11 Pounds Down & Pass the Coffee

Hello everyone and welcome back to Project Health. 

Saturday, September 27th made 3 weeks as a healthy green eater. 

The highs thus far: I've lost a total of 11 pounds in 3 weeks

The lows thus far: I miss Starbucks.

My plan was to not give up meat, but I actually do not have the desire to eat it anymore. Vegan I have become and I am loving it. I miss my Starbucks... badly. I've switched to organic coffee and Starbucks just doesn't have one. If I want coffee shop espresso, I have to go to Whole Foods and order from their coffee shop--- and let me tell you, it's not Starbucks.

The past 3 weeks have gone by super quickly and I have never felt better. It's crazy to think I have been eating clean for 3 whole weeks!

Some super super exciting news! I'm going Youtube! Yes, that's right. I'm going to be featuring yoga workout videos, cooking videos, vlogs, and much more. My channel is now live (search: Annie Carson) and we have an intro video up as of now. More videos to come! 

Yay for Youtube!  Below is a picture of our logo! 

Lastnight, I made vegan dark chocolate creamy pudding! Yes! Yummy! YES! The recipe for this to die for treat will be up Wednesday! 

Thank you everyone for reading! 

Vegan Peanut Butter Chocolate Ice Cream

Hello everyone and welcome back to Project Health.

Today I am sharing with you my Vegan Peanut Butter Chocolate Ice Cream!

Want to eat a whole bowl full of ice cream and not feel guilty afterwards? I know I do! This creamy, smooth, rich, ice cream will fix any sweet cravings you have.

Here's what you need:

3 frozen bananas 

2 tbsp PB2 chocolate 

1/4 cup unsweetened vanilla almond milk (optional) 

Blender or food processor 

EASY, EASY, EASY, YUMMY!

Let's make it:

First, you want to take your 3 frozen bananas and throw them into the blender.

My blender of choice is the Ninja Storm (Love it), but of course any high power blender or food processor will work.

Once your bananas are in the blender, you will then take 2 large tbsp of PB2 Chocolate and toss this yummy powder into the blender. 

I like to then add a splash of almond milk... it's a little easier on my blender. If you opt out on the almond milk, your end result will have the true texture of ice cream. If you opt for the almond milk, you will have something that looks like your ice cream has started to melt.

Either way, you have ice cream! It taste just like so yummy and you would never know the difference if you hadn't made it yourself!

*TIP* Bananas must be frozen or you'll end up with something that looks like a smoothie!

If you did not want to add PB2, you could always replace it with peanut butter and cocoa powder. BUT, for the sake of keeping it vegan and low calorie, I go for PB2.

ENJOY!

Mango Banana Smoothie Recipe

This is my Mango Banana Smoothie

It is light but creamy

Filling but refreshing

I hope you enjoy!

Here's what you need:

2 Ripe Bananas 

1 Mango

1/2 cup unsweetened vanilla almond milk

Ice (only if bananas are not frozen)

Blender 

Yes, it's really that simple!

Let's make this treat!

First you want to take 2 ripe bananas and toss them into the blender.

(I like to freeze my bananas before hand so they serve as the ice)

Once your bananas are in the blender, you then want to add 1 mango.

(I slice mine in cubes, but it doesn't matter, as long as it makes it into the blender)

After our yummy fruits are in, we will then add 1/2 cup of unsweetened vanilla almond milk. The almond milk is what makes this smoothie so delicious. You can eye ball the amount of liquid you would like in your smoothie-- play around with the consistency, you can always add more!

If you haven't frozen any of your fruit, you will now want to add ice to the mixture.

1, 2, 3, blend! 

It's really that easy and this smoothie is super yummy!

You can not go wrong with this amazing treat!

I hope you all enjoy!

Thank you for reading!

Week one, Friends, and Golf

Hello and welcome back to Project Health! 

Saturday made one full week of my new lifestyle, and what a week it was! I have lost five pounds since starting and I have never felt better. Everything I read said I would be feeling ten times better in just a week... and I have to say, I wasn't sure that was going to be me. Thankfully, they were right and I do feel better. Of course, I have a long journey ahead of me, but at least I'm enjoying the ride, right?! 

I have been trying to think of any issues I ran into this past week but I really can not think of any (Yay!) I few nights, I did find myself craving sweets... just going mad for them! I would have a few pieces of organic chocolate and my craving would calm down a bit. I was also finding, around dinner time I would be so hungry....  feeling sick, hungry. Once this happened a few nights in a row, I started looking at what I was eating during the day and how I could keep myself from wanting to go crazy at night. As it turned out, I wasn't eating enough for lunch. So, in return, my body was freaking out by dinner time. I felt like this past week was a learning experience for myself and my body... learning what foods worked for me and what foods kept me energized throughout the day. 

I haven't been missing any foods from my "old lifestyle", I think they only thing I have been truly missing is coffee. I have organic coffee from Whole Foods, but it's just not the same. Nothing about it taste like normal coffee. I'm still determined to find one out there! And I will... I will find one that fills the whole in my heart now that normal coffee is gone. (tears)

Saturday was a very happy day! I was thrilled to have made it through the week and I wanted nothing more than to work harder! Kelsey I were invited by two of our friends for a little golf and dinner. This is when my Saturday got a little scary. Having dinner at a friends house. Crap! Naturally, I could not eat anything that was on the dinner menu. But, instead of feeling bad for myself, we called our friends and told them the truth. The honest truth that I needed to bring my own food. And so that's just what I did. I was a little nervous that watching Kelsey and our friends eat yummy, tasty, lasagna would drive me right into a wall. To prepare for this, I brought tons of yummy food. And I have to say, I never once felt like I was missing in action. 

Oh, and golf really isn't one of my many talents. I came in last. Boo! 

Thank you everyone for reading 

Market Shopping and Fresh Eating

Hello everyone and good morning! 

Baton Rouge Farmers Market 

If you read my first blog post, then you know Saturday was my first day going clean and also the day we went to the stores to find all the healthy (vegan, organic) foods. My first day was pretty easy... and I blame most of that on the fact we spent the day running around. So, I had no time to sit and think "what can I eat next." I never felt hungry throughout the day and I found myself starting to crave fresh foods by the end of the day. I went to bed that night filling full and motivated for the next days ahead. Shopping was... a little crazy. We started about bright and early with the hopes of catching a local farmers market in downtown baton rouge. It was a hot sunny morning and the farmers market was in full swing by the time we arrived. We found a few fresh items and headed to our next stop.... Trader Joe's. Now, shopping on a Saturday is crazy--- just crazy. If you can look past the busy parking lots, long check out lines, and the fighting over the last container of hummus, you can actually find lots of nice sales on this not so friendly market day. I was a little nervous about what foods I would find that I could actually eat. But, to my surprise, Trader Joe's had the hook up. We left with six dinners, six breakfasts, five lunches, a few snacks, and a bundle of sunflowers all for $50. Whole Foods was not so lovely on the wallet but we did find a few lunch items and a few snack items. I love the bulk section in Whole Foods! It was my best friend for all the little things like: mango slices, rolled oats, cereal and spices (all organic, of course).  Our last stop was to Target. Surprisingly Target offered lots of vegan friendly foods. Unfortunately for me, most of those items contained soy (the little devil). We did find the rest of my lunches, dinners, and cotton candy grapes (yes! Fresh grapes that taste like cotton candy!!) We also found meatless, soy-less chicken patties; My favorite score from Target. And of course, from each market we were picking up fresh fruits and veggies left and right. Over all, it was a wonderful shopping trip. Our game plan was to only purchase what foods I would need for two weeks at a time. So, every two weeks we will jump into our shopping mission once more. I made a little check list to ensure that we were not over spending (our little way to stay on budget). This check list was a huge help and I highly recommend doing this if you are needing/wanting to stay within a budget.  

Kelsey buying pears

I already spoke a little about how eating went on day one. So now on to Sunday (day two) and this morning (day three). Day two was a nice day. Kelsey had work so it was the real challenge day. She has been so wonderful with keeping me motivated and "looking on the bright side" that I was a little worried I would go crazy being in the house all alone with food. The animals kept me straight. Anytime I would open the fridge or look into the pantry, their little eyes would scream, "Don't do it, mom! Don't do it! We will judge you!" Even with the fur babies horrible looks, I actually wasn't looking to "cheat". Something about this is different... it's like my mind and body came together to say "you have to do this, so get over it." And funny enough, I actually do trust my body now. Just after one day of eating clean, I felt better than I had felt in a year. Maybe there really is something to this lifestyle. This feeling of "I feel so alive and well" kept me calm all day long. After a wonderful and filling lunch, the fur babies and I caught up on Desperate Housewives and cuddled the afternoon away. Dinner was perfect and again, like day one, I went to bed full and ready to take on my Monday. 
Monday is.... going. It's a Monday at work... like really? Those are as terrible as soy. Sipping on some newly purchased organic pumpkin tea that my darling prepared for me... I guess it isn't all that bad (Smiling). Breakfast this morning was a delicious vegan British muffin with a little agave nectar drizzled on top with a side of red raspberries. Yum, Yum, Yum! The vegan British muffins were purchased from Trader Joe's and I highly recommend them. 
So far, things are smooth sailing and I could not be more thankful for that.

Thank you everyone for reading. 

Welcome

Hello everyone and welcome to my blog! My name is Annie Carson and this is Project Health.

Clean eating is the mission. Being a healthier, happier person is the goal.

After dealing with a few medical issues it has come to my attention (and my doctor's) that it is time to make a lifestyle change with the things I am putting into my body. That means... getting a little green (more like a lot!!), searching for the word "organic" on every single label, and working towards--- shall I dare say it--- the Vegan/Vegetarian ways of the world. I will first like to put out there that no matter what, I will still eat meat! I'm a meat eating kind of girl! Buuuuut, I will make sure to choose something organic.

Let's talk a little about the diet I have had for the last... well, since I was able to pick my foods for myself... years. Sweets, let's start there! I have the biggest sweet tooth and it never stops with one small little piece... it's more like, stuff my face with every piece of sweetness I can find. The problem I have to now watch out for is soy. Soy is found in many sweets along with many other terrible ingredients (I've been doing my research). Vanillin is an ingredient that can be found in many chocolates which is an "evil" little devil that should be avoided if possible. So, as we see, sweets and I are having to break up. It will be heart breaking and I may even cry a bit (or tons!). Of course, my previous diet hasn't just been lived wonderfully through sweets, I've also had tons of other crap living in my body. I'm basically just a junk food type of person. Which is why this mission may kill me *cue the dramatic music*

Start Date of Mission: Saturday, September 6th
Location of Foods: Whole Foods, Trader Joe's, and Target
Partner in Crime: Kelsey

This Saturday, my darling (read "about me" section for the goods) and I will be hitting a few of the local stores that are known for carrying organic, vegan friendly foods. We will be stocking up the pantry and fridge for items for the "new me" ( yeah... maybe to soon to call it the "new me"... Whatever). It will be a bittersweet trip to the markets. It's the start of a new beginning and the goodbye of old habits. Habits are hard to break and sometimes sad to watch them leave. Although, it will be for a better life.

So, here we go!

I hope you will enjoy my blog and find my journey somewhat entertaining.

Annie.