Day of Food: Ovo-Vegetarian Style

Hey there!

At 29 weeks pregnant, my eating habits have slightly changed.  What I mean is that I am eating more often and slightly more.  I'm not eating different foods than I was prior to being pregnant, but I am making a more conscious effort to eat a variety of foods and get enough protein and calories.  Basically I'm eating extra calories each day right now, but really I'd say I was eating probably around the same amount when I was marathon training a year ago, so it might not seem like I'm eating much more than my usual.

I've come to learn that I need to eat about every two hours to keep my energy levels high and feel my best.  So it will probably look like I'm just eating my way through the day, which is the truth.  Aside from the occasional breakfast that includes eggs, I stick to a vegan diet.  I try to be as perfect as I can about it, but I know there are instances when dairy slips in when I'm away from home.  The majority of my days I could label as vegan, but yesterday included eggs so it was an ovo-vegetarian kind of day (eat eggs, but no meat or dairy products).  

Here's how I fueled for the day yesterday:

I like to call this my first breakfast.  I ate at 6:45AM pretty much immediately after climbing out of bed.  I let the dogs outside, made myself breakfast, and then got ready for the workday.  This is a piece of Ezekiel 4:9 Sprouted Grain Bread with earth balance on top, and an organic egg cooked over hard.

On the way to work I like to have my smoothie with me.  I make a variety of smoothies throughout the week, and sadly this smoothie was not as tasty as I had planned.  I used too much avocado and it was too strong for my taste.  It would have been perfect if I had only used 1/2 an avocado instead and maybe 1/2 banana.  I only drank half of it.  I truly hate wasting food, but I just couldn't get it all down.  Too much avocado taste.  Note to self:  do not use a full avocado in shake.  The shake had in it a full avocado, almond milk, chia seeds, spinach, cocoa powder, and a spoonful of maple syrup.

Upon getting about an hour into my workday I was hungry again.  A piece of Ezekiel 4:9 Sprouted Grain Bread with a happy slathering of Tofutti did the trick.  

And then no more than a half hour later, an apple for some sweetness. 

Then there was my pre-lunch snack.  Preparing my stomach for lunch which really just means I couldn't wait another hour to eat.  I had a few corn chips with a lot of hummus.  This cilantro jalapeno hummus flavor is my new favorite.  You're probably wondering at this point how I get any work done with all this eating.

I was actually "full" from my morning snacking so I decided to go on a walk on lunch.  A nice 20 minute stroll felt really nice.  I got an odd cramp in my right side about halfway through my walk so I decided to take a breather at Starbucks.  I didn't order anything, but just sat and relaxed for a few minutes and then finished up my walk.

 
  When I got back to the office, it was officially lunch time for me.  Lunch consisted of this quinoa salad.  What a great recipe!  I made it Tuesday night and it tasted even better after sitting in the refrigerator overnight.  It's packed with goodness (carrots, black beans, green onion, and an awesome cumin lime dressing).  I made this dish one other time and I plan to make it weekly for now on.  I enjoyed it with another handful of corn chips.  

 By 4 o'clock I was in need of something.  I should have brought more food to the office, so all I had was an ALT bar.  It wasn't really what I was craving, but I ate half of it and it held me over until dinner.

When I got home from work, I started cooking my favorite dinner.  Sesame tofu over brown rice with kale and sweet potato.  My husband got home a little after me and together we finished the meal.  I post this dish a lot, but it's because it's my favorite and it makes a weekly appearance for dinner.

 

Not long after dinner I finished the night with a gluten-free brownie and a few scoops of So Delicious coconut milk ice cream.

  I'd say it was a happy day of eats.  I found that eating frequently kept me feeling great all throughout the day.  I will be keeping up a pattern like this.

What's the best thing you ate yesterday?