…and I’m filling it with carbs.

Delicious and nutritious, ones, mostly!

Today Rachel was kind enough to give me a few of her fav books about vegetarianism. She is lucky to have a mom who is a dietitian (yay for RDs!) and thus a wealth of knowledge at her disposal. Rach is one of those people who knows her stuff–she doesn’t take being veggie lightly and she is really smart about her nutrition. It pays off because in case you haven’t heard, she is FAST.

I think after reading through them a bit when I was waiting at physio and while I had my acupuncture today I would like to buy “Becoming Vegetarian”…this one’s by an RD and I like how it’s written. After reading it (I ate it up, pardon the pun), I felt smarter and EXCITED about things. Sometimes I think when you consider becoming a vegetarian or making some changes to your diet, it can be scary and signal restriction. The truth is, deciding to go vegetarian or just in my case to eat less meat (I still say if I knew where it came from and felt okay with it, I’d be okay with eating some meat here or there) is a reason to EXPAND your options! I never thought of it that way…but when I wrote the article for Canadian Cycling Magazine about just this topic (I sent it off today so hopefully it comes out in June/July’s issue!), I got that from one of the guys I interviewed–you actually end up LOOKING for variety and things get delicious.

I also noted something: I really really really depend on nut butter and nuts to get me through. My LARA bars are made up of nuts and dates, mostly. So that means usually 2 meals and at least one of my snacks involves nuts and nut butters. I think I’m worrying too much about getting enough protein, which is kind of a waste of time (deficiencies are rare). The vegan cyclist I interviewed said total calories and especially carbs are the nutrients to focus on getting enough of. So I started to think and I really realized that I am for some reason not eating as many carbs as I could, should, might need to.

So naturally, that translated into a hungrier me. Or maybe it was just the really good swim I had this morning? I dare say I felt fast! I think I found my rhythm with the set and I haven’t swam in a few days since the pool was closed so it just felt good to be in the water from the second I dove in.

Speaking of diving in, here we go with the eats I tried to fill that hollow leg with:

Before swim, I snarfed a bowl of yogurt (and had coffee, obvs):

After the super duper awesome swim, I was hungry for my overnight oats (which were a mix of porridge oats, cocoa, almond milk, a banana, and almond butter).

My lunch was good—a cheese and spinach sandwich spread with light mayo plus some carrot sticks on the side– but didn’t fill me up for long, so I ate an apple as dessert.

I had an afternoon snack attack and dug out a Clif bar I’ve been saving for just such an occasion. It’s been a while since I’ve had one of these bad boys, and I used to reserve them for when I was about to train/when I was on my bike/etc. but I realize that’s a food rule and it’s based on…nothing?

I ran errands this afternoon (bank, returns, retail therapy where I forgot to buy the things on my list but got a new lulu tank and a few headbands instead – but it’s justifiable because I just picked up the money I’ve made working at the Gazette over the last few months that I FORGOT I was getting paid for) and another snack attack struck. I was planning on making a new recipe tonight and needed millet (I’ll keep you in suspense til I make it) so I went in Bulk Barn. Going in there ravenous is a bad idea. I bought a bunch of goodies – tahini (a new food for me), the millet I needed, oat bran, spelt flour (I want to make muffins), kamut cereal, rice cakes, and some chocolate – and I downed about half the pack of rice cakes. Maybe a third. It happens—they’re mostly air.

pantry, consider yourself stocked!

When I got home I was too hungry to cook the recipe I had in mind so I went with an old faithful instead: my squash mix with almond butter/almond milk and spinach, raisins, and maple syrup. And yes I do eat it all together, and it is DELICIOUS.

Three chocolate nibbles and I’m set—the leg is finally full. Assume homework-ing blogging position on my futon, with a second cup of tea.

That’s the excitement of my Monday munchies. I went ahead and put them in my FitDay account to see how I did on the carb/energy front. Turns out I was pretty spot on for my activity level…even though I felt like I ate non stop! It was a little high on the fat % but that’s like I said–so much nut butter–and I am not willing to worry about it! Note to self: listen to your body cuz it’s working.

In other news, I got into Ryerson today. Acceptance letter folded and put with the other ones.

I am going to go and decline the offers all at once. It’s a big step! Thanks for the support. It’s still tough to hear people congratulate me and then say I’m not going, but it’s not so bad now that I’ve decided to be proud of my decision. Owning it! The more I talk about it and think about it, the more I’m getting excited for it, actually! Even the summer school part will be good.