may 4

Today I had an unexpected 30 mile bike ride, as described here.  This was after a workout where I did 75 pushups (knee), 75 chinups (assisted), 75 sit-up-and-reach, and ran 3/4 mile (the easy part).  After the workout and before the bike ride I had an apple (9 am).  Then halfway on the bike ride we stopped at a coffee shop and I had a fruit smoothie.  Fortunately a lot of coffee shops make these now.  Then I had a banana on the way home.  

By the time I had lunch at 2 pm I was hungry!   I made black bean hummus and had that over lightly steamed broccoli and carrots, and red bell pepper strips.  It was super yummy.    Housemate and I ate all the dip and veggies but I probably ate 2/3 of it.  It was good.  I still managed to eat an orange after that even though I wasn't hungry (oops).

For dinner, I should have had a salad but instead I had mango-banana pudding because I was prepping bananas for the freezer and had a partial one leftover, and had a small ripe mango.  So I blended them up, yum.  Then I also had 2/3 cup frozen peas, thawed in the microwave.  And sipped on the smoothies I made to freeze.  Not a big dinner but I wasn't that hungry after lunch.  Oh, and I finished off with a carrot.

great posts on other blogs

Lots of great posts today!

Lessons learned from seeking a healthy eating style, by Howard Zeit.

Chewing lessons, by strix (eating mindfully and chewing your food).

Eating healthy, a pain or not?  by leangreenmama

Whole foods vegan momma has a bunch of good posts.  Here's a recent one on 60+ questions answered.

McDougall newsletter

McDougall's latest newsletter has an interesting article about how big money gets in the way of health and healing in the medical industry.  It's criminal that people aren't told they can cure most of their diseases with dietary change alone.

may 3 food

Brekky:  smoothie

snack:  apple & orange

late lunch:  baked sweet potato, steamed broccoli, carrots, peas and corn.   fruit salad (strawberries, raspberries, blueberries, banana).

Dinner:  steamed artichoke heart.  dipped in mango-beat dressing.   This is kind of 

a new food for me (the artichoke I mean) and I'm not even sure how to eat it.  But I recall eating it a long time ago with a friend and we peeled the leaves off one by one and you slide it between your front teeth to get scrape off some of the 'meat'.  Then after you've done all that, you eat the heart.  I think.  I did that and it was good.  [updated later: I got some useful info form the Fuhrman forums.  Here's a link for how to eat an artichoke, but I don't recommend the butter!  Also, you aren't supposed to eat the fuzzy layer on top.  It can make you choke.]  Here's a picture of the partially eaten artichoke, the discarded leaves, and the dip. 

When I was done with that, there was still some dip left so I had that over arugula.  I stopped bothering to wipe my mouth at this point.  Housemate snapped this picture.  It is so ugly, it cracked us both up.  You can see the beet color on my hand too.

After all that I had a few carrots and an orange.  I wonder if I eat too much fruit.   I'm too busy right now to think about it.

may 2 food

I was on a road trip today.

Brekky was my new smoothie.  This is satisfying and more filling than my previous one--though that it's only got 35 more calories.  Ah, it's got more fat, and protein.  The fat makes it more satisfying.   In the car I snacked on celery and carrots and a banana (even though Dr. Fuhrman says we shouldn't snack).  

Lunch was a salad I made ahead with a new dressing I invented today:  mango-beet.  It is the best dressing I've ever made.   I may eat this every day for the next week!   My co-op has these small mexican mangos on special and I bought 5 of them today when I got home.   The salad had lettuce, arugula, red bell pepper, and 1/2 cup edamame.  It was fantastic.  I followed that with a big orange, and an apple.

Dinner was my new favorite splurge: banana + 3 Tbsp peanut butter (freshly ground!).  Peanuts have accrylymides which are not good for you but Dr. Fuhrman recommends it for people trying to add muscle because it has lots of protein and calories.   So it can't be that bad for you.  While watching a movie I ate 6 oz of blackberries (planned).  

It was a satisfying day all around (in all respects, not just eating).  I think I need to feel like I'm getting treats so I don't do these silly splurges like I did last week with the cookies.  The splurges have nothing to do with taste and are more about feeling different from everyone else and stupidly thinking I'm deprived.

mango-beet dressing

Oh my gosh, this is the best dressing I've ever made.  

Ingredients for 1 large serving to smother all over your salad or steamed veggies:

1-2 medium baked beets (or steamed)

1 small mango, peeled and cut enough to remove seed (I use the smaller yellow Mexican ones because I haven't had good luck getting the big multicolored ones to ripen).  oh, I bet frozen mango would work just fine.  1/2-1 cup? 

0.5 oz  walnuts

1 Tbsp blueberry vinegar (optional)

1/4 cup pomegranate juice and/or soy milk  (actually I didn't measure, just enough to get the blending to go)

Blend everything in a blender.  soooooo gooooood.

may 1 food

Brekky:  smoothie, some celery and carrots

Lunch:  baked sweet potato, which I smashed up and mixed up with leftover beans from yesterday.  This was really good.  Dessert was fruit salad (strawberries, raspberries, and bananas).  I also ate a small container of blackberries (6 oz).  I love these.  I used to not like them.  My taste buds have changed.

Dinner:  a bunch of asparagus with a sauce made from raw yellow zucchini, sesame seeds, soy milk, and lemon juice.  It was good.  The sauce was a touch on the bland side, compared to one made with rutabaga.   I also had an orange, some carrots and celery, an apple, and some strawberries.