Today was a little less crazy than yesterday. After class, I was excused from work, as my boss was out all day.
Breakfast: steel cut oats with one scoop of whey protein powder
Lunch: steamed bok choy, pita with a bit of hummus, cottage cheese
Snack: 3 spinach and cheese spanakopitas. ended up cutting off a lot of the dough, as it was too much
Snack: Cottage cheese, apple
Dinner: bok choy, cottage cheese
Notice a pattern? Cottage cheese is one of my favorite foods, so I have no problem eating it at any time for an meal. I don't normally have a big dinner, as it's pretty late when I get back from training. BJJ was awesome today, as I had two hours of solid training, with at least half of that being live rolling. I'm gearing up to compete in the Pan Ams as a white belt, so I'm pretty stoked to get all this great training in!
Monday, February 28, 2011
Sunday, February 27, 2011
Lazy Sunday
Got up at 12pm today, so my meals are a little off. Ran a bunch of errands, went to meetings, and will soon be returning to studying for a midterm. Didn't have enough time to even work out or get some decent cardio in. I'm pretty sore from lifting and breaking in the Vibrams though.
"Breakfast": two pieces of toast and cottage cheese
Snack: Organic Food Bar- chocolate
Lunch: egg omelet- 3 whites, 2 yolks, and about an ounce of cheddar cheese
Snack: apple
Dinner: toast with a little bit of butter, cottage cheese, half a coffee (hate coffee, but I'm gonna be up late), bag of popcorn (150 calories), broccoli
I really need to start making more time to cook real meals. Because I woke up late today, I was really rushed and just didn't have time to make a real meal. I promise next time will be better! And include more vegetables...
"Breakfast": two pieces of toast and cottage cheese
Snack: Organic Food Bar- chocolate
Lunch: egg omelet- 3 whites, 2 yolks, and about an ounce of cheddar cheese
Snack: apple
Dinner: toast with a little bit of butter, cottage cheese, half a coffee (hate coffee, but I'm gonna be up late), bag of popcorn (150 calories), broccoli
I really need to start making more time to cook real meals. Because I woke up late today, I was really rushed and just didn't have time to make a real meal. I promise next time will be better! And include more vegetables...
Saturday, February 26, 2011
Even vegetarians can eat unhealthily
As stated in my previous post, I knew today was going to be an unhealthy day. I'm making it my last unhealthy day until all BJJ tournaments in the foreseeable future are over.
Breakfast: whole wheat bagel
Lunch: 2 slices of cheese pizza, one slice of veggie pizza, 1/3 of a can of coke
Snack: Frozen chai latte
Dinner: leftover Thai veggie food
Additionally, I had two banana cupcakes that day and a cookie...definitely not the best meal setup. I ran about three miles today and lifted for half an hour. I would have run more, but I spent some time trying to break in my Vibram Five Fingers. They are meant to mimic barefoot running without the pain of running barefoot. I ran cross country in middle and high school, but had to stop because of consistent stress fractures. I'm hoping the Vibrams will reduce some of these injuries and strengthen my leg muscles.
Anyway, I hope the coming weeks are a little more successful in terms of not only what I eat, but how frequently I train. I missed a great training session this morning because I was helping out at an event on campus.
Breakfast: whole wheat bagel
Lunch: 2 slices of cheese pizza, one slice of veggie pizza, 1/3 of a can of coke
Snack: Frozen chai latte
Dinner: leftover Thai veggie food
Additionally, I had two banana cupcakes that day and a cookie...definitely not the best meal setup. I ran about three miles today and lifted for half an hour. I would have run more, but I spent some time trying to break in my Vibram Five Fingers. They are meant to mimic barefoot running without the pain of running barefoot. I ran cross country in middle and high school, but had to stop because of consistent stress fractures. I'm hoping the Vibrams will reduce some of these injuries and strengthen my leg muscles.
Anyway, I hope the coming weeks are a little more successful in terms of not only what I eat, but how frequently I train. I missed a great training session this morning because I was helping out at an event on campus.
Friday, February 25, 2011
Day One
Today was pretty hectic, and I barely had time to even acknowledge that it was day one of vegetarianism! Didn't really have time to eat most of the day. I had class and meetings throughout the day. I then went to the grocery store and got stuck in traffic on the way there and back. I didn't really have time to cook, so I ended up ordering dinner instead of using the stuff I bought. My meals were as such:
Breakfast: yogurt and granola, toast and cashew butter
Lunch?: Luna Bar
Snack: pita and hummus
Snack: starburst, Coke Zero (nasty!)
I am ending today with takeout. This is the first time I have purposely ordered a vegetarian dish. It's a Thai veggie dish that comes with broth and brown rice. It's surprisingly filling and delicious! Red curry chicken is normally my go-to for Thai food, but this is an interesting change.
Additionally, I stocked up my fridge by going to the nearby farmer's market. My ingredients/food for the week are as such:
- cottage cheese
- quinoa
- red thai peppers
- strawberries
- apples
- bananas
- Shanghai bok choy
- portobello mushrooms
- eggs
- coconut oil
- sweet potatoes
I had a couple of staple items already, like steel cut oats, almond milk, rice milk (I'm mildly lactose intolerant) and a variety of frozen vegetables. I try not to buy prepared food too much, as it often has a great deal of sodium and preservatives. I normally try to make a week or so worth of food on Sunday. It'll be interesting to see what combinations I can come up with!
I don't really feel much different. I feel a little out of it because I didn't really have a healthy set of meals throughout the day. I normally make a bunch of chicken at the beginning of the week and ration it out, but now I see I'll have to start having more vegetarian prepared food ready in the fridge for the week.
I imagine tomorrow isn't going to be great either. I am helping out at a campus event where they'll be providing some not-so-healthy foods for breakfast and lunch. Hopefully after tomorrow my posts will have more information about recipes I'm experimenting with.
Breakfast: yogurt and granola, toast and cashew butter
Lunch?: Luna Bar
Snack: pita and hummus
Snack: starburst, Coke Zero (nasty!)
I am ending today with takeout. This is the first time I have purposely ordered a vegetarian dish. It's a Thai veggie dish that comes with broth and brown rice. It's surprisingly filling and delicious! Red curry chicken is normally my go-to for Thai food, but this is an interesting change.
Additionally, I stocked up my fridge by going to the nearby farmer's market. My ingredients/food for the week are as such:
- cottage cheese
- quinoa
- red thai peppers
- strawberries
- apples
- bananas
- Shanghai bok choy
- portobello mushrooms
- eggs
- coconut oil
- sweet potatoes
I had a couple of staple items already, like steel cut oats, almond milk, rice milk (I'm mildly lactose intolerant) and a variety of frozen vegetables. I try not to buy prepared food too much, as it often has a great deal of sodium and preservatives. I normally try to make a week or so worth of food on Sunday. It'll be interesting to see what combinations I can come up with!
I don't really feel much different. I feel a little out of it because I didn't really have a healthy set of meals throughout the day. I normally make a bunch of chicken at the beginning of the week and ration it out, but now I see I'll have to start having more vegetarian prepared food ready in the fridge for the week.
I imagine tomorrow isn't going to be great either. I am helping out at a campus event where they'll be providing some not-so-healthy foods for breakfast and lunch. Hopefully after tomorrow my posts will have more information about recipes I'm experimenting with.
Thursday, February 24, 2011
First post
I'm creating this blog to document my foray into vegetarianism. To give you a little background about myself, I am a college senior set to graduate in May- yikes! Additionally, I am practically a carnivore. While I don't eat beef, I eat everything else. Chicken, BACON, pork, lamb, ham, turkey- you name it, I eat it. However, for the next month, I will not consume any meat. There's a couple of reasons I've chosen to do this:
1. I've watched my roommate be a vegetarian for two years, which sparked my interest in it
2. After learning about how animals are treated in many large farms, this ethical issue has made me consider it
3. Health benefits- when done correctly, I've heard people claim to have higher energy levels and better overall well being
The only caveat to this is that I will continue to take fish oil pills. While that's technically not eating meat, it's still an animal product. Tomorrow, or I guess later today now that it's midnight, I will post what I prepared and ate during the day. I'm replacing protein using the following items:
- eggs
- low sodium cottage cheese- I hate the taste of salt
- protein powder supplement- whey/rice/hemp protein powder. Most likely whey
- soy- this will be done in limited quantities, as I have heard mixed things about the effects of soy in large quantities
- lentils (although I've read that lentils contain trypsin inhibitors, which would reduce the uptake of protein)
- peanuts- in moderation because of the high fat content
I've been looking at some recipes from Brendan Brazier's Thrive books. Although Brendan is a vegan, his recipes are still very good, especially since he is an athlete. Additionally, I've done my own research on recipes.
As you may have noticed by the blog title, I am an avid Brazilian Jiu Jitsu practitioner. After having done no gi grappling for a few years, I started training BJJ regularly in January 2010, and have fallen in love with it. Once the vegetarian experiment is over, I'll discuss a little more about my martial arts background. However, of special note is that I will be competing in the Pan American Jiu Jitsu Championships in California at the end of March. I will be competing as a white belt.
That's all for now. Stay tuned for my experiences on my first day of vegetarianism!
1. I've watched my roommate be a vegetarian for two years, which sparked my interest in it
2. After learning about how animals are treated in many large farms, this ethical issue has made me consider it
3. Health benefits- when done correctly, I've heard people claim to have higher energy levels and better overall well being
The only caveat to this is that I will continue to take fish oil pills. While that's technically not eating meat, it's still an animal product. Tomorrow, or I guess later today now that it's midnight, I will post what I prepared and ate during the day. I'm replacing protein using the following items:
- eggs
- low sodium cottage cheese- I hate the taste of salt
- protein powder supplement- whey/rice/hemp protein powder. Most likely whey
- soy- this will be done in limited quantities, as I have heard mixed things about the effects of soy in large quantities
- lentils (although I've read that lentils contain trypsin inhibitors, which would reduce the uptake of protein)
- peanuts- in moderation because of the high fat content
I've been looking at some recipes from Brendan Brazier's Thrive books. Although Brendan is a vegan, his recipes are still very good, especially since he is an athlete. Additionally, I've done my own research on recipes.
As you may have noticed by the blog title, I am an avid Brazilian Jiu Jitsu practitioner. After having done no gi grappling for a few years, I started training BJJ regularly in January 2010, and have fallen in love with it. Once the vegetarian experiment is over, I'll discuss a little more about my martial arts background. However, of special note is that I will be competing in the Pan American Jiu Jitsu Championships in California at the end of March. I will be competing as a white belt.
That's all for now. Stay tuned for my experiences on my first day of vegetarianism!
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