Almost 5 weeks, weight loss, menus

So, we have been into our new lifestyle for almost 5 weeks. No cheating at all!!
For me, this started as a health thing. But the more I learn and get into the "vegan" world, the more I find out about the places where meat is produced, how animals are drugged, abused, and treated, the more I am positive I have no desire for animal products.  I didn't realize even animals used for dairy and eggs.

I have explained to Caleb that we don't eat animals and they are our friends.  He doesn't question me when we are shopping and he wants something, and I tell him we don't eat it.  So now we see stuff and he says, "that's animal cheese, we don't eat animal cheese."  Or "we don't eat chickens".  He doesn't cry for any foods I tell him we don't eat. He loves his "milk with almonds."  So they don't act like they are missing anything.  Luckily peanut butter and jelly sandwiches are vegan because he asks for them every morning as soon as I go get him out of bed!


So I posted on facebook that Jhon has lost 50 pounds. Well, our scales apparently are nuts! He definitely was a different weight today, so we have to check tomorrow. It looks like it is more like 30-35, which is still great for 4 weeks!  It was so weird. I saw him on the scales, saw what it said.  So we hope to get an accurate reading soon!

We feel great!  It is awesome how well Asher has cleared up and doesn't have chronic congestion and boogers.

Here are some of our meals this week:

Shepherd's pie ingredients

 Sweet & Sour "meat"balls

 For dinner tonight I had these and had to decide what to do with them...

And ended up with "chicken" fajitas

Macaroni and "cheese" florentine

Our menu this week:
Spinach lasagna (we didn't get to this last week)
Tempeh with coconut peanut sauce (with rice and veggies)
Homemade veggie burgers
Macadamia Nut crusted tofu/veggies
Couscous casserole
roasted sweet potato and black beans tacos
vegetable korma

These aren't from online, from vegan cookbooks and magazines I found.  But if anyone wants any of the recipes, let me know!



Here are my happy vegan babies!!

Road Trip, our menu, almost a month in!

So, it has been almost a month.  We are still going strong in our vegan diet.  We haven't had any desire for meat or dairy. At all.  I went on a road trip with the boys, our first big test.  But it went well! I took up a cooler full of fruits and veggies and a box of food and snacks. I bought some vegan "meats" and cheeses. So at the family reunion we had veggie burgers.  The next night at a bbq we had veggie dogs.  I got to go to a vegan hot dog cart in Salt Lake and have a great hot dog and a vegan bakery made raspberry zinger.  We were able to find good options every where we went.  There wasn't a YMCA to go to, so I couldn't work out. The boys got sick when we got back, so I still haven't been. So I haven't weighed myself. I am mostly just worried about feeling good.  I did get some comments and a couple of people thinking we are looney toons, but I really don't care. We are happy. I am making sure my boys get their protein, calcium, zinc, B12 and everything else some people seem to think they are going to die of a deficiency of. I can tell you with all the greens, seeds, nuts, beans, fruits, veggies, and so on, they are getting more nutrition than most kids on the standard American diet, with a lot less fat and cholesterol!

With back to school coming, I decided to get a menu planned and get organized! Especially since I need to pack the boys lunches now. I haven't talked to their sitter about lunches, so I don't know if she will want to worry about the vegan thing, so I am just going to pack them.  Dinners for this week:

Tonight: We had our whole wheat pizza again and it was even better this time.  

Monday: Quinoa chili    http://www.savvyvegetarian.com/vegetarian-recipes/quinoa-chili.php

Tuesday:  Crockpot "mac and cheese"  florentine   http://slow-cooker-collection.yumsugar.com/Slow-Cooker-Mac-Cheese-Florentine-599126

Wednesday:  Shepherd's Pie    modifying this, using with fresh potatoes, and vegan dairy products.

                                         http://www.familyoven.com/recipe/vegetarian-shepherd-s-pie/169349

Thursday:  Chickpea Curry

                   http://www.savvyvegetarian.com/vegetarian-recipes/crockpot-chickpea-curry.php

Friday:  Tofu Veggie stirfry    I have some packs of stirfry sauce with tofu in it already, just have to add the veggies and make the rice!

Saturday:  Spinach lasagna   http://www.chooseveg.com/display_recipe.asp?recipe=393

Sunday:  Sweet and sour "meatballs". http://www.peta.org/living/vegetarian-living/recipes/sweet-and-sour-meatballs.aspx

Lunches for the boys:   dairy free mac & cheese, pb & j, tofurky turkey wrap, veggie dogs, pasta with red sauce and veggies, hummus with pretzels, and more.  

Here are some pics of some of our dinners....

tacos!  with veggie "ground beef", black beans, tomatoes, lettuce, daiya cheese, tofutti sour cream, salsa

 Spaghetti with veggie "meatballs"  made the garlic bread with vegan butter and garlic powder, and vegan parmesan.

My fingernails are growing!!!

I was looking down at church and noticed something. My fingernails are growing. I don't know, since I was a kid, my nails don't grow. They are fragile, peel, and break. Even when I would get acrylic nails done, my nails would grow long underneath, but break as soon as those were off. 

So it was shocking to look down and notice, they are growing! And they seem really hard and healthy!  I got curious and googled "vegan strong healthy fingernails" and some pages came up! This one first...http://veggiefitness.wordpress.com/2012/01/01/want-healthier-stronger-nails-go-vegetarian/

Cool!!!

Jhon is down 20 pounds and I am down 7. It will be two weeks tomorrow.  Not too bad!!

I was thinking about how crazy it is I can eat a whole sandwich.  After church we had sandwiches with Tofurky, veganaise, avocado, tomato, and mustard on whole grain wheat bread. I could eat the whole thing. For almost 8 years I couldn't even eat half a sandwich. The last 3 years, not even half a slice!!! 
Right now Jhon is making some more pizzas, we froze some dough from last week.  Yum Yum!! 

Creative Cooking & Protein Count for the kids.

Things are still good! We have been enjoying being creative in cooking our healthy meals. The other day Jhon whipped up a broccoli "beef" stirfry. He used a veggie beef, broccoli, bamboo shoots, bean sprouts, mushrooms, little corns, and watercress with some sauces. We had it on rice. Pretty good!
Yesterday my friend came over and we made zucchini quinoa lasagna.  http://www.vegetariantimes.com/recipe/zucchini-quinoa-lasagna/?utm_source=GlutenFree&utm_medium=newsletter&utm_campaign=GlutenFree.  It was really good.  Every one ate it pretty well!   

So, a few people have expressed concern that my children will not get proper nutrition, especially protein with a plant based diet.  I decided today to write down everything they eat, then add up their protein grams. I researced several places and with their heights and age, they need about 20 grams of protein. I adjusted each amount of protein by their portion size. For example, black beans is about 16 grams a cup, but they only had 1/4 cup, so 4.  So here was their intake today:

Breakfast:
smoothie-
almond milk                        .5
strawberries                         .5
frozen mango                       .5
kale                                       1

snack:
kale chips                              1
banana                                   1

lunch:
black bean & rice burrito
organic tortilla                      4
black beans                           4
veggie cheese                       3
rice                                        1

pool snack:
organic crackers                    3
juice                                       0

dinner:
zucchini quinoa lasagna
zucchini                               .5
quinoa                                  2
marinara                               1
almond milk                         1

So they got 24 grams of protein today, above the needed 20.  And it was all super healthy and balanced.


I have to go to the store more since I am using fresh fruit and veggies.  Today I was so happy loading every thing on the belt. I knew it was all so good for us.

I really for a few minutes today and yesterday wanted a diet soda.  But I haven't had one for 10 days.  I cleaned out the toxins, so I am not going to add so more again now!

My face has been breaking out a bit since we juiced and got rid of the animal products. I am sure it because my body is cleaning out the crap.  I hear that vegans are known for having great skin, so I am ready for that.

Here are some pics of the dinners I mentioned.

Exercise feels different...amazing! And my boys ate broccoli!

So we started juicing on Tuesday.  We went to the YMCA to do elliptical work on Thursday, Friday, Saturday, took a family walk on Sunday and were back to the Y today.  Since surgery when I ballooned up and we joined the YMCA, around March, I have worked out at least 3-4 days a week.  I would do an hour on the elliptical, it said I burned 600 calories. But I could rarely get my heart rate to 120.  I didn't really break a sweat.
When we went to the YMCA last Saturday, our 5th day in I actually FELT the cardio.  My heart rate was up. I actually broke a sweat.  I noticed it but didn't think about it. Then today, I really felt it cranking.  My heart rate was up between 130-150, I was sweating like crazy. It felt AMAZING.
I don't know if my blood is pumping cleaner or better, if I just have more energy, or what it is.  But there is a profound difference in how my body is working, just one week into this.  I like it!
Many years ago, before the years I was starving from my surgery complication, I had been running 20 miles a week for months. I had run half marathon distance twice and was signed up to run one.  Then I was in a bad accident and at the same started not being able to keep food down and had no fuel.  Then  had 2 babies in 2 years, so no time and money for a gym membership and a baby sitter. But as I was able to eat less and less I was getting skinnier and skinner as I ate worse and worse.  So I was grossly unhealthy and out of shape.  And went from a size 2 to busting out of a size 12 between January 7, 2012 until July 24, 2012.

So for dinner Jhon had more great ideas. He is loving coming up with ideas.  He made couscous with water and vegetable broth in one pan. Then he cooked up some broccoli, onion, red cabbage, spinach, portabello mushrooms, minced garlic, and tomatoes in one pan with a tad bit of vegetable broth.  Then combined them all together. We thought the boys wouldn't eat it.  So we made them some vegetarian corn dog bites.  Well, guess what.  Asher and Caleb ate their broccoli and the dinner Jhon made! If you know my babies, you know I have a hard time getting them to eat their veggies and usually resort to blending spinach and kale into their smoothies.  They didn't even eat the corn dogs, just ate some of the ketchup!  Whoo hooo!!!!!!  They have transitioned just fine from cow's milk to almond milk.  Here are pictures of my dinner and the boys eating their broccoli!  

Slight change of plans....dinner time!

Jhon was only home one day after two weeks before we started juicing.  We only sat together and had a couple of meals together as a family.  We noticed after our third day of juice fasting that the boys weren't really eating well.  We felt it could be that we weren't sitting and eating with them.  We decided for our family we needed to sit down and have dinner together. So we are juicing breakfast and lunch, and then eating dinner as a family. We are not eating anything else all day.  No snacking.  We were excited to start some yummy vegan dinners.  So on day 4 we had whole wheat spaghetti, with marinara with some boca burger and portabello mushrooms. With some vegan mozzarella on top. Then a lovely spinach and romaine salad with tomatoes, carrots, red cabbage, onion, and radishes with a garlic red vinegar for dressing. 
I was worried that we wouldn't lose weight, but I still lost a pound and Jhon a half pound. 
Tonight we made pizzas. Jhon worked hard making a whole wheat crust from scratch.  We had fun topping them. Our toppings were pizza or barbeque sauce, vegan mozzarella, artichoke hearts, green peppers, onions, spinach, portabello mushrooms, mango, garlic, peppercinnis. We didn't have olives or red peppers. We have dough left over and will try some new toppings next time.  Yum!!! We had fun!  Asher has gone to town on both dinners. Caleb has always been a light dinner eater, so he ate about his usual. 
Then we had some almondmilk yogurt for dessert. It is dairy and soy free. 
We are definitely having fun cooking with whole, real food and thinking of fun ideas of what to do! 
We got our crust recipe here...
Jhon was only home one day after two weeks before we started juicing. We only sat together and had a couple of meals together as a family. We noticed after our third day of juice fasting that the boys weren't really eating well. We felt it could be that we weren't sitting and eating with them. We decided for our family we needed to sit down and have dinner together. So we are juicing breakfast and lunch, and then eating dinner as a family. We are not eating anything else all day. No snacking. We were excited to start some yummy vegan dinners. So on day 4 we had whole wheat spaghetti, with marinara with some boca burger and portabello mushrooms. With some vegan mozzarella on top. Then a lovely spinach and romaine salad with tomatoes, carrots, red cabbage, onion, and radishes with a garlic red vinegar for dressing.
I was worried that we wouldn't lose weight, but I still lost a pound and Jhon a half pound.
Tonight we made pizzas. Jhon worked hard making a whole wheat crust from scratch. We had fun topping them. Our toppings were pizza or barbeque sauce, vegan mozzarella, artichoke hearts, green peppers, onions, spinach, portabello mushrooms, mango, garlic, peppercinnis. We didn't have olives or red peppers. We have dough left over and will try some new toppings next time. Yum!!! We had fun! Asher has gone to town on both dinners. Caleb has always been a light dinner eater, so he ate about his usual.
Then we had some almondmilk yogurt for dessert. It is dairy and soy free.
We are definitely having fun cooking with whole, real food and thinking of fun ideas of what to do!
We got our crust recipe here....
Jhon was only home one day after two weeks before we started juicing. We only sat together and had a couple of meals together as a family. We noticed after our third day of juice fasting that the boys weren't really eating well. We felt it could be that we weren't sitting and eating with them. We decided for our family we needed to sit down and have dinner together. So we are juicing breakfast and lunch, and then eating dinner as a family. We are not eating anything else all day. No snacking. We were excited to start some yummy vegan dinners. So on day 4 we had whole wheat spaghetti, with marinara with some boca burger and portabello mushrooms. With some vegan mozzarella on top. Then a lovely spinach and romaine salad with tomatoes, carrots, red cabbage, onion, and radishes with a garlic red vinegar for dressing.
I was worried that we wouldn't lose weight, but I still lost a pound and Jhon a half pound.
Tonight we made pizzas. Jhon worked hard making a whole wheat crust from scratch. We had fun topping them. Our toppings were pizza or barbeque sauce, vegan mozzarella, artichoke hearts, green peppers, onions, spinach, portabello mushrooms, mango, garlic, peppercinnis. We didn't have olives or red peppers. We have dough left over and will try some new toppings next time. Yum!!! We had fun! Asher has gone to town on both dinners. Caleb has always been a light dinner eater, so he ate about his usual.
Then we had some almondmilk yogurt for dessert. It is dairy and soy free.
We are definitely having fun cooking with whole, real food and thinking of fun ideas of what to do!
We got our crust recipe here.....
http://dairyfreecooking.about.com/od/pastagrainspizza/r/Recipe_Whole_Wheat_Pizza_Crust.htm

The first 3 days!

So, it is going well! We are in the morning of day four. After 3 full days of juicing Jhon is down 14 pounds and I am down 8.  Weight loss is not our main reason for doing this, but it is nice!  And all the naysayers who say as soon as we go back to our regular diet we will gain it all back can shove it, because clearly we are not going back to our regular diet. We are excited about our plant based diet and cutting our processed food and junk.  Coming off a juice fast we will be excited to eat the fruits, veggies, grains, and nuts!  I think I want a Cafe Rio salad when I break my fast. My friend brought me one, it is just their salad, on the tortilla, rice and beans with a cilantro lime dressing. Yum!  I haven't decided how many days I am going to juice fast yet though.
We feel good! I have more energy.  We have done some cardio twice in the last 4 days.  Jhon has had a little bit of a head ache, but not as bad as usual and they have gone away.  We never got sick, or had any uncomfortable symptoms.  So far, so good!