I have been home a few days from SXSW and have been processing what I thought about everything this year. I have to admit, this wasn’t my favorite year. I sat through some interesting sessions and brought home some good information but the overall experience didn’t compare to the last two years.

The event this year was much larger than in the past and, in some time slots, I was almost overwhelmed with which talk to attend. This could be a good problem to have except sometimes the choices still didn’t excite me. I still think it is a great conference and well worth attending but I’m interested to see how it will evolve. I have to make a disclaimer here that I managed to catch the SXSW Scurvy early on in the conference and spent a large part of it with medicine hangover, feeling tired and not particularly interested in socializing.

OK now to sum up the fitness/food situation while traveling, it was a challenge to say the least. I did not exercise at all other than walking around the conference and downtown to get some food. I blame this on the scurvy. I did not have the energy to do anything and I couldn’t even imagine a workout with my stuffed up head. I’m just now getting back on track with that.

Austin itself had a ton of options for interesting vegan friendly food but most of it was not within walking distance, well walking distance for someone that felt sickly and pathetic. I ended up eating Starbuck’s oatmeal and a soy chai latte almost every day for breakfast and then a veggie burger most nights from the restaurant in the hotel.

I did visit Pita Pit a few times for their hummus and falafal pita, not exactly the healthiest choices but not the worst either. SXSW had a few decent vegan selections as well at the conference center and I appreciate that.

This traveling experience wasn’t the best for the new lifestyle choices and I have to learn how to plan better for future trips. I may even pack a small bag of acceptable food next time that would serve as a back up for when I can’t find food that fits the bill.

Now I need to get back on track and into my new/old routine and I’m actually pretty excited about that.

I highly enjoy this song. The video is pretty cool too. (Not an official video)

I think it may be that I’m traveling and staying in a hotel changes things a lot. Yesterday I had to search online for somewhere to eat and then walk around town to find it. It wasn’t as easy as going downstairs and grabbing a quick bite on the way to the conference center. Luckily, Austin has an amazing selection of places to eat for veggies and vegans.

And what crazy dreams I had last night! I dreamed of people disapproving of me and being mad at me. I dreamed I gave someone an apple power supply as a gift and they told me they would only ever use a PC (that dream really perplexed me). I dreamed of wolves, one was my pet and the other was wild and only seen from the distance as it ran into the woods. I dreamed of money issues that weren’t necessarily mine but the problem of others close to me.

I woke up this morning feeling overwhelmed, anxious and not quite right. I guess I was comfortable in my routine at home and now that I am out of it, I have to work a little harder at all of this.

This afternoon turned out to be another beautiful one of several we have had recently. It was so nice that John and I headed to a local park to walk Merlin and get a little exercise and a good dose of sunshine, which I have been needing recently.

This is an exciting week for me. I have been to two concerts (The Fruit Bats on Monday night and Ani Difranco on Tuesday) and I leave tomorrow for SXSW. I’m not sure how the new diet and workout program will go with the upcoming traveling but I’m dedicated to giving it my best and making it work. I’m more concerned about finding healthy food options more than anything. My hotel has a great workout facility so I think I have that part mostly figured out. Anywho…. that’s life right? I gotta figure this stuff out some time or another.

I’ll leave you with a couple of my favorite songs by the Fruit Bats:

“I rather think I do”.

1/365, originally uploaded by attercat.

I’ve decided to start a 365 project using the camera on my cell phone and the apps available for it. I’m not doing any external editing. This is to help me get my creative photography mojo back. I thought it would be nice to look for things around me daily and use the limitations of the camera on my phone to make me get a little more creative to make it interesting.

I discovered that my recovery rate is actually pretty decent. I’m still working with the spikes at the lows and highs of my zones but I can already see those are getting better and I’m more in control overall. It is a little game that I get to play with myself. I have to move from one zone to another and learn to listen to my body enough to know when to change the settings, on whatever machine I am on, so that I catch the perfect heart rate for that zone. This game makes time go so fast and I’m competing with no one but myself which is nice.

And now for the pièce de résistance, I have lost a little over 3 pounds! That is slow and steady and I’m cool with that. I have also been eating around 1800-2000 calories a day. I know! I eat all the time! I track my meals loosely to make sure I’m eating around 300-400 calories every three to four hours but other than that I haven’t been obsessed about what I’m eating. I may have to be more restrictive in the future, but for now, I think this is the best route for me. I’m working on changing a lot of habits and I want to make it as doable as possible.

The trainer warned me today that I may not want to look at the plan for next week. I think he mumbled something about boot camp when I was walking away. I’m not looking.

I wanted to mention a couple of cookbooks that I picked up that have been huge in helping me transition to the vegan diet. The first book is The Kind Diet by Alicia Silverstone. I enjoy this cookbook because it has a lot of quick easy meals and most of them are pretty healthy. As a matter of fact, one of my favorite recipes is the Sicilian Collard Green recipe below. I think I like this one so much because there is a nice mix of sweet, sour and nutty tastes together. Who knew I would ever eat collard greens and like it!

Sicilian Collard Greens
1 bunch collard greens
2 tbsp pine nuts
3 garlic cloves, peeled and chopped
1 tbsp olive oil
3 tbsp raisins
2 tbsp balsamic vinegar

Cut out the central rib and stem from each collard leaf. Rinse the leaves in a sink of cool water, lifting them into a colander to drain a bit (you want some water to remain on the leaves). Tear leaves into smaller pieces. If desired, chop some of the stems into bite size pieces.

Toast the pine nuts over medium heat in a dry skillet for about 5 minutes. Shake the pan often to keep nuts from burning. Transfer to a plate and set aside.

Place the garlic and oil in a large skillet and saute over medium heat for 1 minute until garlic is fragrant. Add the damp collards and stir, then cover the pan and cook for 2 minutes longer. Add the raisins and pine nuts and stir. Cover and cook for 2 minutes. Stir in the balsamic vinegar, cover and cook for 1 to 2 minutes longer.

My other new favorite cookbook is Veganomicon. There are SO MANY GOOD recipes in this one. If you are entertaining the idea of eating vegan, even occasionally, this book is a must. I recently made the chickpea cutlet recipe below and it was hearty and filling and awesome. You can eat these on a sandwich like a burger, with your favorite dipping sauce or simply eat them as is. Seriously kids, check these out.

Chickpea Cutlets
1 c. chickpeas
2 T. olive oil
1/2 c. vital wheat gluten
1/2 c. plain breadcrumbs
1/4 c. vegetable broth or water
2 T. soy sauce
2 garlic cloves , pressed or grated
1/2 t. lemon zest
1/2 t. dried thyme
1/2 t. Hungarian paprika
1/4 t. dried rubbed sage
to taste olive oil , for pan frying or baking

Mash the chickpeas and oil together until no whole chickpeas remain. Add remaining ingredients and knead for 3 minutes until strings of gluten have formed. Preheat large nonstick skillet over medium heat. Divide dough into four equal pieces. Flatten each piece and stretch to roughly 4″ x 6″

PAN-FRYING: Add a thin layer of olive oil to to the pan. Place cutlets in the pan and cook on each side for 6 to 7 minute They are ready when lightly brown and firm to the touch.

BAKING: Preheat oven to 375°F, and lightly oil baking sheet. Brush both sides of each patty with olive oil, place on baking sheet, and bake for 20 minutes. Flip patties and bake another 8 to 10 minutes until firm and golden brown.

I’m wrapping up week one on the new workout plan from the trainer and decided this morning to treat myself with some new running shoes. We have this great little store in town called John’s Run/Walk Shop that specializes in helping you find shoes that work best for you. I’m so glad that I decided to consult the shoe gurus (thanks Mike for your help!) because my new shoes are definitely going to make a difference. I already took them for a spin on the treadmill and what a difference. For one thing, I was wearing a half size too large before and, secondly, I never realized what good support should feel like. The shoes are a bit more expensive than the discount store version I have been wearing but I think it is totally worth it in the long run, especially if they will help keep me from getting an injury. Mike also taught me a nifty loop trick for tying my shoes that keeps the heel from slipping up and down on me. This was huge for me since that is something that has always bothered me in almost every shoe I have owned.