Health Made Simple for Athlete's, Days 19-21

Weekend recap! Last weekend was the third full weekend on Health Made Simple, the whole foods-based meal plan from No Meat Athlete. I'm doing the Athlete Plan (there's also a Basic Plan, a Weight Loss Plan, a Minimalist Plan, and a Variety Plan).

Friday morning always starts with bootcamp class at my gym, so I had a Larabar and some hot tea and then headed to class. Afterward, I refueled with a banana on the drive home. A bit later, I had my coffee and a Mango Jalapeno Smoothie with mango, banana, lime, spinach, walnuts, jalapeno, and vanilla protein powder.

Morning snack with Baby Carrots & Bell Pepper Slices with Cashew Ranch, my very favorite homemade oil-free dressing.

Lunch was leftover Hawaiian Red Beans & Rice (pictured in Thursday's post) with grilled pineapple and pickled onions. And in the afternoon, I snacked on fresh fruit.

Dinner on Friday was a carb-heavy and satisfying bowl of Pasta with Chickpeas & Broccolini! Tender broccolini is sauteed with onions and chickpeas in a white wine sauce. Really yummy! And great for fuel for Saturday's planned long run.

On Saturday, I woke up early (6 am!) and enjoyed a plain bagel with sriracha hummus before my 17-mile training run. During my run, I snacked on GU gels (chocolate mint) and GU chews (strawberry), as well as a sesame tamari rice ball (from the No Meat Athlete Cookbook). Post-run, I had some tart cherry juice blended with banana and spinach for quick post-run carbs. Then, I had a big bowl of leftover pasta from Friday night's dinner.

But the real treat came on Saturday night! I drove over to Arkansas for dinner with my parents. My mom made a big ole meal of Southern dishes. Definitely not on the meal plan but so worth it. She made Vegan Dumplins, Mac & Tomatoes, Fried Okra, Fried Potatoes, and Greens. The greens were actually some my Granny had put up in the deep freezer before she passed, so it was extra special to eat Granny's greens.

For dessert, we had Strawberry Shortcake! Granny had also put up lots of strawberries, so my mom used some to make a strawberry topping for little mini yellow cakes (you can't see the cake because it's buried in berries). We used the vegan Reddi Whip on top!

On Sunday morning, I typically do an hour or so recovery run, but this Sunday, I had a 2 pm 5K race so I slept in (YAY!) and had this delicious Tofu Scramble from the Health Made Simple plan with a LuLu's Smoked Carrot Cashew Bun (scored from the CY Farmers Market on Saturday — I stopped by there on my long run!). 

I didn't want to have a real lunch because my food wouldn't have time to digest before my race, so I had a big bowl of Steamed Potatoes around noon. Steamed white potatoes make excellent running fuel. Yay carbs!

Then it was time for my run! The Memphis Runners Track Club Winter Off-Road Series 5K was waaaaay out in Collierville at WC Johnson Park. That's about a 40-minute drive from my house.

It had rained a lot over the past week, so the trails were pretty muddy. But I love running in mud!

Had a great race and made pretty good time considering that it was a trail race. I packed a smoothie (banana, apple, coconut nectar, Complement protein powder, PB2) in the car for post-race carbs, so I enjoyed that on the drive home.

Later in the evening, I figured I'd earned a beer, so I tried this Regular Beer from Duclaw Brewing Co. Really good. Tasted like a solid, regular-ass beer.

Sunday night on Health Made Simple was pizza night! They suggested using whole wheat pita or bread for the crust, but I found frozen whole wheat pizza dough at a health food store in my hometown. So I used that! They also suggested using homemade cashew cheese for a more wholesome pie, but storebought vegan cheese was an option, so I treated myself. This is topped with Violife mozzarella, spinach, olives, and bell peppers. I had a big salad with chickpeas and cashew ranch on the side!