week 1 ...

Well week 1 is officially in the books!

Made it through with flying colors and nobody got hurt!! Well almost nobody...I did have a few moments where I thought I could kill somebody as my cup of coffee
has NOT been the same since I started this challenge. I've searched high and low for a vegan alternative that would come close and honestly not much is helping.
I've ended up at Starbucks twice getting Soy lattes just to get a fix. I feel like a damn junky. One thing that will not change after this challenge is my love and
need for a good cup of coffee. I will NEVER ever EVER betray myself in that way again. Yes I'm being overly dramatic lol but no bullshit my coffee sucks!

Physically, I feel great! I've had a few days of nasty headaches that I thought were good and gone, until this morning. I'd like to blame the lack of good coffee but
I honestly think this might be allergy related. I feel a little stuffed up and have had dried blood in my nose the last two mornings. Maybe our heater has been kicking
on too much at night? I hope either way it's a one day thing.

Saturday morning I had paid the price for straying off my usual morning get up and go breakfasts. I decided because ...

Day 3...

The headaches continued... :( not a happy camper about that. I was weighing out all the different reasons I could have them daily. My ponytail was too tight, I'm rolling over and tugging on my hair (it's long and gets in the way), allergies, allergy to something new in my diet, lack of something in my diet, detox from all the bad shit!? Who the hell knows. Needless to say I was cranky. Sort of like PMS symptoms minus the PMS... either way I messaged Nicole, to let her know and wanted to see if this was normal. Looked like another girl also taking part in the challenge was also experiencing the same thing. I did some reading and saw that it seemed to be a common side affect the first couple of weeks, although I have yet to find out why. Nicole reminded me that I needed to look into getting some B12... apparently it's common for those who are Vegan to be deficient in that category and that I should contact my doctor regarding the headaches. So I did, I'm waiting to hear back.

This morning I started my day later than normal which threw me off. No pep today...I felt a lil whiny but since nobody was around I had to listen to myself and got annoyed.

Yes that is a Talenti jar ;) don't judge lol I'm too cheap to buy extra jars and those work perfectly!

The night before I set some overnight Oats to set in the fridge. I used the 5 grain oats, added some cinnamon, chia, and some dehydrated apples, with Almond milk. Grabbed it the next morning and decided it's not a good time for cold oats and ended up warming them up. They had great flavor... I would imagine over the summer over night oats are going to be my thing, and the flavor combos are just endless! But for now I will stick to my warmed oats.

Day 2

My day 2 started at 230 in the morning... I shit you not I was awake and felt amazing! I wasn't tired or groggy, if it were actually warmer out I would have actually gotten up and done something productive haha but it was cold, so I ran in the kitchen made my coffee and oats and jumped back in bed!

Bob's Red Mill 5 grain oats
Chia seeds
Almond butter
agave nectar
Banana
splash of Almond milk


I enjoy waking up early, but 230 was something crazy! haha talk about a pep in your step :) I just ran with it. Felt good the entire day, minus a slight headache. Took some Tylenol and that was done. I had lil imagination with what to do for lunch this day. I was not in the mood for another salad and I didn't want to get in the habit of thinking that was all i had available to me.

Day 1

Totally unsure of what I was about to get myself into I did a lot of recipe research for this challenge. I took to Pinterest like it was my new Vegan Bible. Is there such a thing? Something as political as this can sometimes get I’d imagine that there is some sort of bible or book of Vegan laws. That’d be a lil much for me… I’m all about trying new things that may help in my personal health but getting political or downright rude about choices I make is where I’m out. No time for something like that about FOOD!


Pinterest! I quickly noticed that a majority of the recipes came from the same couple of blogs… I didn't want to intimidate myself with recipes that called for a bunch of new products that I wasn't familiar with. Nothing chaps my ass more than buying groceries that go to waste. I took a mental note of the items that I already had on hand that I could use during my challenge. Already had a good stock of black beans and chickpeas. I knew that I had a healthy helping of fresh veggies and frozen fruits. Even stocked up on my Chia seeds and Super Foods powders a week or so before. Honestly I was looking pretty good without going to the store.

The Sunday before I started this challenge, I made some homemade Almond Butter…

Hold the moo...

 Well I started my Vegan Challenge. I’m actually on Day 3 now. I will be the first to admit my body has already seen changes and it is totally loving it! 

I should have prepared myself better by starting my journal sooner but it’s all coming to me day by day. I want to log the progress of my challenge including recipes I’ve made or created myself. I’m not huge on following recipes, I’m not good at sticking to them. I make my foods by sight and smell. 

So here I will include recipes… hopefully they are clear enough for somebody to follow and try themselves. Feedback is always loved and appreciated!

 

Day’s 1 and 2 will come in another post… I’ll include pics. If anyone is interested in a recipe that hasn’t been posted feel free to comment and I will get that one up sooner than later. I’m working on 10 different things at once, but have no problem mixing it up to help somebody with a meal. 

Nay