Super Clean Meal Ideas

This weekend was officially my first free weekend without having to go to yoga teacher training; I'll be honest I was worried about it because I wasn't going to have the structure and peer interaction I had over the past six weekends.  I spent so many hours with the same awesome group of people and I wasn't sure how I was going to handle not having that time with them.  But all my worrying was for nothing because I spent alot of time with my yoga friends anyway and just explored this beautiful, vibrant, crazy city!  My favorite area is 59th and 5th right at the park.  It's crowded and crazy and sooooo New York.  I just walked for hours, enjoying the sights and sounds of NYC, meeting up with friends for drinks or sushi or a stroll in the park, it was such a wonderful weekend!


I signed up for 30 days of unlimited yoga at Sonic Yoga studio in Hells Kitchen and I'm challenging myself to 30 days of yoga.  Yoga every damn day!  Today I took a vinyasa class that was restorative at the end (boy did that feel great!).  Tomorrow I'm doing a flow fundamental class so I can keeep learning alignment.  Once you're a yoga teacher, it's important to keep learning.  Tuesday I'm taking a flow class with my yoga friends followed by some sushi and wine :)  And Wednesday I'm taking Kundalini yoga (I'm a little scared lol).  I also do Bryant Park yoga on Thursday nights on the grass taught by Yogaworks teachers-last Thursday was such a beautiful class-the weather was cool and breezy and the tall sky scrapers of midtown were my view during the practice.  I recomment yoga in the park in New York City as soon as you can!

I'm still going strong with raw til 4.  I was out all day yesterday so I ended up eating cooked food before 4PM but every other day I did raw til 4  I stopped at Beyond Sushi with a friend today and I was so amazed at how creative they make their sushi...and it's all vegan!  I took a low light picture with my phone so it's not the best but here are my two rolls and veggie pieces.  I just couldn't believe how they took vegetable sushi and went...well beyond :)  I recommend visiting Beyond Sushi, it's near Union Square!  This morning for breakfast I had a chocolate protein shake and a plate of fruits with walnuts.  Also, as a side note, I am eating protein powder before 4PM-it's not raw but it goes well with my smoothies and chia seed pudding that IS raw so I'm not going to worry alot about having protein powder.  It's Arbonne's vegan protein powder and it is delicious out of this world!

I feel great keeping my food raw before 4PM-I'm not starving, I'm not craving anything and I'm able to run and do yoga without feeling tired.  My workouts, both cardio and strength training, have been super efficient and energetic.  I do free weights 3-4 days a week, about 20 minutes, and I run at least 30 minutes every other day.  And yoga every damn day!  And of course you can't get around in this city without walking and pretty soon you end up walking miles without realizing it.  I'll keep you posted on my raw til 4 meals.  I post everything on my Instragram so check me out at thefabulousvegan.

My cooked food for the week was a veggie burger (recipe in previous post), steamed sweet potatoes in spring roll wrappers, a veggie wrap, sometimes it's a smoothie.  I'm going to start making more food for my cookbook so I'll add pasta to the mix this week too.

I recommend trying raw til 4 if you're interested or curious about the raw food movement; it allows you to still go out at night and not worry about having to scour the menu for raw food.  You can also have a glass of wine if you're dying for it.  It fits well into my lifestyle at this point and I feel lighter and I am 3 pounds lighter.  I really wasn't sure how my body would react to eating so much fruit everyday but I really do feel wonderful.

Check back here for my thoughts this coming week.  Enjoy your week and I'll continue with super quick meals for dinner.  Stay tuned for some pasta dishes and more spring roll wraps...I've got an idea in my head now :)  Much love to you all for staying tuned to my blog.

What are your intentions for this week?