I wanna get hard. I wanna get strong. Getting there sounds easy enough: do some butt-kicking exercises and eat well. I’m still figuring out the butt-kicking part, but the eating well is coming along.

As a veggie, I’ve gotta think a little harder about getting enough protein. I’d be fine if I sat around at my desk all day, but I know that being active means I need a little extra fuel the fire. I suspect I’ve been a little slack in this regard in recent months, which might be why I was totally slammed when I caught that infection a few weeks ago. But now I’m back and determined to rock this thing.

So today I proteined it up with a couple new tricks.

1. Tofu smoothie – This isn’t really a new trick, but it’s one I haven’t used in a while. I blended up about 150g of silken tofu with soy milk, banana, cocoa, cinnamon and vanilla. With the soymilk, that’s about 10g of protein and a lot of good potassium and vitamins from the banana! Interestingly enough, Roni made almost the exact same smoothie, using almond milk instead of the tofu. Check out her Almmond Milk Shake – it looks superb.
2. Tamagoyaki – You often find these japanese sweet omelets at sushi restaurants. I made some to go with some veggie sushi I made for dinner. Tamagoyaki is yummy and super easy to make, thanks to the excellent tutelage provided by maki at JustHungry. One large eggs provides about six grams of protein. Add a bit of rice and tofu to the mix and you’ve got a lot of protein to be happy about.

I think I might start tracking my calories again, if only for a week or so, just to make sure I’m getting the fuel I need to get strong. But first, I need to figure out the butt-kicking part of my getting strong plan. Stay tuned.

Diary for Wednesday, May 20, 2009

Swim

I had a fabulous swim this morning! I felt energized and totally in the moment. I swam a mile like this, for about 45 minutes, and by the end my head was crystal clear (as was my tummy – definitely breakfast time).

Breakfast

Bircher muesli

It’s somewhat a shame that this fleeting return to Bircher muesli wasn’t one of my best efforts. I skimped on the raisins, and my apple was measly. The result just didn’t have much flavor. The berries helped, but sadly, I wasn’t inspired. Back to the crepe pan I go.

Recipe: Bircher Muesli (don’t skip on the raisins, and make sure your apple is “of a size”!)

Lunch

Tofu lasagna with asparagus and salad

Gotta love freezer food. I wanna get through this lasagna so I can make another batch, this time with cashew cream!

Snack

Banana and Chocolate Tofu Smoothie

Dinner

Sushi, Tamago and Salad

Recipe: Tamagoyaki [justhungry]