Meatless in March!

...Courtesy of the lovely Jenna at Eat, Live, Run. She is going Meatless in March, and I think I'm going to join her. Well, I'm determined to do so. I like meat, and although I do eat frequent vegetarian meals (the majority of my food) I do enjoy meat usually at least once or twice a week. But I want to see if I can give it up for a whole month. This isn't about Lent, or deprivation, or the environment. It's a little bit about the world economy (I've lived in POOR countries, and while I realize me giving up 5 meals of meat won't change too much, it will bring me a new awareness) and mostly to see if I can. I'm worried because:

First, I KNOW I feel better eating some meat, but maybe that's just protein and not the actual meat. Therefore, I will be stocking up (today probably) on cottage cheese, eggs and eggwhites, Greek yogurt, tofu, and buying some tempeh (had it before but not recently--I do like it though). I've got the nut butters covered! :D

Secondly, I'm trying to work out more (which s sort of related to feeling better, above) and I have more energy with meat.

Thirdly, I travel and perform as a violinist and sometimes I end up in restaurants or as a guest with people where my only option is a meal with meat. However, I don't have any long travels in March and just one out-of-town show, so I *should* be able to get by. Wish me luck--I realize this shouldn't be THAT hard!

OK, anyway, onward. I had a delicious breakfast today consisting of:

-2 eggwhites, one egg omelet with sauteed kale in it and topped with ketchup

-1/3 C oatmeal/bran with pumpkin and trail mix on top.


-1/2 a very ripe banana mashed in

-coffee, of course

Yesterday, I went to a local radio station's fundraiser pancake breakfast with a friend. Didn't get pictures all day, but breakfast was:

3 huge buttermilk (?) pancakes + a little syrup
small portion of buttery potatoes (I could stand the butter in this recipe--normally I really don't like butter!)
2 tiny piece of honey dew melon.

Obviously, NOT a balanced breakfast. Can we say "carb overload" people? But it's OK, and sure enough, by 1pm my body was screaming at me for some protein so I had a 0% greek yogurt (8 oz) and a spoon of PB with 2 carrots. I felt a lot better after that. Then I went to the generally, ran for 30 minutes, and played an hour of racquetball. It was an amazing workout and I probably burned like 700 calories! So for dinner (I was shaking and starving) I had some mixed veggies and red beans + an omelet with sauteed chard. Suprisingly, this filled me up and I was done. I was hungry by bed time, but I really just wanted to sleep, so I hopped in bed and looked forward to breakfast.

By the way, I know I'm late, but I can still enter, so I want to let you all know that the adorable Chocolate Covered Katie is having a giveaway of Jocolat bars here.

I'm going to head to the gym again this morning and we're playing racquetball again tonight. I have to be honest here: I'm trying to see if I can lose 10 pounds. Not in an ED way, but a healthy way, mainly involving learning to like working out. I honestly have been enjoying it, and I think it's way easier to enjoy when properly nourished (Duh!) Working out with ED was literally painful, and now I feel better, stronger, and more confident! That being said, I know I will look better at a slightly lower weight, so I want to tone up, become more fit/stronger, and lose about 10 pounds. Who knows, maybe the Meatless in March challenge will help me do that.

So bear with me and have a great Monday!