Carrie: Day 1 - Keeping Vegan on the Road

I was going to wait until after class to post, but since we just got put on a 2-hour lunch break (seriously, who needs 2 hours for lunch) and I have some time to kill, here goes...

I was hesitant to participate at first because I knew that Day 1 of this challenge is the same day as Day 1 of the 3-week medical planning course my unit is paying for me to attend in DC. This means that for the first 19 days, I would be living out of a hotel. Yikes. So before deciding to participate, I had to check in and scope out the ammenities and local area. I found out that our government contract with the Hilton requires the hotel provide us with a mini-fridge and microwave in room (yay!), and there is a Fresh Market (for you San Antonio folks, that's similar to HEB Central Market) about 3 blocks away. Score! So after making sure that beer is allowed (it is!), I thought, "Why not? Let's kick off a healthy summer!"
Side note: I noticed that other participants are tracking based on lipid panels and/or weight - due to my old history of an eating disorder, I don't weigh myself (mandatory Navy weigh-ins only) and I don't track calories. During this challenge, I will be regularly tracking morning pulse, daily percentage breakdown, exercise, energy level, and the way my pants fit. So for the purposes of the next 30 days, this is strictly a lifestyle challenge and not a diet in any way. Ok, moving on...

My priorities after checking in to the hotel were: 1) Decide what I wanted as a "last meal," and 2) Hit up the Fresh Market to stock up the mini-fridge. A bit unconventional, but for my last meal I hit up the local sushi joint for some spicy tuna rolls. YUM. During this meal, the only thing I could think about was the next time I would be able to eat this delicious treat... Oh boy, this is going to be a long 30 days.
Fresh Market was everything I hoped it would be. The "Is It Vegan?" phone app allows you to scan barcodes and spits out whether the item is vegan, vegetarian, or neither. Super helpful and easy to use!
Disclaimer: I forgot to scan my cereal and picked out Special K, and today realized it contains a very small amount (2% or less, according to the label) of whey, so unfortunately this means I haven't been 100% vegan... Just about 99.9% vegan. So I guess I fail at this challenge right from the start - oops! I can't stand to think about throwing away a perfectly good box of cereal, so I'm going to have to give myself a mini-pass until the cereal is gone - then I'll select a new kind and remember to check ALL the ingredients. I was reading some vegan blogs and apparently the minimal amount of whey added in many items is a real pain in the tooshie - and note to everyone else, make sure you read all the way to the bottom and check for that annoying "contains 2% or less" phrase at the bottom!

I stocked my fridge and set out a meal plan (measurements are estimated, since I have no measuring cups or scales available):
Breakfast:
1 C Special K (sorry guys, have to go with this for another few days...)
1 C unsweetened coconut milk (I generally prefer Silk Light Regular, but only Silk Regular was available and this is a little thick for my liking)
Medium Dunkin Donuts coffee w/ 3 Splenda packets
Morning Snack:
1/2 C strawberries
1/3 C blueberries
Lunch:
2 pieces sunflower seed bread (luckily, Fresh Market has a wonderful fresh bread section!)
1/2 large avocado
2 slices tomato
1 large green apple
Afternoon Snack:
2 Wasa crackers (I discovered Wasa crackers about 4 years ago and I LOVE them! Can't beat that crunch!)
2 T Maranatha smooth peanut butter
Dinner:
2 servings Spicy Black Bean and Kale soup (I threw away the container so I can't remember the brand name, but it was delicious and I will be going back for more!)
1 piece sunflower seed bread (seriously, I am digging this bread...)
Post-run snack:
1 C Special K
1 C unsweetened cocounut milk

Water consumption - 120 oz

Tracking:
Daily percentage breakdown (from MyFitnessPal app): 45% Carbs, 43% Fat, 11% Protein
Morning pulse - 60
Exercise - easy 30 min jog

I am currently trying to come back from a hip injury and am training for a Ragnar relay race at the end of June in addition to several half-marathons this fall, so close to daily runs (without pushing myself back to injury) are going to be key for me here - thus the importance of keeping my energy level high!

The biggest challenge during my time on the road will be food boredom - the fridge is small, so I have to wait until many foods are completely gone until I can choose different foods. So, Tuesday's meal plan will be close to identical to Monday's. In addition, due to the limited space I will most likely have to repeat some items in the same day - just one of those added difficulties from traveling! It also didn't help that I went back to my room on Monday to eat dinner, and found that the level the hotel had the fridge on was so cold that all my food was frozen solid. This problem has since been fixed, so hopefully I won't run in to that again!

Things I discovered - From MyFitnessPal, it looks like I need to reduce fat by a smidge and up the protein level so I don't lose any muscle. Also, on Tuesday I will be hitting up the Vitamin Shoppe across the street from the hotel for some supplements I'm short on - calcium, iron, and vitamin A. I also read that a B-12 supplement is recommended, so I'll look in to that also.

As a final send-off, on Monday night I had a dream I was sleeping on a mattress made of hamburger, and when I woke up this morning my pillow was completely soaked in drool. Not saying it's related at all, buuuuuuuut... I hear after the first 3 days, your body "detoxes" from all the animal products so you stop craving them. Let's just say I'm really looking forward to Thursday.

xoxo
Carrie