt, I start with about 1 teaspoon of salt and work from there.
6. To serve, plate a serving of the cauli-rice and top with the masala tofu wedges.  Serve with a wedge of lime, to be squeezed on top of the “rice” just before serving and some cilantro.

 

Paleo Challenge / My Vegan Results

I never in a million years ever figured I’d post photos like this on the public interwebs, but here I am doing it anyway.  Mostly because I’m kinda blown away by how ripped my back now looks.  Please ignore the fact I look like a hot mess, because these were taking immediately after I finished sweating my face off during the challenge test out workout.  Also, don’t judge me for these shorts.  After seeing them on film I know to burn them, they are so not flattering!

I am beyond happy with my results from my Crossfit gym’s Paleo Challenge this past January and February.  I’m actually now even after the challenge is done still eating this way and love it.

Here’s essentially what the challenge entailed.

It started on January 2nd and ran up until February 13th.  On these days our workout times and weight was recorded, so that we could measure the improvement after the program was completed.  We also took our before/after photos on these dates after the Angie workout, which is why I look like such a sweaty mess in these photos.

Angie is a bitch.  She’s 100 pull-ups, 100 push ups, 100 sit-ups and 100 squats.  Now that the challenge is completed, I’ve done the workout three times and have improved measurably each time.

As far as the eating thing goes, the foundation of Paleo is to eat all real, non-processed food.  There is a heavy emphasis on fresh fruits and vegetables, nuts, seeds, and for omni’s free range organic meat and eggs.  So it’s really not all that different than veganism aside from the meat and eggs thing.  There were three different levels they allowed people to participate in.

• Beginner: eliminate sugar and grains; 1 cheat day a week.
• Intermediate: eliminate sugar and grains; no cheat days.
• Advanced: eliminate sugar, grains and dairy; no cheat days.
• Expert: eliminate sugar, grains, dairy, legumes and alcohol; no cheat days.

I participated at the advanced level, but they allowed me to leave legumes in.  The main reason they say to cut out legumes is most people are intolerant to them and they can cause bloating and something they call “leaky gut”.  I already knew I was tolerant to legumes  since I’ve done elimination diets in the past and had no issues when I added them back into my diet.

So the big changes for me were no sugar, no alcohol and no grains.  The grains one was a huge one for me.  I love my gluten free pasta, rice, and all other things grainy.  I had been gluten free for a long time but cutting out all grains, including rice, quinoa and corn was going to take a lot of focus and planning for me.

The one thing that really surprised me is after I cut the grains and sugar, I stopped having food cravings. I used to like to snack all day and now I don’t have any desire to snack at all.  I also crave natural food.  When given the choice now between a bag of chips and an apple I without thinking chose the apple.  It’s made sticking to this way of eating much, much easier than I ever anticipated.

As you can see in the before and after photos, my body apparently loves life grain free!  The weight just kinda started dropping off.  I didn’t increase my workouts or what I was doing, just changed my diet and within a week saw a measurable improvement which continued through the entire challenge.

At the end of the 45 days, here’s how I came out.

January 2nd:
Angie Time: 23:15
Weight: 154 pounds

February 13th:
Angie Time: 20:45
Weight: 147 pounds!

So I not only cut 3 minutes and 30 seconds off my time, but I also lost 7 pounds!

I also set several personal records during the time frame as well.  I’m deadlifting and squatting over 160 pounds, and I even got a clean and jerk record of 98 pounds which for me was insane.  Considering I’ve only been Crossfitting a little over 4 months, I’m pretty proud of that.  Vegans can be strong too!  I’m happy to be showing my non-veg friends at the gym that the weak vegan stereotype is a load of bull.

I may be strong, but I still have a lot of work to do.  My cardio endurance is sad, so I’ve been given orders by my coach to work on things like burpees, double-unders (jumping rope) and just trying to move faster in my workouts.  So that’s my next focus.

I’m actually really looking forward to reading this post in the next 6 to 9 months or so and compare these results to the results I have then.  I can only imagine how much I will have progressed by then if I got these results in a short 45 days.

Sadly, I didn’t win the challenge but my improvements were still noticeable enough that people at the gym are asking me more about vegan paleo.  One of the coaches today even asked me if I’d mind helping out with nutritional info for one of their clients who is vegetarian.  I was really impressed he asked for help and acknowledged not being knowledgeable on the subject as opposed to pushing his client to eat standard paleo.  This also shows me I’m being taken seriously enough at the gym as far as my performance goes that people would think to ask me about my diet as a viable option.

I really can’t make any exceptions to the no grain thing.  I retain a LOT of water if I eat them.  It’s gross.  Immediately following the challenge, I somewhat fell off the wagon and during my Mexico trip drank a lot (obvi, I was surrounded by margaritas!) as well as had a lot of corn chips and boy did I pay for it.  My body almost reverted back to the way I looked on day one.  I’m now two weeks into eating super clean again and I’m leveling back out again thank goodness.  Now I know I can’t be one of those 90/10 paleo people.  I have to eat clean all the time, no exceptions if I want to keep improving.  Then again they say abs are made in the kitchen and not in the gym, so I guess it makes total sense.

I plan on creating another post shortly which will outline better what I’m now eating on a daily basis, including what substitutions I’ve found for things like pasta and grains.  There aren’t a ton of vegan paleo posts out there on the internet so I’d love to share what I learned.

If anyone has any specific questions on crossfit, vegan paleo, what I eat or my results, please let me know!

Crazy About Crossfit

image: www.thrustr.tumblr.com

I fairly recently changed up my workout routine and have been doing Crossfit. For those of you unfamiliar with Crossfit, here’s the definition per the official website.

CrossFit is the principal strength and conditioning program for many police academies and tactical operations teams, military special operations units, champion martial artists, and hundreds of other elite and professional athletes worldwide.

Our program delivers a fitness that is, by design, broad, general, and inclusive. Our specialty is not specializing. Combat, survival, many sports, and life reward this kind of fitness and, on average, punish the specialist.

The CrossFit program is designed for universal scalability making it the perfect application for any committed individual regardless of experience. We’ve used our same routines for elderly individuals with heart disease and cage fighters one month out from televised bouts. We scale load and intensity; we don’t change programs.

The needs of Olympic athletes and our grandparents differ by degree not kind. Our terrorist hunters, skiers, mountain bike riders and housewives have found their best fitness from the same regimen.

Thousands of athletes worldwide have followed our workouts posted daily on this site and distinguished themselves in combat, the streets, the ring, stadiums, gyms and homes.

By the description, I know it sounds really intimidating and I’m not going to lie, it’s not an easy program. In fact, I waltzed into the “intro” class figuring it would be a cakewalk due to working out regularly and being a fixture at my gym. Boy was I wrong. The intro class knocked me on my ass. Though I near wanted to vomit, I was instantly hooked and signed up for the On-Ramp program.

On-Ramp is a mandatory beginner program you have to take before you start the standard classes. In On-Ramp, they review all the highly technical Olympic weightlifting moves as well as proper form for standard calisthenics like push ups and squats. I started in October and my On-Ramp finished up the end of that month. Ever since, I’ve been going to the standard classes three to four times a week.

image: www.list09.com

My favorite part of the program by far is the olympic style lifting. I love how highly technical it is. There’s also something extremely satisfying about being able to lift weight that’s heavier than what you believe you can.

So far, the results have been nothing short of amazing. initially, I didn’t lose weight. I gained close to 10 pounds which I believe was all muscle. Issue though was suddenly none of my clothes fit (hence, no outfit posts recently). So although I was getting crazy strong and fit, I was living in leggings and anything stretchy being nothing, even my dresses fit. I was in near tears this past New Years after the realization only one of my dresses fit appropriately enough to wear out in public.

On January 2nd my box (Crossfit lingo for “gym”) launched a 6 week Paleo challenge. Paleo and vegan usually do not mix, but all in all my box is really supportive of it’s vegan community so for that aspect I’m really lucky. I’m not going to get too into Paleo or the challenge right now being I have enough to say about it to warrant its own post, but let’s just say participating in the Paleo challenge has taken my Crossfit performance to another level. I’ve increased most of my lifts anywhere between 15-20 pounds and my fitness levels have sored. I’ve also started to get really lean. Remember those 10 pounds I put on? They’re now gone plus some more as well as inches. And it’s been less than 6 weeks! So vegans, don’t dismiss Paleo! There are ways to do it and stay vegan, which I’ll share later in another post.

So the box’s Paleo challenge included eating foods approved on the program along with doing the popular Angie workout at the start of the challenge and then again after. This is to test to see how much your fitness has progressed. You also have to commit to having before and after photos taken. The challenge ends for me this Wednesday, so stay tuned for another post on my results along with easy ways to eat Paleo and vegan.

Needless to say, I’m now somewhat obsessed with Crossfit. Expect to see it as a regular feature on the blog as I progress with my training. I need another outlet besides boring Jim to death talking about it all the time!

Do you Crossfit? If so, I’d love to hear about it! I’d also love to hear any feedback my readers may have on posts you’d like to see on Crossfit as well, so if you have any suggestions hit me up.

Color Run NYC

 

I am so excited to have gotten a spot in the NYC Color Run 5k!!! I had heard about this race a while ago and have patiently been waiting for them to release the info on the much anticipated NYC run dates and registration. When I finally received the notice registration had opened, I immediately signed up. Good thing I did, the Saturday run sold out within the hour!

I’ve run lots of races ranging from marathons, half marathons, 10k’s and more. This one looks way more fun than anything I’ve ever done before. You start off the race wearing all white and totally clean. By the time you end the race, you’re covered head to toe in a rainbow of colored powder!

There still may be slots available for the Sunday run, and you can register by clicking here. If you got a slot for the Saturday race, be sure to say hi if you see me, I’ll be there!

Time to Get Naked / At Bootcamp

My totes diesel friend Tracy of Tracy Helsing Fitness.

I love going to the gym as you may or may not know, and the women solely responsible for the shape I’m in is my BFF Tracy Helsing.  Tracy’s a personal trainer and fitness professional who really knows her stuff.  She very recently made her television debut as of the trainers on Food Network’s Fat Chef show.  She’s a total badass and will make you cry if you don’t do enough squats to make your ass perfect.

Tracy is teaming up with fellow trainers Faith Pilger and Dorian Cervantes to offer outdoor bootcamps 9 am each Saturday in June at Williamsburg’s McCarren Park.  Classes are an hour long and it’s $125 for the entire 5 week session, or $30 a class.

Visit their Facebook Page to sign up.  All you have to do is click “like”.

You can email Tracy at tracyhelsing@gmail.com with any other questions. Seriously, the more the merrier, so please pass the word on and bring your friends as there will be plenty of tag team, cooperative and group exercises.

If you are serious about getting in bikini shape for summer, or about looking good NAKED, make sure you visit their page today before it gets sold out.

What I Learned During the Clean Program Number 2

One of the bento boxes I’ve been bringing to work lately.

I had initially completed the first draft of this post immediately after completing the cleanse.  After drafting it, I decided it would be best to sit on it for a bit and see as I transition into normal eating again if my opinions changed.  Sure enough they did.  So here’s my recap of my Clean Program detox, after being off of it for about a month now.

The Good:

• I lost around 8 pounds this time around and I’m only 5 pounds away from my long time, goal weight.  For the first time in my adult life, this goal now seems somewhat achievable.
• My skin’s the clearest it’s been in like, forever.
• I no longer have a “poof” on my lower abdomen.  I almost have 6 pack.  It’s awesome.
• I no longer feel the need to needlessly snack or overeat.  Though I’m a pretty healthy eater, doing this program really made me realize exactly how little food our bodies really need to operate.   Also, when I do snack I find myself craving what I had snacked on during the program.  Almonds, fruits and veggies in particular.
• I got used to drinking lots of water again.  It’s a great habit to get into.  I now feel weird leaving the house without my Bobble.
• I’m no longer a salad hating vegan.  I’ve learned to love salads if they’re made the way I like them, complete with lots of greens, grains and legumes.  They fill me up and give me tons of energy.
• When I’m feeling lethargic, I plan on having a few pureed soups on hand at any given time so Jim and I can do a quick emergency detox.  I find having a pureed soup and allowing my body time to process what’s in it really helps my energy levels the next day.

The Sucky:

• I love bread, carbs and starchy foods (like regular potatoes), but doing this program again reminded me my body hates them.  I get all bloated and tired, so although it may taste delicious I now have to be aware of the price I’ll pay later on if I eat them.
• Compared to last year’s review, not much was too sucky.  I didn’t get a headache or feel to sick this time around at all.  So I guess this observation should technically go in the “good” category but I’m leaving it here for kicks.
• Doing this program with two pre-planned business trips and a crazy hectic work schedule was tough, but in the end I think it’s the only way I actually got through the month.  The extra energy I had on the cleanse helped me power through what will be probably my roughest work month of the year.

Here’s a few post cleanse observations:

• One other observation I had is in regards to my overall, day to day weight.  Doing the cleanse this time around and really being aware of what I was eating post cleanse made me realize I wasn’t eating as healthy as I thought.  My diet pre-cleanse had a lot of whole wheat pasta, potatoes, and other healthy yet starchy food.  When I cut out all the naturally starchy food, my body dropped weight without even trying.  Same thing goes for vegan mock meats and processed food, once I cut them out the weight just dropped off.  I’m trying to limit these foods to once a week.
• I’d also splurge on vegan treats like cookies and cupcakes way too often.  Since completing the cleanse, I was able to determine refined flour and sugar were the root cause of my acne I’ve been battling for years.  Since I like them, I’m not cutting them out all together but again limiting them to once a week.
• I learned I was packing way too much food for my lunches pre-cleanse.  The last week of my program I became obsessed with bento boxes and got a few to try myself post-cleanse.  The boxes are tiny and if you purchase the right one, the box size directly corresponds to the number of calories you should be eating each day for your meals away from home.  Since we started using them, it’s been easy to pack the appropriate amount of meals and snacks, which has made the success of my weight loss and overall detox much easier to maintain.

Have you done Clean or another detox program?  Was your experience similar to mine?  I’d love to hear about it so either comment or email me!

Clean Detox Week Three

My clean program detox snack box I kept with me at my national sales meeting.

 

Day Fifteen- January 16th:

Had good sleep and got to work and got a ton accomplished. Today went more or less like my other good detox days. I had great energy and focus and got a lot done at the office. For lunch today I had collard wraps with the nut pate I made last night, and I have to say I really enjoyed them. Just as filling as a whole wheat wrap, but without that carb “slump” you get afterwards. After work I got home at a normal time, enjoyed my curried cauliflower soup dinner with Jim, and then headed out to the gym for 30 minutes of cardio, followed by a 30 minute personal training session. It was probably one of my best work out sessions yet, I felt fantastic and full of energy. Afterwards in the evening while relaxing on the couch on my iPad, I discovered kinda by accident some bento box websites and think I’m not totally obsessed. I don’t know if it’s the cleanse and mentally wanting to eat more food, or the fact the food is so cute and organized that’s so appealing. I wasted about an hour looking at photos of bentos, and then fell into a deep sleep around 11.

Day Sixteen: January 17th:

Pretty much same day as I had Monday work wise. Got everything on my task list done and felt fantastic. For lunch I had another grain/bean/greens salad. That seems to be my new favorite thing, I love them. So easy to throw together yet so filling and healthful. After work I went straight to the gym and put in around 45 minutes on the treadmill doing an intense hill workout. Came home, browsed more bento blogs (haha) and crashed by 10:30.

Day Seventeen: January 18th:

Today started great, and ended not so great. Up through around noon at work was fantastic. I was right on track to complete everything I wanted to accomplish. It all went downhill in the afternoon when a variety of projects either threw me massive curveballs, or I was still waiting on information to complete things from other people who I had consistently reminded them of several times a day for the past several days. By the time I left the office at 5:30 pm, I was totally defeated and felt horrible. It made me really, really cranky. Being cranky is not normal at ALL for me, I’m usually a really positive person. When I got home, Jim gave me some space and I kinda just zoned out. I originally had plans to go to yoga, but scrapped that idea and instead opted to just vegetate on the couch all night. So what did I do? I spent probably three hours reading bento blogs, again. What the hell? In bed by 10:30 to start it all over again tomorrow.

Day Eighteen: January 19th:

After today, I realize I need a vacation very, very badly. Today at work was a continuation of the issues from yesterday. The icing on the cake is I started to feel a nasal drip coming on. There’s been a flu bug floating around my office that’s affected seemingly everyone except for me. It was a bad enough bug several people were out of the office multiple days this week. After having a mini-panic attack I was next and I have SOOOOOO much shit to do, I loaded up on vitamin C all day (via a vitamin pill and green leafy veggies, being OJ is not allowed on the program) and I drank a TON of water. By the end of the day my energy leveled out and I felt back to normal, but still had a massive amount of crap to deal with getting ready for my big company sales meeting I’ve organized in Baltimore for this weekend. The end of the day I left the office feeling much like I did last night, just depressed cranky and defeated. I had plans to go to kettlebell class with a friend, and to do some cardio with her after so after my evening soup I headed over to the gym. Right when I pulled up to the gym, I got a phone call from my office that the trip I was supposed to leave for on Saturday morning I now had to leave for Friday night immediately after work due to weather issues. I can’t seem to catch a break. So I did kettlebells (and I’m glad I did), skipped the cardio and then ran home to pack my food/snacks for the trip, all my clothes, electronics, and everything else I would be needing. By the time I sat down for around 10 minutes in the evening it was already 10 pm.

Day Nineteen: January 20th:

After my hellish day yesterday, I arrived at work this morning and received the news that I would in fact have to leave today for a trip I was supposed to go on tomorrow morning. That and by the way, the office is being shut down right at 5 pm so you better get everything finished EARLY today. Yikes! I’ve never been so stressed in my entire life! Luckily I spent the time last night to make my lunch as well as pack lunch and snacks for the trip so I could stick to the cleanse. After work, we went straight to the airport and then to Baltimore via our company plane. I think I finally got to the hotel around 9:30 pm. The hotel luckily had a fridge in the room, which worked perfect for all the cooler goods I brought with me. There was no microwave in the room, but they had one in the lobby which made it quick and easy to heat up my soup for the evening. After my soup and double checking my presentation for the following day, I passed out around 11 pm.

Day Twenty: January 21st:

I woke up early and hit up the gym at the hotel. I really didn’t want to, but I knew tomorrow I’d probably be so tired it wouldn’t happen then, so I wanted to strike while the iron was hot. I did a quick treadmill hill workout, then showered and headed out to pick up a co-worker arriving by train at Baltimore’s Penn Station. In college, I used to live across the street from there, so it was a pretty nostalgic drive for me seeing how the city has changed since I moved back to NY. Once I arrived back at the hotel, my big company sales meeting I organized began. Since I personally booked and planned the entire event, I made sure to order an additional “vegan” meal for myself, which worked perfectly. For our lunch, they brought me a massive salad which I supplemented with some quinoa and beans I brought from home. Later on in the day, there was fruit for snacks which I had with some pre-packed almonds I had brought. During our break prior to leaving for the dinner event, I microwaved my soup and enjoyed that and then we all head out for dinner. It was a little weird not eating with the group, but easier than I anticipated being I was in event organizer mode the whole time. I drank a lot of seltzer since I couldn’t have alcohol either. It was a late, late evening, I wasn’t in bed until around mid-night. Once in bed I had a splitting headache.

Day Twenty One: January 22nd:

It’s the last day!!! We were up at 7:30 am to finish up the sales meetings. I made my own smoothie for breakfast using my portable blender, which held me over until we left Baltimore around noon. It was a long ride home, and at that point I was so exhausted I snuck eating three Oreos on the plane, and then had Jim order me some vegan nachos for when I got home. I was very unapologetic about it too. I made it almost 21, full days including two business trips and barely cheated at all, so I wanted to go out with a bang! Plus, the nacho’s weren’t that bad per the clean program. I already know I’m not soy intolerant, so the soy cheese and meat was ok. So basically all I was adding in was some nightshades and corn chips. Not even 5 minutes after eating, I passed out on the couch and slept (no joke) 14 hours straight. Crazy way to end a crazy month, and my 21 day detox cleanse.

Overall:

It seems I still really enjoy and have been craving salads. I plan on continuing to eat lots of them now that the detox is over. Although I’m totally exhausted now from this past crazy weekend, I’m in hindsight really glad Jim pushed us to do the detox right after New Years. I don’t think I would have had the energy otherwise to not only be as productive as I’ve been at work, but also to get through the stress of the past 3 weeks. The ending of my detox couldn’t come at a better time, I won’t feel guilty at all indulging in a little chocolate after this past week!