Health Made Simple for Athlete's, Day 4

On Thursday morning, I slept past my alarm again!! I don't know what is happening, but clearly, my iPhone alarm isn't loud enough to wake me anymore. I've been taking CBD oil to help me get more deep sleep, and I fear it's working too well. Anyway, I had to move Thursday's planned 4-mile run to the evening. I'm doing this No Meat Athlete Health Made Simple plan for athletes, and the breakfast was another Blueberry Peach Smoothie. I didn't take a picture this time because it's the same smoothie I had on Tuesday (two smoothies rotate each week on the plan).

I had a TV appearance scheduled for work Thursday morning on the Local 24 morning show. We're celebrating Veganuary at Crosstown Concourse, where I work as the communications coordinator, so I brought lots of vegan dishes to show off. I even got a chance to talk about the environmental and health benefits of veganism! You can check that out here.

After my TV thing, I headed to the office and had a morning snack of Baked Corn Chips with Salsa. For the chips, I just baked corn tortillas in the air fryer with a just a spritz of oil for about 8 minutes (on 350). It's impossible to find baked corn chips for sale around here anymore (Anyone remember Guiltless Gourmet? What happened to those?), but they're super-easy to make at home.

Lunch was leftover Roasted Pesto Veggies over a baked potato (pictured in yesterday's post).

My fruit bowl on Thursday featured blackberries, pineapple, and strawberries with flax seed.

Dinner was SUPER yummy! This Simple Red Lentil & Rice recipe has a hint of Indian spice with cumin seed, red pepper flakes, and fresh garlic. It's loaded with spinach and topped with hot sauce, cilantro, and lemon juice. I served the lentils over brown rice prepared in my new Instant Pot! The rice came out perfectly!!

Health Made Simple for Athletes, Day 3

Wednesday was my third day on the No Meat Athlete Health Made Simple Athlete plan, a whole foods-based meal plan with very few processed foods and limited sugar and refined grains. I actually woke up on time for my 6 am 5-mile run! I've been sleeping through my alarm for some reason (happened again this morning). But on Wednesday, I was up at 5 am to meditate and have my pre-workout snack of a Cinnamon Roll Larabar and masala chai with almond milk.

Larabars are a recommended snack for workouts of an hour or less, and I always start my week days with a cup of hot tea (coffee comes later, after my workout). For post-workout, the plan recommends either bananas, high-glycemic fruit (like pineapple), fruit juice, or a bowl of white rice. Since I'm focusing on whole grains for the rest of my meals, I love an excuse to eat white rice! After a workout, you need immediate carbs, and refined grains provide those. I put toasted sesame seeds and soy sauce on my rice bowl. I made this rice in my new Instant Pot!

Those are the pre- and post-workout snacks, but you still also need breakfast! They recommend having a protein-rich breakfast about an hour or two after post-workout. I had this Strawberry Raspberry Green Protein Smoothie (with Complement Protein powder) around 8:30 am, while getting ready for work.

All of this food had me pretty full! So I didn't want want my morning snack of Fresh Fruit with Flax until around 11:30 am. This has green apple, blackberries, and pineapple with ground flax.

Lunch was leftover BBQ Tempeh Tacos from the night before, enjoyed at home on my break! 

I had a meeting after work, so I was glad to have this hearty snack of Celery with Peanut Butter. This kept me full until dinner! The key is LOTS of peanut butter. My co-worker Johana was a perfect hand model. I also snacked on some Taza Chili Chocolate at my desk as well.

Dinner was Roasted Veggies with Pesto and a side salad with cashew ranch. Since I didn't get home until about 6:45 pm, I decided to quickly roast the veggies in the air fryer instead of waiting for the oven. I served the roasted squash, zucchini, turnips, bell pepper, and broccoli over half a baked potato. The veggies are tossed with an oil-free pesto made with basil, kale, walnuts, and nooch. It's really yummy, and I'm excited to be using it another recipe later this week!

Health Made Simple for Athletes, Day 2

Tuesday was my second day on Health Made Simple, a four-week whole food, plant-based meal plan from No Meat Athlete. I'd planned a five-mile run first thing in the morning and set my alarm for my usual 4:45 am. But I somehow didn't hear it going off for TWO HOURS. Not even sure how that happened, but I woke naturally at 6:45 am. Crap. Not too late for work but too late for a morning run, so I had to move my run to the evening. On the bright side, I got 9.5 hours of sleep so there's that!

I skipped my plan pre- and post-workout meals and just had this Blueberry Peach Smoothie (blueberry, peach, banana, spinach, walnut) with some added soy yogurt and soymilk for protein.

Morning snack was Whole Wheat Crackers with Almond Butter. I got the Wasa multigrain crackers because they're made with good stuff and are oil-free. I'm not completely eschewing oil on this plan, but I'm definitely limiting it where I can. I had this right before my Tuesday mid-morning yoga class! They have 11 am yoga at the YMCA in my building, and I'm going to start going over my lunch break on a regular basis again. More yoga is a goal for 2020.

Lunch was leftover Hearty Chickpea Pasta Soup. I had two bowls full at my desk while catching up on emails.

Afternoon snack with another fruit bowl with flax. This one had green apple, blackberries, and strawberries.

I also snacked on two medjool dates right before leaving the office since I was planning to run right after work. Dates are one of the suggested pre-workout snacks on the plan. And then after a 5-mile run, I enjoyed a post-workout banana for carbs. I'm eating so much fruit on this plan!

Dinner was BBQ Tempeh Tacos and salad with goddess dressing. This was one of my faves the last time I did Health Made Simple. It's so easy — just saute tempeh with BBQ sauce and scoop into corn tortillas with pineapple, red cabbage, cilantro, and jalapeno!

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!

Doughnuts! Reubens! Tofu Eggs!

Today, I started the No Meat Athlete Health Made Simple Athlete's Plan. It's a whole food, plant-based meal plan that's low on oil and low on processed foods. I've done it before (and blogged about it), so you'll likely see some repeat meals this month. But I needed a reset! I've been pretty much living on homemade Chex mix and cookies since late November.

Tomorrow, I'll share a full day's worth of Health Made Simple meals, but today, I wanted to wrap up a few random meal pics from the weekend. Let's start with this beautiful Banana Donut! My co-worker Lily makes and sells vegan donuts through her company, Darling Donuts Memphis. And now Imagine Vegan Cafe is selling them on Sundays! I stopped in yesterday for one last sweet treat. These are deep-fried and super-sweet!

On Friday night, Greg and I met up with friends Nicole and Vaughan for dinner at Imagine Vegan Cafe, and I got one of my faves — the super-sloppy Vegan Reuben with Steamed Broccoli. This sandwich is stuffed with vegan deli slices, kraut, and loads of Imagine's homemade vegan cheesy sauce.

And finally, here's a random breakfast from Friday (I think). I made some Tofu Eggs using The Vegg powder and served them atop buttered whole wheat toast. On the side, I had some plain vegan Soy Yogurt with Maple. My friend Jennifer gifted me with some of her homemade unsweetened soy yogurt for Christmas, and I've been enjoying it all kinds of ways.

New Year's Day 2020 Eats!

Happy New Year! We celebrated the end of 2019 and beginning of 2020 with two parties. The first was a house party at our friend Melissa & Anthony's house. It had a Roaring '20s theme so most of us dressed as flappers!

My friend Greg, who now lives in Kentucky, came to town for the occasion, and Paul was here over the holiday break. It's been awhile since I've had both of my boys together. After that house party, we headed to Black Lodge for a New Year's show by our favorite aristocrunk rappers, Lord T & Eloise!

Greg and I have long had a New Year's Day lunch tradition of ordering greasy Banh Xeo (Vietnamese rice flour omelets) from Pho Saigon. I hadn't really kept the tradition alive since he moved away, but we brought it back this year! These are stuffed with fried tofu and bean sprouts. They're soooooo good.

And finally, you HAVE to have the lucky New Year's Day meal of Hoppin' John for good fortune and good health in the new year! I made this with blackeyed peas, cabbage, turnip greens, vegan sausage, and tomatoes, served atop brown rice. Definitely the healthiest thing I've eaten in awhile!

Random Meal Round-Up!

On January 6, I'm starting another round of Health Made Simple, the whole food, plant-based meal plan from No Meat Athlete. So I wanted to unload a bunch of random meal pics before I start dedicating my posts to healthy eating.

Here's a delicious Tofu Shiitake Bacon Quiche from LuLu's at the Cooper-Young Farmers Market. Tastiest quiche I've ever eaten!

To celebrate Yule on December 21, I made a few recipes from the Sabbats Almanac. These Cranberry Bacon Toasts were so tasty. They have a base of vegan cream cheese with chopped veggie bacon, scallions, and dried cranberries.

I also made some Almond Butter Bon Bons from that book. These simple balls are made with almond butter, maple, and almond flour and then coated in chocolate. I gave some as gifts and ate the rest!

Since I knew I'd be starting a healthy eating plan soon, I made it a point to order some greasy Vegan Mozzarella Sticks from Imagine Vegan Cafe recently. This, plus a side salad, was my dinner that night. So not healthy but oh so tasty.

Here's a bowl of leftover Falafel and Pita from Casablanca, enjoyed atop a salad with hummus.

I had some leftover Tofurky ham from Christmas, so I've been using it in vegan Hot Ham & Cheese Sandwiches (basically a grilled cheese with ham), served alongside Smoky Tomato Soup from my freezer.

I used up some of the leftover Just Egg from Christmas to make a Vegan McGriddle! This has Just Egg, Smart Bacon, and Daiya on two mini maple-y pancakes! Perfect lazy holiday week breakfast.

And I finished off the Just Egg bottle with a giant Vegan Denver Omelet with Tofurky ham, Daiya, bell pepper, and onion. Incredible! Just Egg makes the best omelets.

Paul and I met our friends Jen and Simon for dinner at Pho Binh one day last week, and we all ordered the Tofu Vermicelli. It feature fried tofu strips atop a cold salad of rice noodles with cucumber and carrots. It comes served with fish sauce, but we subbed out peanut sauce.

My friend Greg came to Memphis to visit for New Years Eve, so we went back to Pho Binh with him for their famous lunch buffet. Here's my first plate with lemongrass tofu, bean sprout tofu, and veggie soup. Of course, I went back for a couple more plates because buffet.

Paul and I made Spaghetti & Vegan Meatballs one night last week. As always, Paul cooked the mushrooms, and I made the from-scratch marinara.

And finally, here's a tasty Yogurt & Granola Bowl made with my holiday gift from Jen & Simon — homemade yogurt! Plus, dark chocolate granola, coconut clusters, and fresh apple chunks.