I was wide awake and bopping until 2, and had to get up at 7 as usual. Blech. Especially since a *certain dog* woke me up at 5:45 and I couldn't get back to sleep for quite a while. I found that my back-my whole back, right from my shoulders down to my lowerest back is quite sore. A super lady I don't see enough came to see me at work today (yay!!) and she is no stranger to cleanses. She said that whenever she's doing a caffeine-elimination cleanse her back gets sore too, especially her lower back almost into her glutes/sciatic area. I was experiencing quite a bit of stiffness and soreness through there a few days ago, it's good to get that kind of feedback! Dammit caffeine, why do you have to hurt so bad. I thought we were friends.
So, today was a complete caffeine craving day, let me tell you. But I didn't cave! Not even a little bit, so I am a teensy bit proud of myself. Good on ya, self.
(why thank you!)
As to not repeat the mistakes of yesterday, I had a big fat smoothie this morning for breakfast:
1 cup almond milk
1 cup blueberries (so juicy!)
2 cups spinach
1 cup parsley
1 banana
1 cup strawberries.
1 ping pong ball of ginger.
and whirrrrrrrrrrr. So good. I'm adding ginger a lot more to give the ol' immune system a boost- seems like everyone is super sick nowadays, and I have *no* interest in getting sick in a month that I can't have tea. No sir, no way.
But my body, in pure defiance of this, was hungry again shortly after I got to work so I had an early mid-morning snack #1 of a banana and some prunes. Don't laugh, prunes are tasty.
Which held me for about 90 minutes, and then I needed mid-morning snack #2 so I had...another banana-and an apple! So good. Apples are good value for the money, I always feel. That much chewing makes me feel like I got my snack on, unlike bananas, which I seem to be tossing back like a hungry monkey.
Lunch, probably because I'd had a snack about an hour previously, was another banana and some coconut water. I love that stuff. Also, I ate a light lunch because I knew I was going to be eating Johnny's Super Secret Surprise Dessert this evening, and I didn't want to mess with my percentage numbers.
My mid-afternoon snack was a couple tablespoons of guacamole, shamelessly straight from the bowl. I needed the energy on the go to make-
DILL PICKLE KALE CHIPS!
They are processing in the dehydrator as we speak and I don't want to speak too soon but it smells preeeettttty pickle-y in here. Since I was on a role, I also made some shredded zucchini pasta (which is currently marinating) and some low fat raw vegan pesto for a late dinner, washed down with another smoothie. I can't get enough of those things.
Zucchini Pasta:
This is pretty flexible; basically you need some acids to break down the zucchini a little bit and soften it. Many recipes have quite a bit of olive oil as well, which to my mind defeats the purpose. Today I did:
1 large zucchini, peeled and then stripped with a peeler into, peeled strips. You know what I mean!
1 T water
1 T soy sauce/braggs/etc.
1.5 T apple cider vinegar
a few grinds of fresh pepper
1T minced garlic
a few shakes of onion salt
a teeny pinch of fancy pink salt.
1 tsp lemon juice.
marinate for at least an hour. Some websites say overnight, but wow. Nope. I am not that organised.
The same goes with the pesto- most recipes are *swimming* with olive oil. No thanks!
1.5 cups fresh basil
1 heaped T pine nuts
2.5 T nutritional yeast
1 T minced garlic
1tsp olive oil, or to taste.
pinch of salt
This has a lighter, fresher and greener taste than most pestos, as it is so light in oil. The nutritional yeast replaces the parmesan cheese with pure deliciousness!
Here's what I ate today: pure deliciousness! and I did OK on my percentages as well- final tally, 79/14/8. I still need more protein. My mood was much better today- I felt a few minor dips, but they were quickly corrected with application of banana. I do often get a deterioration of mood when my blood sugar drops, so I'm no stranger to what's going on there.
Having more Super Secret Dessert for breakfast will probably help with the protein, and also with happy-makings.
