Day 89--Swimsuit Season!

I'd be lying if I didn't say I had hoped for some major weight loss with this challenge.  I haven't gotten "major", but I have finally gotten "some".  This morning, I weighed 179.6.  I started the challenge at 192, so it's definite (albeit slow) improvement.  Now, I know I'm still technically "obese", and I don't plan on leaving my backyard in this anytime soon, but I got a new bikini.  :D  Actually, I got two.  Three if you count the fact that one of the tops is reversible.

The timing of this couldn't be more perfect because on my favorite message board, there's been lots of debate about who should and shouldn't wear a bikini.  By the message board consensus, I should definitely NOT.  But I'm doing it anyway....

Well, at least in the backyard.  ;)

Day 87--Counting Down

When I started this challenge, this is how I saw it playing out, and at first, it was exactly like this...

First 30 days: Get used to different food.  Find new "staples" to eat.  Adjust to vegan diet.

Second 30 days: Add activity.  Maintain food changes and establish exercise routine

Third 30 to the end: Everything combines seamlessly to an effective diet/exercise groove.

So the first 30 were correct, and the second 30 were mostly correct until Dax had to go to Kansas.  When that happened, I quit going to yoga, temporarily or course.  However, I haven't been back yet.  (seriously, still temporary.  Shitty couple of weeks and now it's Spring Break and the kids are home).  Also, in this last 30, I have been less than satisfied with my diet.  I'm sick of the prep.  I'm tired of trying to come up with something interesting enough to eat.  I'm tired of tackling the challenges of eating out.  Last week, we went to LegoLand, and I thought I had done the proper research before going.  There were several dining options available there that I thought I wouldn't have too hard of a time finding something to eat.  Was I wrong!  The place that offered "healthy wraps and sandwiches", only had those pre-packaged triangle-cut airport sandwiches.  It's not like there was someone there who could make something for me.  Every other place that I thought would work out, either didn't actually have anything, or the wait list was so long, I couldn't make the kids go through that.  I ended up settling on french fries after three different dining locations, but I was stilll starving.  And then the headache kicked in.  After LegoLand, we went to Ruby Tuesdays because it was close and because I knew I could have the salad bar.  For whatever reason though, this restaurant had the worst salad bar I've seen in awhile, and I hate wasting money on food that I don't think is good at all.  I finished my salad before anyone else got their entrees, and I realized I hadn't really paid attention to what anyone else had ordered.  When I found out Dax had ordered a steak, I nearly lost it.  I certainly don't begrudge him a steak, but at this point, I was so hungry, so irritable, so headachey, I couldn't fathom watching him eat a steak in front of me, so I went to the car, called my sister, Gina, and had a complete meltdown.  I suppose I could say I'm sick of rules.

Now, I know I don't have much time left, and I'm really trying to rally and finish this thing on an upswing rather than just counting down the days.  This week has been a little better.  I'm going to focus on that and keep going.

Day 63--Really???

Time is zooming by pretty fast here!  I  planned a big "Day 50" post, but that day happened the same week as my birthday, same week as my annual dr. appt. (more news there!), and same as the week Cori moved back to Missouri, same that my uncle died, and same that we found out that Dax's uncle was dying too.  (He's in Wichita right now with Family).  So it's been busy and emotional here.

I should backtrack to my birthday though, because I took pictures.  I've mentioned before about how great it is living in a city that people visit often, because I keep getting to see people that I haven't seen in a long time.  On my birthday, I was lucky enough to have my friend, Kelly, in town.  She was my manager and best friend in California, and her mom and sister live in Orlando, so she happened to be here for my birthday weekend!  Yay!

We had lunch downtown and then we went to my favorite bakery for some vegan cupcakes for later.  The bakery is pretty freaking awesome.  They're very allergy aware and serve both vegan and gluten free cupcakes.  I knew no one was going to bake me a vegan birthday cake, so I bought a box of cupcakes to let everyone off the hook.  I also bought a couple of gluten-free ones, just so I could compare (they were in the box with the regular cupcakes, which of course doesn't make them GF anymore, but it was fine for a taste comparison.) All of the cupcakes were amazing!  

Not much else happened for my birthday, but it was a really good one...nice, relaxing, and happy.  Happy 41!

So, that was my birthday.  On the 22nd, I had my dr. appt, which was basically to give me the results of my blood work.  I had it done in Albany this past summer, but I needed to do it again to get established as a new patient here.  I was excited to see if my numbers had changed since summer since at the time of the blood draw, I was already almost 50 days into the challenge.  I wish I could find my paperwork from summer.  I know I kept it, and I know I'll run across it eventually and then I'll really be able to compare, but I know definitely that my numbers improved a lot.  I just don't know by how much exactly.  First of all, for overall cholesterol, I've always ran between 195-205....not awful or anything, and not really "high", but not as good as it could be.  Now, my total cholesterol is 154.  That's a pretty dramatic change!  My bad cholesterol was 80 (should be under 130).  My good cholesterol was 41.  It should be over 46, so I'm low on that one, but the dr. said that I can improve that by eating more fish (which I will be), and my triglycerides are still a little high, but he said that would come down as I lost weight and exercised more (working on it!).  He tested my thyroid, my liver and kidney function and everything was terrific.  He even tested a bunch of vitamin levels and said that "for a vegan" I'm don't have any of the vitamin deficiencies they often see.  (yay me!)  My favorite number on that whole page though, was my Hemoglobin A1c.  I don't even know what that really means, but that number tells you your risk for diabetes, and because of my family history, my weight, and the fact that I had gestational diabetes with both pregnancies, I've always been considered higher risk.  Anyway, my number for this one was 5.6.  Anything under 5.7 indicates decreased risk of diabetes.  Decreased!  You have no idea how much I'm loving that word right now.  I want to put a bunch of gold stars on this printout and hang it on my fridge, because this is one test I worked for, and I have the proof in front of me that it paid off.  It makes me want to carry the pages around with me and pull them out whenever people treat me like I must be someone who gets all of her meals out of a bucket.  Finally, I have proof in hand that I am healthy (or at least well on the way.

That same day, I took Cori back to the airport.  She decided to move back to Missouri since she was having trouble finding full-time work here.  So here we are, just us again.  And with Dax in Wichita right now, this is the first time we've been in Florida and he hasn't.  I really liked having her here.  It was nice to have an instant friend, and it was nice to have someone willing to babysit while Dax and I went out.  But I guess it's time to toughen up and make my life for myself here without counting on Cori to make it easier.

This move has been a good one for me.  It certainly hasn't been without its challenges, and those who've been living here with me, know that I've been dealing with a lot of them lately.  And then I think about how much has changed in a year.  It was the end of February last year that Dax lost his job.  Just a few days after that, a 20 year old friendship of mine ended.  In the matter of a couple of days, I lost one of my best friends, and learned that the life we had built for ourselves in Albany, was quickly coming to an end one way or another.  It was very hard on me, not knowing where we would end up, worry about schools, the kids friends, my work, Dax's job hunt, and of course "friend" drama. Dax and I weren't doing well either although I will say, him losing his job was the best thing that could have happened to our marriage.  He was so miserable there.  I don't even think he knew quite how unhappy he was, but the amazing thing is once that job was out of the picture, and even though we were sooo worried about what might happen next, we re-established ourselves as a team and really leaned on each other.  I'm so thankful for that because I needed my friends more than ever, and mostly I was just let down.  In a lot of ways, I'm still recovering from last year. This year, as far as friends are concerned at least, may be a little "more of the same", but I feel a lot better equipped to deal with it.  Or I hope.  I'm trying to start over here, in every way that I can while preserving what matters.  I have my husband, who over the past few months has really impressed me.  He has stepped up for me in ways that really surprised me, and I'm so grateful to have him to lean on.  He really stepped up for me and it's really given me the extra boost I need to help me really change my life like I'm trying to.

There's a song by Ivy that I heard after I moved here.  Lately it's been running on a loop in my head, and may just be my Florida theme song.  For me and my family.  For me and Dax.  For me.

Day 45--Happy Valentine's Day!

Dax and I don't celebrate Valentine's Day, and that's never bothered me because my birthday is just a few days later.  We have Dax and Melanie Love Each Other Day in May instead.  Regardless, the kids like Valentine's Day, and I have fond memories of it as a kid.  It was always more of a school holiday to me, probably because my family didn't do much for Valentine's Day either.  It was always small.  Usually, I try to get the kids a little toy or some candy, but this year I decided to make cupcakes, and since I was going to go to the trouble of making cupcakes, I decided to make vegan cupcakes!  Since this was a last minute decision, I didn't have time really to go to the store, so I needed recipes with ingredients I already had on-hand, or things I could easily substitute.  I went with this recipe for the cupcakes (substituting all-purpose flour for whole wheat (this is not a wheat-free day!), almond milk for soy, and leaving out the chocolate chips), and this recipe for the frosting.  I tried making some little hearts with sprinkles on the tops, but that didn't really work out.  Still, sprinkles are pretty anyway.

I haven't had my cupcake yet, but preliminary reviews from the kids is outstanding!  (and if my tastes of the batter and frosting count, I think I'm going to agree!)

Tonight was also Round 2 of my veggie burger experiments.  Apparently, still unwilling to follow a recipe, I think I can figure this out on my own using whatever I have laying around the house.  And well...I just might!  Maybe not quite yet, but getting closer!  This time I used about a cup of leftover brown rice, a cup or so of leftover lentil soup, drained as best as I could, a few tablespoons of ground almonds (all I had left),  2 tablespoons of ground flax seed, a handful of mushrooms, and a little bit of teriyaki sauce made from this recipe . I put that all in the food processor and it turned out looking like this...

It was really too moist, so I chilled it awhile until I was able to sort of make patties with it.  I put them between layers of plastic wrap so I could freeze them a bit too, hopefully making them a little firmer for cooking.  It worked...kind of.  When I was frying these, I was feeling like I couldn't quite get the inside cooked too, so I ended up, stirring it all up in the pan, with a little more teriyaki, and then reforming into a patty as I cooked, and that worked pretty well!  I topped the burger with mushrooms sauteed in teriyaki sauce (my attempt at recreating the teriyaki mushrooms I had last week), and I must say I found the result really satisfying!

I found the charred bits throughout (some would say "burned") most flavorful, and the nuttiness of the burger went really well with the teriyaki.  I need to work on the consistency of the burger, but I think the flavor is really coming along!  I have three more patties in the freezer, so I'm curious to see how they cook up.

As for now, it's time for dessert!

Nude Nite Orlando

Did that get your attention?  ;)

I mentioned before that Dax and I have been going out a lot more, and last week I heard about this art exhibit that was in town.  Nude Nite  is a yearly event, I believe, and it's a big art show celebrating the body, complete with wall art, sculpture, live art and performance art.  It was really an experience and a great excuse to really dress up.  (not that I bothered to get a picture of US)  Knowing that there would be live people walking around with little or no clothes on, I assumed that you wouldn't be able to take photographs, but apparently I was wrong...and stuck there with just my cell phone.  There is also the part of me that gets tired of always taking pictures and welcome the chance to just experience something as it's happening rather than through the lens, but seeing all these people snapping away at this great art was more than I could handle and I busted out the cell phone.  I did photograph everything through my Retro Camera app since I didn't have a good camera to work with, and I shot everything in black and white (which could be an insult to the artists who displayed their art in color) and even cropped everything in Lightroom, but I felt I had to have my thumbprint on the photos too, you know?  My biggest regret, though, is that I didn't think to get record of the artists' names to give credit, but I wanted to share a bit of our experience there.

This "mermaid in captivity" was the first installation I took a photo of.  People were really close to her and taking photos and chatting with her, so I figured it really was ok and started to get a little more comfortable.  Plus, she wasn't nude.

These people were, however, and I love this shot mostly for the silhouette of the girl with her mouth agape.

Beautiful, dreamy painting.

I couldn't resist a shot of this photograph (displayed in bright and vivid color).  I had that hoop.  That's the 5lb sport hoop that beats the heck out of your organs when you use it.  That hoop hurts. I have loads of respect for that woman.

Stilt-walkers.  I thought I got a shot of them head-on, because they were posing for everyone, but I guess I was still a little shy about taking pictures of some one's boobies.  If it hadn't been my cell phone, I don't think it would have bothered me as much, but instead I felt like I looked like that jerk with the cell phone who's sending "check out these tits!" pics to all of his friends.  So I tried to be discreet.  Plus there was one person dressed as "security" in one installation who yelled at me (and several others) not to take cell phone photos of his piece (it was a nekkid girl saran wrapped to a pillar with him "guarding" her), but I suspect that was just part of the piece.  Still, it made me anxious.

Oh I loved this!  It was done with bits of magazine.

Bubbles!

This was a set of two sculptured done with forks and spoons.  I wish they were a little clearer.  I loved these!

This was interactive.  People could write on the big white board around this guy.  I really like how this photo turned out.  Personally, I found this exhibit hilarious, for a few reasons, mostly the guy's resemblance to this character in Community (he's the Greendale Community College's mascot, The Human Being.)

But back to the neat stuff...

This one was done with Jelly Beans, and  again, color would have been nice here.
Oh wait!  (must find cell phone)  This is the one piece of the night, that I did switch modes to get a color shot of it too.

I really liked that one.  There were a few "works in progress" going on throughout the night, and this is one I would have liked to see the finished product.

Another "work in progress" and definitely my favorite of the live art that night, mostly because I loved the way this girl was painted.  It was swirly and sparkly.  Red glitter, clear crystals and white detailing.  It was just beautiful.  I want to be painted like that.  I would have really appreciated the zoom capabilities of my good camera to show the detail, but I really like the way this photo turned out too.  I love the reflections!

Finally, we'll end with a laugh.

Have a great day!  Make some art!

Day 42--I've been neglecting my blog, but not my health!

I can't believe I'm almost halfway through this challenge already.  I keep track of my progress with this pretty calendar and some stickers.  I get a flower sticker for every day that I have remained vegan  (you'll notice some "good try" happy face stickers on days that I accidentally had egg or milk in some food item, and one day that has nothing on it because that was the day I had beer.  The star and heart stickers are days I exercised and since this photo is from my January page, you'll see that for the first month, there wasn't that much.

In some ways being vegan has been a huge adjustment, but in others, it's really been pretty easy.  I want to take a minute and just take stock of where I am vs. 42 days ago.

I have more energy, but maybe not as much as I thought I would.  I'm happy to be caffeine-free though.  I bought one decaf coffee since the challenge started, and I thought it tasted too heavy and too muddy, so I don't bother with decaf.  I have a nice assortment of teas, and I have hot teas in the morning and at night, and iced during the day.  I don't sleep very well though.  I average about 6 hours per night, and I usually take a nap during the day.  I suppose it sorts itself out to 8 hours, but I'd like to be more productive during my daytime, and sleeping doesn't help me accomplish this.  Napping is just so seductive when the house is empty though.

My weight has been a pretty major frustration.  After the 8lb loss of the first two weeks (when I couldn't figure out what to eat), I discovered food that tasted good again and I came back up about halfway.  So yeah, that's about a four lb loss for the month, but while I wasn't expecting a magic bullet to weight loss, I expected better than that.

I'm no longer taking the arthritis medication, but within a couple of days of stopping, any inflammation improvements I'd been experiencing started reversing right away.  I have another prescription for the meds, but I don't want to be on that stuff long-term if I can help it, so I'm looking into alternative methods.  I'm also looking suspiciously at wheat.  I've suspected a gluten intolerance for quite awhile, and even was tested for celiac last year.  The celiac test was negative, but that doesn't rule out an intolerance.  Finally it was settled that my symptoms were probably due to a lactose intolerance, but at the time, I didn't really give up dairy.  I expected those symptoms to go away when I went vegan, but they didn't, and when you've eliminated so many things from your diet, it's easier to examine the effects of what's left.  I've been experimenting with wheat  free days, and when I do, my joint pain is less.  I haven't done it for enough days in a row to know for sure (it's hard), but it's something I want to look into more.

Now for the good stuff (and there's a lot of it!).  I've really been enjoying most of my food!  I actually think being vegan is making me a better cook, because so much of what I cook is just imagination and experimentation.  What things do I have in the house that could go together and taste good?  It's easy to make meat taste good, and I often think that what I prepared would be a whole lot better with a little chicken in it.  It takes a little more effort for me to figure out satisfying flavor combinations when I'm working with different options, but when I do, it's so satisfying!  I've also developed a big appreciation for tofu and tempeh.  Those two ingredients have transformed a lot of dishes from pretty good to really satisfying.  I don't think of them as meat substitutes, but they do lend an umami element to a lot of dishes that I would definitely miss!

I love the way my food looks too.  It's so much prettier than it used to be.  Even the simple stuff...This is one of my recent lunch wraps.

This one is a garlic and herb wrap (a wheat product I would sorely miss), some bok choy, mushrooms, tempeh sauteed in some soy sauce and sesame oil and Goddess dressing.  Super crazy yummy!

Dax and I have been having a few more date nights than usual.  Partly because WE FINALLY CLOSED ON THE HOUSE this week, and partly because we're losing our babysitter soon.  Cori has decided to move back to Missouri and will be leaving us on the 22nd.  :(  So anyway, we've been trying a few more restaurants around town, and although I've had one other night where my only option was french fries (and that was o.k.  It was Dax's turn to pick a place.  He lets me pick most of the time.), and I've had a few menus where I only had one choice from a five page menu.  But I've also been to a few places that had so many options that I can't wait to go back and try something else.  Last night we had Japanese and I had some to-die-for teriyaki mushrooms!  I can't wait to go back there!  One of my favorite restaurant meals I've had was this great dish I got from a Vietnamese restaurant.  I have no idea what it was called, but it's tofu, green beans, and carrots in a curry sauce.  I managed to get a picture because I had half of it leftover for a great lunch the next day!

Finally, the best new thing I'm doing is taking yoga classes at Shine On Yogasomething (yoga, biking, walking the dog, hooping) six out of ten days so far this month, and I'm hoping to improve on that even more.

I'm also going to try and update my blog more frequently!  This entry took forever!

Day 29- Being Vegan in a Carnivore family

First, I really shouldn't call myself vegan.  I realized this week that I eat honey and have no plans of eliminating that. *** I wear leather.  I have a boar's hair brush.  And I'm not even sure what vegans say about yeast... I like animals, but I also think they're yummy.  (I also think they should be treated humanely).  At almost a month into the challenge, I'm beginning to think about what I want to do after the challenge.  What things will I bring back and what's going to stay away?  I think most definitely butter will be back, and probably eggs.  I'm not sure about dairy though.  I love it and all, and I'm sure I'll really want pizza again, so maybe that can be a very occasional thing.  Then there's meat.  I haven't missed meat nearly as much as I thought I would, and I suppose that's not a really big surprise.  I've had a few bouts as a vegetarian before, but the longest was only for 3 months.  I don't know if I would really miss it long-term.  I'm thinking that maybe I could just eat meat only if it was from a local farm, grass-fed, all that good stuff.  We get the "good meat" occasionally, but it's really expensive so it's always been more of a treat rather than the standard, but maybe that's how meat should fit into my diet...as a treat.  So I'm reading this book called Eating Animals by Jonathan Safran Foer.  I already LOVE this author so I figured this might be a good book for me to read to help me decide what kind of eater I want to be.

Regardless of what I decide, I'm living in a house full of carnivores, and I don't think any of them are interested in changing that.  Figuring out what to cook for dinner that will satisfy me and them has been a big challenge, but usually a pretty fun one.  I like figuring out meals that complement each other, satisfy me and the carnivores, and maybe, just maybe gets them to try some of my stuff too.  The easiest meals are meals we can assemble at the table (like tacos, wraps, etc) so that I can have a meat ingredient for them, but plenty of other options for me (and them too).  Often I'll do a two-pasta night, one with meat and one without.  It's a lot of food, but with five people living here, leftovers go fast.  Sometimes I'm able to make a meal out of side dishes, but that's usually tougher or at least less satisfying.  A couple of days ago, I made two pots of chili...mine had tempeh (love love love tempeh!), black beans and kidney beans, onions, mushrooms, red peppers, and carrots.  I was fortunate to have Cori here as an extra set of hands while I was cooking them both (especially when it comes to prep work.  So much chopping!).  The chili was great, and the carnivores liked it, but they stuck to their meaty chili for the most part, and left me with mine (not that I mind...the leftovers have been better than when I first made it).  I'm happy with the direction my diet is going now though.  It took a few weeks to get into a groove and actually find a variety of meals that keep me happy, but it's working and I'm pretty excited to see what's in store next!

***Edited to add that I just found out that the Pop Rocks that I got at the candy store last night have milk in them. Damn you, Pop Rocks!!