Health Made Simple, Days 18-20

I'm well into the third week of the No Meat Athlete Health Made Simple plan, and I'm feeling better than I ever have on a meal plan. I always feel good when I'm doing a reset and eating whole, plant-focused meals. But this plan has a very specific emphasis on your "most of the time" (or MOTT, as HMS nutritionist Sid Garza Hillman calls it). That means, I don't need to feel guilty when I skip a meal plan meal and have a dinner out with friends or a cocktail at a bar or a slice of vegan cake. As long as I'm eating well most of the day, those things are totally fine.

Anyway, here's what I've been eating on the plan (and off the plan!). On Thursday (Day 18), I started with another Blueberry Peach Smoothie (following an hour-long gym session with spinning, elliptical, and weight machines). My morning snack was another fruit bowl (I eat these every day on the plan!). And lunch was leftover BBQ Tempeh Tacos with pineapple, cilantro, scallion, and jalapeno.

Afternoon snack was Baked Corn Chips and Salsa. They recommended Garden of Eatin' baked corn chips, which I know I've bought before at Whole Foods. But they apparently don't carry them anymore. So I just baked my own chips in the air fryer using corn tortillas. I brushed with a little oil and seasoned with salt, garlic, and onion powder. Way better than storebought anyway!

Dinner was Red Lentils & Red Rice and a salad with cashew ranch. The recipe called for brown rice, but I was out, so I used red instead! This was a fun, quick Indian-style meal.

Breakfast on Friday was another Strawberry Raspberry Smoothie (after my early morning spinning class). I'm also doing some new foods for pre- and post-workout (before the smoothie), but I'll save that for another post. My morning snack was cut veggies (carrot, celery, bell pepper) with cashew ranch. And lunch was leftovers of the above red lentils and rice. I enjoyed my daily fruit bowl in the car while driving to Jonesboro to visit my parents.

My birthday was last Tuesday, but I'd yet to celebrate with my parents. So we did birthday dinner on Friday night. My mom made Spaghetti with Vegan Beef, Mushrooms, and Vegan Parm with Garlic Bread. And we had Side Salads. I requested whole wheat pasta, so this was actually pretty healthy. And having the vegan beef and parm felt like a real treat, which is how I'd prefer to enjoy those things going forward. We also enjoyed a treat of my dad's homemade peach wine!

On Saturday morning, I woke up early and made my meal plan breakfast of Tofu Scramble with Sprouted Grain Toast. Yum! I spread my toast with coconut oil instead of my usual Earth Balance.

After breakfast, I went to yoga and then had my morning snack of a Blueberry Peach Smoothie.

Since I'd eaten at my parents' house the night before, I didn't have my leftovers for lunch. Sid and Matt recommend having a Giant Salad when you don't have leftovers for lunch, so I did just that — with Sid's amazing cashew ranch! This had kidney beans, romaine, kalamata olives, carrots, cucumbers, bell peppers, radishes, scallions, toasted pine nuts, and pumpkin seeds.

Afternoon snack was another fruit bowl. Dinner was especially delicious — Rice Bowl with Sauteed Kale, Mushrooms, Onions, and Chickpeas with Goddess Dressing, Pickled Onions, & Toasted Sesame Seeds. I always feel good about myself when I have a bean/grain/green bowl! The tahini-heavy goddess dressing is another oil-free dressing on the meal plan that I'll have to keep in my regular rotation, post-reset. It has scallions and parsley mixed with tahini, lemon, ACV, and garlic. So good!

Later that night, my friend Autumn was having her 40th birthday party at Atomic Tiki, a tiki bar down the street from my house. I am definitely still enjoying the occasional drink on this meal plan, because it's not my MOTT but instead my "some of the time." I had two delicious craft beers there. And I was just about to leave (because it was almost midnight!), when my vegan baker bud Stephanie brought out these Vegan Peanut Butter Bomb Cupcakes!

These are my personal fave of hers, and she hasn't made them in a couple years. It's a chocolate cupcake with peanut buttercream that's dipped in a creamy chocolate ganache. I knew eating a cupcake at midnight was crazy, but it's certainly not something I'll do every day. So I enjoyed one — down to the very last bite.