Push yourself to exhaustion .... but be sure to listen to your body!

Happy Friday Lovies, I hope your week has been great and you are feeling great. This week has been great I am officially back on track. I haven't had a single piece of chocolate and I am getting into the swing of the plant based vegan days. I have also scaled back on snacking when I shouldn't ... but I am still addicted to peanut butter... ( I may have had a few meals that were just spoonfuls of peanut butter.) I am back down to my lowest weight and today I had to go upstairs and find a new set of fir gear because I could again put my hands to my sides in the pants and not keep them up 👍

Workout Update 

This weeks runs have been a little shaky, Sunday did not go well I let the first mile beat me and turned around, I know you should never listen to the first mile but I did... then Dante decided that he wants to train for a Biathlon and tried to take us swimming ... 

Luckily I was able to stop myself from going in, and I am sure my neighbors got a good laugh... heck I did, at a certain point all I could do was laugh and take a picture. Mondays Run went MUCH better, time was a little crap but we got the distance I set out for, and didn't end with a swim so I'm calling it a win!

Long Run Wednesday came and with it some pretty hellacious wind, the tree outside of my apartment decided it didn't want to tree anymore and fell, along with a bunch of other trees in the state.... while I was in bed listening to the very loud wind, I tried to talk myself out of going. I finally had to tell myself to get out of bed and go. THE RUN WAS AMAZING. my best ever 5k and 10 k time and my 8 miles of consistent splits and it felt good. we only had to clim over a few downed trees, and the wind wasn't too bad during my run. 

Thursday I woke up SORE... I should know its going to happen I mean Im 30 years old and very out of shape for years, most of the time I have trouble with my will and my ability and I push myself a little farther than I should. I also made a bad mistake of deciding it was ok to skip yoga to give myself a "rest" BAD IDEA!!! 

Today I woke up at work, barely able to stand or bend over due to pain in my lower back.... we had a call and I spent the whole time almost about to cry and having trouble lifting.... luckily my partner was awesome and we knocked stout together. I got to the station and went back to sleep with a Bengay patch on my back. when I woke up it was a little better so I took some alive and my pre workout and started today with a 30 minute sunrise flow to decompress my spine, it worked pretty good and I could move again. I decided to scale back on my workout a little and make it a little more back friendly.... I don't need to be out with an injury! 

After my 30 minutes of yoga I ran on the treadmill, not trying to set any times, I ran 1.5 miles normally and 1 mile with my mask on. I ended up with 2.5 miles in 33 minutes which isn't too bad. I also had to go up to the supply closet and find smaller gear again... this will make the 3rd time this year :) darn that felt good!! After I found my new gear, I did 3 minutes of jump roping irregular clothes and then instead of 15, 10, 5s I did sets of 3 for 10 reps. I did 45 lb squats, push ups, planks, 10 lb bicep and delts workouts, 50 flights of stairs with 10 lb weights, and crawled the township room. I left off the pack this week to try and give my back a break... trying to listen to my body, since sometimes I'm not good at that. 

Some new delicious treats....

This week I really wanted to try better and try new things, no snuck in powdered milk...

Todays breakfast was Vegan Banana and Roasted Cinnamon french toast with a mixed berry smoothy. 

The french toast is:

1. 1 ripe banana.
2. 3/4 cup almond milk, or milk of choice.
3. 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon, or to taste.
4. dash of nutmeg, optional.
5. 1 teaspoon vanilla extract.
6. coconut oil, for greasing.
7. French or sourdough loaf cut into any size you like, or use any bread you like (6 slices)
8. pure maple syrup for serving.

I left out the nutmeg because I am not a huge fan but this recipe really won me over, (I am not a big fan of french toast)  I just soaked the bread in the mixture for 30 seconds each side and then fried it up.. I used spray instead of coconut oil because it was all I had on hand. 

The berry smoothy is just black berries, strawberries, blueberries, and raspberries, pureed with a little water. 

For mid workout snack... since I started to feel a little depleted I had a jiff to go cup of peanut butter and the rest of the mixed berries. 

Dinner tonight was a Baby kale salad with roasted veggies and lemon garlic dressing.

For the roasted veggies I coated cauliflower, white onion, and sweet potato cubes in a dry roasting powder that I found at the grocery store and baked them in the oven at 425 for 40 minutes. The dressing I found in the vegetable section at an organic store called Earth Fare, its vegan so made life easier for me and its delicious. 

My big meal this week was Vegan Mac and Cheese, I found a recipe online and made some changes and it turned out amazing, I think I will keep it around even after Lent, I didn't make me sick like the last time I made real mac and cheese LOL 

The Recipe with my changes:

• 10 ounces dried macaroni (or about 2⅔ cups)
• 1 head of cauliflower florets 
• 1 cup peeled/diced sweet potatoes 
• 1/2 cup peeled/diced carrots
• 1 medium chopped onion
• 1 1/2 cup water (preferably use liquid from pot of boiled veggies)
• 1 cup raw cashews
• 1/2 cup almond milk
• 2 tablespoons nutritional yeast flakes
• 1 tablespoon lemon juice ( I forgot this ...)
• ¾ to 1 teaspoon salt (or more to taste)
• ¼ teaspoon garlic powder
• 1 pinch cayenne pepper (optional)
• 1 pinch paprika

Boil the carrots, onion, sweet potatoes, and cashews together until tender, blend with the reserved liquid from the pot until smooth. Adding the rest of the ingredients and mix together.  

boil the macaroni and cauliflower separately until soft ( noodles aldente) then stain and combine. 

combine all of the ingredients into a baking dish and add a bag of Vegan "cheese" shreads to the top. Bake at 325 for 20 minutes then broil for 2.5 minutes to get everything bubbly. 

I am glad to have found some pretty awesome vegan options that are filling and delicious. :) 

Until next week friends! Have a safe and fit week.