Pizza Please

Homemade pizza is a staple home made go to meal when you are in a rush but you still want to control what is going into your food, am I right?

I chose to make a 1/2 vegan, 1/2 vegetarian pizza.

I used Trader Joe's Pizza sauce but added fresh garlic and fresh basil maybe a little too much....; Trader Joe's whole wheat dough; mozzarella; red onion; mushrooms

Make sure you let the dough sit out for at least 1 hour to reach room temperature, if the dough is too cold it will be too elastic and wont spread out into the shape you want.

 This time around I put the basil inside the sauce instead of on top because it tends to dry up and lose flavor when it's just sitting on the cheese. But, the basil was too pungent this time around. Solution?? Leave the basil under the cheese, but sparingly used and placed on top of the sauce instead of spread all throughout it.

Preheat the oven to 450F and bake for about 15 minutes

Goodbye Juice Feasting, Hello Holidays

Well, I was able to juice fast for 5 days before the "need" for solid food took over. I'm not sure how other people do this for 30-60 days, but I think i makes a difference if you are living somewhere alone, focusing on the fast. I on the other hand was surrounded by people constantly eating and cooking.

Still i'm proud of my 5 days. Its a good start. I think I'm going to continue juicing on and off. I'm also going to make pure green juice shots and try to take that daily. IE: just 1-2 oz of kale juice.

One of my favorite and most palatable green juices was simply the juice of honeydew:

I broke my fast with something unconventional I think -- yogurt. I felt like my body was craving probiotics. Either way, I feel fine now. No crazy sicknesses or stomachaches. 

I'm slowly getting into the season with a trip to our local pumpkin patch where we picked up the following beauties: 

Mr. Scarecrow

Mrs. Scarecrow

Baby Pumpkin

Beautiful Indian Corn

Pumpkins of all types, colors and sizes

I love the deep orange color on these!

 I hope this put you in the holiday season too!!

Juice Feast: Day Five , morning

So, today marks the fifth day of my juice feast.  I'm not posting many pictures because it seems redundant to post platters/bowls of fruits and vegetables.

This morning I weighed in and another pound is gone which brings my weight loss to 5.6 lbs in 4 days of juicing.

I have to say the best part is slipping into that outfit that has been haunting me for a while, buttoning that jacket that used to refuse to button. The simple things can make a girl so happy.

I made the observation  yesterday that it is kind of like having a gastric bypass surgery without the mess, cutting, insurance and complications. I actually had trouble drinking my entire " dinner" juice yesterday because my stomach felt too full? Full on juice?? I'm loving it LOL

I also went out last night -- strolled through a food court, walked into a cupcake bakery as my friend purchased some goodies for herself, and sat through an entire movie without once craving a bite of anything.

I should be tired, right? But i'm not. So far, this is an amazing experience and I'm looking forward to see how long it will last and where it will take me.

Juice Feast: Day Three

There are some details I will leave out for your sake, but lets just say that cleansing has definitely started ;)

This morning I weighed myself and I was down another 1.2 lbs bringing my total weight loss so far on the juice fast to 3.6.bs


Sleeping is becoming easier, but not necessarily at the times I want to be sleeping. For example, I went to lie down for a bit yesterday at 2 pm and woke up at 6 pm completely refreshed. But later in the evening, sleep took awhile, mostly because it sounded and felt like there was a thunderstorm going on in my belly.

Day Two Breakfast Before:

Carrot, orange, 1/2 lemon, ginger, apples, golden beet

 Day Two Breakfast After: 

 Day Two Lunch: 

Spinach, Dino Kale, Parsley, Cilantro, Carrot, Baby Bell Peppers, Tomatoes, Onion, Garlic, Lemon, Celery 

Later that evening I juiced an orange.... followed by a pear+ apple concoction. Delicious!

Day Three Breakfast Before: 

Pineapples, Ginger, Apple, Carrot, Mango

 Day Three Breakfast After: 

Juice Feast: Morning of Day Two

Many people who have done this fast before mention that it helps rid them of insomnia. Well, I can vouch that it definitely doesn't start on the first night. It took me a long time to fall asleep, oddly enough I was energized and alert up until 2 am.

Sleeping and dreaming was humorous -- don't eat solid food for an entire day and I guarantee you there will be food in some shape/form in your dreams that night.

Finally, I know detox has already started, which is surprising to me. I thought it would take at least 2-3 days but no, I woke up this morning with the telltale sign of detox - a white coated tongue.  Gross, I know -- but its a sign of good changes and you just have to take a little extra time to clean your teeth and tongue in the morning. No biggie.

Juice Feast Weightloss since yesterday: 2.4 lbs

Juice Feast: Day one

Ever since I broke out of my vegan diet and transversed into a vegetarian diet with "vegan tendencies" my cravings for junk food returned.  I don't want this. I set a goal for myself to become a healthier version of me before the bar results come out in November. Granted, I've lost 9 lbs in the past couple months and its great that its been a steady weight loss, but it has felt slow -- too slow.  I know I'm capable of bigger change. Better change.

I watched the documentary " Fat, Sick and Nearly Dead" and it gave me the motivation to regain control over my life -- in a more profound way. So, I've decided to do a juice " feast" ( or fast) of my own.  I'm not setting a set amount of days but I am going to document my experiences here.  Have any of you embarked on a juice fast? Any advice?

The morning started off with an herbal tea:

I then spent the late morning and early afternoon running from one store to another trying to find a Breville Juicer Plus. Several stores offered to order the machine but I was determined to start the fast today.  Finally after a quick trip to Whole Foods to stock up on produce I made it home by 2 pm to have a very very late breakfast LOL

Apples, Carrots, Celery, Dino Kale, Ginger

Lunch: 

Lots of Spinach, Parsley, Cilantro, Dino Kale, Carrot, Garlic, Onion, Tomato, Beet, Celery 

Dinner:  Apples, orange, cucumbers

At the end of the day, I feel fine - i'm not hungry which is nice. 

I'm curious to see what tomorrow morning will bring.... updates soon!

Food Journaling 101

Bear with me the next few weeks or so as I use my blog to journal my daily food intake. Accountability always helps one grow and this is how I choose to be accountable.

The morning started off with a quick trip to Costco. We had to be there as the doors opened -- but of course. So, a quick simple banana was enough of a breakfast for me.

Later in the day I chose this pinto bean salad for lunch and added half an avocado

Dinner came around early today, 3:30 pm to be exact. But some days I just get hungry and might as well eat then: a whole what pasta with a very light tomato sauce and sauteed veggies  -- topped with a sprinkle of mozzarella. 

While I know dinner was a healthy choice, I left the table unsatisfied. The concept of intuitive eating not only advocates eating  when you're hungry, but eating what your body is craving. Case in point: I did not feel like pasta at all today, so though I should have been full after the meal, I was dissatisfied.

This led to poor choices later in the day. Ie: I may have had a few salt and black pepper chips when my sister and father began indulging in said snack and I had a sliver of a Costco pumpkin muffin with my Armenian Coffee. Yes, they were poor choices but I am here admitting them and realizing that perhaps tomorrow I  can evade such choices if I practice intuitive eating. 

I almost sat in my car and drove all the way across the country this week. 

I've spent the past two weeks planning the trip, envisioning the move all while I had a glow of excitement at the prospect of change, a fresh start and a bright future.

However, faith is a large part of my life and I wanted to make sure I wasn't being irrational or forcing a change I wasn't quite ready for. Perhaps my original destination isn't where I'm supposed to be at this point in time. 

After several nights of sincere praying, a few major obstacles that popped up, and consultation with friends and family I decided to take a deep breath and refocus on alternate ways of reaching my aspirations.

I still seek to settle down to a life on the East Coast, but it doesn't have to be this week.  I realize I need to take advantage of the fact that I am so flexible at this point in my life. The possibilities are endless and I know part of me is fighting against the reality that I have NO IDEA what is next in store for me. 

This week I'm refocusing -- continuing my job search, maintaining my regular workouts, and finding new intellectual stimulation.  A trip to the library and a bag full of books will work wonders to calm my fidgety mind.  I thrive when I'm busy and this time period between the taking the bar exam and receiving bar results has taken a toll, but I feel stronger and more focused today that I have in a long while. 

In fact, today I applied for a job in New York that will allow me to combine my long time passions of research, writing and law with my recent decision to embrace nutrition health and fitness. If this specific job works out I may be on cloud 9 for a very long time. If I had rushed to move to DC this week, I wouldn't be able to consider opportunities such as this one. 

In other news my vegan lifestyle is a work in progress. Though I was able to maintain a vegan diet for over a month, traveling out of town where vegan options were severely limited threw a wrench into things.  I remember commenting on that trip that, " I guess I'm mostly vegan, but vegetarian this weekend" to which I received the reply from a doctor friend of mind, " that's like saying you are somewhat pregnant but not 100%" . So I guess the happy compromise is that I am vegetarian with vegan tendencies.

As part of refocusing myself I'm planning on posting many more posts like the " What I ate Wednesday" series. 

-- until tomorrow.