Reclaim & Revolt, Days 26-28

Today was the last day of Reclaim & Revolt! And I'm pretty bummed to see it go. I'll miss the daily lessons in tarot, astrology, fitness, intuitive eating, herbalism, and fermentation. The food — all recipes provided by Lacy Davis — has been amazing (so much tahini!). I learned how to make kraut and fire cider from Hannae. Erin has taught me so much about the major and minor arcana of the tarot. And thanks to Kelsey, I now know I'm a Gemini Rising (my Sun Sign is Libra) with an elemental constitution made up mostly of Air and Earth and very little Water or Fire (no surprise there!).

Here's how I spent my last weekend on this awesome January reset. I woke up early on Friday, had a no-bake oat bar, and drove to the gym for bootcamp. Then I came home and made Lacy's Raspberry Dream Smoothie (it was really "strawberry dream," but I only had frozen raspberries). This is the super creamiest, dreamiest smoothie, thanks to raw cashews and avocado. Plus, frozen berries, hemp seeds, dates, and maca. It's really great! Even better in my awesome new Goddess Provisions drinking jar.

Morning snack at work was a small portion of Lentils with curry powder and onion salt.

I went home for lunch and heated up some more of Lacy's Moroccan Veggie Stew from Thursday night (pictured in my last post). That held me over until dinner, which was a fantastic Macro Bowl (one of Lacy's recipes from last year's Reset & Restore). This had brown rice, blackeyed peas, steamed kale, tempeh bacon, homemade kraut, avocado, peanut sauce, and hemp seeds. So good!

Crosstown Arts, where I work as the communications coordinator, had four art openings in Crosstown Concourse Friday night, so I went back to work to hang out! My friends Andy, Tyler, and Mike met me there, but they were running a little late. So I got a Yazoo Sue beer from French Truck Coffee (downstairs from Crosstown Arts) while I waited. This is one of my favorite beers — a high-gravity smoked porter from Nashville.

I also had a glass of red wine during the art show. Check out this magical crystal sculpture by artist Emily C. Thomas, one of the artists featured in the exhibitions. The show is up through March 11, and I have a feeling I'll be spending a lot of time in the galleries absorbing its energy.

After the show, we'd planned to hit up Atomic Tiki, my new neighborhood tiki bar. But it was the first night they were open, and they were packed. So we went to Midtown Crossing instead. I actually didn't want anything else to drink, so I got some Vegetable Spring Rolls to snack on. These are stuffed with napa cabbage, basil, pickled carrots, and pecans and come with a wasabi dipping sauce.

On Saturday morning, I had some Oatmeal with Bee-Free Honee, Chocolate PB2, and Banana.  

Then I headed out to hit up the Cooper-Young Community Farmer's Market, so I could score some treats from my friend Don at Lulu's Baked. Afterward, I went back home and did Lacy's last R&R workout — a Tabata interval workout involving squats, burpees, and abs. 

I had more Moroccan Veggie Stew for lunch, alongside one of Lulu's Baked Cashew Cheddar & Carrot Bacon Buns. I've had limited gluten over this reset, and it was a super-treat to have this bready bun. If I've missed anything during these 28 days, it's bread! Even though I haven't made rules that I can't have it, I've just been naturally avoiding it since Lacy's recipes are gluten-free. 

But that's not the only treat I scored from Lulu's Baked! I also picked up one of Don's Meyer Lemon Cookies. He always has samples of the cookies available, and I took a bite. And then I had to have one. Don makes the best cookies in town, hands down. I shared a few bites with Paul, but I kept most of this for myself! I also snacked on some baby carrots and garlic hummus in the afternoon on Saturday. Oh, and I spent some time hanging out with my friend Susan!

Dinner was another Macro Bowl. And then Paul and I had a relaxing movie night at home (we watched Mother, which I liked and he didn't like). I snacked on some coconut oil-popped popcorn during the movie.

On Sunday morning, I woke up to another bowl of oats. This time, I had Blueberry Oats with Agave, Sunbutter, & Coconut. I had a trail race and a long run today, and I knew I needed lots of carbs for energy and fat to keep me satisfied until after my race/run.

The trail race was race #2 in the Memphis Runners Track Club Winter Off-Road Series — the Stanky Creek 5K. This was only my second trail race ever! But I also had a 10-mile long run planned for today, so I drove out to Bartlett and parked at the course way early. I had a banana in the car, and then I took off for a 5-mile pre-race warmup on the sidewalks around Bartlett and Raleigh.

The race was on new-to-me trail at Nesbit Park (also known as Stanky Creek), and it was VERY muddy. People were losing shoes in the mud, and there were a number of puddles that we had to splash through. At the end, we had to maneuver down a muddy gully and use a rope to help us up the muddy hill on the other side. Lots of fun! But next time, I'm packing extra shoes and socks. I still had to run 2 more miles post-race to reach my 10-mile goal, and I did so in muddy, wet shoes.

On the 20-minute drive back to Midtown, I had a No Cow Chocolate Fudge Brownie protein bar in the car.

My very last meal on R&R was — drumroll please — a salad! Ha! Yes, boring. But delicious. After a day of all grains, fruit, and protein bars, I was craving veggies. This had romaine, carrot, bell pepper, radish, scallion, tofu, chickpeas, dried cranberries, nooch, toasted sunflower seeds, green olives, and tahini dressing. And I made it huge so I ate it out of a mixing bowl.

Going forward, I plan to keep eating very wholesome meals most of the time, but I'll be bringing in dessert more often. And bread! Bagels are on the menu for breakfast Monday morning, and I'm stoked. I'll check back in tomorrow with a recap of my first day off R&R.