Today is the first day of the last week of the 8-week challenge. It is a strange feeling to realize that by this time next Sunday, I'll be done with the challenge. What does that mean to me? Well, I won't simply revert back to my poor food choices of the prior year. I've really enjoyed the vegetarian (mostly vegan) foods I've made over the past two months. It has been fun balancing the colors and properties of vegetables so that I'm getting all of the nutrients I need while eating a whole foods, plant based diet: beans and rice make a complete protein, there is a ton of calcium in dark green leafy vegetables, and all of the minerals and antioxidants in colorful foods, just to name a few.
Over these 8-weeks, I've worked to eliminate all meat, dairy and processed sugar from my diet. I was very successful with meat: other than a corn dog and some chicken at the fair in the 1st week, and a tiny bit of chicken at the Indian restaurant the other day when I was trying to get a taste of the sauce - I have had no meat at all for 7 weeks. I was completely successful with removing milk (usually whole milk) in the form of cereal, drinking, and hot chocolate. I was very successful at reducing sugar from my day to day consumption, although I did have a couple of cookies and some chocolate, and one amazing piece of birthday cake. Cheese was the hardest hurdle to overcome, and I finally decided that I wasn't willing to get rid of it entirely for 8-weeks, and certainly not for the rest of my life. However, I've greatly reduced the volume of cheese to less than 3 ounces in a week. Since I could easily eat 3+ ounces with crackers and an apple as a midday snack, not to mention what I could have at every other meal that day, I'll count that as pretty successful as well.
So, as I move into week 8, I'm starting to really think about the future. How do I want to eat after the challenge is over? As a rule, I plan on eating much as I do now. I'll add back some limited amounts of cheese and dairy for cooking (cornbread without milk and butter is a terrible waste of cornmeal), and carefully add a couple of sweets back in. Portion size is a key learning where sweets are concerned - the smallest size works just as well as the largest size when it comes to cake, cookies and ice-cream. Often a taste is plenty. But I do want the taste - and I don't want to completely skip dessert when having dessert is more appropriate (birthday celebration, for example). So that is my thinking today. Be aware, I have the prerogative to change my mind, if I so desire.
Today was a pretty good food day. I had a slice of the pumpkin bread (it really isn't very good - the more I have, the worse it gets) and a bowl of cereal for breakfast. After a short, post-breakfast nap, we took the dogs for a slippery and muddy walk in Forest Park. We tried to make the walk easy by staying on the main trails. The thing is, the biggest trail runs mostly along the bottom of the ravine. Our trail head was at the very tip top of the mountain. Our trip down was steep and slick. Our trip up was pulse raising, sweat inducing, heat making, and crazy steep and slick. For a lazy day, it may not have been the best choice of hike. Oops.
We were starving after our hike, so we got burritos from Taco Del Mar. Mine was vegan with pinto beans, rice, lettuce and guacamole. Brian had a fish burrito. We took those home and watched yesterday's UGA/FSU game, which I think is the oldest rivalry in football, which we had missed while hanging out in Seattle. It was a good, yet frustrating game. Happily, my alma mater won the day (yesterday), which means they are still in the running for the SEC championships. We thought for sure they'd be out after their last game, but it was one of those times when everybody lost a game, so lots of folks still have a shot. We celebrated with 4 chocolate covered almonds.
Dinner was the left over roasted veggies cooked in broth to make a savory, delicious soup. Prep time was about 10 minutes. In other words, just long enough for the broth to melt (it was in the freezer) and the veggies to warm up. Easy peasy!
That is about it for food. I had about four 24 ounce glasses of tea (roiboos, green and peppermint - at different times) and a bunch of water on the trail. All in all, it was a good day.
Be happy and healthy!
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