Adjusting to Eco-Conscious Eating
10 days ago I wrote about some new habits I was going to work on in regards to my food regime. A fellow blogger friend, Homegirl Quel even used that as inspiration to work on a week of Veganism. I find that if I give myself daily or weekly goals, its easier to acheive them than just completely switching my entire lifestyle.
Let’s review my progress so far.
1. Drink more water.
I’ve gotten so great at this that I am so proud of myself. One night I drank two glasses of water before drinking juice, so then I went a drank a third glass. Then I didn’t even want the juice anymore or desire it. Seriously, I’ve been drinking water nonstop unless I’m drinking tea. No soda..not that I drank a lot of that anyway. Just an occassional Ting. But I always keep lemondade and pomegranate cranberry juice in the fridge. That usually last me a week. Now that stuff has been in there for three weeks! And while is an organic brand, I’m considering finding a very small juicer to make homemade juice. Especially considering that I am a part of a CSA now and will be getting tons of fruits and vegetables.
2. Cut out all processed food for the week.
I slipped twice. I had a green tea frap from starbucks and a slice of cheese pizza. Everything else was organic, wholesome and real! I kept wanting these snickers we keep at word and so I hunted in the kitchen and discovered almond and peanuts and pumpkin seeds and walnuts made a great snack too. Granola as well.
3. Take my vitamins
Epic fail on my part. I went from taking them five days a week to taking them once last week. Not sure why I slipped on that one but I’m hoping to revitalize that!
4. Attempt to be a vegan as much as I can.
This wasn’t as hard as I thought since most things had already been adjusted. I did take the yogurt out of my everyday breakfast smoothie. I even started adding spinach and blackberries and blueberries. Yum Yum! One thing that does not work. VEGAN CHEESE. I made an omelet the other day and tried some vegan cheese. Oh hell no! That stuff does not work. I picked around it in my omelet and then felt bad for wasting the food because that money could have been spent on another avocado or something else. Yuck!
5. Put more flax seed in things.
One of my favorite bloggers suggested adding it into my oatmeal. So now its in my cereal and oatmeal. I need other things to put it in. Maybe the banana nut oatmeal cookies that I’m making this weekend. Or maybe I should have added a couple teaspoons into my almond butter cranberry cookies. Is flax seed good to bake with?
6. Try three new raw recipes.
Well, I tried the breakfast deviled avocadoes. , And in general, I just grabbed the vegetables and fruits in my fridge and mix and matched stuff. I made this once salad that had fresh jalapeno and hot sauce and I nearly burned my tongue off but it was so good! But I want to get more into creating actually meals.
Recipes I plan on trying in the coming week includes Spinach Lemon Pesto from Danielle Cooks. The recipe is so simple that there really isn’t any excuse. I will also be trying Pea Soup from Raw on $10 a Day or Less. I’ve made my version of her Deviled Avocadoes a few times now and am slightly addicted.
7. I’m like to bake almond butter cranberry cookies as well as banana nut oatmeal cookies.
I made the almond ones. I used all organic products like whole wheat flour, vegetarian eggs, raw sugar, organic butter and the taste was astounding. Everyone at the all very quickly. This weekend I’ll bake more cookies.
What have I noticed since being very intentional about my eating habits.
1. I have lots more energy.
2. After eating I feel refreshed. Normally I feel stuffed or weighed down because I ate huge meals with lots of processed things. And now when finishing a meal, I feel satisfied but refreshed.
3. I’m saving loads of money but drinking more water and a lot less juice. It wasn’t my intent but I notice that. I’m going to throw some sliced cucumbers in the water though. I love cucumber infused water!
4. And while I can’t see the effects now, I feel like I’m helping the future Sheena. The 30, 40 and 50 year old Sheena by putting pure ingredients in my body. And perhaps when I am near 50 I’ll be in as great of health as Mr. Officer is. I wish I could show you a picture of him. He is a greek god and african warrior rolled into the anatomy of a man and he makes me speechless. But he is very big on health and maybe if I keep this up, I’ll be uber healthy like him!
5. I generate a LOT less waste by cutting out processed foods! Which is good because I don’t look forward to carrying trash down four flights of stairs.
What have you noticed about your body and energy levels since eating more eco-consciously?
Maybe next I need to do one a week of a high raw detox or something like Eco Mama.
On a side note: I came across this article and I love their take on SOUL Food. Seasonal. Organic. Unadulturated. Local.
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Flax seeds will pretty much just go right through you unless you grind them up. I found a grinder specifically for flax seeds in a store…I think a health food store. You turn it by hand and it crushes them. It is adjustable as to how much they get crushed. The crushed seeds give us the most benefit.
I have ground ones too. I’ve started adding it to oatmeal and some cookies that I bake. I like being better about my eating habits. Thanks for your suggestions.