Today has just been one of those days! I returned to work to find a huge pile of documents on my desk and what seemed like a zillion emails to be dealt with. I could feel the stress starting to rise but instead of letting it get to me I’ve managed to just breathe through it and figure out a plan of action to deal with it. In the past I’ve really allowed stress to get to me but I’m just not going to let that happen any more. I’ve cancelled some meetings, arranged to work from home and now feel much more in control. Do you suffer from stress? How does it affect you? How do you deal with it?
At least my day did get off to a good start with another green smoothie!
Chocolate Cherry Beet Green Smoothie (makes 1 large serving)
- 3 cups of kale and spring greens with the tough stems removed
- 1 cup of frozen cherries
- 1 scoop of chocolate protein powder / cocoa powder (I used sun warrior)
- 1 beet it shot / cooked beetroot / beetroot juice – I used a beet it shot
- 1 tsp of maca (optional)
- 1 tsp of ground flax (optional)
- Water (to desired thickness)
- Xanthan and guar gum to add thickness (optional)
Toppings:
- Fresh berries
- Rude Health Granola
- Carob flakes (nom!)
Unfortunately due to the clocks going forward I had no lovely daylight to photograph this tasty treat and had to resort to the flash. Such a shame as it was so pretty!
Lunch was a big salad beast containing romaine, spinach, yellow pepper, red onion, carrot, sugar snaps, cucumber, basil tofu and some of my squash dip:
I watered the dip down a little then mixed it in like a dressing, yum! Honestly, I never thought a big bowl of vegetables would make me so happy! I also ate two nectarines. Mid afternoon I snacked on a cocoa orange nakd bar before heading to the gym. Exercise really is a great stress reliever! I did my usual interval session 15 minutes on the cross trainer then 15 minutes on the step machine followed by my abs and core and then my 30 minute spin class.
Dinner was a delicious mix of wheat grains, lentils, asparagus and carrot in a citrus dressing (clementine juice, cool oil, apple cider vinegar) served with steamed purple sprouting broccoli with a chilli, ginger and shoyu dressing:
Dessert was inspired by Marias cinnamon maple peanut butter – I made a quick version using 2 tbsp of peanut flour mixed with a little water, cinnamon and maple syrup until it formed a lovely sauce then poured over two chopped apples and a few strawberries:
This was so delicious!
I hope you don’t mind but I wanted to share a few random musings I’ve been having recently:
Veganism
I think I may be ready to ‘go’ vegan. Apart from some feta cheese, the Total Greek yoghurt pots, vegetarian pesto and trace amounts of diary in dark chocolate I haven’t eaten any animal products since the start of the year and I really don’t miss them – I feel the best I have ever felt in terms of my health and the more I read on the ethical, environmental and health benefits of veganism the more I feel like its right for me (I don’t make any judgements on others dietary choices, its such a personal choice). I am a bit concerned about using the ‘vegan’ label. Although I’m in a place were I’m happy to not eat animal products I don’t think I’m at the point of avoiding all trace products – for example the small amount of dairy in Lindt Dark Chocolate with Sea Salt or some honey in a snack bar. I think I would gradually stop buying those products but can I still adopt the vegan label while I’m not being that strict? I also still wear leather but I am more aware of trying to seek out alternative materials when I’m buying new stuff although I’m not perfect here either. I guess there is no such thing as a perfect vegan in any case but for some reason I feel reluctant to adopt the label – what are your thoughts on dietary labels?
Calorie Counting
Over the past week I’ve been doing a little experiment in calorie counting. I’ve been logging my eats with Livestrong after the concerns I’ve been having that I am not eating enough. I’ve learned several things from this experiment:
- Calorie counting on a regular basis is not for me – I found it such a pain in the arse!
- I eat on average 1800 – 2200 calories a day
- My fibre intake is through the roof
- I’m having no problem meeting my protein requirements
- I may be a little low on sodium
This, coupled with a sneaky weigh in which has shown that I’m currently maintaining my weight, has given me a bit of reassurance that I’m at least on the right path. Although my fibre intake is high, my body seems to handle it very well and because I’m feeling good I don’t think that the fibre is having a detrimental affect on my absorption of nutrients.
Meditation and yoga
I’ve been continuing to include at least 5 minutes of yoga / meditation at the start of each day and it really is having a calming affect on me – I know my ability to deal with today’s stress has been helped by this.
Any random musings you’d like to share?
Hope your week has got off to a good start! I have some super exciting news that I can’t wait to share with you all soon! In the mean time its back to work for me, I have a late meeting tomorrow so I’m trying to be my most organised self! Catch you later x
{ 24 comments… read them below or add one }
YAY- you have done so much self reflection lately! i say go for veganism!! and you can alter it how you like!! i eat a lot of fiber too- its great for us!
Interesting thoughts about “labels”. Would you feel guilty if you decided to call yourself vegan then ate some animal products ie. if you were in another country where it was hard to get the foods you eat currently?
Totally random but I just read Mark Beauments boot about cycling round the world. He was a lifelong vegetarian before the cycle and set off planning to keep eating that way but eventually started to eat meat. He felt in the UK he could make the choice not to eat meat as there were plenty of alternatives so there was no real need to eat meat. In some of the poorer countries that was all they had to eat so he was never going to keep his calories high enough if he didn’t eat it and it would have been insulting to his hosts to refuse.
I also wondered if you missed any of the foods you no longer eat and if so do you enjoy any of them as a treat now and again. If not what do you eat as treat now (nothing healthy counts, even if you enjoy it!). I try to eat less bread than I used to but I couldn’t imagine never eating a fresh white baguette again, yum :)
I have read that your body gets used to more fibre- you should increase it gradually, so as you are not having problems you should be ok. As for labels, I think that labels can be dangerous, well maybe not dangerous, but restrictive. I think that some people feel judged (eg I could feel judged by a vegan as I am “only ” vegetarian (I don’t) ), and also it can have connotations. I think at the end of the day a meat eater might not eat cod because it is over fished, but they don’t need a label for it, they just do it. Does that make sense? :)
PS glad the bars arrived and phew over the honey in them haha!
You never fail to impress me with how yummy your meals look Laura!!
I think self-reflection is so important and it’s great that you’re looking into the way you live your life more – I’ve been doing the same!
I have been considering ‘full on’ veganism for some time now but I do really really love greek yoghurt and cottage cheese and they are also important for my calcium levels as I have osteoporosis and I don’t think I could get enough calcium without them. Therefore I think I put my health before my yearning to be vegan. That saying, it doesn’t stop me from enjoying all the yummy vegan products and recipes everyday so I’m quite happy with the way I live!
My fiber is sky high too but like you my body seems fine with it! I saw a nutritionist a while ago and she was shocked at how much fiber I eat and said she’d never met anyone eat so much haha!
I think yoga is a great way to calm and ‘centre’ yourself, as it were. I could do with that myself at the moment. My response to stress is usually the sudden and overwhelming urge to go for a run!
I don’t think a label matters. I think it’s unnecessary. I would prefer to think of it as a word which means that a person does or doesn’t eat certain things rather than using it as something to apply to yourself when you make those decisions. I say make the transition at your own pace, and there’s no need to label yourself at any stage of the process.
I’ve been a bit of pretty much everything over the years, therefore I agree – no need to label yourself… just be you :) I love meditation too. I am a trained teacher and use it in my everyday life to empower me. I think I would always put more emphasis on having a healthy mind than I do a healthy body x x
Yummy! Loving the eats I was going to buy some of those carob flakes are they nice? x x x
I’m not that into labels when it comes to food because as you know there is always someone who will judge and (negatively) question what you put in your mouth. As long as you are happy and healthy it doesn’t matter what you eat.
Stress at work is horrible. If it gets to much I find going for a quick walk helps and gets you away from any potentially stressful people!
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HI there,
I agree with Maria above, I mean, you could really feel judged by people, for example my colleague today, brought some muffins and offered me some, and I said, well thanks that is great but I don’t eat muffins, and she asked, why, and if I’m on some crazy diet. What if I don’t eat meat and animal products because of some health issues, right? Why would she know, but I didn’t want to be rude, so didn’t say anything. Anyway you shouldn’t be explaining yourself to anyone, if you are or are not vegan, Are you happy? Do You feel Good? So that matters, and probably there are no strict rules if you like Lindth chocolate, you can eat Lindth chocolate, maybe you won’t eat Lindth chocolate in one week and you won’t need it anymore, and you won’t need animal products at all, and you will feel right about it, then you could say ,, I’m vegan,, but do you really need to say that? :) I mean isn’t it obvious? Maybe I’m wrong:)
Stress: Yes, I feel like too much stress is getting in to my system these days from work, I’m trying to drink a lot of tea and trying to be positive and assertive! will see at the end of week :)
I’ve ordered conscious chocolate online, I can’t wait:) I found them Thanks to Laura and her beautiful blog:)
x B
Ps: Sorry I deleted my comment above, but I typed judge wrong before and found out that it was something disgusting :)
stress..well I “think” I thrive on it. But in reality I do suffer from it physically. I don’t get down, I just get a bit nauseous and in the last year or so its affected sleep too. I throw as much time as I can into my work and then try and learn from it. e.g take my estimate and double it! x
I think taking on the label of vegan mostly helps others when they are trying to figure out what you eat…ie if you were going to their house for dinner.
Can’t wait to hear your exciting news! :D
I’ve made a post tonight highlighting certain food/diet myths that irk me a bit, but ultimately I agree with you that you train and eat the best way for YOU.
Good luck with your full transition to veganism (although I think your 99% there!) and well done on getting through your stress :)
Your food looks very pretty today :) I particulary like the look of the wheat grains – I saw some in my local health food shop, so I’ll have to get some.
I found your random musings very interesting. On the veganism thing – I think you can do it without giving yourself the label. If you find it works out you can keep going. Personally I think it would be dangerous to put yourself in a position where you feel guilty if you have something that isn’t vegan and you force yourself to give up something you really love (Lindt with sea salt?). Having said that you’ve been mostly vegan since Jan, so you sound like you already know it could work for you. Good luck :)
Tasty looking food as always. I think that if you feel that veganism is right for you then you should just do it. I hardly eat any meat now and and really don’t miss it or enjoy it when I eat it. I have been thinking about becoming a vegetarian or a pescitarian as I love fish more than meat, but not sure if I could commit purely to it just yet. I think I may when the time is right though.
I have tried veganism on and off for a while, but I don’t think it’s for me. I love yogurt too much! I haven’t had cheese for a while and I feel much better when I don’t eat too much dairy, so I’m content to be a vegetarian :)
wow. How on earth did you get that smoothie to be such a wonderful color?!
That smoothie looks great. I love the flavor combo.
I definitely get a little stressed throughout the week…but I try and just remind myself that in the whole scheme of things (1) whatever it is doesn’t actually matter and (2) nobody died. Plus, I have this line I say—The most important thing today is that I feel good. It makes me laugh…but also remember that when I’m stressed it doesn’t help the work get done, it only damages my own health!
Good luck with your work :)
I enjoy your random musings too :)
As far as the vegan/vegetarian label goes – labels suck. Why can’t we just do what feels right for us, our bodies and our beliefs without needing to fit into a paradigm? I say if you want to live 99% of the time with no animal products but want to have some Lindt sea salt chocolate or some honey every now and then, you go for it. It’s all about balance, enjoyment, and doing our bit.
I call myself a vegetarian, because I keep a vegetarian home. We only have vegetarian products (ie: only buy vegetarian cheese, etc) in the house, and I never cook fish or meat at home. I never eat meat. I do, however, occasionally eat fish, mostly because it keeps things flexible when I travel – as another commenter pointed out, in the UK it is very easy to be vegetarian and vegan, in other countries it is not, you would starve or just live on bread otherwise, and it can be offensive to your hosts as well. But it’s perhaps half a dozen times a year, if that. It was never about becoming a martyr and doing something that would take away from my enjoyment of life – I am a foodie after all! I just felt I wanted to start contributing more to the environmental movement, reduce my carbon footprint a bit, and I felt this was a good way to start. I’ve been vegetarian for four years now and am very happy with my lifestyle.
Of course there are the more orthodox out there who say I have no right to call myself a vegetarian when I still eat fish maybe 6 times a year….I have no interest in labelling myself, I’m just doing what is right for me. And those crazies are exactly the kind of vegetarian I didn’t want to become, so I just ignore them! :P
Do what is right for you babe! xx
It’s really interesting to get some insights into your day aside from food and fashion (not that they aren’t brilliant too!) because your musings are very thoughtful and well-formulated/conveyed in terms of writing. If you wanted to include more random asides I’d be more than happy to read!
In terms of labels, I think you shouldn’t get hung up on them. I get a sense of guilt whenever I call myself vegan because several times (yesterday being a prime example) I have had ‘wobbles’ in my six years of veganism and ended up eating vegetarian food. I think being vegan comes from the heart and if you’re making a concerted effort to be vegan, with non-intentional slip-ups (i.e not just saying ‘bugger it, I fancy an ice-cream’, which you wouldn’t anyway!) then calling yourself vegan is fine. But it’s all about personal preference: no-one is vigilantly watching you and about to jump out from behind a hedge and shout ‘hah! You’re not really vegan!’ if you eat something with dairy traces every now and again. No-one can be truly vegan unless they go and live on a secluded island with no technology, modern plastics or conveniences. All we can do is make the best effort we can as individuals and every small step means less harm to animals and the environment. I know after my episode yesterday I do not want animal products in my life, even if they might make managing my weight easier. It just isn’t worth the ethical sacrifice for me. With some ‘dairy traces’ though, it’s unlikely that the products actually DO contain dairy, more than the warning is there for the companies to cover themselves in case someone with a severe allergy sues them if a teency trace of dairy from a piece of machine equipment possibly ended up in one of the bars by accident, which is very unlikely.
I thought your nutritional profile might come out like that ~ impeccable! I do wish my stomach would handle that kind of fibre intake too.
I’m so sorry about the stress you’re going through at the moment. I really hope things quieten down as soon as possible.
xxx
P.S Thanks for the well-wishes for my Dad. His condition has improved a lot this morning and he might be released by the week-end. It’s just very lucky that we got him to A&E as soon as we did.
Carrie – thanks, I have really been feeling the self reflection!
Lyndsey – I think after reading everyones comments and your story about the cyclist I probably wouldn’t feel guilty if I was abroad and it was in that context! Great question about the treats! I have to admit, what used to be a treat for me is very different to what it is now – I feel like I treat myself everyday when I’m eating dark chocolate because I honestly prefer it to milk! I have to say that chinese food and a big margarita pizza would be up there, I know that may be something I would have to sacrifice if I became vegan but I do love vegan cheese!
Maria – I think your right – labels can be such a negative way of pigeon holing yourself – I think it would be a shame if people felt judged my others because of those labels.
Nicky – glad I’m not the only one digging my fibre, I just love eating bulky veggie foods! I thought that my love of greek yoghurt and cheese would hold me back from being vegan but I don’t really miss them like I thought I would :-)
Konni – thanks, that makes a lot of sense!
SJ – wow thats so cool that you teach it! It really is helping me a lot – I see having a healthy mind as an extention of having a healthy body – you need one for the other!
Tam – I really love them! But could be dangerous, snacky snacky!
Angela – yes, I’ve been trying to make an effort to get out of the office for a lunch time walk whenever possible!
Beingme – yey for conscious chocolate! Yes, I think being judged for what you choose to or not to eat is pretty much just one of those things – Its a shame that a lot of people have very little understanding or respect for others choices.
Fattolean – I think I do well on a little bit of stress but its a delicate balance!
Meggie – yes, I think thats more the approach I was thinking of!
Leanne – thanks – Ill check out your post – I agree, I think if you feel healthy and happy then each to their own!
Sarah – thanks, I think you’ve summed up the approach I’ll be taking really well. Try the wheat berries they are chewy and delicious!
Jemma – I think you have a really good attitude towards it – a gradual change on your terms that work for you :-)
Kate – sounds like you’ve got it sorted! I think its so important to stick with what feels right for you
mindrunningwild – the beet juice! – It turned it that beautiful deep purple :-)
Lisa – thats an excellent saying! I will so be using that!
Phil – great comment! I think you are so right – labels just make it easier for others to classify us but in terms of our own actions we should be able to just do what we feel is right for us :-)
Jessica – haha, don’t say that – I’ll be inflicting all sorts of random crap on you guys ;-) I think you have it spot on – I think I will be calling myself a vegan – if only to others so they can understand my preferences better but for me I’m going to keep a healthy and flexible attitude. Glad your Dads condition has improved, I really hope your ok too and not beating yourself up about yesterday xxxxx
First of all, I love your blog. I get stressed out so easily, it really began when i started University. I decided to pick up yoga and I have found that it has helped so much, i will never look back :) so glad you find it calming as well.
I am vegetarian, I have thought about becoming vegan but i don’t think I would be able to. You seem like you will make the right choice to what best suits you :)
Oooh ooh ooh, exciting news to share? You tease! ;-)
And yes, I get stressed! I think the way you managed it is admirable though. Stop, take a breath, and then take practical steps to help you manage it and get things back under control. I need to do that more — just give myself a few minutes / hours / days to process stuff before I start flailing about trying to DO or FIX or ACT. I also think that meditation can be a great tool in helping do that. I’ve found just breathing and counting really helps, though it’s not very sophisticated. I need to practice more…
I’m not a fan of labels. I say do what feels right to you. If you’re eating a vegan diet most of the time and have a piece of cheese or milk chocolate, it shouldn’t considered a failure. If someone wanted to really pin you down with a “label” you could say you’re a vegan 99.9% of the time.