The lifestyle change! + White bean & pasta soup!

Ever since early April, I've been very committed to turning my lifestyle around. I have been vegetarian (sometimes vegan - and now mostly vegan) for 4 years but not a very healthy one. It's easy to get caught up in the "I don't eat meat so that makes it okay to eat 37 oreos because they're vegan and people eat way worse than me" which I kinda did, alot. I did alot of justifying my actions, poorly, based on what other people are doing when it really isn't about other people anyway. The only competetion I have is myself & I was failing horribly. So I decided to turn it around. I started seeing a wellness doctor and he's gotten me on the right track to a healthy lifestyle.


We started with the obvious : NO MORE SODA! To date, I am soda free for 42 days. Infact, besides the minimal amount of in tea I occassionally drink, I am completely caffeine free. I didn't want to replace soda with coffee and be caffeine dependant for my whole life. So I gave up caffeine cold turkey. It wasn't easy... there was a week in there where I cried multiple times a day over nothing really. Caffeine blues. But, I got through it and feel amazing!


Next, we worked on strenghtening my core. Then I was ok'ed to start exercising. I started with biking because its much easier on the joints, but my real goal is to be a runner. After 2 weeks of biking tonight I gave running a shot. Its hard! I walked 2 blocks, ran a block, for a little over 2 miles. I feel so so so so so SO good after I run. It's an amazing high that I don't think you can get through any other exercise. I do enjoy biking but I feel like I'm not working out as much of my body as I could be. It's great to help me build up my endurance for future runs, so I will alternate for the time being.


I'm making this about a lifestyle change, not weight loss. I don't want it to be about the number on the scale, because it so easily becomes discouraging. For that reason, I will not frequently be weighing myself. I don't want to know. As long as I feel good and I am healthy, I am ok with whatever number is on there. I want weight loss to be a benefit of what I am doing, not the reason for it.


That being said, I will still be using this blog for delicious vegan food, but I will also be updating on the fitness aspect as well. And now tonight, I leave you with a delicious soup from The Tolerant Vegan that was absolutely to dieeeeeee for! Link to the recipe is here , But I suggest checking out all of her delicious food!

Blackstrap Molasses

Show of hands : who loves pinterest?

Thats what I thought. How did I live survive before it? No clue. Anyway, I woke up at 4:00am because I fell asleep at 7:30pm. This cycle is kinda funny, I guess. I've been going to bed around 10/11 pm and I have to be up by 6:25ish for work. Well about 3 months ago this trend started that I'd wake up at 5:00am. like, almost on the dot. Everyday. Then recently it's become 4:30am, 4:00am, etc. (oh hell no, we can't handle this). So I stopped drinking caffeinated soda (I KNOW, I shouldn't be drinking soda at ALL but I'm trying! It's the first step! I suck at this) and it didn't help. So I cut down to 2 cups of coffee a day. Didn't help. So yesterday I drank ONLY WATER, ALL DAY. 100 oz of water. I was worried I wasn't going to sleep due to going to the bathroom every 28 mins. So, no caffeine = I was passed out by 7:30pm (I was up at 4:30am that morning! So I did pretty good!) and so.. I did meet my goal of sleeping 8 hours but still waking up at 4:00am. LOL, go figure!

Anyway, since I was awake before the rest of the world, I went on pinterest and found a blog about a vegan woman that drank a spoonful of blackstrap molasses everyday during her pregnancy. I never heard of blackstrap molasses before, so I did a little googling.

Turns out, this is a sweetener that is actually pretty darn good for you. It is high in iron & calcium, it actually contains all of the trace minerals that are removed from sugar during the refinement process. The roots of the sugar cane plant grow deep into the earth : deeper than other plants, so they are able to reach soil that is still very dense with minerals. It's particularly interesting to me because it carries magnesium, which I try to soak up like a sponge due to migraines. Per my doctor and google, magnesium deficiency is a leading cause of migraines. It also works as a natural laxative, much like fruit. I also read that it can help delay the aging process of hair : no gray hair! I don't *knock on wood* have any grays yet but its never too early to try to stop that! LOL. It also is said to help cure acne and the big reason I want to try it : it is supposed to help suppress menstrual cramping.


I hope the natural food store sells this! I want to go get some today.. I will let you know how it works out =)

Buffalo Wild.. Cauliflower !

This might make me a bad vegetarian but I have to be honest : Sometimes I miss meat. Not so much the ACTUAL meat, but the social part of sitting at Buffalo Wild Wings, eating wings, watching the game. Sometimes I just want to sit infront of the tv and pig out on something smothered in hot sauce. Enter the cauliflower.

Mix 1/2 cup water with 1/2 cup flour
Add in 1/4 cup your favorite hot sauce
1 pinch of salt
Break the cauliflower into bite size pieces &dip into the batter. Bake at 450 degrees for 15 minutes (make sure to spray the sheet or use non-stick)

Pull out & smother in hot sauce. (you can mix some oil in with the sauce if you want, I didn't) Bake for another 5-8 minutes. take out of the oven & add additional hot sauce on if you wish. Plant yourself infront of the tv and stuff your face. Fall in love and forget all about missing chicken wings.


The cauliflower does come out a little soft, so if you're like me and prefer it more crunchy, I would bake it for maybe 10-12 minutes rather than the full 15.

Spicy Avocado Salsa

In your food processor, put

2 avocados
1 white onion, chopped
2 garlic cloves, minced
juice of 2 limes
4 T vinegar
handful of cilantro
5-6 jalapenos, chopped
salt + pepper to taste


Blend until smooth & eat up =) It isn't super spicy, I'd say high mild/low medium. Next time, I will definitely use a hotter pepper!