Back in April, I finally made the commitment to myself to start eating (even) better, to get back on track exercising, and to lose all of my leftover baby weight. Inspired by my sisters, I made a checklist and set some goals. What it turned into for me was eating a primarily whole foods diet, avoiding processed foods, including processed grains (whole wheat bread, etc.), added oils, and sugar. I realized after a few weeks of doing this that it also meant my diet was essentially gluten free. (I did eat some wheat berries in a salad and for breakfast once.)
I've had so many people say it's close to impossible to eat vegan and gluten free. Now I can say I've done it, and I'm having a lot of fun with it. (And I've lost 20 lbs and have almost met my end goals.)
At the beginning, I took some pictures of some of the fun meal conversions I did to replace processed grains with whole foods. I thought I'd share:
Mike found me a great deal on a spiral cutter. I made a lot of zucchini noodles.
When my family had
roasted garlic brocolli pizza, I had all the toppings with zucchini noodles. Delicious!!
Beanburgers with all the fixings on lettuce. Amazing!
This zucchini lasagna was out of this world! I actually liked it better than with whole wheat lasagna noodles. I sliced the zucchini ahead of time and salted it to make it sweat. Then rinsed and dried, so it didn't turn to mush in the lasagna. Loved it! (It's
this recipe, with
tofu ricotta instead of the tofu and toffuti cream cheese.)
This was one of my very favorites:
barbecue pizza toppings over brown rice.
Alfredo and peas over zucchini noodles.
When my family had pancakes, hashbrowns, and field roast sausage, I subbed in
pan seared mushrooms.
My portion of
mac and cheez had cauliflower instead of whole wheat noodles.
I stopped taking pictures after the first few weeks, but I've had a lot of fun getting creative with my whole foods.
Here are some other recipes that work great:
I've learned not only is it possible to be vegan and gluten free, but I actually enjoy more variety than before. I guess my point is, if you're scared of a vegan diet because you also have a gluten intolerance (or soy, or really any other food), it's possible and can be fun to get what you need eating a whole foods, plant based diet.
4 comments:
this post is exactly what i needed! i had a baby a few months ago and am seriously struggling getting back on track. was there anything else on your "checklist" that you did? i need to make some better personal rules than i've been following (since i've barely lost any weight!). with my other two pregnancies i just lost the weight with almost no effort, so i'm really, really frustrated with my size currently. any extra tips about weight loss would be awesome!
thanks for this blog ladies!!
This was a great post! Very informative and motivating. Thanks!
Kristyn, the things on my checklist were no sugar, no bread/flour, no chips (no added oil), no eating after 7pm, daily exercise, daily scripture study.
I just looked at your blog briefly, and I see you're training for a marathon? Amazing! One thing that could keep your body from losing the weight is breastfeeding and exercising a lot. Just a thought. If you are still nursing your babe, good for you, and try to focus on that and realize your body will try to hold onto the fat for a little longer.
I think the weight loss keys for me were no bread/flour and no eating after 7pm. well, and the no chips. But again, if you're still nursing, your body might really want/need more carbs and starches, so if you do cut bread, be sure to eat lots of whole grains (rice, quinoa, millet, wheat berries, whatever), and potatoes/sweet potatoes. More "heavy" foods.
Another thought, if you're trying to cut all fat while breastfeeding, your body might try to hold on to every extra bit. Try eating a handful of nuts every day.
And, just a comparison . . . my baby is 2 1/2 years old . . . . It's taken me a while.
Thanks Rebekah for the response! I think your guidelines would be really good for me, except for the no bread thing. Not only do I love bread, but I know my body craves it right now, especially afte long runs. I strted training for a marathon to lose the baby weight, but I think it has had the opposite effect! :( But I am glad to hear you lost your baby weight, and that it IS possible!!
Post a Comment