Thriving: Day 1

Cover via Amazon

After a fun food shopping trip during which I got to play for thirty minutes in the bulk natural food aisle in Hannaford, I had everything I needed to start following the meal plan in Brendan Brazier's book Thrive: The Vegan Nutrition Guide to Optimal Performance in Sports and Life. I had said I wasn't going to give up cheese, but after reading more of the book I decided I would try "cheese-free" for a week and see how I feel.

Besides, Amanda Brooks issued a 30-day vegan challenge on her blog Run To The Finish, and I can't pass up a challenge. 

Snow closed the kids' school today so I canceled my morning yoga classes. With the extra time I was able to prepare a bunch of quinoa and wild rice, make some energy bars and grind flax seed, which will make the next few days easier. 

The first day went really well. I was only hungry once, then I realized I had missed the afternoon snack and that was quickly remedied. I made Almond Flaxseed Burgers from the book for dinner and they were really good. Even my teenager daughter, whose vegetarian diet normally consists of french fries and things that come out of a box, liked them.

The only "failure" was zucchini chips. I couldn't get them crunchy. I have the same problem with kale chips, so I think it will just take some experimenting with my oven. They taste good, despite being a bit soggy.

I started the day on my bike - on the trainer, of course, because it was snowing. This marks my return to training after the seemingly endless string of illnesses. I'm glad that's over and I'm looking forward to the first 5K of the season, just 35 days away.

I came across another race that I might be adding to my race schedule, just because it looks like fun: the Glens Falls Urban Assault.

And while I've been working on diet and race season plans, I've been participating in the Right-Brainers in Business Video Summit. If you are a creative type who is self-employed, or hopes to be someday, and you haven't joined the summit, you should. It's free, and there's still a week to go. Each day there is a video with a different guest speaker and so far they have all been amazing. There is so much good business information plus lots of creative ways to deal with the mundane business stuff. It's really be helping me to see how other people manage their time; perhaps even more so than the marketing, legal and financial tidbits. The summit is hosted by Jennifer Lee of Artizen Coaching, author of Right-Brain Business Plan.

One cheese-free day in the bag!