An Apple A Day - #13

Note: I'm bolding key phrases/ideas to improve skimmability. Let me know if it helps you.

Format: Week-long experiment
Goal: Work produce into half my meals for a week.
Goal met? Not quite... but got results anyway.

Why this experiment?
I do Bountiful Baskets, which is this awesome produce co-op, and so I'm usually incorporate a fair bit of produce into my diet. The other week they'd run out of baskets before I had a chance to order, so I went back to eating whatever else was in my cupboard, which mostly meant tuna fish and pasta. The first day, my energy just crashed. I felt heavy and sick and was not a happy camper. And I figured it had something to do with the food. A week later and I'm okay, but not especially energetic. I sleep 8-9 hours a night and don't function well on less, and have an okay amount of energy during the day with lots of little peaks and crashes. So, a week after my carbs- and fats-heavy diet, I'm switching back to produce. Not a drastic switch: My goal is to work produce into at least half of my meals throughout the week.

(Note on the tallies at the end of each day--I'm being really loose with my numbers here and will count a snack as a meal.)

So here's what happened:
Day 1 (March 15)
Breakfast: Skipped. Was late to church.
Lunch: Leftover eggs and ice cream with homemade Magic Shell topping. (Mostly just trying to use up my non-experiment-friendly food.
Dinner: Fried carrots and radishes with ketchup.
Misc. Snackage: A couple of chocolates that were lying around my room.
Produce in: 1/3

Day 2 (March 16)
Breakfast: An apple. I know, part of this complete breakfast, right?
Lunch: Leftover pasta/cheese sauce.
Dinner: Curry soup with yams and radishes and carrots. Yum.
Misc. Snackage: Oreos and milk.
Produce in: 2/4

Day 3 (March 17)
Breakfast: Apple and graham crackers/milk.
Lunch: Egg salad with pickles and tomatoes.
Dinner: Mac and cheese. I was lazy, ok?
Misc. Snackage: Crackers
Produce in: 2/4

Day 4 (March 18)
Breakfast: Graham crackers/milk.
Lunch: Scrambled eggs with tomatoes and green pepper.
Dinner: Salad (Romaine with radishes and Italian dressing; so good) and fried potatoes and carrots and peppers and tomatoes.
Misc. Snackage: Ice cream.
Produce in: 2/4

Day 5 (March 19)
Breakfast: Pancakes.
Lunch: Eggs with peppers and tomatoes.
Dinner: Mini crullers and sparkling pomegranate-blueberry juice. 'Cause what healthier way to end your day?
Misc. Snackage: Cadbury hot chocolate. Oh. My. Goodness.
Produce in: 1/4

Day 6 (March 20)
Breakfast: Cantaloupe.
Lunch: Fish sticks.
Dinner: Fried potatoes and peppers.

Misc. Snackage: Crackers, cupcake.
Produce in: 2/4

Day 7 (March 21)
Breakfast: Slept through. Bliss. Also good headache cure...
Lunch: Cantaloupe.
Dinner: Tuna sandwiches with tomatoes and pickles.
Misc. Snackage: Homemade peanut butter cups. (SO GOOD.)
Produce in: 2/3


TOTAL: 12/26 (so about 46%)


Conclusions:
I have a horrible diet, as a rule. It's twenty kinds of generic and I eat too much pasta and ice cream. To be honest, though, this probably won't change. I really like pasta and ice cream.

And the main conclusion: Working produce into my diet makes a huge difference in terms of energy and mood. Interestingly, this experiment made my energy levels better--I managed less sleep than usual with no naps and was okay, if not great--but my mood worse--straight carbs and fats tend to keep my body and mind sort of full and dull, whereas this mixed sort of diet made me feel full but not dull, which meant more emotionally sensitivity.

Realization: If you don't especially like your life, emotional sensitivity is not necessarily a good thing. Or, correction, if you generally like your life but don't like much of the stuff that's going on in it. My body wasn't busy digesting and dealing with all the processed junk I was putting into it, so I had a lot more energy left over for mental processes... which meant a lot of angsty analyzing of who I am and what I want and all my issues with this school and religion and men and yaddi-yadda-yadda-yadda... but I was also more attuned to all the pretty flowers and nice things people said... so all day I was bouncing up and down from bliss to gloom to bliss again. Not recommended.

This moodiness is something I've heard of happening when you first move to veganism and especially raw foodism, but I hadn't expected to see the difference so pronounced in such a minor diet shift. I mean, I just went from tuna sandwiches to tuna sandwiches with tomatoes in them... but there was a huge change in both energy and mood.

Still... I recommend bumping up one level of produce consumption because a) the energy boost is awesome, and b) veggies are just more healthy than mac and cheese. I'll be keeping this up, and moving more toward a produce-based diet. I may even get as far as one produce basket per week... But we'll see.

Try this:
If you can get it in your area, Bountiful Baskets is amazing. You get a ton of produce for $15. I get one every other week and split with a friend and her husband, because a whole basket will usually last us that long. It's so much cheaper than produce from the store, and there are always cool surprises--a few weeks ago we got okra in our baskets. I always thought I hated okra (word to the wise: DO NOT BOIL IT) but got creative and found that okra pancakes are delicious.

Coming Soon... Being My Own Girlfriend. This one's kinda fun.

Photos by ariztravel, JD Hancock, *Zoha,N, epSos.de, catsper

Green Smoothies

Guilt-free dinner and dessert. Jamba at home. Happiness in a glass. I’m talking about green smoothies.

You heard me. Spinach. Kale. Avocado. Blended up with a handful of fruits and a drizzle of honey.

I know — who wants their salad pureed? But trust me, this stuff is health food worth trying.

The ingredients:

Spinach — It's one of those high-energy nutrient-rich foods that we should all be eating more of. It’s full of iron, fiber, calcium, vitamins, you name it. And — and this is the wonderful bit — it’s almost completely tasteless in a smoothie.

Fruit — Packed with gagillions of nutrients. Juicy. Full of natural sugars.

Avocado (optional) — Fiber! Potassium! Vitamin E! Insanely delicious! Also tasteless in a smoothie!

Here’s my recipe. 

Warning: it’s really complicated... Psyche! [Cool edgy ‘90s kid alert.]

*** 

Half spinach (or kale or whatever dark leafy thing you want). Half fruit. (Bananas, strawberries, cherries, raspberries, mangoes, peaches, whatever floats your boat. Mix it up.) Blend. Taste. 

Not sweet enough? Add a drizzle of honey — a little goes a long way. Blend again. 

Want to make it creamy? Add avocado (bearing in mind that spinach + avocado = power food). Blend again. 

Drink. Experience nirvana. 

***

The green color might put you off a little. That’s okay. Ease into the green smoothie thing by adding blueberries and other dark fruits that’ll cover it up. Then ease your way back out and embrace the color. I promise, you won’t mind after a while. These are good.

That’s all, folks. I’m addicted and for once in my life (unlike the Oreo, Nutella and nachos obsessions), this one’s really good for you. Win-win-win.

Photos by tiffanywashko and ilovemypit