Recovering From Obesity
This week I have really been noticing big steps in my body recovering from obesity, and this years biggest step has been gaining the arch back in my left foot. My left foot has not had an arch since the end of 2016. Gaining it back was very painful but the decrease in pain now that it has recovered is worth it!
I really started seeing the difference in my foot when I started massaging it with some balm of Gilead that my mother and brother made for me out of Cottonwood buds and olive oil. That greatly reduced pain and swelling in my foot and sped up it's recovery. I now massage my foot regularly with the balm of Gilead, as well as add 3 droppers full to my hot bath water every time I take a bath. Stretching helps too, and staying active. I started seeing my arches raise when I forced myself to wear shoes with about a 2 inch heel when I go out and about. Mostly my cowboy boots and some orthopedic Brooks athletic shoes my mother bought me in 2020, when I got my last job which was working as an assistant manager at a retail store.
I started the week by finally buying a bottle of rum to make those vegan mincemeat stuffed apples I had planned to make and also make a big batch of vanilla extract. The vanilla extract is very easy to make, just find a clean glass bottle and add a few beans with some liquor, trust me it is worth the cost of the beans because the beans will last for about 10 years. Just keep refilling the bottle. Most people prefer bourbon but personally I prefer tequila or spiced rum. I guess I just like the extra sweetness.
Vegan Mincemeat Baked Apples
Ingredients:
1 jar vegan mincemeat
12 apples cored
Nonstick spray
Instructions:
Core apples and place in a large baking pan sprayed with nonstick spray.
Fill the empty cores with vegan mincemeat and spray apples with nonstick spray.
Bake at 350 degrees Fahrenheit for 45 minutes.
Top with vegan hard sauce
Yield: 12 servings
Vegan Hard Sauce
Ingredients:
1 cup coconut oil
2 cups vegan sugar
1 cup rum or brandy
3 tbsp corn starch
Instructions:
In a sauce pan melt coconut oil on medium heat.
Add rum and sugar.
Then whisk in cornstarch until dissolved and thickened.
Let cool at room temperature and mix with a spoon.
Top with a dollop on your warm baked apple and keep stored in the fridge.
Yield: 3 cups hard sauce
I received probably the last order I will place at thredup for a while. I am very frustrated Thredup now requires you to pay in order to donate clothes to them so I likely will not be sending them any more clothes. I will most likely just donate to my church or local thrift stores. I may order every now and then because it is an eco-friendly clothing company to order from, but it will definitely be a lot less frequently.
Tuesday morning, I used the remaining 8 baked apples to make mincemeat apple oatmeal. It was super delicious, and I gave a container of it to my father, and he really liked it too.
Apple Mincemeat Oatmeal
Ingredients:
8 mincemeat baked apples (see above recipe)
1/2 a lb. rolled oats
1/2 cup walnut pieces
1/2 cup hemp seeds
4 tbsp hemp protien powder
1 qt hemp milk
1 tsp sea salt
(optional): top with hard sauce
Instructions:
Chop up the baked mincemeat apples and add to an instapot with the remaining ingredients and stir until well combined.
Close up the instapot and push the porridge button.
Once oatmeal is finished cooking you can top with a dollop of hard sauce and some extra raisins.
Yield: 8 servings
I ended up doing the 30 minute circuit with my friend Jeanna at Planet Fitness. She has been dieting with weight watchers and having lots of success with her diet. It made me want to join weight watchers too but I still want to keep up with the vegan diet.
Later that evening I made banana nut fruit bars and banana tacos. I loved the banana tacos and ate them up far too quickly.
Ingredients:
3 bunches of bananas
1 cup raisins
2 cups mixed nuts
nonstick spray
Instructions:
In a bowl mash 3 bunches of peeled bananas.
Mix in nuts and raisins
Spray a baking sheet with nonstick spray and spread out banana mixture
Dehydrate on the lowest setting in your oven for at least 24 hrs.
Yield: about 20 servings
Mango Lime Pina Colada
Ingredients:
1 shot rum
1/2 cup mango nectar
1/4 cup pina colada mix
1/4 cup coconut milk
Pina Coloda Sparkling Water as needed
juice of half a lime
(optional): pineapple sugar (see here)
Instructions:
rub rim of cup with lime wedge and coat rim with pineapple sugar.
Add mango nectar, rum, pina colada mix, coconut milk, and finish off with pina colada sparkling water and fresh squeezed lime juice.
you can also add a sprinkle of pineapple sugar and garnish with a slice of lime.
Banana Peel Taco Filling
Ingredients:
About 1 dozen Banana Peels shredded
4 tbsp hemp oil
1/2 cup diced onions
1/2 cup diced tomatoes
2 tbsp hemp protein powder
2 tbsp cumin powder
2 tbsp chili powder
1 tbsp paprika
1 tbsp garlic powder
1 tsp oregano
1 tsp Cajun seasoning
water as needed
Instructions:
Clean of banana peels of pulp and stems and shred with a fork.
Saute in oil with onions and diced tomatoes.
Add dry seasonings and water and simmer until it resembles shredded taco filling.
Yield: 1 dozen tacos
Tuesday night I designed a sketch for a dress I'm working on sewing with scrap fabric.
Then Wednesday my mother and I went to Medford to do some shopping and go out to eat at TinTin buffet.
I ate 2 plates of foods. the first plate had pak choy, green beans, some very delicious fried potatoes, fried zucchini, stir fried broccoli, chow mein noodles and spring rolls.
The second plate had lots of delicious food but I could only finish half the plate, I ate the seconds on the fried potatoes, the sea weed salad, the vegan sushi, pickled ginger, and Hawaiian macaroni salad.
I got home and filmed a little haul of all the stuff I got in Medford. I was very excited to get a whole flat of portabello mushrooms!
I ended up eating the last of my carrot dogs with popcorn. I love carrot dogs and actually prefer them over hot dogs. I will surely make another batch of carrot dogs next time I get hot dog buns.
I get 2 bags of groceries delivered weekly for free with a local program. I have tried to tell them that I am vegan but they don't bother with that and still send me animal products every week. Usually I give what I don't want to my neighbors but I really wanted to keep the flat pretzels, I love them but really wish they would have been vegan.
I had some work to do in the kitchen Thursday. I really wanted to take care of some of my fruits and veggies and decided to make a few pickles.
I started out by making pomegranate syrup by boiling pomegranate seeds with a cup of sugar in water. then strain out the seeds and keep in the fridge in a jar.
Pickled Blueberry Relish
Ingredients:
1 cup squished blueberries
1/2 pomegranate seeds
1 cup minced red onions
1 minced yellow sweet pepper
1 mince red sweet pepper
2 tsp salt
1 tbsp onion powder
1 tbsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp nutmeg
2 tsp mustard powder
1/2 tsp allspice
1 tbsp Jamaican jerk
1 tbsp agave
1/2 cup Merlot
2/3 cup red wine vinegar
Instructions:
Add all the ingredients to a glass jar and shake to evenly distribute all the ingredients.
Store in the refrigerator.
Mango Onion and Pepper Pickles
Ingredients:
1 onion sliced
3 sweet peppers sliced
2 tsp salt
1 tbsp onion powder
1 tsp allspice
2 tsp Jamaican jerk
1/2 tsp red chili flakes
1/3 cup mango nectar
2/3 cup rice wine vinegar
Instructions:
add all ingredients to a glass jar.
shake the jar to evenly distribute ingredients.
Store jar in the refrigerator.
Later that evening I reheated some Thai green curry I made a few months ago that was made with tofu, broccoli, and eggplant. I also added in green beans and cashews and more coconut milk and green curry seasoning.
I also made some delicious sauteed carrots with mushrooms and edamame to go as a side.
Shiitake Sauteed Carrots and Edamame
Ingredients:
12 carrots peeled and sliced
1 cup dried shiitake
1 cup frozen edamame
1 tsp mushroom seasoning
2 tsp coconut sugar
2 tbsp Vegan Worcestershire sauce
3 tbsp soy sauce
2 tbsp vegan bacon bits
1 tsp liquid smoke
1 tbsp vegan butter
Instructions:
Add carrots, shiitake, and edamame to a pot of water and boil until carrots are tender.
Strain vegetables from water and return to pan.
Season with remaining ingredients on medium heat until sauce thickens and becomes sticky.
Yield: 4 servings
The rest of the week I mostly focused on sewing my dress.
It's coming along very nicely but I reached a good stopping point for now and needed to take care of some other things before I will be able to finish. I still need to gather the velvet under skirt and attach it to the waist band and sew in the zipper but so far it is fitting nicely.
The back also still needs a bit more lace. I am not sure how the back is going to look yet but I might carry the waist belt all the way around the back because that could add some much needed length to the back of the dress. The majority of the materials used in making the dress are up-cycled aside from the thread and 5 yards of lace and the moth and spiderweb ribbon.
Friday, I made some urgent munchies. I had been scrolling through tiktok
when I saw someone making oatmeal cookie sandwiches. I had to try to
make a vegan version immediately. These are very addictive and I like them best served frozen because they taste like ice cream sandwiches.
Oatmeal Cookie Sandwiches
Ingredients for cookies:
1 cup brown sugar
1 tbsp maple syrup
2 tbsp vanilla extract
1 cup coconut oil
2 bananas mashed
1 1/2 cup flour
1 tsp salt
1 tsp baking soda
1 tbsp cinnamon
2 cups oatmeal
Instructions:
Cream together bananas, maple syrup, brown sugar, vanilla extract, and coconut oil.
Sift in flour and mix in remaining ingredients.
roll dough into balls and flatten baking on a cookie sheet at 350 degrees F for 10 minutes.
Let cool completely before adding cream filling.
Cream filling ingredients:
1 6-8 oz. package of vegan cream cheese
1/3 cup agave nectar
3 tbsp vanilla extract
1/3 cup coconut cream
Instructions:
Whisk ingredients together until well combined.
Store in the refrigerator to chill for atleast 30 minutes before making sandwiches.
Notes: Freeze sandwiches for best texture
Yield: 12 sandwiches
Monday was an ok day especially considering pms cravings I was battling this week. I went over almost 3 hundred calories, but I made up for it with the intense circuit work out on Tuesday.
Wednesday, I did gorge myself at the buffet a bit but like I said my activity level has increased now that I have started circuit training.
Thursday my apatite starts decreasing as my metabolism starts to get readjusted to the new activity level and muscle growth.
Friday I finally manage to stay under my BMR with 25 calories.
Once again, I was over my BMR by 496 calories. I have read that on average women eat 4% more than there BMR during ovulation and prior to menstruation because their body requires higher caloric intake, but I don't really think this week's high calories was 100% justifiable and I am trying to do better.
All I really can do is try to do my best every day and sometimes I do give into temptation, but my activity level has drastically increased since beginning circuit training. I imagine not only my BMR but also my body composition is changing according to my activity level increase.
I am finding I am being far more active with friends and projects and having a bit of a hard time adjusting to the increase in responsibilities so this week's blog is now 1 week behind but hopefully I will find the time to get caught up again.
Comments
Post a Comment