While I am not returning to school this Fall I still get the back to school bug. I mean I graduated from high school over 10 years ago but I still can’t help myself when the stores fill with new pens, notebooks and other school essentials. I find myself stocking up like I am going back to school myself but in reality I’m just going to go home with a pile of things I probably don’t really need. I also get the nostalgic over new classes, studying and learning new things.
I think as adults we get so caught up in work and life that we forget that there is always something new to learn. You don’t have to be school aged or be working towards a degree to take time to learn something new. So this month I am challenging you to learn something new. Take a class, attend a conference, seek out someone/somewhere to learn something you’ve always wanted to learn or maybe something you didn’t know you’d like to learn. Just learn something new and have fun doing it.
What is something new you’d like to learn this month? This month I am attending The Hello Sessions blogger conference here in Portland where I hope to learn all kinds of new things regarding blogging, social media, photography tips and so much more.
I feel like it’s been longer than two weeks since we had a check-in but it hasn’t and here I am with a big one. I have so much to share with you about my diet, goals and where I am now. Keep reading! Goals In Review:
(Dietary Goal) Diligently follow my 28 week transformation program. I wish I could say that I did but I had a few off days but overall I found that I was pretty successful and that the program helped me to focus on eating more intuitively (more about this in my review below)
(Physical Goal)Do 10+ minutes of barre3 online each day. Huge fail. I don’t know why but I just didn’t. This is going back on my goals again for weeks 5 & 6.
(Mental Goal) Spend 15 minutes per day reading a book. Okay so I didn’t read a book for 15 minutes everyday but I did read The Starch Solution by Dr. John McDougall.
Goals for Weeks 5 & 6:
(Dietary Goal) Drink 64oz of water everyday. I had been drinking close to a gallon of water everyday for a few weeks but in the past two weeks I haven’t been filing my water jar as frequently as I should. So cheers to drinking more water.
(Physical Goal)Do 10+ minutes of barre3 online each day. Let’s try this again. Anyone want to be my accountability partner?
(Mental Goal) Read and start The Orange Rhino Challenge. Being a stay-at-home mom of two little ones can be rewarding and fun but also exhausting and frustrating (usually all in the same day). If you know me you know I have a bit of a fiery personality and while my goals is be a gentle and warm parent I have my moments where I can be short and lose my patience. The thing is I don’t want to be short or lose my patience. I want to be calm, warm and in control of my emotions. You can read more about the challenge here.
Review of The Past Two Weeks:
I had a bit of a break through in the past two weeks regarding my diet. I had been following my 28 Day Transformation plan which called for five meals with certain portioned out components to each meal. Following the plan I found myself craving a lot of sweets and other junk foods but overall I just wanted more starches (brown rice, sweet potato, white potatoes, beans). I left many meals feeling full but not satisfied which would cause me to seek out other foods. This isn’t to say that the meal plan design for this program doesn’t work it just didn’t work for me. Besides not feeling satisfied with meals I also had a hard time fitting in the two snack meals because life just gets busy and for me three meals works best most of the time.
Finally after about 18 days of following the plan 80% of the time I decided to give into my craving and I had a huge bowl of rice at lunch. After that meal I felt super satisfied and more energetic. So I ended up increasing my starches by adding in more brown rice, whole grain pasta, potatoes and sweet potatoes. I did stick with keeping things low fat; the 28 Day Transformation program allowed for 2-3 servings of fat per day. Once I started listening to my body I found that within a few days my cravings decreased, my energy increased and my digestion improved.
So for now I am focusing on eating a bit more of starch based, low fat vegan diet because it is working for me. I haven’t given up oils and such but I plan to keep my diet mostly starches(oats, brown rice, sweet potato, winter squash, white potatoes, beans, legumes and occasionally whole grain pasta), fruits and veggies with a little bit of fat. If you’d like me to discuss this further in a separate post let me know!
Workouts as you saw above just haven’t been going well. I have been getting out most days with the kids for a walk or two during the day but as for focused workouts they just haven’t been happening. I have been spending more time focusing my diet and now that I am in a good spot I feel ready and excited to take on regular non-walking workouts such as barre3, running (!!) and hopefully try out some new classes in Portland.
Overall I am feeling like I am in a good place. I learned a lot over the past few weeks and I am feeling more positive, more energetic, and excited for the next 8 weeks and beyond.
I recently participated in the prAna and Fit Approach #7daystretch campaign on Instagram. It was a great excuse to get myself back into regular stretching and I am finding myself loving the prompts, community and creativity that comes with fun campaigns like this one.
I also had an opportunity to try out a pair of prAna leggings from their Fall collection and I instantly fell in love. There is something about a pair of quality leggings that reminds me why it’s okay to invest a little more in something great. It reminded me so much that I went out and bought myself a pair of their Misty Knickers. Now I basically live in my Prisim Capris and Misty Knickers because they are so comfortable, cute and I can wear them for a workout (barre, yoga, walk, hike) or I can simply pair them with a pair of casual shoes, a t-shirt and a denim jacket for a casual but cool look. The fit of both of these pants are just so comfortable, a little higher rise so it holds everything in (#postpartumbelly) and what can I say my butt looks great in them.
Have you tried prAna pants? My husband has a pair of the Brion pants and another pair that I can’t remember the name of but he loves both of them. They are perfect for hiking and for casual wear as well.
In honor of the 7 Day Stretch here are 7 Things You Might Not Know About Me:
75% of my blog posts are written by hand. I have always been better at expressing myself through words if I first write something down on a piece of paper. It’s really my first draft of something so when I do go to type it there are less grammatical errors and overall my posts just seem to be better.
I could eat pasta with Earth Balance and nutritional yeast everyday (but I don’t). I know boring right? I love all kinds of food and to cook up really fun meals but I also love something so simple. When I was a child I used to have pasta with butter and parmesan all the time and this is basically my vegan version of a childhood favorite.
Every September I re-watch Gilmore Girls. I don’t know what it is about Gilmore Girls but its just says Fall to me. I have been watching the show every Fall since it started. One year I was gifted three of the seasons and so came the tradition of watching those first three seasons and eventually the fourth every year. I almost purchased the entire boxset last year but then it came out on Netflix so I am holding off until it is no longer on Netflix. Also for those of you who might be wondering Neil also likes Netflix and I’m am trying to get Edith into it as well so when she is older she can start the yearly tradition with me.
Running With Tongs used to be a vegan food blog. Shout out to those of you who remember the Cooking For A Vegan Lover days. I started blogging in December 2006 about cooking for my vegan boyfriend (now husband) Neil. I wrote about vegan recipes and vegan restaurants and then in 2010 I started my health coaching journey and my blog slowly evolved to be more of a lifestyle blog and so I changed the name to Cook.Vegan.Lover. (cooking, vegan and everything I loved). I honestly wanted to change it something else completely but was scared to make a huge name change at that time. Finally in 2011 my blog had really turned into all things healthy living and not specifically vegan so I made the leap to Running With Tongs and here we are today.
My favorite place to eat in Portland is Harlow. Harlow is a vegetarian restaurant in SE Portland and it has just really delicious and nourishing food. My favorites to order are the Harlow Mac & Cheese, Mercy Blues with Tempeh and the Huevos Rancheros (sans huevos sub tempeh).
I have lived in 4 different apartments/townhouses/houses in less than 3 years. We moved to the Portland area in January 2013 and since we moved site unseen we chose a place that was a few miles from Neil’s job. After realizing that living in the suburbs was not for us we (finally) moved into Portland. Well a surprise pregnancy left us with a townhouse that was just a bit too small for our family so we moved back to the suburbs to be closer once again to Neil’s work. Fast forward a year and after finding out our rent was going to increase by 20% if we renewed our lease and the fact that we still felt like the suburbs were not for us we again (finally) moved back to Portland where we plan to be for the longterm future.
I am a total homebody. I love to explore but I am more than happy to spend my free time at home working on projects, pinning things to pinterest or binge watching my favorite show.
What is one (or seven) things I might not know about you?
Disclaimer: prAna sent me a pair of their leggings as part of the #7daystretch campaign with Fit Approach. I did not receive any monetary compensation for this campaign.
There are so many things that I am feeling grateful for today that I thought I would share a few with you.
My Husband. He is my partner in life, the one that keeps me grounded, the one that loves me unconditionally, the one that puts up with my crazy ideas, my low days and is always there to support and love me no matter what. He is an amazing man, father and overall an amazing person that I am so grateful and lucky to have in my life.
My Children. Edith and Alder bring light to everyday, are constantly teaching me things about them, myself and the world around me and I am so grateful to share my life with them.
My Friends. My supporters in this crazy life we are living. Moving across the country and having to make friends as an adult is hard but I am so grateful for the amazing people who have come into my life over the past 2+ years and make life that much better.
What are you grateful for? Share something you feel grateful for in your life today.
*This is not sponsored – just a huge GT’s Kombucha fan and I did receive a bottle in honor of World Gratitude Day. GTs Kombucha is grateful for being able to share kombucha for two decades. To say thank you for all the support they’ve received for the last 20 years, they are introducing a new, limited-edition, raw, organic kombucha flavor called Sharing Gratitude in a beautiful screen printed bottle. With delicious, fresh-pressed, root-based vegetable juices turmeric, carrot and ginger, the flavor is a symbol of the company staying true to its roots. In addition, they are making a donation for every bottle sold.
I really don’t want to start this post with a bunch of excuses so I’ll just say the first two weeks were not as successful as I had hoped. I am the only one that can be held responsible for this and while I’d like to add a but into this intro I’m going to leave it at that.
Goals in Review:
(Dietary Goal) Drink half my weight in water everyday. Well I can’t say I did this everyday but I did a good 9 out of 14 days.
(Physical Goal) Go for a walk everyday – rain or shine. I didn’t go for a walk everyday but I did 10 out of 14 days and I also have reincorporated barre3 online workouts into my routine (I completed 3 last week).
(Mental Goal) Spend 15 minutes per day reading a book. This one was a big fail. I didn’t read anything except blogs and children’s books.
Goals for Weeks 3 & 4:
(Dietary Goal) Diligently follow my 28 week transformation program. I signed up for a 28 day program with fellow health coach Brittany Mullins and there is a meal plan that I haven’t been following so closely. After talking with my husband he reminded me that when I decided to sign up for the program I told him and myself that I was going to trust the program and take it on 100%. Well I have only followed the plan about 50% so I am re-committing myself to the program and following it completely.
(Physical Goal)Do 10+ minutes of barre3 online each day. I love barre3 and I really need to focus back on myself and my body. I love the energy barre3 gives me and how strong and sweaty I feel after a workout.
(Mental Goal) Spend 15 minutes per day reading a book. Since I didn’t complete this goal I am putting it back on the list because sometimes we just need a do-over.
Review of the past two weeks:
While I was way more active the past two weeks than I have been in months my diet was not on point. I ended up eating a lot of salads and veggie packed meals but I also had beers, fries, veggie burger, movie theater popcorn, onion rings, a pastry (or 2) and coconut ice cream. While I am not abstaining from having any of those items my goal is to focus on eating healthier options and leaving those for more of an occasional treat/meal. What it comes down to is that I chose the food over my health goals and didn’t practice self-control or really think about what I was eating. When I looked at the progress photos of myself and didn’t see any but rather found myself looking more bloated it was a real wake-up call that if I don’t make good food choices that I am not going to see any real changes. So here is to a new week, new goals and to coming back here in two weeks with a more successful check-in.
Disclaimer: This is not a sponsored post. I was not approached to review these products or paid to review either of these. I purchased both products with my own money.
We eat a whole lot of mac and cheese in this house and while having little ones could be my excuse it’s really just because we simply love mac and cheese. I have probably made about 40 different versions of mac and cheese that ranged from amazing to absolutely dreadful.
The thing that we don’t often have though is boxed mac and cheese so I have decided that I want to try them all. I mean who else grew up on Velveeta Shells and Cheese or Kraft Mac and Cheese or if you were so lucky to grow up in Canada like my hubby you would have had Kraft Dinner which is completely different that Kraft Mac and Cheese. I am on a mission to find the best boxed vegan mac and cheese out there because frankly I think it will be fun.
For this first round I went with two that I didn’t even know existed until the other day at Whole Foods. The first is Annie’s Homegrown organic and gluten free elbows with a creamy sauce.
Ingredients required: non-dairy milk and optional non-dairy buttery spread (I used unsweetened almond milk and Earth Balance)
Cook time: Pasta was supposed to cook in 8-10 minutes but really took closer to 12.
Texture & Consistency of Pasta: chewy and slimy and not what I would describe as elbows.
Photo on the box v. actual dish: Close but the photo on the box shows off more flexible noodles and a thicker sauce
Taste: sweet, funky, disgusting
Thoughts: I’ll tell you “elbows and creamy sauce” should have been a giveaway that this was no real mac and cheese but alas we tried it anyway – oh and by tried it I mean Edith, Alder and myself all put one bite in our mouth and promptly spit it out after a few seconds of chewing.The sauce for this one is a base of sweet potato and pumpkin and now reflecting on the ingredients I don’t see anything in it that would make it remotely cheesy. Anyway regardless of whether or not this was intended to be a vegan mac and cheese (which I think it was because it is listed under vegan mac and cheese on the Annie’s website) or not this creamy sauced pasta was dreadful.
Would I Purchase Again? I wouldn’t even take a box if I found it for free.
Next up we have the Gluten Free So Delicious Dairy Free Mac & Cheese Cheddar Flavor.
Ingredients required: non-dairy milk (unsweetened So Delicious coconut milk recommended) and non-dairy buttery spread (I used unsweetened almond milk and Earth Balance)
Cook time: Pasta was supposed to cook in 9 minutes and it did!
Texture & Consistency of Pasta: I thought that the pasta was great for gluten free pasta.
Photo on the box v. actual dish: I think it was pretty close to looking just like the photo.
Taste: creamy, sort of cheesy, a little tangy
Thoughts: So this mac and cheese was okay. I didn’t find it overly wonderful and I honestly thought it had a bit of a sour or off taste to it but it was edible. I ended up eating a small bowl of it with a ton of sriracha, Edith had a few bites but I think she wasn’t over the moon about it, however Alder ate his plate and most of Edith’s as well so we had at least one fan!
Would I Purchase Again? I would eat it if someone served it to me but I don’t think I would go out of my way to purchase it again. I will however be trying the pizza flavor because I’m curious to see how it is.
Clearly the winner of this throwdown is the Gluten Free So Delicious Dairy Free Mac & Cheese Cheddar Flavor.
I think my favorite time of the year to visit the farmers market is just at the end of summer when it starts to get a bit cooler and the produce is starting to change to apples and squash and you get the last of the summer fruits. This week the littles and I headed to the Hollywood Farmers Market and we found ourselves coming home with an abundance of fruit including some beautiful fresh and dried Italian plums.
While I could have just left them alone and enjoyed snacking on them throughout the week I had a craving for some really yum crumble. I didn’t want anything to sweet or heavy, just a really light crumble that highlighted these delicious Italian plums. Since I find that plums and almonds are fantastic together I thought let’s break out the almond meal for this one and along with a few other ingredients a delicious crumble was formed.
Of course no crumble is complete without some vanilla “ice cream” with it. Especially when the crumble is still warm enough to melt the ice cream as you eat it and you end up with this creamy sauce at the end that you could just drink up. Needless to say with the help of my parents all of the crumbles are gone and I’m hoping that this Saturday there will be more Italian plums for me to make this crumble again.
