It’s been far to long since I’ve shared with you favorite recipes and life experiences along my little adventure. When I first started this blog I explained that my reason for doing so was to document and share all the changes our family would be going through as we embark upon healthier living. These past few weeks we’ve been going through quite a big change: our home address!
Towards the end of July we began packing up our house (and kitchen), staying a few nights with a sweet friend of mine and driving our packed cars from North Carolina to Virginia. The transition period of only a week was short though it seemed to last forever. Not only were we moving our household and family but we had also just made a commitment to switch to a Plant Based Diet. Though we had a few frustrating moments by not having our kitchen and our foods to cook with; we survived! I thought I would spend my time in this first blog “back” to share some tips that worked for us:
- We scouted out the best places to eat out since our grocery budget and items to cook with were limited. Though the menu items at these restaurants helped us stay away from animal proteins; the foods were still processed so I would never recommend eating at these places multiple times in a week (like we did). This experience really opened our eyes to why America is struggling with obesity and bad health the way it is. The first thing the waitress serves you upon being seated is a nice steamy basket of fresh baked cheese biscuits, even the vegetarian items on the menu are covered in cheese or smothered in butter, vegetables are grilled to death in far to much oil and no matter how many requests you make to the waitress... mistakes happen. My weight loss definitely slowed down due to all the processed foods, however, I didn’t GAIN any weight either (which normally would’ve happened). Some examples of how we ate on the road:
- Taco Bell: Vegetarian Cantina Burrito (or bowl) with Guacamole
- Quiznos: Veggie Sandwich on Whole Wheat (skip the cheese & mayo, add guac)
- Chipotle: Vegetarian Rice Bowl (brown rice, black beans, fajita veggies & guac)
- Ruby Tuesdays: Salad Bar, Baked Potato (loaded with items from salad bar), ALT instead of BLT (avocado, lettuce & tomatoes) (specify no cheese & no butter)
- We discovered Avocado is our new BFF =) It’s the perfect spread for sandwiches when avoiding butter and mayo; it also adds extra necessary calories when the rest of your plate seems a bit sparse (I have to be conscientious of this for my slender husband and kids). Of course avocado just plain tastes amazing!
- Supportive family & friends make the world of difference! My good friends greatly blessed our family by opening their home for us to stay in for a few days while we cleaned out our house and waited till our new home in VA was available. Thankfully they were supportive of our families decision to eat plant strong and opened their kitchen for us to cook in =) I stuck to simple meals where I didn’t have to spend a fortune on groceries:
- Pesto Pasta: Grill your favorite veggies, make my oil-free pesto sauce & enjoy!
- Smoked Potato Soup: Navy Beans, Garlic, Celery, Potato in vegetable stock, yum!
- For snacks: Fresh Fruits, Oil-Free Hummus & Crackers
- Be prepared for the temptation to go back to old habits. Food has always been the answer to any emotional void I’ve gone through. When I’m depressed, food is the answer. When I’m stressed, food is the answer. When I’m happy, food is the answer. Not only were we facing the fact that we had to say goodbye to all our friends, leave our favorite house and move to a place we’ve never been... financial stress and every kind of obstacle that could come at us, did! When we finally got to Virginia I went through my first temptation to cave in and grab a greasy cheese-covered-artery-clogging hamburger. I wanted to rationalize it in my mind, but deep down I knew that it was just my way of trying to deal with all the stress. I was wanting to revert to past behaviors. Thankfully I did the best thing I could've done when dealing with temptations (of any kind); I called my accountability partner - my mom =) It felt good to vent and be honest about my struggles and I appreciated the wisdom she shared with me.
It’s now been close to three months since going Plant Strong. It hasn’t been perfect but as my mom often says: this isn’t a religion and it doesn’t have to be perfect. It’s not a political statement. It’s not a weight loss program. This is a lifestyle change for good health and a new healthy perspective on food. The side effect is I’m down 20 pounds and have gone down 2 sizes. I feel amazing and my family is having fun discovering new foods and tastes.
Here’s a picture of me at the beginning of June... and one taken this morning:
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| Beginning of June, 2012 |
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| August 26th, 2012 |
