This week I tried a few new recipes including Sweet & Creamy Chickpea Salad made with Pineapple (YUM!) and Instant Pot Cilantro Lime Rice, made with brown basmati rice. We also had repeats of some family favorites – Lentil Loaf, Cashew Kale, & Homestyle sloppy Joes!
It’s so important to batch cook a few hours a week some staples to save time. I did some Instant Pot Cilantro Lime Rice, Instant Pot Black Beans, a double batch of the Sweet & Creamy Chickpea Salad, and a whole box of whole grain pancakes with blueberries & ground flax seed mixed in.
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My youngest eats pancakes almost every single day so I just make a huge batch that we can eat off of for a few days. They keep very well in our Rubbermaid premier containers and I just heat 2-3 for 30 seconds in the microwave and his breakfast is done!
Finding a good whole grain, vegan pancake mix
I’ve tried a few different brands of pancake mix and it’s definitely a delicate balance of health vs. taste and what they will eat….. Birch benders plant protein is a good one and is vegan, but not 100% whole grain. Kodiak cakes is 100% whole grain, but not vegan. Grrr. We tried a vegan, whole grain buckwheat pancake mix by Arrowhead and they hated it…. I haven’t found a homemade recipe they like yet either. Log Cabin All Natural Pancake mix has whole grain (but not 100%), is vegan, is the least expensive but does have some added sugar and is probably the best of both worlds in my opinion. I buy the pancake mixes at Kroger or Walmart, but you can check out the links to see what the package looks like.
If anyone has found a great whole grain, vegan pancake recipe or mix your KIDS like, please comment below because I would love to try it!
Plant-based has improved my running
I’ve started running a little bit more lately – I love being outside in the summer – soaking up the sun to get the Vitamin D! It really does improve my mood and since eating plant-based since January, my endurance, speed, & recovery has really improved a lot. I’ve gotten up to 5 miles on my long runs once a week and then usually do about 3 miles a few days the rest of the week.
The only problem I find with running is that I feel like my weight loss has slowed, yet I think I’m getting more toned. I know that means I’m gaining muscle, but I sure wish the scale would move faster! At least I’m fitting into my summer clothes much better. I still can’t believe I weigh so much less than this time last year! I was actually around 166 at the time, so that’s over 19 pounds difference. It’s funny, I look at pictures and see a completely different person now.
I’ve lost over 17 inches on a Nutritarian Diet – before & after photos
The photo on the right is the most recent – taken just yesterday. The one on the left is only 6 months ago on our Disney trip. I hadn’t worn jean shorts in YEARS and I had these just hanging in my closet taunting me, so I decided to give it a go. They fit! However, I think the thing I notice the most in the pictures is my FACE… I had started really disliking my puffy face in pictures and that’s when I knew I needed to make a change.
I took some measurements this week and compared them to this time last year. I’ve lost 17.5 inches total from my chest, waist, hips, arms, & thighs combined! My stomach is no longer hanging out over the waist of my jeans so I can now wear more fitted shirts. I had started where baggy, blousy shirts to hide my stomach. My arms are much more toned & I can finally fit into my favorite capri jeans COMFORTABLY! Woohoo!
I’m still not great at eating a salad every day, but I do get in raw greens on my avocado toast, in a smoothie, or on a sandwich. However, my cravings for meat and cheese have really pretty much disappeared! I don’t even think about eating those things, even when we go out to eat at a restaurant!
Related reading – start from the beginning of my journey with WEEK 1.
Eat to Live Food Diary – Week 19
Day 127: 147.3 pounds to start
- Breakfast – Everything Bagel Avocado Toast topped w/Arugula, berries, coffee w/unsweetened Almond milk
- Lunch – Pineapple Chickpea Salad Sandwich with Spinach on Dave’s Killer Bread – Thin sliced
- Dinner – Homestyle sloppy joe on whole wheat bun, corn kernels
Day 128:
- Breakfast – 2 Everything Bagel Avocado Toast topped w/Arugula, cherries, coffee w/unsweetened Almond milk
- Lunch – Pineapple Chickpea Salad Sandwich with Spinach on Dave’s Killer Bread – Thin sliced
- Dinner – Veggie Sushi Burrito @ Whole Foods – seaweed wrap, quinoa/brown rice, avocado, cucumber, carrots, jalapeno, green onion, lettuce, tofu
Day 129:
- Breakfast – Everything Bagel Avocado Toast topped w/Arugula, coffee w/unsweetened Almond milk
- Lunch – Burrito Bowl – Instant Pot Cilantro Lime Rice, black beans, Upton’s Jack fruit, broccoli, spinach, cilantro, green/red/yellow/orange bell peppers, red onion, pineapple salsa
- Dinner – Lentil Loaf, Italian Cashew Creamed Kale, red potatoes, 2 Peanut butter cookies
- Ranger’s Baseball Ballgame – peanuts & water
Day 130:
- Breakfast – Dragon Fruit Smoothie, coffee w/unsweetened almond milk
- Lunch – Lentil Loaf sandwich on whole grain bread, grapes, Peanut butter cookies
- Dinner – Chickpea salad on whole grain tortilla w/spinach, arugula, cabbage, carrots
Day 131:
- Breakfast – Dragon Fruit Smoothie, coffee w/unsweetened almond milk
Lunch – Chickpea salad on Dave’s Killer Bread – Thin sliced w/spinach, arugula, grapes, Peanut butter cookies
Dinner – Panda Express – brown rice, steamed veggies, & 2 vegetable spring rolls
Day 132:
- Breakfast – Whole grain blueberry pancakes and coffee w/unsweetened almond milk
- Lunch/Dinner – Qdoba corn tacos with Impossible Meat (plant-based meat crumbles, guac, pico, corn, & cilantro
Day 133:
- Breakfast – not hungry, just coffee
- Lunch – Chickpea salad on romaine lettuce w/side of steamed broccoli & red potatoes
- Dinner – Lentil Loaf, peas, Instant Pot Cilantro Lime Rice, 2 Peanut butter cookies
My weight loss on the nutritarian diet this week:
- Starting weight this week – 147.3 lbs
- Ending weight this week – 146.9 lbs
- Weight loss these 2 weeks – 0.4 lbs
- Total weight loss so far – 17.1 lbs
Almost 1/2 a pound lost this week. There were many years that I thought I would never see the 140’s again. It just seemed impossible and I couldn’t ever seem to lose more than 5 pounds and then I would gain it all back. It was so frustrating, so to see the scale at 146.9 this week was very motivating! My ultimate goal is to be around 130-135, so I’ll just keep plugging away. Slow and steady wins the race!
Continue following me on my journey with WEEK 20!
