It's been ages since I posted anything. I didn't even finish posting about my 90 day challenge! Mostly that was because I completely fell off the wagon, wasn't following the guidelines, and didn't feel like talking about my failure in that regard. Life gets in the way sometimes, and believe it or not, there are actually more important things than sticking to a diet regime. I've been focusing on those other aspects of my life for the last couple of months, developing myself personally and professionally. It turns out though, that I may have learned a thing or two from clean eating. I really have hardly been eating any refined foods since I did the whole clean eating experiment. I just don't have the taste for sugar that I once had, and I usually feel sick to my stomach if I splurge and eat any. So, despite thinking I'd done poorly at my diet the last few months, I'm only up 3 pounds from my lowest weight. Waaaaa? There was an article on NPR called "Low and Slow May Be the Way to Go When It Comes to Dieting" that I think explains what happened. I was dieting without knowing it apparently. 

It turns out this is "grad student appreciation week" on campus. So, lots of free food. I ended up cheating today, but I actually don't feel too bad, because I also did an hour of cardio. I stayed within my calorie limit even with the non-clean splurges. I just can't turn down free food!

So, about those weird roasted beet and tofu burgers I mentioned yesterday. I did end up making them, and they are....well, not the most amazing thing I've ever made, but they were pretty good. It's nice to have a different kind of veggie burger in my arsenal anyway. I think the only beef (har har) I have with them is that they basically looked like pink cow patties.


Plop! The uncooked patties.

Appetizing! I'm really making you want to try these, aren't I? :) I mean, I was expecting the odd dark pink color, but the texture just needed to be a bit firmer and less...ploppy.


Cooked burger

These were vegan, but I think the addition of an egg would have helped to firm up the mixture and make a more appetizing texture. Anyway, totally healthy and actually pretty tasty. I made a sriracha/sour cream sauce that was very tasty too (basically just some low-fat sour cream with a little squirt of sriracha). I had this as an open-faced sandwich on a slice of Ezekiel toast.


A little better?


Roasted Beet and Tofu Burgers

4 small (or 2 large) beets
1 red onion
1 block extra firm tofu
1 tablespoon garlic powder
1 tablespoon nutritional yeast
1 tablespoon wheat germ
1 tablespoon ground flax seed
½ teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon cornstarch

1. Preheat the oven to 350F. Wash and trim the beets. Wrap each one in foil. Trim and peel the onion, then wrap it in foil. Place beets and onion on a baking sheet and roast for 50-60 minutes, or until a fork pierces the skin of the beets easily. Remove from the oven and allow to cool until vegetables are easy to handle.
2. While the vegetables are roasting and cooling, prepare the tofu. Slice it into large chunks and add to a food processor. Add all the other ingredients (except the vegetables), and pulse until smooth.
3. When the onions and garlic are cool enough to handle, peel the onion. Peel the skins from the beets under cold running water. Roughly chop the onion and beets into pieces your food processor can handle, then pulse until smooth. Add this to the tofu mixture and stir to combine.
4. Shape into patties about 3 inches wide and 1 inch thick. Place on a cookie sheet covered with parchment paper or a silicon baking mat. Bake at 350 for about 30 minutes. Remove from oven and allow to stand for a few minutes before removing with a spatula and serving.



Meal 1:
Coffee with 1/2&1/2
Steel cut oats with apple, 1 tablespoon wheat germ, 1 tablespoon flax, cinnamon

Meal 2:
Pumpernickel bagel with light vegetable cream cheese (I figured the pumpernickel was my safest bet of the bagel options? I am sure it wasn't a traditional German style, which would have been healthier than the American kind made with molasses...but still, I didn't take the cinnamon raisin!)

Meal 3:
Roasted beet and tofu burger on Ezekiel bread with lettuce

Meal 4:
Chia seed pudding with 1/2 cup unsweetened vanilla soymilk, 1/2 tablespoon honey, 1 tablespoon cocoa powder

Meal 5:
3 slices cheese pizza (Arg free food! These were totally flimsy pieces with thin crust at least....at least?)

Exercise:
10 minutes running
50 minutes elliptical

Meal 6:
Chocolate chip cookie (Foiled again! My roommate made cookies.)

I may as well be done with this challenge. I ended up cheating on days 80, 81, and 82. I had social activities on each of those days, and did not eat clean. Well, I suppose I should cut myself some slack by saying I usually eat clean for breakfast, lunch, and snacks, but come evening, I have been having unclean dinners and alcohol. It's not terrible. However, the QUANTITY of food I have been eating lately is a little ridiculous. For example, on day 80, there was an Italian food night at the dining halls of the university where I work. I got a free meal and just went insane sampling pretty much one of every single thing they offered. It really was enough to feed three people.

Last night I went to a dinner party. I cooked the main dish - the same vegetarian shepherd's pie I've been eating frequently since St. Patrick's Day. I knew I wanted something fairly easy and cheap to make, since I was cooking for a bunch of people. My Irish ancestors had a knack for that. :) I keep meaning to document how to make this dish and post the recipe on here, but honestly I got so carried away cooking that I forgot to take pictures or really keep track of what I was throwing in. One of these days I will post it, I promise!

I really am not quite sure why I am still keeping track of days on this TBT challenge. I think yesterday should have been day 90 and the end of the challenge, but I had decided to push it back for a week because of my vacation. Well, now I've basically cheated every day for the two weeks since then, so I don't think any of it should really count. I'm not sure what to do, other than I know I need to try to reel things in with the overeating and drinking too much. I suppose I will probably go to day 90 and take some photos, although these last two weeks have seen a definite step backwards in the progress I'd made previously. :( Ug.

I didn't eat much today. That was on purpose.

Meal 1:
Coffee with 1/2&1/2

Meal 2:
Chickpeas with roasted potatoes, turnips, carrots, and Indian seasoning

Meal 3:
Blood orange and a couple strawberries

Meal 4:
Chia seed pudding made with skim milk, 1 tablespoon agave nectar, pumpkin pie spices

Meal 5:
Roasted potato skins with olive oil, some parmesan cheese (I saved the peels from all the potatoes I peeled yesterday for the shepherd's pie. I just tossed them with olive oil and baked them for about half an hour until they got nice and crispy.)



Exercise:
30 minutes of random bodyweight exercises