What's on your plate?

Two posts in one week? Who am I? So, this was actually a request I received via a friend on Instagram. It's been a while since I've done a "day in the life" of what I eat. However, this week, I decided to part ways with Instagram and deactivate my account.

It was actually a huge sigh of relief. I've been considering this move for a while now but never got the guts to do it. I thought about who I'd miss seeing or the ambassadorships I'd miss out on but in reality, neither of those things matter. My running, cycling, or whatever I do is really my own thing at the end of the day. While I know I've inspired many people in the past and I always do appreciate the messages I receive, I also need to step back from broadcasting my life on the internet. Having this blog is enough for me. I also will still keep my Twitter. I was going to wait until July but what's the point of waiting. It was time to step away from that particular platform and focus on other things more important to me. Will I come back? Maybe. For now, I'm happy not having to deal with it though I'm curious to see who will still contact me. Many of my friends on there have my phone number. I suppose this is when you find out who actually cares about everything behind the scenes rather than on the screen. I know Anne will read this and I'm glad she has her blog so I can still keep up with her writing! You should definitely check out her page. It's full of awesome stuff and she happens to also be vegan.

So, what does a day in the life of eating look for me? I suppose I'll start with a semi-explanation of how I cultivate my nutrition. I don't count calories or macros. I used to count macros as if it were my specialty. It actually helped me lose a lot of the weight I did but I'm not into that anymore. I pretty much focus on real food, or as much of it as I can, that delivers good nutrition and keeps me satisfied. I don't deprive myself of any sweets, either! If you open my pantry, you will find plenty of Justin's almond butter cups and Enjoy Life cookies.

Let's dig into it. I won't lie, these first two photos are from the day after but that's because I was too tired to remember to take pictures the first day. So, the first thing I do when I wake up is I drink 16oz of warm, freshly squeezed lemon juice and almost all of that blue bottle, which is just water. This is at roughly 5am.

This was a run day. Before my runs, I eat 2-4 pitted dates, depending on the length, and about 4oz of beet juice. I just recently started incorporating beet juice into my pre-run routine and I have to say, the hype is real. Maybe it's psychological but my Fartlek's are not as terrible. These dates came directly from a local farm! I'll set out to run about 5:30-5:45am.

If my run is longer than an hour, I bring more dates with me. Pitted dates are something I started eating as fuel about two years ago. Just two of these guys gives you about 35g of carbs. On my long runs, I'll eat 2 every 30 minutes. 

Post-run is always a big 'ol bowl of oatmeal. I literally eat this stuff every day, run or not. This particular bowl is oats, water from the kettle because I'm too lazy to cook it on the stove, flax meal, Orgain vanilla protein powder, walnuts, almond butter, and banana. I drink about half that bottle of Coconut water to replenish my electrolytes. Coconut water has been my jam lately, especially with these hot temperatures. Let's say this was around 8am. 

Lunch this day was a vegan "bacon" sandwich with some grapes. The bacon is actually tempeh. I cut it up into strips and fry it in a cast iron pan. I whisk up some soy sauce, liquid smoke, some maple syrup, pepper, and powdered ginger, and throw that in the pan at the end to give it that extra flavor. This sandwich is on Dave's Killer Bread with some vegan cheddar cheese, tomatoes, romaine lettuce, red onion, and vegan mayo. Of course, I can't forget the pickle. Lunch is typically at 11am.

Okay, let's get real with the size here. I like my sandwiches big.

Around 2pm, it's like clockwork, and my stomach is like FEED ME. I deem 2pm snack time. My snack probably looks like a meal to some people but hey, like I said, I don't deprive myself. When you're hungry, eat! Today, I mixed in some muesli into cashew milk yogurt and topped it with blueberries. 

Dinner time is almost always at 5pm. We eat really early but we also go to bed early. I wish I had a better picture of this but what can you do. These are jackfruit tacos with a Cuban twist. So, back when we were meat-eaters, we used to get these tacos at our favorite Mexican place. It was ham, this Asian slaw, mustard, and pickles. Sounds really weird but oh man, the flavors were insane. I knew I could slightly mimic it in a vegan way. Jackfruit to the rescue! I cook that up with some BBQ sauce, toss the slaw in an Asian dressing I make that's literally soy sauce, rice vinegar, some sesame oil, and ginger, and top it off with mustard and pickles. Of course, we have to have tortilla chips. They are literally one of my favorite things to eat. I could annihilate a whole bag in one sitting. 

That's pretty much it! Some may ask, "Well, what do you drink during the day!?" and the answer is simple: water and coffee. I drink about a gallon of water per day. I drink two cups of coffee. When you live in the desert, water never gets boring. Sometimes I'll get crazy and have some herbal tea. I'm a simple person, really. I don't drink much alcohol anymore. To be honest, I haven't had a drink in over 30 days. It's just something I don't crave anymore. Everyone has their fancy!

There you have it, folks. A day of eating with me. See, being vegan isn't so boring. I don't eat heads of raw broccoli or salads all day. What's on your plate today?