New Menus!

hello my dear and darling ones,
I have made new menus once again and thought I would share with you!

Day1. Butternut Squash Ravioli made with wonton wrappers, green salad with arugulla and poppyseed and lemon muffins

Day2. Cuban style black beans and rice with olive oil and vinegar served on a bed of greens and topped with fresh salsa, baked plantains

Day3. Spinach cakes with roumalade sauce, cooked carrots in balsamic glaze, corn muffins. dark chocolate covered dried apricot slices.

Day4.Portabello Cap burgers with fresh green goddess sauce and fresh radishes with baked turnip, parsnip,beet and carrot chips and strawberry applesauce

Day5.Artichoke,tomatoe,basil gluten free thin crust pizza and iceberg wedge salad

Day6. Hot wing tofu with raw carrots and celery and blue cheese or vegan ranch, baked sweet potato fries. Frozen bananas with soy peanut butter and non dairy choc chips

Day7. Wilted spinach salad with carmelized onion, garlic and vegan bacon, apple and mushrooms, serve with fresh home made banana bread

Day8. Chickpea salad sandwiches on wheat rolls or wrapped in romain leaves served with sliced tomatoes. raisin and cinnamon stuffed baked apples

Day9. Broiled polenta with tomatoe ragout and soy mozzerella cheese. Italain spinach salad with smoked tempeh crumbles

Day 10. Bobby Flay Grilled Eggplant salad(new recipe-google it) and soy cheese garlic bread

Day11. Spinach and white bean soup, marinated veggies. Blackberry pie

Day 12. Tofu Meatloaf cupcakes with cauliflower mash frosting,german green beans,cornbread with corn in it. Fresh mango icee

Day13. Mexican style tater tot casserole topped with fresh tomatilla salsa,green onion and tofutti sour cream. Pineapple whip (fresh pineapple, milk and ice in blender)

Day 14. Tofurkey,broccoli, cooked carrots and soy cheese twice baked potatoes with sauteed mushrooms,garlic and onion topping. Fruit and cookie crumble (fresh fruit-strawberries, blackberries or bananas mixed into non dairy cool whip style fat free topping and cookies crumbled on top)

Day 15.Lemon Garlic zuccini squash noodles, spinach salad with dried cranberries and sunflower seeds, watermelon for dessert

Day 16. Black bean quesadilla with roasted corn and pepper salad.

Day17 taco mess served on corn tortillas and coconut milk chocolate pudding

Day 18Tomatoe soup and vegan mac and cheese made with tofutti cream cheese, soy cheese and nutritional yeast. Fresh carrot and celery sticks

Day19. lightlife hotdog pigs in a blanket with soy cheese, applesauce and baked sweet potatoe fries. roasted broccoli and cauliflower with ms.dash seasoning. strawberries and blackberries for dessert.

I make the menus, shop for the basics and most fresh ingredients but the menus are served in no particular order. Whatever I am in the mood fr and works for the evenings schedule. Some days it works great and some days we have oatmeal or cereal instead because no one is very hungry :)

Operation Summer Bikini!!!

A couple weeks ago I was feeling frustrated about my fitness goals/progress.  I reached out to some fitness and nutrition savvy friends for help. And they generously came back with an abundance of it! A new eating plan, still vegan of course and a new workout plan.  I am focusing more on strength training and less cardio and taking more rest days to all ow for muscle recovery. Working muscle groups in rotation instead of whole body all the time. And I get to eat more!!! 1600 calories a day! It feels like a million calories after eating 1200-1400 for years. I am focusing on increasing my protein intake and cutting back on grain and carbs. Not cutting entirely, everything in moderation. I am not eating wheat bread at all any more as I discovered it really makes me bloat, my body just doesn't digest it well. But switching to rye was no big deal, I have always liked it. And I am drinking protein shakes after my workout. Thank goodness since I was getting really tired of bananas and peanut butter everyday. It was a struggle to find a vegan one local and I am not super happy with what we got but it is a good starting point.
I was warned that my body would go thru an adjustment period during this change, I would see bloating, might gain weight, and it would totally mess with my head but if I just stayed strong and followed the plan I would see big changes by week 3 or 4. And I would/could see leaning out, muscle definition and hopefully fat percentage dropping. My goal is to drop from 21 to 18% so I can see ab definition. But ultimately my goal is to be fit, strong, healthy and to make a bikini look good!
I am 14ish days in and I am still bloated but I think it is starting to go down a bit. I can see my abs peeking thru and the workouts are totally kicking my butt which is pretty awesome. I committed to a month long process with weekly progress photos, tomorrow is picture day #2. I was really disturbed by pic day #1 as I looked squishy all over! But am getting great support from a group of friends in my online fitness group. Thank goodness to because they weren't kidding when they said it would mess with your mind. When you feel like you are going backwards in a journey like this it is devastating! I am working hard on staying off the scale and focusing on the plan and the end game.
Speaking of that it is time for today's workout!
Have any of you had experience with the eat more to lose fat and gain muscle process? It seems so backwards to me after years of living on 1200 calories a day to be slim. Tell me about it if you have, I could use the encouragement!