"By the way, have you been cheating more?"
"I might have eaten bites of Costco sheet cake from the staff fridge when no one was watching. It's neither here nor there."
Believe it or not, that was a diet infidelity on Alex's part, not mine. I've been loyally adhering to our plant-based, whole-foods initiative for nearly two weeks. I quit diet soda cold turkey. None of my usual daily candy indulgences. No meat or dairy of any kind. Minimal oils. No fried foods. The only packaged food I've consumed has been graham crackers, pretzels, and dried fruit. But I have had sugar or agave, in the form of Oregon Chai or in homemade waffles. Oh yeah, and chocolate. Semi-sweet chocolate chips from Trader Joes are dairy-free, FYI. It appears I can't survive in a world without chocolate. Why should anyone have to?!? But, overall, I have been surprisingly successful with this new approach to nutrition.
Until last night. I "cheated." I fell off the wagon. At Red Robin no less. It's not my fault, seriously. We had a grueling drive to drop our fabulous Grammy Nanny off at PDX, more than an hour in the car. The Bean was fussing. Alex was freaking out. We needed a break. And the Bean was hungry for dinner. Our choices included Famous Dave's BBQ, Buffalo Wild Wings, IKEA, Pizano's Pizza, Panda Express ... you get the picture. We settled on Red Robin, reminiscing about our high school days frequenting these kinds of establishments, remembering their yummy seasoned fries. Turns out they had ZERO vegetarian options, let alone vegan. We ordered the Bean a grilled cheese, of which she had one bite. I ordered just a side of sweet potato fries. And Alex opted for a cobb salad. I did, indeed, have a few bites of salad, and couldn't find a bite without blue cheese or bacon or egg. So be it. I'll tell you one thing, that's not how I imagined introducing animal products back into my dinners.
Overall, I've actually felt pretty great. I think the main reason is because I'm not drinking soda and eating candy, so my blood sugar is more regular. The first week I even felt like I had an easier time waking up in the morning. Except now I'm going on week 2 of this head/chest cold, and I've been doing lots of napping and eating whole grains only, with the occasional piece of fruit. Diet or no diet, I'm a carb-whore. Unfortunately, we've had some pretty disappointing dinners. I still love rice and beans as much as the next gal, but the recipes we've tried from the Forks Over Knives book have been pretty damn bland. We keep hoping that our taste buds will wake up to these more natural flavors. But so far we've just found ourselves adding more and more table salt.
Until last night. I "cheated." I fell off the wagon. At Red Robin no less. It's not my fault, seriously. We had a grueling drive to drop our fabulous Grammy Nanny off at PDX, more than an hour in the car. The Bean was fussing. Alex was freaking out. We needed a break. And the Bean was hungry for dinner. Our choices included Famous Dave's BBQ, Buffalo Wild Wings, IKEA, Pizano's Pizza, Panda Express ... you get the picture. We settled on Red Robin, reminiscing about our high school days frequenting these kinds of establishments, remembering their yummy seasoned fries. Turns out they had ZERO vegetarian options, let alone vegan. We ordered the Bean a grilled cheese, of which she had one bite. I ordered just a side of sweet potato fries. And Alex opted for a cobb salad. I did, indeed, have a few bites of salad, and couldn't find a bite without blue cheese or bacon or egg. So be it. I'll tell you one thing, that's not how I imagined introducing animal products back into my dinners.
Overall, I've actually felt pretty great. I think the main reason is because I'm not drinking soda and eating candy, so my blood sugar is more regular. The first week I even felt like I had an easier time waking up in the morning. Except now I'm going on week 2 of this head/chest cold, and I've been doing lots of napping and eating whole grains only, with the occasional piece of fruit. Diet or no diet, I'm a carb-whore. Unfortunately, we've had some pretty disappointing dinners. I still love rice and beans as much as the next gal, but the recipes we've tried from the Forks Over Knives book have been pretty damn bland. We keep hoping that our taste buds will wake up to these more natural flavors. But so far we've just found ourselves adding more and more table salt.
This cracked me up! Go big or go home, girl! ;)
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