February Vegan Challenge

February first. A new month. A clean slate. Just what I needed! And I think a new challenge and self-experiment is needed!

As a child, I always associated February with Red. Red for Valentine's Day and red for the Vietnamese New Year. I'm not ashamed to say it, but Valentine's Day is one of my favorite holidays. I can see you rolling your eyes as you read this, but hear me out. We all live busy, face-paced lives. How often do you tell your loved ones, that you love them? Yes, it's a commercial holiday, but it also reminds you to appreciate those around you. And sometimes, we need a reminder (even if it's one where the greeting card industry profits).

I grew up in a household where we didn't say we loved each other, and it wasn't because we didn't love each other, we just weren't accustomed to saying it out loud. So when I got home from school on V-day's with a brown paper bag filled with cards that said nice (albeit standard) things, I couldn't help but feel good about myself.

Now flash forward. I'm no longer a child, but a young adult. No more brown paper bags filled with cards. Single or not, I still celebrate Valentine's Day. I send my single mother flowers, my sisters chocolates, and go out to dinner or watch a movie with my friends.

This year, I want to do something different. With the Vietnamese New Year to boost my New Year's Resolutions, I've decided to go Vegan for 28 days. I tried going Vegan two years ago, but it didn't last too long. This time, however, I'm determined to do the 28 days. The way I think of it, I'm resetting my body so that I can learn and go on living a happy and healthy lifestyle with a plant-based diet.
Along the way, I hope to find a balance between my mind and body. And once Valentine's day comes around, I hope to inflict myself with copious amounts of self-love (something we all need, once in awhile) and delicious food!

I'll be using Kriss Carr's Crazy, Sexy, Kitchen and Alicia Silverstone's The Kind Diet to help me accomplish this. Look forward to my recipe reviews.

Week 2

Today marks the end of week two, and now I know what the phrase "mindless eating" means. One week of school and by the end of it, I realized that I hardly thought about what I put in my mouth. I grabbed whatever was available when I was hungry. On the plus side, I did keep up with my workouts, so hopefully that balanced everything.

I do have a solution though. Meal prepping! I spent Sunday bagging up my snacks, making my chia drinks, prepping salads, and etc!

Now, a yummy dinner after body-pump (I'm starting to like lifting. It's wayyyyy different from endurance running. It was challenging at first, but now I'm getting use to it).

Only a month and a half until San Diego!

Happy and healthy days to you all!

-Miss M

End of Week 1!

One week into the New Year!!! Whoo! I'm hoping it'll be a good year as long as it doesn't resemble this week I've had. Nonetheless, I'm keeping up with my health and fitness goals. I'm not sure if any of these warrant a recipe, (since they're so simple) so I'm just going to put everything in this post.

I will mention that as a college student, whole foods being a few blocks away from campus is a lifesaver, because I love their salads.

My go to breakfast this week has been oatmeal. The flavor of the week is cinnamon banana. Just make your rolled oats as you normally would, add sliced bananas, cinnamon, and sweetner if you need it. Great way to start your day.

Also, I've found that I LOVE sweet potatoes!

Homemade sweet potato fries are way better than the prepackaged ones I use to buy.

Even when they're baked their yummy. I had to have one on the side to go with my shrimp, cucumber, corn salad for dinner the other night.

But my love for sweet potatoes doesn't end there.

I'll even have it with breakfast alongside turkey bacon and a honey crisp apple (not pictured). As for the drink, I've found that I like putting chia seeds in vitamin water. I had this before my bodypump workout over the weekend and by the end of the class, I wasn't as tired as I thought I'd be. I think it was the sweet potato that did it ;]

Today, after I had a very horrible day (although I did have a very good cardio session), I needed a pick me up. This time I didn't reach for one of my typical comfort foods. Instead I made this:

Cod fish cooked with some lemon and pepper, corn, and an iceberg salad with avocado and tangerines. Now some pomegranate raspberry green tea to soothe my soul.

Wishing all of you a happy and healthy day.

-Miss M

The Start of My Life

The first of the year is filled with resolutions. I woke up and completely dreaded the New Year because of the task I had set before myself seemed too daunting. Too grand for me to complete within a year. That's not the way I should have woken up though. I should have been excited! So I edited my list. In my last post I wrote about wanting to finish a manuscript. After receiving e-mails from my professors and already having to do homework before the quarter even started, I realized this may not be feasible. So I cut the word count by more than half. 40,000 words by my Birthday, and then complete if after. That is attainable. I feel better already.

Although writing is my priority, I have other things in mind this year. This year, is where I begin. It's the year where I get to be who I've always wanted to be. Two years ago, I succumbed to obligations and duties that others set before me. I was unhappy, confused, and felt like the life I was living wasn't mine, because I was living for everyone else. Doing things that pleased them instead of doing the things that I loved. So 2012 marked the end of that. I edited my life. Cut out everything that held me down, cut ties with those who were negative influences, and then I started doing things I've always wanted to do. I stopped caring about what others thought about me and started valuing the opinion I had of myself. No longer would I be defined by the standards that others set before me.

This year, school will be over. I will no longer have that crutch or safety net. I will finally step out into the "real world". No more moving back and forth. No more driving back and forth. And no more looking back or ahead. Just living in the moment. I know that's easier said then done, but I'm up for the challenge.

Another thing I like about the first of the year is all the health and fitness craze. The other day I was watching a documentary about obesity in America, and I was inspired to get on the band wagon. Although I spent the last year running, I realized that I had fallen victim to the freshmen fifteen! Now that college is about to be over, its about time that I took responsibility for it (because that's not the type of souvenir I want to keep!). So for the next three months, I'll make sure to share easy and simple recipes for those on the bandwagon too! Starting with:

Banana-egg Pancakes!

Mash one large banana and mix it with one whole egg. You'll get a pancake type batter. Cook in a nonstick pan over medium heat, until both sides are golden. I like mine a little bit more well done when it comes to these pancakes so I made mine a darker brown. Feel free to mix in carob or cacao chips, raisins, blueberries, or anything you want! Be creative! For today, I went with the plain pancake and topped it off with some syrup. The recipe was inspired by a photo I saw on Instagram.

Approx: 190 cals for three pancakes

Here's how mine turned out this morning. I had it with some turkey bacon (it looks weird in the photo, but tasted yummy). And of course, some black coffee! I was so hungry I took a bite before taking the photo :P

Now, a walk with my dogs, a two-mile run, a trip to whole foods, and a day filled with job applications and writing assignments!

Wishing you all a great first of the year!

-Miss M