Date night - Jyoti Bihanga

One of the goodies for participating in the La Jolla Self-Transcendence Swim & Run was a 50% off coupon to Jyoti Bihanga. Now, we were both excited to see this coupon - we'd been there twice and both times really enjoyed it!

Jyoti Bihanga is a vegetarian restaurant in Normal Heights - which is somewhere closer to downtown than where we live lol. It is the first restaurant that we went to when we moved here - my sister took us there - and the second time we went there our cousin chose it!

From the outside, very unassuming, and really from the inside as well.

The restaurant is run by followers of Sri Chinmoy - if you're interested in their philosophies, there's more information on their website. Suffice to say I really like a lot of what they have to say. Also, they are into sports (they put on the Swim & Run) and they're vegetarian/vegan food is yummy!

We had hot chai with soymilk, and hummus w/ cucumbers and tortilla to start - all very good!

Then we had our soups - I had beet coconut soup (PINK!!!!) and Paul had gypsy soup. I really enjoyed my weirdly colored soup, and the gypsy soup was really awesome as well - had a little Indian flavor to it.

For dinner, I had the Blue Plate Special and Paul had the Vegan Neatloaf!

By the time I remembered to take a picture most of the neatloaf was gone lol

The Neatloaf is one of the best dishes at Jyoti Bihanga by far - with mashed potatoes and gravy it's just a really down home and heartwarming dish. The Blue Plate Special was veggies and rice, but the sauce to top it all off with was really nice and flavorful so it rounded off the veggies nicely! Unfortunately, I had already drank 3 glasses of water!, a cup of tea, ate a bowl of soup, and appetizer - I only got through a little bit before I was FULL! Had to take that home for later.

Also have to mention the organic 9-grain bread on the side - awesome bread and you can tell that it's homemade - it's just lovely!

We took home two gigantic vegan chocolate chip cookies - TOTALLY worth it!

We were both so full, but it was a really nice and healthy full - and we LOVE this place!

"you make it look so easy"

by Rachel

How many times have I thought that about others? When I was first starting my c25k program (in.... 2007?) - I have a very strong memory about this lady that waltzed into the workout room, jumped on the treadmill and banged out a 10 minute mile, then quickly walked over to the side and started banging out pushups - WITH leg lifts!

I remember thinking:
-that lady is AWESOME and she makes it look sooo easy!
-I will NEVER be able to run that fast!
-that lady is doing so many pushups - my wimpy arms are NEVER going to be able to do that!
she’s so skinny and fit - no wonder she’s hardly even breathing hard!

It seemed effortless - and it crushed me because I was never going to be like her... I could barely even jog a mile... I was still trying to lose weight and I was having trouble getting to my goal weight...



Now that I look back at that - I’m sure that others can relate to exactly what I was feeling and thinking at the time...



I actually think about that event often, especially lately. Now that I’ve been running for a few years, and have some races under my belt - I’m lower than my original goal weight, running less than 10 minute miles, and doing 60 pushups in a single workout... it’s just really weird to think that I’M that lady now! It’s hard to wrap my own brain around - that I worked HARD and for YEARS and now I can do the things that I thought I would NEVER be able to do!

Here’s the thing - it wasn’t easy - and it still isn’t easy... I have to push myself EVERY SINGLE TIME that I get out there - and want to stop running, or slow down, or not try for those last two pushups... It’s not easy to get faster, or get stronger - it takes EFFORT

So when you look at someone that’s just out there looking like they’re not even breathing hard, or they just seem to float through the things that you can’t fathom even doing - remember that they are WORKING HARD - even if it’s not showing in the way you’d think - mental toughness is something you have to work on every day, and making you brain stronger is a daily effort!

The reason that I have been able to push myself to do more than I ever thought possible is because I am learning every day how IGNORE the person inside me telling me CONSTANTLY to slow down or stop... I’m also constantly in tune with my body, determining every second what pains are actually PAIN because something’s wrong... or fatigue, that I need to ignore and put off until the end of my workout.

And by the way, I still think this about others - there will always be people faster and in better shape than me! And I have to be OK with that - I am still learning to be OK with that :)

I guess I basically wanted to say - I work hard EVERY DAY (except rest days lol) and I deserve to be where I’m at - I am the strong, fit, confident lady that I have always wanted to be and I worked hard for it - I am proud of it!

I also want to tell everyone that YOU CAN BE THE AWESOME ATHLETE that you want to be - YOU WILL BE THAT AWESOME ATHLETE... if you’re not already, that is :)

Week 9 Tri training RECAP!

by Rachel

This last training week has been AWESOME! I have been sorely lacking on the blogging front - lost a lot of motivation to sit and write now that I'm not challenging myself to do it every day lol

I do need to sit down and write one more blog about the E2 challenge - about our favorite meals, and an overall recap page that has links to all the days... soon :)

I'm into the second half of my training program - drawing closer to the September 11th race day!

Monday
bike to work (8 miles)
hill run (3.5 miles)
workout (pushups-50, crunches, lunges-60, planks, ankle strengthening)
Ran out to the cliffs today - also managed to get 5 hills in!

Tuesday
bike to work (8 miles)
swim (1 mile)
Was only going to do 3/4 miles, but my cheering squad (Paul!) got me to go around one more time!

Wednesday
REST DAY!
bike to work (7 miles)

Thursday
bike to work via Torrey Pines (14 miles)
This was my first Torrey Pines ride with my new clipless pedal setup - averaged 14.1 speed overall which is my fastest average for this particular ride - yay!

Friday
bike to work (8 miles)
tempo run (3.6 miles)
workout (pushups-60, crunches, lunges-60, plank, ankle strengthening)
2 laps of running - I really wanted a negative split! But somehow, my first loop avg was 9:06! and my second loop avg was 9:27 - I'll take it!

Saturday
Swim at La Jolla Cove (around a mile)
This was the most beautiful swim that I have had to date - the water was AMAZING! I was supposed to meet up with a tri group but I somehow lost them all... instead I tagged along with 4 ppl that have been swimming together at the cove for years! It was great - we saw lots of fish - and a huge school of fish under us! We also saw scuba divers way down below us - that's how clear the water was! I couldn't believe - I almost got over all the issues that I have with kelp, it really helps to go out there with experienced people that have been swimming out there for so long :)

Sunday
long run (6 miles)
went out with my 6yo to our park at our townhouses - it's a .25 mile loop trail with picnic area, and tennis courts, and volleyball courts in the middle. He biked while I ran, then he also ran/walked for awhile too! I got my 6 miles in - easy running - 62 minutes total. My 4yo got in 4 miles of bike/run/walk!!

Weekly Totals:
swim: 2 miles
bike: 45 miles
run: 13.1 miles
pushups: 110
lunges: 120

Engine 2 - 28 Day Challenge - By the Numbers

by Rachel

I'm a nerd - I like numbers! :)

That's probably why counting calories appeals to something instinctual in me...

In any case, I wanted to cover the weight loss numbers, the calories eaten, and the exercise hours/mileage that went along with this challenge.

I don't want to make light of the fact that we're pretty active - but I DO want to make it clear that the weight loss we experienced was directly related to the food challenge - we were already very active before the challenge started.

EXERCISE

I am in the midst of training for an olympic distance triathlon, and Paul is training for a 50K ultramarathon - so a lot of exercise accompanied the 28 Day Challenge.

Here are my exercise totals during the challenge:
swim: 4.93 miles
bike: 167.5 miles
run: 42.65 miles
strength training: 2 hours

around 7.5 hours of training every week

Here are Paul's exercise totals during the challenge:
1746 minutes of running (a little over 29 hours over 4 weeks)

155.6 miles of running with a little bit of hiking thrown in

he's also doing pushups or lunges or other strength training throughout the day - like 50 pushups a day - he doesn't track this

CALORIES

This only applies to the calories I ate - Paul generally ate more than I did, which is how it's supposed to be - he weighs 100 more pounds than I do, and is 10 inches taller than me! Lots more muscle than me too!

8 out of 28 days were less than 1600 calories.

4 of the days were over 2000 calories.

The most surprising for me was how much FIBER we ate! I couldn't believe the numbers some days...

WEIGHT LOSS

My starting weight was 127

End of week 1 - 123

End of week 2 - 122

End of week 3 - 121

End of week 4 - 120

****Total weight loss - 7 pounds!

Paul's starting weight was 245

End of week 1 - 235

End of week 2 - 230

End of week 3 - 225

End of week 4 - 220

****Total weight loss - 25 pounds!

OK I think that's more number nerdiness than you needed to be exposed to - but hopefully of interest to those looking to do the 28 Day Challenge.

Thanks for reading!!

Thoughts and lessons learned on the Engine 2 28 Day Challenge

by Paul

Starting this 28 day challenge, I had no idea if I could do it - and I don’t think I could have done it without my wife. Rachel was so awesome with the planning and shopping for this - then blogging about it each and every day was beyond amazing to me. She is an amazing person for helping me during this time. I think she did it mostly for me because I needed to lose some weight and get healthy.

I should start off by thanking my wonderful wife for being there for me throughout my weight loss battle. It’s been a struggle these past years. I tricked myself over and over into believing I could eat whatever I wanted - as long as I was pushing myself harder and further in my running. I’ve had a battle for so long with food it’s not even funny anymore. I’ve found out I really like to binge eat or drink whenever I have food around me or alcohol.

One thing this challenge did for me is made me realize that what everyone says - that you need these certain foods for protein or whatever - is not always true, and most of that is based off someone else’s opinions. So many of us base our lives off what others say about one thing or the other that we don’t live our own lives and experience things for ourselves. I’m learning every day now about myself, what kind of foods make me feel better to eat, and what makes me a better person through my own experiences.

The Engine 2 Diet helped me realize a lot about myself and the misconceptions on what makes an athlete go. During this challenge I lost 25 pounds in 28 days eating only plant-based foods. If you were to tell me in the beginning that  I’d be able to do that... and be able to run an hour and a half each day and have all the energy I needed...  I would tell you you were crazy and laugh.

For so many years of my life I’ve been told so many different things from so many different people about eating and working out that I have no idea what was right or wrong. Everyone has their own opinions of what works or doesn’t for that individual. Something I learned was you have to experience things for yourself and don’t always listen to others - they might ultimately keep you from something you love.

So many years of my life I never heard about ultramarathons because nobody I knew was into that - I had no idea that you could put your body through that and not damage it. Now I’m in love with ultrarunning after experiencing one for myself.

I had no real idea what a vegan was or what they ate until this diet, I just had the rumors of others and opinions of others.

I’m not saying this diet or challenge will work for everyone but I can only tell you what I learned from it and what it did for me - and then you can decide for yourself if it will work for you. I never thought I could go without meat, cheese or butter - three things I love and enjoy very much. But on this diet I’ve learned some of my favorite dishes like pizza, lasagna and chili don’t need meat or cheese on them to make it tasty and delicious. I also learned that plant foods go through your body a lot different and faster then processed foods - makes sense if you think about it. The more processed the food is the longer it takes to process inside your body and sometimes those processed oils and sugars stick inside your body until surgically removed.  

I’m glad I did this because I feel so much healthier than I did a month ago - inside and out. I learned so much about food and myself during this challenge.

I will probably continue to eat like this in my own home for now, but if I go over to others homes and they have prepared a meal I will eat what they have prepared just to keep the harmony and peace inside their home. Inside my home, I’ll be keeping to this meal plan - until I get to my goal weight and beyond - because of how it makes me feel through my experience with it.

I would recommend it for anyone that asks me, please experience it for yourself and see what it does for you. Even if you don’t lose weight you will gain a new perspective on food - and yourself.

It’s been a great ride and I hope those that try it learn some thing from it like I did.

Healthy day folks!

La Jolla Swim & Run 2011 - Race Recap

by Rachel

The Sri Chinmoy Marathon Team puts on a lot of different types of races around the world, and this particular race was a perfect training race for my TriRock olympic triathlon in September. Not only that, it was only $40 - which is a STEAL compared to a lot of other races - especially triathlons...

So the race is a 1 mile open-ocean swim, followed by a 10K run - this type of race is called an aquathlon - and it was my first aquathlon, and first open-ocean race swim. My other races have been in a bay, lake, or river.

I tried to compile a Google Map that would give you a decent feel of what the course was - it started at the lower left - at La Jolla Cove. Then we passed by three buoys in the ocean, then headed inland to the shore. After that was 6 1-mile loops on the beach. Obviously the line through the ocean is a guess, but the last buoy was a decent way out from the shore - I'd say it's a pretty close representation.

Saturday night I made Sweet Potato Lasagna (from Engine 2) - it wasn't done until 10PM! Scarfed that down, then went right to bed - sat there for a little while before I finally fell asleep...

Sunday morning up at 4am - had toast with PB&Applesauce, a banana, 1cup of water, and coffee with almondmilk! I wanted to give my body some time to wake up and start processing. Did some morning yoga poses, and yep - my body started processing ;)

Woke everyone up - then had a fig with sunflower butter and 1 more cup of water.

Left at 6am - got to La Jolla Cove and checkin was really easy - there were less than 200 people in the race so it was a very small group. This, to me, is crazy for a San Diego race!

We all gathered at the beach, watching sea lions in the water, while they made their announcements before the race:

1. 3 bright orange buoys - follow them on your right

2. white shark sighting the day before at Scipps Pier

3. moment of silence and contemplation

4. Get ready Go!

wait - white shark??!! Well, at least I knew about this already, as we had spent Saturday at La Jolla Shores and were there when the sighting occurred. Nobody saw the shark during the race as far as I know...

I swam at La Jolla Cove several times before, but this was the first low tide swim - we had to walk out over the seagrass till we were far enough out, then the swim starts!

Only 3 buoys for a 1 mile swim meant that for a lot of the time, you couldn't see the buoy you were swimming towards - it would be interesting to see how far offcourse I was throughout the swim...

I was correct in my assumption that swimming with others would diminish the fear in my mind about swimming here - knowing that everyone else was doing the same exact thing helped a lot! Also, focusing on what everyone else was doing keeps your mind off of fear.

I swam past many kelp plants reaching up to the surface - it helped a lot to get around those without freaking out - another step to conquering this fear I have of the open ocean.

I didn't see any wildlife while I was swimming - guess they all knew well enough to stay away from all the splashing idiots in the water :)

There were lots of lifeguards out on ski-doos, surfboards, and even a boat - so that was always nice to see as you swam by them.

Like I said, I'm sure I was offcourse a lot - can't be helped much when the waves are always changing your line of sight. It was not a windy morning, but the waves were hard to deal with - but I just kept going - no laying on my back to rest - in fact, the only rest I took was to try to ride the waves up to gain a better view of where the next buoy was!

After the last buoy, we turned to head right into shore - but it was hard to see where we were supposed to be heading - so I ended up veering off - but corrected myself... that probably added some time to my swim.

I got out (finally!) and the time on the clock said around 45 minutes - which was more than I had wanted, so I was kind of bummed but had to keep going!

Transition was a little difficult because I hadn't really practiced a swim to run transition - but got through that in a few minutes, then off to my 10K!

6 1-mile loops - time for some transcendence!

If I'm going to run around in circles, I'll always enjoy running with this beautiful scenery! :)

I walked through the aid station 3 times... and I'm OK with that... dangit - I'm OK with it!

By the last lap, I was getting a blister on both balls of my feet - so I stopped and took my shoes and socks off! Ran the last lap barefoot - and it felt like my fastest lap!

Finally I was done! 1:47:37 was my final time - I loved having my family there to cheer me on - they are my cheering squad!

Initially, I was kinda bummed about my time - my swim took longer than I wanted, and my run was a little slower than my 3mile pace has been... but it was my 1st open ocean race - and I had never raced in the waves, or with buoys so far apart! And my 10K was just about the same time as the 10K practice I had done the week earlier.

So, I am happy with this race! I would definitely do it again - it was low-key, and I got a cool shirt with the following on the back:

"Always take the mind's positive thought-road" - Sri Chinmoy

I definitely walked the walk with this quote during the race - and during all my races - so many times in my races, my mind is telling me that I can stop, or slow down, or take a little break - or any number of negative things - but I choose to take the positive path!

Engine 2 - 28 Day Challenge - what we learned

by Rachel

This has been a crazy month! Not only did we eat vegan for 28 Days, I also blogged every day which is something new. I learned a lot, and tried a bunch of new recipes that put me a little out of my comfort zone.

I really enjoyed the challenge but I am glad that it is over - it's a little stressful working full time, training for an olympic triathlon, blogging, and cooking to a pretty strict plan that involves a lot of chopping :)

I read lots of blogs, and I honestly do not know how these people that post several times a day do it! They must have the whole thing down to a science - I will be glad to not have to post every single day and come up with witty things to talk about!

Things that I take away from this challenge:

• Pizza is OK to eat without cheese! Just PILE ON the veggies!

• Big breakfasts are great fuel for an awesome workout! Just have to give your body enough time to process it before you go out and work it off

• Homemade hummus and bean dips are SOOO easy, yummy, and low-cal - I'd be hard-pressed to buy premade anymore!

(how could I have not taken a picture of the hummus??!!)

• Soy yogurt DOES taste good! Almond yogurt is a little funky but it's good with other stuff in it :)

• Avocados make interesting desserts - but they're just not for us

• we LOVE chocolate for dessert! For quite some time that has been our go-to dessert (dark chocolate bars - just a few chunks)

• we ALSO love yogurt and fruit for dessert! plain or with some oats or granola on top - yum...

• Burgers & Fries on a weekend lunch is a great way to get the family together for an afternoon meal! And everyone likes it!

• Pancakes with fruit, nuts, yogurt, and maple syrup is AWESOME! Who needs butter???

• my kids do NOT like bbq pizza!
• my kids do NOT like mushrooms! :)

• I really liked the green leafy wrap thing - but seems I was the only one - and ONLY if there's avocado in it!

• Making your own veggie burgers is TOTALLY an option! I can't wait to try making different kinds :)

• We LOVE tacos, burritos, nachos - CHILI!

• Molasses does not work as a sauce in this household!

Coming soon - Challenge by the numbers, Our favorite Challenge meals!

E2 28 Day Challenge - Day 28!

by Rachel

Today was my race - so I ate more than was on the plan - but I think it was a fitting ending to our challenge to swim and run in a self-transcendence race, put on by an organization that also runs a vegan restaurant! :)
I will post more about the race later, it will take more than a few sentences to cover...
I will also post an overall recap about the challenge later - also will take up a whole blog post :)


Day 28

2629 cals (416g carbs, 88g fat, 85g protein, 60g fiber)

Breakfast
Spelt Blueberry Pancakes & Oranges Toast with PB and Fruit

Got up at 4AM to kickstart my body before the race - breakfast was my usual pre-race fare. Toast with peanut butter, and bananas on top. I DID add applesauce too - YUM! Coffee with almond milk, and then closer to the race I had a fig with sunflower nut butter on it

After the race, I had lots of fruit that the race organizers had provided - so nice right after kicking your own butt! When I got home I had almonds and raisins too!

Lunch
Rip’s Sweet Potato Lasagna

Lunch was leftovers - so glad I had it from lastnight because I had no interest in cooking! In fact, as soon as we were done with lunch, Paul and I both zonked out for a much needed nap!

When we got up, we had a PBnJ sandwich - those things are sooo good!

Dinner
Baby Field Greens Salad
Creamy Cauliflower Soup

No salad with dinner - but holy cow! This soup completely hit the spot - and we ate the whole pot! I was planning on saving some for lunch the next day, but we decided to save the last 2 pieces of lasagna for that - because we could not stop eating this soup! It was also soo low-cal that for me, 3 bowls only totalled around 400 cals! This is total comfort food and I would soo make this again.

Dessert
Strawberry Pie with Date Nut Crust


Had to make this since it's kind of the going away meal for the challenge. We both had two pieces, and our 6yo ate most of his piece - although he wasn't a big fan of the crust (I don't get it!). The banana and oranges really offset the fact that there's no added sugar! I would make this again too - although it's higher in cals - more cals for dessert than for dinner tonight!

E2 28 Day Challenge - Day 27

by Rachel

We ended up spending most of the day at La Jolla Shores - it was a beautiful day!

Oh and right when we're almost done with the 28 Day Challenge... I cracked! But I'm totally OK with it - it wasn't a big thang.

Day 27

2021 cals (326g carbs, 94g fat, 61g protein, 45g fiber)

E2 Omelet with Mango Breakfast with the Burbank family :)

We found out at the last minute that my uncle, aunt, and niece were visiting the beach for the weekend (for a wedding) - and they invited us to their hotel for breakfast! I brought along some food just in case we couldn't find anything on the menu (we ate in their room, overlooking the ocean - not too shabby)

But I ended up getting a really yummy fruit plate with a cranberry nut bread, and got whole wheat toast instead of cottage cheese. Totally forgot that restaurants BUTTER their toast, but I made sure to eat it anyways. There wasn't a ton of butter - but I'm sure there was dairy in the breakfast bread... FORGIVE ME! It was all really good.

Paul was right on track - he had celery w/ peanut butter and a fruit bowl!

Lunch

Burgers & Potatoes

Dr. Praeger's California Veggie Burger (everyone liked!), and thinly sliced potatoes broiled in the oven! YUM! Had avocado on the burgers - maybe I've mentioned that avocado makes EVERYTHING better? :)

Dinner

Rip’s Sweet Potato Lasagna

By the time we ate this it was almost 10PM!! I ate one serving then scooted right off to bed because I had to wake up at 4am to prep for my race.

I made some without sweet potato (what a nice mommy I am) for the kids - they ate it and didn't really complain so I have to take it that this wasn't too awful :)

Oh, Paul just reminded me - second to last bite my 14yo found a mushroom and almost tried to pull a I don't like it - but he was already almost done with it lol

Paul wanted to eat all of it but we had to save it for lunch the next day - and I'm glad (because I'm sitting here writing this and the last thing I want to do right now is cook!)

Dessert

2 ounces 70% Dark Chocolate

No dessert for me - I went right to bed! Paul had some nuts and raisins with a touch of granola.

E2 28 Day Challenge - Day 26

by Rachel

I sure don't have anything earth-shattering to say today - wow what a good blogger :)

I'm at my lowest weight since I started running - kinda weird to think about that...

Day 26

1457 cals (294g carbs, 36g fat, 48g protein, 55g fiber)

Breakfast

Quick Oatmeal

1 cup of oats, and I put in 1 Tbsp molasses, and 1 cup of blueberries - so good!

Lunch

E2 Basics Tacos

I had a REALLY awesome picture of lunch! Somehow I managed to not send it correctly, and then I cleaned up my phone this afternoon and removed a bunch of food pictures :(

Really good tacos though - black bean spread, smushed avocado, lettuce, and salsa X3!

Dinner

E2 Lentil Burger & Steamed Red Potatoes Burgers & Lentil Salad

I didn't have any more bell peppers and I didn't want to try to substitute with the lentil burgers, so instead I just cooked up TJ's Masala Burgers, and made a salad out of the lentils - it actually turned out really good! I made the dressing based off of Mama Pea's Mmmm Sauce.

Dessert

E2 Fruit Bowl with Soy Drizzle

I didn't have dessert tonight - Paul had nuts with raisins - while we watched the season finale of True Blood (season 3)

:)

E2 28 Day Challenge - Day 25

Quick post today - I'm running late! (never happens right?)
:)


Day 25

1908 cals (332g carbs, 48g fat, 53g protein, 54g fiber)

Breakfast
Apple Slices & Toast

Toast with 1 Tbsp sunflower nut butter and 1/4 cup applesauce - with an apple!

Lunch
Green Leafy Wrap with Stir Fry
Green leaves with leftover couscous

Kind of a green leafy wrap lol -- decided to finish up the big hit of molasses couscous - I enjoyed it the second time too! Just wrapped it in red leaf lettuce. Paul had the last bbq pizza and a Clif bar :)

Dinner
E2 Nachos

OK - nachos with no cheese? Everyone balked! This was more like taco salad than nachos, but we all liked it! I swapped out a can of beans for a can of corn - other than that it's the same recipe. Very good! (surprise, we love tacos, taco salad, nachos)

Dessert
Raspberry Sorbet with Banana Slices
Fruit Bowl with Soy Drizzle

I read the wrong day for dessert! This is blackberries, strawberries, raspberries, blueberries - topping is 1/2 cup almond yogurt with 1tsp vanilla and 1Tbsp maple syrup (split between the two of us) - then I powdered the top with cocoa powder. MMM mixed that all together and it was a very yummy dessert!

E2 28 Day Challenge - Day 24

by Rachel

Today was an interesting test - I had an all day conference at work - which meant work-provided breakfast, lunch, and snacks. I decided to bring my food with me from home anyways since I didn't know what they'd have and we're trying to really stick to the plan.

It worked pretty well - I did grab a cookie or two for the kiddos, but no indulgences for me - and to be honest, it didn't matter to me one way or the other - there was no salivating at the food table for me. I enjoyed the food that I DID have! (well, except for a very unripe banana...)


Day 24


1582 cals (307g carbs, 29g fat, 60g protein, 44g fiber)

Breakfast
Simple Cereal Bowl
No picture this morning - this was trying to get my breakfast in before the first session of my conference started. It was pretty good - but I learned a lesson - GREEN bananas do NOT taste good!

Lunch
E2 Open Face Sandwich with Black Bean Spread

They did have a vegetarian option for lunch - and I did pick one up - but I wasn't sure about the dairy, so I opted to just eat what I had brought, and save my lunch for the kids to share. I LOVE this black bean spread! Oh, and I had ground lemon pepper onto my cucumbers, so it was meshed with the cucumbers on the sandwich - really good!

Dinner
Red Vegetable Curry over Brown Rice

WOW! I really enjoyed this meal! Couple things - I had no snow peas, so I used collard greens chopped up instead - it went perfect with everything! Also, we added TJ's Sweet Chili sauce to it and it was a really good complement to the flavors! A+

Dessert
Orange Segments Yogurt with Blueberries

We had just had oranges with lunch, so instead we had yogurt with Blueberries, and I topped mine with oats - Paul topped his with granola.
We had Amande almond yogurt - which is definitely different! I enjoyed it with the combo of blueberries and oats, but I probably wouldn't eat it by itself. Looks like we're not eating yogurt by itself lately anyways :)

E2 28 Day Challenge - Day 23

Today was supposed to be a bike and swim day, but our car is in the SHOP! So we didn't get a chance to drive down to the bay for a swim. I could have just walked down the block to our pool, but I said to myself, "self - you are on taper week - you do not need to swim today!"

So no swim - but the bike to work rocked :)

Hopefully the dealership doesn't charge us what the car is worth to get it fixed - - *nervous*

Day 23

1892 cals (346g carbs, 46g fat, 48g protein, 40g fiber)

Breakfast

Banana & Toast

Leftover Mighty Muffin bread - YUM!! Plus a sliced kiwi that was very sweet :)

Lunch

Barbeque Pizza

Leftover BBQ pizza from lastnight - still YUM the next day!!

Dinner

Cravotta’s Couscous with Broiled Tomatoes & Asparagus

Where do I start? The asparagus was yummy and the tomato was pretty good! The couscous mix was good, in my opinon... but Paul didn't finish his!! That almost never happens - he just REALLY did not like the molasses - it was too potent. Had the kids try a bite too and they were not fond of it either. So... I ate mine, Paul's, and one other serving. Molasses much? I think I've had enough molasses to last awhile - I'll freeze the rest and someday if I get a hankering I'll have it - nobody else is touching the stuff!

Dessert

Mango Mousse Chocolate Soy Yogurt with Raspberries

Was not really interested in making soy mousse... so instead I just used plain soy yogurt, and added cocoa powder to it. It had a little tang to it, from the yogurt, but with the raspberries (and maple syrup drizzled on top) it actually all meshed together really well I thought! I enjoyed this dessert (couldn't really get a good picture of it though)