ERA Day 2 Recap: Enter Vegan Temptress

by durham, February 3, 2010 | Permalink

When I got a call from my friend Jess yesterday before leaving work with an invitation to join her for homemade vegan oil-free split pea soup, I was thrilled! It had been a long day and the thoughts of preparing something that met ERA guidelines for myself for dinner sounded daunting at best. And oh boy, was that soup yummy! It was from a cook book called The Vegan Table by Colleen Patrick-Goudreau. Excellent meal! Thank you, Jess! There was a recipe for vegan stuffed peppers in that book that looked like it would also meet the guidelines of this plan, so I hope to make that soon as well

But, the ERA plan is not a vegan diet. It’s not a vegetarian diet. It’s really hard to put it in any one “box” that we usually use to label the way we eat. They’ve coined the term “Nutritarian” to describe folks following this plan. The idea is that you needn’t limit yourself to a specific diet, but you should leave your options open to include as many highly nutritious foods in your diet as possible.

So, to make the title of this post many any sense at all… when Jess recommended that we do more vegan cooking together throughout the month, it was hard to explain that just because a recipe is vegan, doesn’t mean it will meet the guidelines of this plan. No vegan cupcakes for me. At least not until March!

You may have noticed the ANDI (Aggregate Nutrient Density Index) scores on many food products throughout out store. This score indicates the ratio of micronutrients to calories in a particular food. Kale, Collards and Mustard greens all weigh in with the highest ANDI score of 1000.  So, leaving lots of room in your diet for these highly nutrient dense foods will make for much healthier choices.  On the ERA 28-day plan, my goal is to eat as many foods with high ANDI scores as possible, while eliminating sugar, processed foods, meats and dairy products.

So far, I’m eating the right foods. I won’t pretend that it’s been easy though. I’ve had cravings for cheese, chocolate and bacon more than once.  The first night I went to bed hungry. Last night, I went to bed feeling a little weak and shaky, and most of the day yesterday I had a dull headache. I woke up feeling fine this morning, but my energy level has been low. I’m hypothesizing that this is because of the initial withdrawal from sugar and fats. I’m anticipating an increased energy level as this plan progresses and my body adjusts to these changes in my eating habits.

I have to admit though that the decrease in my energy level has not helped in the physical activity that I’m supposed to maintain during this program. There are fitness guidelines just as there are eating guidelines. And so far, I haven’t been able to do what they’ve suggested. My goal is to start with the fitness side of the program tomorrow morning.

For now, here’s a glimpse at my diet yesterday:

Smoothie: Spinach, Flax Seeds, Frozen Cherries, Frozen Mangoes, Frozen Blueberries, Orange Juice and Coconut Milk

Breakfast:

1 cup of Yerba Matte Tea w/ Coconut Milk Creamer (1 snack)

Smoothie (see photo above) (1 raw veggie, 2 raw fruits, 1 seed, 1 snack)

Genesis Sprouted Grain & Seed toast w/ Raw Almond Butter (1 whole grain, 1 nut)

Lunch:

Large Salad from WFM Salad Bar w/ greens, carrots, beets, quinoa, lemon juice/olive oil (3 raw veggies, 1 oil)

1 Banana w/ Almond Butter (1 fruit, 1 nut)

1 cup of cantaloupe (1 fruit)

Dinner:

2 big bowls of split pea soup (2 cooked veggies)

One Response to “ERA Day 2 Recap: Enter Vegan Temptress”

1. Jess Says:
   February 4th, 2010 at 3:44 pm

   Glad you liked the soup. Tonight I’m making vegan banana crumble, but there is definitely sugar in it!

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