How to Eat a Well Balanced Vegan Diet to Stay Strong and Healthy

Happy Friday! Are you ready for a long weekend? I am. This week has been jam packed with welcome home and birthday celebrations, planting my vegetable beds and planters, laundry, cleaning, blog work, and of course, training for the Chicago Marathon.

On Saturday my USTA tennis team won our district playoff match. I played two intense singles matches and my feet and ankles were screaming by the end of the day. Thankfully, all of the marathon training I’ve been doing helped me recover by the next morning.

My son and his beautiful girlfriend came home on Sunday. He’s going to be here until the end of June, then back to school to finish up his summer semester and his last semester of college in the fall. There will be a big graduation celebration on this blog in December!

The Breakfast King turned 53 (he looks 40 and acts like he’s 20) on Monday. He was wined and dined and gifted with family and beautiful weather.

I enjoyed a power planting day on Wednesday. I finished planting my vegetable garden, my window boxes, and all of my planters and flowering garden beds. I was filthy and exhausted, and it was so worth it.

My marathon training officially started on Sunday. My running coach, Susie, planned out an incredible training schedule for me and I’ve rocked it so far. Fingers crossed that all goes as planned. Click on her name above if you want running advice or need a coach. She’s amazing.

Today I’m going to show you what I ate on Tuesday and how a healthy vegan diet can keep you energized and strong.

Eating Enough Protein on a Whole Foods Plant-Based Diet

6:30 am

I’m a creature of habit. I started the day with lemon water and then had a cup of Nespresso coffee with warm and frothy almond milk.

8:30 am

After a couple hours of blog work I drank a glass of water, ate a banana, and ran an easy four mile run. I came home and ate a handful of almonds and drank a glass of water and took the dogs for a two mile walk.

10:30 am

My stomach was yelling at me so I decided to make a chickpea and avocado curry sandwich with spinach and tomato on whole grain bread. It’s one of my favorite’s and I’ve been known to eat one every day of the week when I get in the mood for curry. I also had a big glass of water and an orange.

1:00 pm

I sat at the computer for a couple of hours writing and marketing for the blog. Every half hour I got up and did a few push-ups and planks to get my blood pumping. I absolutely hate sitting still for too long so this is the only way for me to get this kind of work done. Once I finished that I made a simple Caprese salad for Wednesday’s post. Then I ate it. 🙂

3:30 pm

After cleaning up the kitchen I sat at the computer and edited the Caprese salad pictures. Then I did some laundry and played with the dogs in the back yard. It’s finally warm in Chicago and I’m having a really hard time staying indoors.  I ate a few cups of blueberries and drank some more water.

6:00 pm

I finished up my blog work and made a green curry (I told you I was in the mood for curry) stew with sweet potato, white potato, cauliflower, chickpeas, onion, coconut milk, vegetable broth, and green curry.  The hubby loved it and had two big bowls. I need to share this recipe with you soon. I promise the pictures will be better too.

I also had a glass of heart healthy red wine and a glass of water.

11:00 pm

Another glass of water and sweet dreams.

And this is what a typical day looks like for me. I ate when I was hungry, I ate what my body craved, and I moved as much as I could. This is what I did to train for the marathon this week:

Friday ~ 2 hour tennis drill and upper body strength training

Saturday ~ Two singles tennis matches – approximately 4 hours of intense tennis

Sunday ~ Active rest day. I took the dogs on a two mile walk and enjoyed family time.

Monday ~ 2 hours of doubles tennis and a 5 mile run + a 2 mile walk with the dogs

Tuesday ~ An easy 4 mile run and a 2 mile walk with the dogs

Wednesday ~ 30 minute Insanity workout, 2 mile walk with the dogs, hours of planting my garden beds and planters

Thursday ~ 4 mile split-negative run and a 2 mile dog walk. A lot of walking in Chicago to cheer on the Breakfast King as he ran the Chase 5K

Friday ~ 2 hours of doubles tennis and a P90X arm and upper body workout + a 3 mile walk with the dogs. Yep, I took them for an extra walk.

Aside from all of the activities that I shared with you, I also did lower body strength exercises, core, and stretching work.

To keep my body fueled, energized, and healthy, I ate the following:

A banana, almonds, a big chickpea, avocado, spinach, and tomato sandwich, a large navel orange, two cups of blueberries, a large bowl (approx. 3 cups) of green curry stew, a glass of red wine, and a lot of water.

The total amount of protein that I consumed was approximately 55 grams. The recommended daily allowance is 46 grams for the average woman and 56 for an average man. I’m good.

And there you go. A day in the life of me. As my training becomes more intense I’ll be eating a lot more; prepare for longer posts, my friends.

Have a wonderful and safe Memorial Day weekend. Don’t forget to stop and thank a veteran and think about what they’ve done so that we can do what we do.

Tell me:

What are you planning for the Memorial Day weekend? 

Are you enjoying beautiful weather where you live? 

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