Monday meals

Breakfast:

Southwest Scrambled Tofu with black bean and corn salsa, pico de gallo, green peppers, onions, garlic, fresh guac w/lime juice, alfalfa sprouts, and plenty of cilantro. I also added a little bit of cumin. So yum!

Lunch:

Salad with romaine, cucumbers, tomatoes, alfalfa sprouts, garbanzo beans, balsamic vinaigrette, and almond feta. Boca Chik'n "nuggets" with honey mustard dipping sauce.

Dinner:

BBQ Boneless, Skinless chicken breast, grilled yams with maple dijon glaze (heaven!) spaghetti squash and pasta salad.

PS Don't forget to vote!

Yes, I'm still a VBD!

I started this blog to talk about my new diet and I've come to realize that I haven't posted very much about it. (I promise I have completely stuck to it!) So, this week, I am going to share and share and share. I am going to post pics of my daily eats. (including my non-vegan dinners, because you better believe that those are healthy too.) If I have something super yummy, like the almond feta I am eating right now with my salad, I will post links and recipes.

I will still post my daily goals, no matter what they are for. (Food, exercise, personal growth) And you bet I'll still be talking about my fitness successes and failures.

The end of this week will be my 1 month BLOGGIVERSARY! I can't believe it has already been a month! :) So on Friday I will post about the changes I have noticed in myself while on the VBD. I might also have a give-a-way! Stay tuned! :)

Tomorrow's goal: Once I'm out of my bed, I am out for the day!! (Seems a little silly, but to those with depression, it is not that far fetched.)

PS Don't forget to vote!

Please Vote! ;)

So for my Oh My Blog Award, I have decided to step out of my comfort zone and do a vlog. I've posted a quiz on the side of my blog in hopes that you will help me decide what to do. It's quick and painless....and it will help me feel good!

Thanks for your interest and support!

Awards post

I started a post a couple of days ago, and just now have finished it, but since I have published posts since then, it is 5 or 6 posts down. Go check it out to learn 7 things about me and to see if you are on the list!

Daily Goal

Friday's Goal was to climb a mountain. Oh boy, I sure did it! I decided to hike Grandeur Peak when I was challenged by Mary on her blog to do 60 minutes of cardio.

Trail Stats:

Distance to Grandeur Peak- 3 miles

Elevation Gain- 2619 feet to 8299 feet at summit

Hiking Time- 3 hours

Waterfalls along the trail

Pics of the trail

SO steep! My legs burn just thinking about it!

Pretty Flowers

Views from the trail

I played a pretty good game of leap frog with these girls.

We just kept passing each other!

Almost there!

Views from the top. You can see all the way out to the Great Salt Lake!

Heart Pounding

Chest Heaving

Thighs Burning

Emotions Soaring

This trail was pretty steep and the last half mile was killer! I've attempted to do this hike twice before and never made it to the top. Two years ago I was too out of shape and had to turn around. Last year but couldn't finish it because there was too much snow. I'm thrilled that I finally made it to the top!

Today's (Saturday's) Goal: Just enjoy a nice Saturday at home with my husband!

Choices

"You can be smart and happy or stupid and miserable. . .

it's your choice" - Gordon B. Hinckley

My friend had this posted on her facebook page this morning. I thought it rather appropriate because I had a bit of a naughty dinner last night.

I got out of my rehearsal last night at 8:30 and I was starving!! My husband wasn't going to be home until late and I really didn't feel like cooking so I started looking for a place to eat. The restaurants kept changing in my head. Oooo! I could go Greek! Or I could have Costa Vida...the possibilities were endless! Except not really because everything was closed by the time I got there. :( BOOOOOO! I went to Smash Burger because they were open and a burger started sounding really good. I had a small burger with no cheese or mayo and a side of fries (they have the best fries! *drool*). The plan was to eat half the burger and half the fries but I was so hungry that before I knew it, both were gone. I did eat slow and thought about every bite (The points, OH the points!) that went in my mouth. I probably could have eaten more if there had been more to eat but by the time I got home I was full. I actually don't feel too bad about this. A burger and fries is a rare indulgence for me, and I really only went 5 points over my daily point total. I still have plenty of flex points and all of my activity points.

SO, the whole point of this silly post is that quote. On so many of your blog posts I read about the smart food choices we make and how great and empowered we feel afterwards. I also read about the dumb choices we make and how down on ourselves we are after.

Weight loss is about me. It is a completely selfish thing that I am doing for myself. I am in charge of my decisions. I am the only one who can truly make a smart or a stupid choice for myself. I choose to be happy!

Daily Goal-Thursday

So my goal was to finish at least 4 things on my to-do list, which I did. :)

Tomorrow's goal: Climb a mountain. (Weather pending) I need to work out for 60 minutes tomorrow + 4 minutes for the comments that were left. (Thanks to Mary @ a merry life for challenging me to do this.)

I will still add to the work out...1 extra minute for each comment left!

It's a Blog Tour! :)

1. Post a before picture.

My brother's wedding was my ah ha moment. As I talked to people that I hadn't seen for years I knew they were thinking, man, she has sure rounded out!

2. Post your most current after picture.

3. State the amount of weight you’ve lost.

I Have lost a total of 24 pounds since I started in Feb 2009. Over Christmas I gained 10 pounds back. Since starting Weight Watchers and VBD 3 weeks ago I have lost 6 pounds

4. If you are on a specific eating/exercise plan, what is it?

I am trying the Vegan Before Dinnertime Diet in conjunction with Weight Watchers. Basically, I stick to a pretty strict vegan diet until dinner when I can eat whatever I want. (But not really whatever I want because Weight Watchers helps me keep things in check.)

5. What is your favorite healthy snack?

Fruit! I always feel like I am cheating when I eat it. :)

6. What is the biggest life lesson you’ve learned on your journey?

Meat is NOT required at every meal!

7. What is the biggest strength you’ve discovered about yourself?

I can do anything if I put my mind to it.

8. What has been your toughest struggle?

Motivation...trying to do something with my day even though I am currently jobless. (There have been many days this year that I have stayed all day in bed. Since I have started my journey, those kind of days have been few and far between. :)

9. Who has been your biggest supporter and why?

My mom! She roots for me every second of the day and never forgets to tell me how good I'm looking. (I wish I could say my husband...but...well, that is another story for another time.)

10. When you get to goal, what will you do next?

I really really really really want to compete in a Triathlon Sprint!

11. What do you wish someone had told you when you first began?

That blogging rocks, and I should have started my blog earlier!

13. Now, go visit Julie! She is a true ROCK STAR!!!! .

Daily goal - Wednesday

I did not meet my daily goal today. *Hangs head in shame* I really have no good reason except that I had what I call a bad day. Nothing bad happened, my depression took over. Today started well, I got up, went to Zumba and stopped at the store. When I pulled into my driveway I actually sat in the car for a few minutes because I knew what would happen. I would sit down on the bed, pull the covers over me cause it's cold and play on the computer. All day. I gave myself a pep talk. 'Liana,' I said, 'you are going to go inside, put the groceries away, make some lunch and start cleaning the kitchen.' I got out of the car, put the groceries away, made myself lunch, (quinoa with black bean and corn salsa and fresh lime) and sat down in my bed with the computer. 'I'm just going to watch Glee and then I will clean the kitchen.' I told myself. 3 hours and one nap later I decided that I was being stupid and wasting time. I got up and cleaned the kitchen. Then the living room and the bathroom. I still have a big 'ol pile of laundry to do. I'm actually a little surprised that I was able to drag my butt out of bed to accomplish something. Usually when I have a bad day I'll stay in bed until I have to get out because I have somewhere to be or a piano student is coming over.

Today, I truly believe that this dumb blog gave me the motivation that I wouldn't have had otherwise.

So, I thank you. Thank you for reading. Thank you for your comments and words of encouragement. Thank you for helping me realize that I am not the only one with bad days once and a while. And Thank you, Thank you, Thank you for helping me be accountable and helping me turn a bad day into a sorta good day.

Tomorrow's Goal: Check at least 4 things of my to do list

• Laundry
• Kick a$$ at my first personal training session
• Go to the library
• Weed the front beds
• Finish paperwork for the house
• Finish the roster for the club

Awards and awards!

Sam @ Believe in yourself AND Lily Fluffbottom gave me this award! I'm so flattered! Here are the rules: give it to 7 people, and tell you 7 things about me you didn't know.

So here we go!

1. Music is my life! I've played the piano for 20 years, sung in more choirs than I can count, I was a percussionist in High School, I have recently learned to play the guitar, flute and viola.

I teach piano lessons to neighborhood chillins and it would take 36 days to listen to all the music on my iPod. I love finding obscure music. My album of the moment is Who Killed Amanda Palmer. My favorite band is Muse and I got to their concert a month ago. It was AMAZING!

2. I am a member of Bells on Temple Square. (An English Handbell Choir)

We play regularly with the Mormon Tabernacle Choir including their amazing Christmas Concerts. I will actually be on Music and the Spoken Word tomorrow morning. You can watch it on KSL or BYUTV at 9:30 MDT. Woo Hoo!

3. I have a horse named Sid. I ride him in a western riding club that practices once a week and competes 3 times a year in your typical rodeo events. The video is a short one of me riding bareback.

4. I love to hike and camp! Russ and I try to go a couple times a year. One reason I love living in Utah is all the amazingly beautiful places that are right in my backyard.

5. I go fly fishing as often as I can. Catch and Release only!

6. I am an AVID reader. When I can't sit down to read I listen to audiobooks. My favorite genre in SciFi/Fantasy but I'll read anything.

I know it's cliche but I think Harry Potter will always be my favorite.

7. I have a level 80 Troll Hunter on World of Warcraft. I'm pretty geared too!

Now here are the 7 blogs that get this award!

A Battle Worth Winning

Being healthier

Believing in Me and Breakin...

Big Steps 2 Take

Can I buy another vowel? G...

Deep Fried Fruit

Eat Some More

Lesia @ Here We Go, Hold on Tight gave me this happy award! The rules for this one are a little bit easier, I only have to pick 12 recipients!

Endurance Isnt Only Physical

Girl Stuck In A Rut

In Weigh Over my Head

JewliaGoulia

Journey Beyond Survival

Life in Liz's Shoes

Lily Fluffbottom

Little Miss Fatty Pants

My Journey of Jess

Perseverance Within Me

Soy Mami y Mas

Tom N' Heather

Daily goal - Tuesday

Well, I made it to the gym before noon...So I think it counts! :) I am very excited about this because I achieved two milestones. I finished a 5k in 40:01 (my best time ever) and I ran 1 mile in 10:44...my best mile time since 7th grade! I feel amazing because I know that it will only get better from here. :)

Tomorrow's Goal: I have gotta get my house clean! I'm posting pictures right now so it will embarrass me into actually doing it.

Agh!

eeeeee....

jeez....

face palm....

grrrrrr.....

Now you've seen it...I hate feeling like such a slob!

I know I'll feel so much better after my house is clean again.

Workout pledge

I was challenged to this by Mary @ a merry life .


1. Pledge to do 60 minutes of cardio on one day this week and leave me a comment telling me you are doing it. Mine will be continuous and that’s the goal, but if you need to break it up throughout the day do that. I will be doing my 60 minutes either Wednesday or Thursday, depending on how things in my schedule work this week.

2. If you would like to make your pledge more of an actual pledge (making it longer), write a post linking back to this one and let people comment on your post for extra time. Start with the 60 minutes then let people add a certain amount of time for each comment they leave you. Once you’ve got your time set, come back here and leave a comment telling us how long you will go!

I pledge to do 60 minutes of cardio + 1 minute for each comment given on Friday. If you become a follower and let me know, I will add 5 minutes!

I will also post my sweaty pics here too!

Oh My Blog Award

Julie from My Weight Loss Journey was the giver of my first ever award!! If you haven't been to her blog, check it out! Her workout ethic rocks my socks!

(And I have some pretty awesome socks!)

As with most awards, it came with some rules:
1. Get really excited that you got the coolest award EVER!
Well that was easy! I'm probably a little more excited then I should be. :)

2. Choose ONE of the following options of accepting the OMB award:
(a) Get really drunk and blog for 15 minutes straight, or for as long as you can focus.

This would probably be super funny, cause I've never been drunk, but I don't drink so it won't be this one

(b) Write about your most embarrassing moment.

I can't think of one...probably because I have repressed them all.

(c) Write a “Soundtrack of your childhood” post.

Probably this one. Music is my life!

(d) Make your next blog a ‘vlog’/video blog. Basically, you’re talking to the camera about whatever.

I have a webcam but no mic so it would be really boring to watch I'm sure. Actually, I'm thinking I might try this if I can figure out how.....

(e) Take a picture of yourself first thing in the morning, before you do anything else (hair, makeup, etc) and post it.

Eh....no.

3. Pass this award onto at least 3, but preferably more, awesome bloggers as yourself. Don’t forget to tell them.

I will pass this on to:

Brooke @ Psyfygirl (Brooke's blog) . She is a new blogger so this better make her feel loved and appreciated. ;) Also, I really want to read some drunk blogging and she is totally the one to do it.

Karen @ Muffin Fixation. I know that she has recently been given this award, but she is soooooooooo supportive I just had to give her another one!

Jia @ Untypically Jia . Now, I know that this girl probably won't read this....but I must say.....I LOVE HER BLOG! Her writing is amazing and her challenges are real. Right now she is telling the story of how she met her husband. I am enthralled. Also, for all you Twilight fan-atics out there, she is writing an unofficial sequel to Breaking Dawn. Awesome!

Daily Goal - Monday

Tracked. I used all my points + 2 of my weekly points.

Tomorrow's Goal: Gym. Morning.

Lame post, I know....oh well. :)

How not to hurt your grandma's feelings.

You Lie

Let me explain...

Yesterday we went to visit Russell's Grandma. The minute we walked into her house I knew I was in trouble. It was only 2:00 and the smell of roast beef permeated the air. Now, passing on the roast beef wouldn't have been too bad but as you might know, my daily goal for yesterday was no starchy white foods. The first thing that is passed to me is a big ol' bowl of (fake) mashed potatoes. They were very starchy and not vegan; I passed them right to Russell. Then I was passed the bowl of gravy...that I passed right to Russell. Then came the roast beef. I looked at it longingly and passed it right to Russell. Right in front of me was a bowl of cooked baby carrots. I can eat cooked carrots but why would I want to? I mean ick ick ick! There was a salad which I piled onto my plate and covered it with tomatoes. Grandma says, you don't want any food? Now I could have said, 'I can't eat any of this lovely food that you made for us because I am on this really weird diet and I promised myself that I wouldn't eat any starches.' Instead I said, 'I'm not really hungry cause I had a big lunch.' Not exactly a lie, I'd had a veggie sandwich earlier, but I could have eaten. Then I was offered a slice of white bread, then a hard boiled egg.....Then a slice of pecan pie. I feel so bad! Grandma only lives to serve us, and loves it when we eat at her house. In my defense, I had no idea she was serving linner. (That's lunch and dinner put together. Clever right?)

Daily Goal - Sunday

I met my goal which was no white starches and all my water but it was sooooooooo hard! I'm actually kinda proud of myself. I'll expand on my day tomorrow but right now I'm tired and it's late.

Tomorrow's Goal: Track my meals. I haven't been very good about tracking the last couple of days.

PS Wasn't LOST amazing!!!!

Daily Goal-Saturday

Well, my horse show was cancelled due to yucky weather so my goal of not pigging out at the horse show couldn't happen. I did, however, not pig out while I was home all day. I got up and made a great breakfast of tofu scrambled eggs and fruit salad (see here). For a snack I had an amazing fruit smoothie. Lunch was a sandwich with avocado, lettuce, tomatoes, cucumber, a Boca Chik'n pattie on whole wheat bread. I didn't snack till dinner (w00t) and for dinner I made a Cabbage Potato Pie. I got the recipe from Meatless Mama. I added some thinly sliced deli corned beef (for the husband mostly; it would have been just as good without it) and some Dijon mustard to the potato and cabbage mixture. We LOVED it! The recipe turned out exactly like she said it would and the purple from the cabbage and onion was really pretty. This is definitely going to be a repeat recipe in our house.

Tomorrow's (Sunday's) Goal: No white starches and drink all my water. Weigh-in day tomorrow!

Retaliation and Scrambled Tofu Recipe

Retaliation

Tuesday I posted this. Here is the picture again....just to remind you

Last night I went to the store and bought THIS!

Ahhhh....much better! What's that they say about payback?

Breakfast

Scrambled Tofu

1 serving

I got the idea from the recipe book "Vegan with a Vengeance".

Add 1 tsp Olive oil to a skillet over medium heat. When it's hot add 1/4 of a yellow onion (diced), 1/2 a green pepper (diced) and 1 clove of garlic (minced) Saute for about 5 -10 minutes or until onions and peppers are tender.

Add 1/2 ground cumin and 1/8 tsp turmeric to the onions and mix in. Splash a bit of water into the pan to get all the good bits up off the bottom of the pan.

Crumble 1/4 lb of extra firm drained tofu into the pan and stir around for about 5-10 minutes. If the tofu starts to get a little too crumbly add some extra water to the pan.

Serve with salsa.

The texture was great and the turmeric gave the tofu a good yellow eggy color. I think next time I will mix the salsa right in. It was very filling too. I didn't start to feel hungry until lunch time! Remember, tofu doesn't taste bad, it just doesn't taste like anything! Feel free to use your own spices and vegetables to make this dish truly yours! (Also, this was my first attempt cooking with tofu, so if I can do it first try, so can you!)

And here is the fruit salad that I ate along with my breakfast. I love that eating something this sweet, juicy, and beautiful isn't cheating one little bit!