Eating Out Woes [Week 2 of Eating Vegetarian]

            Well another vegetarian week in the books.  Not a whole lot of complaints or issues with the past week over all.   That is with the exception of eating out.  I never realized how routine-based my life was until my wife and I went out with friends for dinner at Miguels.  Usually, a trip to a Mexican restaurant involves no thought for my menu choice.  I’m going to be getting down on some sort of burrito.  Carne asada, pollo asada, California, it doesn’t matter.  Wrap some goodies with a little meat up in a soft tortilla and I’ll be cleaning the plate. 

            However, this trip contained a whole lot of mental contemplation about how dedicated I was about proving a point.  Ultimately I ended up eating a quesadilla with some extra avocado [This is actually one of the only times I’ve eaten non-vegan during this].  I did have a fair amount of chips and salsa to fill the tank, but this is pretty much status quo when I eat Mexican food.

            Since I don’t have a whole lot this week, I thought I would add my food tracker (See clips below) from the past two weeks.  There is nothing ground breaking, but a few things about my tracker, acronyms used, and my foods. Oh and I really am not proof reading this tracker, so I’m sure quinoa or tempeh is butchered in it.

• PFB: Perfect Foods Bar (Typically Almond Butter, but I also like Carob Chip.  As an aside, I thought it was Carbo Chip until last month when Rick from Carlsbad CrossFit corrected me – and I still to this day will call it Carbo Chip.
• Perfect Smoothie: This has taken a lot of forms from the two weeks but generally it consists of a dark green vegetable base, some sort of fat (almond butter, coconut oil, flaxseed), vegan protein powder, ice, and water or on occasion almond milk. Originally taken from http://www.nomeatathlete.com
• Popcorn: I freaking love popcorn.  I could probably eat popcorn all day.
• Salad:  Usually just basic greens with organic dressing (love any type of Annie’s dressing) and sometime toppings such as almond slivers and cranberries
• Green text:  signifies my post workout meal.
• Veggie Grill: (restaurants all around North County) has come through in the clutch and it’s close to my work, which makes it my go-to for takeout.
• Protein: of choice right now is Vega One and I just use a generic BCAA
• Nut Mix:  just the little packets from Trader Joes

In the chart you see some minor comments with regard to my energy level and weight.  I should probably do a better job here, but just haven’t had the time to keep a good journal.

            To all those that keep questioning why I am doing this, thanks.  It’s been good motivation to show that you can still thrive on this type of diet.  At this point, no, I won’t follow this after the month.  However, what I will say is that I will be paying way more attention to food combinations and where I’m getting my carbohydrates from as part of a Zone-paleo approach to my diet.

Challenge Accepted. Week 1 of Eating Vegetarian

What am I really trying to do here?

If you ever want me to do something, tell me I can’t do it.  Knowing this, it shouldn’t surprise you that when my wife said I couldn’t eat vegetarian for a month I took it as a direct challenge.  I’ve always taken challenges head-on, which is why I am writing this today. 

I am one week into my month of eating vegetarian.  This is experiential learning of my part more than anything else.  However, as I continue my journey I thought that it would be beneficial to capture some key learning points for those that are so inclined to live this out in the future.

My approach to starting was pretty straightforward jumping in.  I picked out a date on the calendar and committed. I made sure to add some additional accountability in by telling some folks about it to include friends and families.  I’ve always found that sticking to your goals is made easier when you are accountable to more than just yourself.

I will stay consistent in my competitive CrossFit training through the month, which makes a detailed approach to quality food inputs all the more important.

Always Learning

Over the first week of eating vegetarian I had three takeaways.

1.    This takes a lot of planning for your first go around. 

Unfortunately, I didn’t think through all of the details of maintaining a balanced diet while trying to eat prominently plant-based foods.   I could just wing-it the whole time, but I know that would have a detrimental impact on my current fitness level.  As I starting doing some meal prep, I realized that I would need to pay close attention to combining foods to create complete proteins in my diet.  I turned to several sites online to find some creative food combinations to not get in a monotonous eating routine for the month

2. You can still get full

I was happily surprised that my meal planning and spread throughout the day kept me sufficiently full.  Even before eating vegetarian, I was predominately eating 6 mini-meals per day.  I continued the habit as I started eating vegetarian

3. You can also get fat

After day two, I realized that I would need to keep close tabs on my quinoa, bean, and grain intake.  I am not blessed with great genes when it comes to metabolism, so this is an area I’ll have to pay attention to.  It was also not surprising to me that plenty of people focused on eating vegetarian could in fact be doing some serious damage to their body by eating diets that are high in starch, grain, and fruits.

Moving Forward

Now that I’ve made it a week in successfully I tend to be fairly confident as I look ahead to my next three weeks.  I will be focusing on developing a daily intake of food that will include complete proteins and a 40-30-30 balance of carbohydrates-fats-protein.  

More to come in the weeks ahead.

This is not a weight-loss attempt, however, I'd be remised if I didn't keep track for those interested

Starting Weight:  209#  (Post-lunch at the gym) - Will try to do weight in on same time/schedule