Vegan Two-Week Test: The Best Coconut Yogurt, Plus Burger Time

I'm now on day 10 of Phil Maffetone's 14-day carb elimination plan, so I'm in the home stretch. And then I'll get to "test" my body's response to each kind of carb (beans, fruit, grains, and bread) next week, and I cannot wait. I'll do a full post on my findings when I'm done, but I'll tell you now that, so far, my review of this plan is not good. 

But we'll save the negative stuff for later. Here are some things I've been eating. In fact, here's what may be the highlight of this whole challenge for me — Culina Coconut Yogurt. I found this at Sprouts while looking for a vegan, sugar-free, soy-free, starch-free yogurt. They're hard to find, as most of the unsweetened ones still contain starch. But this is just coconut, water, agar, and probiotics. And it's so good. Super duper thick and tangy! I've been enjoying this with lots of nuts and seeds. 

Once this is over, I'll buy more to have with fresh fruit and vegan honey. It's not cheap at $12 a tub, so it'll be a splurge for sure. But it's so good, and I saw Sprouts also had this in smaller, single-serve tubs for just over $3. I'd probably just buy one at a time rather than the big tub in the future.

Phil Maffetone's plan says no processed meats (it's designed for meat eaters, but there's a vegan version), but he doesn't say no processed vegan meats. So I'm allowing Beyond and Not Burgers because they're super low-carb and high-protein. And I need all the protein right now. My main source is Complement protein powder and nuts. After my Saturday long run, I had this Not Burger on a lettuce bun, and it hit the spot. Okay, a real bun would have really hit the spot, but this was okay.

My go-to meal over these two weeks has been veggie stir-fries over cauliflower or broccoli rice. This was a tasty Veggie Cashew Stir-fry. These warm meals are satisfying, even if they're not super filling. I've been just following my dinner with a protein shake.