Health Made Simple Athlete Plan, Day 1

A couple years ago, I did an 8-week Health Made Simple Challenge through No Meat Athlete. It was a structured program with weekly video check-ins and an interactive meal planner calendar. I loved how I felt after eight weeks on this whole food, plant-based program, and since I paid for it, the recipes and plans (there are several versions of the meal plan) are mine forever.

So I'm getting my money's worth and doing Health Made Simple again! After spending the holiday season in a pile of cookies and snacks, I needed a kick in the pants to get me back on track. So I selected the HMS Athlete's Plan. Last time, I did the Basic Plan because I was healing a foot injury and not running. The Athlete's Plan is similar to the Basic Plan but with pre- and post-workout meals, bigger portions, and more focus on healthy fats from nuts and seeds.

I started the plan on Monday with a Strawberry-Raspberry Smoothie for breakfast. Monday is my rest day from working out so I skipped the pre- and post-workout meals. This smoothie has banana, raspberry, strawberry, spinach, and walnuts, plus I added soy milk, soy yogurt, and chickpeas for added protein.

Morning snack was Baby Carrots & Cashew Ranch. Each week on the plan, you make two dressings to use for dips and salads throughout the week. The cashew ranch is actually the same recipe from the No Meat Athlete Cookbook that I make all the time, and I love it.

Lunch was a Hummus & Veggie Wrap with cauliflower hummus (from Lantana!), black olives, carrots, tomato, and lettuce. I added a side salad with goddess dressing because I needed more food!

Afternoon snack each day is a Fruit Bowl with Flax. This time, I had strawberries, blackberries, and banana.

Each night, I'm having a small salad as I prep dinner. This has the cashew ranch.

And dinner was a very satisfying and carb-heavy bowl of Hearty Chickpea Pasta Soup with whole wheat pasta, chickpeas, and kale. The recipe makes four servings so I ate two servings for dinner. I'm a hungry girl!

After dinner, I enjoyed some dark chocolate and sleepytime herbal tea. I'm going to try to start having dark chocolate daily! For antioxidants! And joy!