I really loved this friendly competition. At times it really did push me outside my comfort zone. For the most part however, a lot of the challenges were things I do pretty regularly.

I’d say the hardest challenge was having a day with no sugar. Surprise. haha. While I’m not a big candy eater (chocolate once a month) and I eat a lot of fruit instead of junk food it was an eye opening experience to realize just how many things have sugar added to them even though you would think they wouldn’t. Obviously couldn’t eat my cereal for breakfast, but then I also couldn’t have my eggwhite/fake sausage/cheese English muffin because the Morningstar patty had added sugar as did the english muffin. Boo. Because I’m a college girl on the run, I’m constantly eating pre-packaged, somewhat processed, grab and go stuff. Frozen meals for dinner at work? That was a no-go too. In all, it was nice realizing that I really should watch the sugar a little bit more. It’s sneaking in when I’m not looking.

The easy things were making homemade things I would normally buy, writing down what I eat all day and trying something new at the gym. I love to cook (when I have time), I use MyPlate on a regular basis, and when pushed I’m quite an adventurous person.

All in all, I’m glad I discovered this challenge, and the community here on Tumblr. I look forward to the next opportunity to get Outside my Box.

xoxoxoxo

-Thinnerpeace

So this week’s challenge… no added sugar. That was hard. My friend was celebrating her birthday this week, so that meant lots of drinking, and drinking means lots of sugary mixers. There was one night of drinking solace, so that was the day I cut out sugar. It wasn’t too hard for me. I don’t generally eat any candy, and I don’t drink soda. Most of what I eat is fresh fruit and veggies, so those were totally okay. I couldn’t eat my frozen meals, but that just meant I had to cook. Which is better for me anyway. I made TVP (textured vegetable protein) tacos. Delicious! Overall, not too bad. I did have more cravings since I was purposely cutting it out and it was on my mind all day, but I was able to resist the cravings thankfully. The next day wasn’t as great, but luckily the challenge was only one day, not a whole week. ;-)

xoxoxo, Thinnerpeace

Other than not eating breakfast because I was running late to class, this (Wednesday) was a pretty good day for me. It’s also pretty typical of what I eat on a regular basis. What I ate post-workout (my own veggie version of a Sausage, Egg and Cheese McMuffin) is what I usually eat for breakfast. Unfortunately, because my schedule is so busy a lot of my food is frozen, especially because I eat most of my meals at work and I walk everywhere so portability is a major concern. I can’t really say what emotions go along with my eating, I happened to pick a really level day, so there really wasn’t any stress or emotion eating. I was just getting my fuel when I needed it.

Hello all, Thinnerpeace here, as some of you may know, I am a vegetarian, and have been for quite a while. Being that I am also a full time university student who works 30+ hours on top of going to school, I’m always on-the-go and often times running like a chicken with it’s head cut off. So, things that are quick and easy are always on the top of my list. Frozen food is a godsend. For this week’s challenge I decided to research Morningstar Farms as it is one of the top brands that graces my freezer on a regular basis, mostly because Walmart carries it, and let’s be honest, I’m too broke to not shop at Walmart.

Unfortunate to say, but Morningstar Farms does not post much information on their website about their environmental impact, their company’s sustainability practices, or anything really. The only useful information I could find was on their FAQ’s page.

Q. Are Morningstar Farm’s products made with cage-free eggs?

A.) We are currently exploring the use of cage-free eggs in our products, and we are also looking at making more of our products egg-free. In 2008, formulation changes in our products allowed us to reduce our use of eggs from caged hens by 1,000,000. In 2009, we expect to again reduce our caged egg use, this time by 500,000. We recognize that this is a sensitive issue, and we are committed to actively exploring how we can use even fewer or no caged eggs.

Q. Are Morningstar Farms products made with GMO ingredients?

A.) We recognize that some Morningstar Farms® consumers may prefer foods that do not contain biotech ingredients, so we offer Morningstar Farms® made with Organic Soy products, which are made with non-biotech ingredients. At this time, all of our other products contain biotech ingredients. The ingredients we use have been approved by the appropriate regulatory authorities, and all of our products comply with food labeling requirements in markets where they are sold throughout the world.

Q. Do Morningstar Farms products use animal by-products or rennet for processing cheese?

A.) Our vegan products are completely free from animal by-products and rennet. If you’re not sure if one of our products is vegan, check the packaging for any mention of “vegan,” and check the ingredients list for any egg, milk or dairy products.

Overall, I can’t say I’m ecstatic about the company’s practices, especially since they so easily leave off a lot of the important ones. I did end up sending them an email with some questions in regard to these issues. I haven’t heard back from them yet, but the email is going to be coming from someone at Kellog, so I don’t have very high hopes.

On another note, however, I was Vegan for two years and back then (May 06 - May 08) there were quite a few less vegan options at the time. So I am proud of the company for stepping up and making more options available. Hopefully one day all of their products may be vegan.

Am I going to stop buying Morningstar Farms products? No. Will I look for better alternatives? Of course. But, until the money comes flowing in after graduation (haha, yeah right) my shopping locals are going to remain limited. (And for the record there is not a Whole Food’s or Trader Joe’s within 2.5 hours of me! It’s a sore subject. Thank you Missouri.)

For this week’s challenge I made Creamy Asparagus Pasta. I altered a recipe I found on Every Day Health. A box of whole wheat penne, a bunch of asparagus and few other ingredients and I had 5 meals in tupperware in my fridge. So far I’ve gone through three of them, and have two more to go.

Here is the original recipe:

http://www.everydayhealth.com/health-recipe/creamy-asparagus-pasta.aspx?xid=nl_EverydayHealthHealthyLiving_20100316

I used soy milk instead of whole milk, I’m not a big dairy fan. Though I did use real Parmesan.

Signing off,

-Thinnerpeace

Success!

Week 2’s challenge came just in time for me - after two weeks of treadmilling it up with very little variation, I’ve been ready for a change. First I had planned on jumping in on a step or spin class, but my schedule proved too much of a pain to get around. Enter in: personalized strength + cardio circuit made for me by one of the awesome trainers at my gym!

Day one has totally kicked my you-know-what. The routine mixes free weights and machines with bursts of cardio targeting the core, arms, and legs. Tomorrow is going to be bittersweet: the awesome feeling of accomplishment in the form of sore muscles!

- Thundering

Homemade Hummus! — by ThatGirlNamedSmash

I took a can of chickpeas, garlic, black pepper, sea salt, lemon juice, and crushed red pepper and blended them all together in my tiny food processor. Nothing was really measured out so I combined all of it in small quantities and continued to add things until I liked the taste and consistency. After it was done, I stuck it in the fridge to set up.

Of course, I forgot to get crackers or pita bread to go with it. I found some whole wheat tortillas that were almost ready to be thrown out and decided to use those. I cut them into thirds and brushed them with EVOO and salt, then baked them at 400 degrees until they started to brown.

Week 1 Challenge: DONE!