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| Self-Inflicted TortureTu and I have begun a self-imposed 7-day 5-day Pseudo Vegan Cleanse. Yesterday was Day 1.
The Breakdown:
- No meat
- No animal products (including butter, cheese, dairy)
- No gluten (including pasta, white bread, flour)
- No sugar
- No alcohol
- No caffeine
Why?
- Well, because Oprah did it. And Dooce did it.
- Because our bodies needed to be cleansed of toxins after this past weekend.
- It's just an exercise of self-control that has added health benefits.
The Exceptions:
- I can have coffee. I need to function, yall.
- It's now 5 days. We can eat stuff on Saturday b/c my mom is throwing me a birthday party and not eating is just plain rude, right? I'm pretty sure I'll fall off the wagon after that.
Day 1:
Breakfast: coffee
Lunch: -
Dinner: red curry w/ tofu and vegetables
Dessert: nectarine, grapes
Notes: Tu said he didn't think the dinner we made was filling enough ("Yeah i'm full...OF VEGETABLES."), but I thought it was really filling. I don't think this diet is as restricting as it sounds. Then again, it's only been one day.
Day 2:
Breakfast: coffee
Lunch: cucumber slices, hummus
Dinner: stir fry w/ soba noodles, tofu, and vegetables in peanut sauce.
Dessert: grapes, cherries
Notes: This morning I threw away the entire batch of brownies I baked this weekend, as well as a bunch of oatmeal cherry cookies I made last week. So wasteful and delicious. When I got to work, I saw that someone brought donuts for the office. MAN I love Shipley's donuts.
Soba noodles are made of buckwheat and yam. Using fresh, natural peanut butter in the sauce made it gritty, but the flavor was good.
Day 3:
Breakfast: coffee, handful of granola
Lunch: grapes, cherries, 1/2 nectarine, 1/3 orange.
Dinner: field greens salad, fried tofu and okra, sauteed green beans and creminis w/ onion and scallion
Dessert: -
Notes: At first I thought it was just in my head, but I really think this no meat/no carb thing is making me have zero energy, at least while my body is adjusting to the change. I've been SO TIRED. I've eaten much less than this on a regular basis (1 bagel per day; cookie for lunch, ice cream for dinner), but when you cut out fat, proteins, and carbohydrates, there's nothing for your body to convert to energy.
But other than all the weakness, I haven't felt deprived of any tastes or foods yet (besides that donut from yesterday). I think Tu is taking it harder than I am b/c he's already started talking about that burger he's going to eat once this is over.
Dinner was kind of bad. Tu was really craving "bad" food, so I caved and agreed to have something fried. Instant regret afterwards. At least it was a fried vegetable and tofu?
On an aside, I've never made fried tofu on my own before, but after researching about it a little bit, I made a few tweaks to my mom's method - which is just throwing cubes of tofu into oil. The result was surprisingly really good! We both agreed the tofu was "better than our mom's." YEAH I SAID IT.
- Drain the tofu - I pressed the tofu using folded paper towels placed between 2 cutting boards with a heavy bowl on top for about 45 minutes, changing the paper towels whenever they got soaked.
- Dust with cornstarch - This was the real tip. After cutting the tofu into cubes, I dusted each side w/ cornstarch, which helped absorb any extra liquid, and also produced a crispy exterior that STAYED CRISPY. Usually, the tofu is crispy for the first 10 minutes out of the oil, then it becomes spongey. The cornstarch prevented this.
- Pre-season - I ground up a mixture of sea salt, peppercorns, and red chili flakes and seasoned the tofu before I fried it. If it needs more seasoning, you can sprinkle the mixture on top again afterwards too.
The consistency almost reminded me of the banh bot chien (rice cake) from Tan Tan, which led to a great idea of a no-carb bot chien that I want to try soon. But not this week. Because we have to wait until we're allowed to eat eggs again. And I don't know where to get those little pickled radish cubes.
Day 4:
Breakfast: coffee
Lunch: grapes, cherries
Dinner: lettuce wraps with mixed vegetables and tofu, "General Tso's Chicken" (really tofu) over bok choy.
Dessert: cherries, grapes, nectarine
Notes: I think The Weakness is better today. We temporarily put our marathon training on hold this week due to The Weakness. I can't even imagine running right now. It's tiring going down a flight of stairs to let the dogs out.
Today we didn't feel like cooking so we ate at Pepper Tree, a vegetarian/vegan restaurant at Richmond and Weslayan. It was surprisngly good! Much better than I expected. I'd eat there again voluntarily. The old chinese ladies who work there are cute and nice.
It's 2 doors down from Berripop. We can't eat yogurt b/c it's diary. =**(
Day 5:
Breakfast: coffee
Lunch: silken tofu with soy sauce, sesame oil, and sliced green onion
Dinner: olive oil and garlic oven-baked fries
Dessert: granola, pineapple
Notes: We made fries by slicing them shoestring style, then drizzling with olive oil and sea salt/black pepper. Bake for 40 minutes and then tossed them in garlic, parsley, and green onion. SO GOOD! They taste like they're bad for you, but besides the fact that potatoes are starch, they're totally not unhealthy.
I baked cookies (dark chocolate chip and lemon shortbread) to bring to my mom's house tomorrow and I DIDN'T EAT ANY. I didn't even taste the dough! Check ME out!
TOMORROW I EAT MEAT!
Closing Notes:
So was the cleanse successful? Yeah I think it was. I didn't cheat once! But most of the benefit came from being more aware of what you put in your body. It makes you realize how much you need, or DON'T NEED, certain foods. I'm not giving up any of the restricted foods, but I'll think twice before eating them.
The cleanse is not meant to be a long-term, permanent change in your diet. Kathy Freston, the woman who developed the cleanse, said that she only does it once or twice a year. Granted, the REAL version lasts 21 days and not 5, but Kathy Freston emphasizes the fact that the cleanse can be as long or as short as you want it to be. It's not the end of the world if you slip up; just start over again tomorrow. The real goal is to make yourself more aware of what goes into your body.
We'll be incorporating some of the changes into our diet
from now on. I can't totally give up meat or animal products (LOVE
butter and cheese), but we'll try to eat more tofu and if meat is
necessary, fish or chicken as opposed to beef. More vegetables,
definitely. Less "bad" carbs, more whole grains.
And one last interesting thing - after eating lobster and ribeye at my mom's house on saturday (omg best meal ever), Tu and I got stomachaches. Looks like our body is already rejecting all that delicious, delicious fat.
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| Meanings of LifeYour Choice vs.
Destiny
I had an unexpected
philosophical discussion with my friends this weekend regarding our
personal meanings of life. We came down to 2
extremes - "Your
Choice" and "Destiny."
You either believe
that your choose your own path through the decisions you make, or you
are fated to a particular outcome.
I was the one
that came up with these two extremes and pointed out that you pretty
much had to choose one or the other, as both could not coexist - but I
couldn't decide which one I believed.
I'd LIKE to
believe that everything is "Your Choice." I'd like to believe
that I control my own life and that I can make my own path through the
decisions I make. I think I'm a pretty pragmatic person and
that all thing should be able to be explained by
cause/effect. But I think to some degree, I've always
believed in fate and that certain things were or weren't "meant to be." Or
that "things happen for a
reason."
I remember reading Oedipus
Rex for the first time in sophomore english and being
struck by the Greeks' notion of fate and destiny. They
believed that one's fate was inevitable and unavoidable - despite
taking every action to avoid one's fate. In the end, everyone
will kill their father, have sex with their mother, and then gouge your
eyes out with a brooch - even if you REALLY don't want
to.
To some degree, I've always kind of believed in
this idea of fate. Or maybe I've just watched Serendipity
too many times (man I love that
movie!).
This discussion kind of
mirrors the Theological Fatalism debate. I
noted this during our discussion, but couldn't remember how to explain
it. I remembered learning about it in my highschool
theology classes, but also remembered not caring enough to try to
figure out how both free will and God's omniscience could
coexist. I asked my little brother (who is currently taking
the same highschool theology class), but his reply was "I dunno...I have notes on it
though...there's some analogy about a mountain or
something."
I wiki'ed it this morning
and realized that it has never been resolved and that this is why it is
a PARADOX.
So
no verdict, just something to think about. To some degree, I
think whichever one your believe will impact how you live your
life. Maybe it just comes down to how you want to live your
life.
And so this entry is not
text only, here are some pictures with my new
point-and-shoot:
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| We Ranned
So happy about all the running!
Believe it or not, this 5k was the first time I've ever run outside in Houston. Ever.
So so hot.....so so humid....could not breathe....
Rookie mistakes were made, including starting out too fast, not pacing myself, and letting small children, 75 year old men, and one-legged veterans beat me.
This taught me that I better get my butt out to Memorial to start training outside because the way I was running, I'll never finish that half-marathon.
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