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Today has just been one of those days! I returned to work to find a huge pile of documents on my desk and what seemed like a zillion emails to be dealt with. I could feel the stress starting to rise but instead of letting it get to me I’ve managed to just breathe through it and figure out a plan of action to deal with it. In the past I’ve really allowed stress to get to me but I’m just not going to let that happen any more. I’ve cancelled some meetings, arranged to work from home and now feel much more in control. Do you suffer from stress? How does it affect you? How do you deal with it?

At least my day did get off to a good start with another green smoothie!

Chocolate Cherry Beet Green Smoothie (makes 1 large serving)

• 3 cups of kale and spring greens with the tough stems removed
• 1 cup of frozen cherries
• 1 scoop of chocolate protein powder / cocoa powder (I used sun warrior)
• 1 beet it shot / cooked beetroot / beetroot juice - I used a beet it shot
• 1 tsp of maca (optional)
• 1 tsp of ground flax (optional)
• Water (to desired thickness)
• Xanthan and guar gum to add thickness (optional)

Toppings:

• Fresh berries
• Rude Health Granola
• Carob flakes (nom!) 

Unfortunately due to the clocks going forward I had no lovely daylight to photograph this tasty treat and had to resort to the flash. Such a shame as it was so pretty!

Lunch was a big salad beast containing romaine, spinach, yellow pepper, red onion, carrot, sugar snaps, cucumber, basil tofu and some of my squash dip:

I watered the dip down a little then mixed it in like a dressing, yum! Honestly, I never thought a big bowl of vegetables would make me so happy! I also ate two nectarines. Mid afternoon I snacked on a cocoa orange nakd bar before heading to the gym. Exercise really is a great stress reliever! I did my usual interval session 15 minutes on the cross trainer then 15 minutes on the step machine followed by my abs and core and then my 30 minute spin class.

Dinner was a delicious mix of wheat grains, lentils, asparagus and carrot in a citrus dressing (clementine juice, cool oil, apple cider vinegar) served with steamed purple sprouting broccoli with a chilli, ginger and shoyu dressing:

Dessert was inspired by Marias cinnamon maple peanut butter – I made a quick version using 2 tbsp of peanut flour mixed with a little water, cinnamon and maple syrup until it formed a lovely sauce then poured over two chopped apples and a few strawberries:

This was so delicious!

I hope you don’t mind but I wanted to share a few random musings I’ve been having recently:

Veganism

source

I think I may be ready to ‘go’ vegan. Apart from some feta cheese, the Total Greek yoghurt pots, vegetarian pesto and trace amounts of diary in dark chocolate I haven’t eaten any animal products since the start of the year and I really don’t miss them – I feel the best I have ever felt in terms of my health and the more I read on the ethical, environmental and health benefits of veganism the more I feel like its right for me (I don’t make any judgements on others dietary choices, its such a personal choice). I am a bit concerned about using the ‘vegan’ label. Although I’m in a place were I’m happy to not eat animal products I don’t think I’m at the point of avoiding all trace products – for example the small amount of dairy in Lindt Dark Chocolate with Sea Salt or some honey in a snack bar. I think I would gradually stop buying those products but can I still adopt the vegan label while I’m not being that strict? I also still wear leather but I am more aware of trying to seek out alternative materials when I’m buying new stuff although I’m not perfect here either. I guess there is no such thing as a perfect vegan in any case but for some reason I feel reluctant to adopt the label – what are your thoughts on dietary labels?

Calorie Counting

Over the past week I’ve been doing a little experiment in calorie counting. I’ve been logging my eats with Livestrong after the concerns I’ve been having that I am not eating enough. I’ve learned several things from this experiment:

• Calorie counting on a regular basis is not for me – I found it such a pain in the arse!
• I eat on average 1800 – 2200 calories a day
• My fibre intake is through the roof
• I’m having no problem meeting my protein requirements
• I may be a little low on sodium

This, coupled with a sneaky weigh in which has shown that I’m currently maintaining my weight, has given me a bit of reassurance that I’m at least on the right path. Although my fibre intake is high, my body seems to handle it very well and because I’m feeling good I don’t think that the fibre is having a detrimental affect on my absorption of nutrients.

Meditation and yoga

I’ve been continuing to include at least 5 minutes of yoga / meditation at the start of each day and it really is having a calming affect on me – I know my ability to deal with today’s stress has been helped by this.

Any random musings you’d like to share?

Hope your week has got off to a good start! I have some super exciting news that I can’t wait to share with you all soon! In the mean time its back to work for me, I have a late meeting tomorrow so I’m trying to be my most organised self! Catch you later x