I’m All About the Produce

Growing up a vegetarian, I’ve always eaten a lot of fruits and veggies, but recently, I decided to be even more conscious of what I’m eating on a daily basis. I made it a rule to make sure to eat at least one fruit or veggie every time I ate. The exception to this is snacks, as I’ll have a protein bar, dessert, or other nosh that sometimes won’t involve any produce.

I’m constantly throwing a piece of fruit into or on the side of everything and anything, and I definitely feel like incorporating as much produce as I can to my meals fills me up more and provides me with an ample amount of vitamins and antioxidants. In this week’s installment of “what this vegetarian ate today,” my Monday eats are a typical example of this rule:

Breakfast: A frozen berry bowl

Lunch: Kashi 7 grain waffles + a Justin’s maple almond butter squeeze pack + sliced strawberries

This was the first time I’ve tried the maple almond butter flavor. I also recently tried Justin’s chocolate hazelnut butter, and I’m a big fan of both. YUM!

Pre-Workout Snack: TJ’s chocolate yogurt + blueberries + a Special K protein snack bar

Dinner: A mega salad of romaine lettuce + avocado + goat cheese + Lightline roast turkey veggie protein slices + sea salt + balsamic vinegar, with a TJ’s baby baguette on the side

When I was younger, I used to eat soy meat products all the time. In recent years, I’ve shied away from eating processed soy products all that often, but I do still incorporate products like these veggie slices into my diet occasionally. They’re a good source of protein and low in calories and fat – 1 serving has 100 calories, 4 g fat, and 14 g protein:

 Nighttime snack: a few dried peaches

And lookie what I got today…

My five-months-down-in-this-deployment-sneakers! After trying on a bunch of pairs, I went with the same brand as my last pair (Brooks) with a very similar style because they’re just so damn comfy. For anyone living in the San Diego area, I highly recommend going to Road Runner Sports   to get assessed for your next pair of sneakers. Last year when I went there for the first time, I found the assessment to be very interesting. They have you run on a treadmill to determine what kind of runner you are, measure your feet, and mold you a custom sole. I tore my calf muscle a few years ago and found out that I unconsciously compensate and run differently on my injured side, landing a lot more on the ball of my foot. This explains why running makes my calf so sore still and sometimes gives me blisters.

I have a sneaker rotation method that goes like this:

1.) My newest pair that I use for my regular workouts

2.) My second newest pair that I use for hiking or other activities where I need decent traction, but that might get dirty

3.) The last pair that I often wear in situations where I don’t care if they get ruined (i.e. a walk on a super muddy trail after it rained)

My hiking pair is getting old and is starting to not feel so great (I’m blaming them for my constant tripping over rocks lately… not my clumsiness!), so I’m happy to knock them back in the rotation. When I told Adam about my sneaker usage, he thought I was a little nuts, but when I was talking to my mom about it, she knew exactly what I was saying because she does the same thing. Guess I know where I get it from!

Question: Do you typically have multiple pairs of sneakers at any given time for different activities, or do you tend to have 1 pair that you use for everything?