She says: I'm a vegetarian. I currently have a "sticking-my-head-in-the-sand" mentality about what I eat. I am not making conscious efforts to maintain a healthy diet, although I believe I have a fairly stable foundation: I enjoy vegetables and salads and don't drink a lot of alcohol...but I do love carbs in all their luscious forms.
Day 1:
I started with the same breakfast I have had every single day for most of my life: Special K with almond milk and raspberries, plus coffee with skim milk and two Splenda packets. For lunch, I grabbed takeout from 'Wichcraft: tomato soup with parmesan, and a spinach salad with peppers, olives, and lemon-olive oil dressing. If snacks are around, I will eat them...which is why I nibble pretzel sticks at work and don't keep snacks at home. I went out for dinner, where I had potato gnocchi in cream sauce with peas and mushrooms. It was the only vegetarian option; I have found the vegetarian options at a lot of restaurants to mainly be pasta dishes. Sad face. Oh, and I had two Pimm's Cups, too.
Day 2:
Old habits die hard. Breakfast was Special K with banana and almond milk, plus coffee with skim milk and two Splenda. Once I find a salad or healthy lunch place that works for me, I tend to stick to it. We recently moved to a new office, and luckily, it didn't take me too long to find The One: organic marinated kale tossed with purple cabbage, avocado, carrots, cherry tomatoes, and tahini. Dinner was sad, but at least there was some protein: scrambled eggs with parmesan, arugula salad with walnuts and olive oil. Plus, a beer.
Day 3:
There were bagels at the office, so I planned ahead (for once) by not eating at home. Had half of a plain bagel with cream cheese, plus — you guessed it! — coffee with skim milk and two Splenda. Lunch was another kale salad, like yesterday's. Remember how I said that if snacks are there, I'll eat them? I found white-cheddar popcorn in the office kitchen. (Why, R29, whyyy?) After work, on the way to feed my friend's cat, there was a falafel place right on the corner. For $3.25, what choice did I really have?
Day 4:
Special K with almond milk, banana, coffee with skim milk, and two Splenda. Lunch was just what I had in my fridge: another avocado-Swiss-tomato-arugula sandwich on rye. Later, I went out to dinner at a vegan restaurant — which, I want to say loud and clear, does not make it light or healthy or sensibly portioned. I had a black-bean fake-cheez burrito with kale salad, brown rice, and salsa. Topped off with a whiskey soda.
Day 5:
Ah, the weekend — the perfect time to act like you don't have free will concerning your food intake. Planning meals is for people who wake up early and read the paper. You left the house without eating? Hungry all of a sudden? Not to worry, there's a BagelSmithMuffinDonutSandwichThing on the corner. Sudden low-blood sugar turned into "I'll have an egg and cheese with mayo, on a roll, plus coffee with skim milk, and two Splenda, please." Later, friends were ordering sandwiches at the deli, so I picked up an avocado-Swiss-tomato-arugula sandwich with mustard on rye. Too many carbs, so I had a lighter dinner: kale salad with shredded carrots, walnuts, grapes, cucumber, and vinaigrette dressing.
Day 6:
Shuffle to fridge, pour Special K and almond milk, slice up a 'naner. Same coffee setup. I'm good to go. In a desperate effort to mix up my lunch routine/not contract rickets, I ordered a slight variant: tomato soup with parmesan cheese, plus spinach salad with peppers, olives, and a lemon-olive-oil dressing, all from 'Wichcraft. Later, pretzel sticks were batting salty lashes at me again from single-serving bags. How could I resist? For dinner, another restaurant pasta dish with browned butter, mushrooms, and tomatoes.
Day 7:
For breakfast, I grabbed a beet-ginger-kale-orange juice from the corner juicery, plus a coffee with skim milk and two Splenda. As a phenomenally lazy creature of habit who cannot cook to save her life, my go-to lunch is, surprise, a salad. Today, it was mixed greens with radish, avocado, goat cheese, vinaigrette dressing, and two pieces of toast. For dinner, laziness got the best of me — this time for the worse, because I violated my golden rule of no snacks in the house. I had some junky things on hand, so dinner was corn chips and guacamole, plus arugula salad with pine nuts and olive oil.
She says: I'm a lactose-intolerant vegetarian, which means I wind up eating vegan most of the time. Because I prefer fresh and healthy foods over junk food, I think I'm healthy, but this week was hectic — on Friday, I barely had time to eat! Plus, I was traveling from Saturday through Monday night, so I ate a lot more carbs (and a lot less protein) than I would like. As much as possible, I eat breakfast to fuel my days, but the rest of the day is up and down.
Day 2:
I begin every day at home with Cheerios and almond milk. Because of back-to-back meetings and appointments, I didn't have time to eat a proper lunch, so I snacked when I could: a macaron at a fragrance launch, a few handfuls of popcorn back at the office. For dinner, I had a veggie plate of sautéed kale and shallots, garlic mashed potatoes, roasted beets, and asparagus with lemon. A glass of sauvignon blanc, along with some cherries and blueberries for dessert, was a nice end to the day.
Day 3:
A crazy day — I barely had time to eat. I had Cheerios and almond milk for breakfast, then picked up an iced soy latte and a croissant on my way to work. No time to pop out for lunch, so I didn't eat again until around eight. Slurped down an almond milk/date/carob/coconut smoothie, then inhaled some frittata with asparagus and tomato. Not my finest nutritional moment.
Day 4:
Up at 5 a.m. to fly to Miami Beach for a hair show. At the airport, I gobbled a few bites of plain oatmeal before boarding, but by the time I landed, I was HONGRAY. Headed to Yardbird, a great Southern restaurant, where I had three eggs, a salad of kale and Brussels sprouts, and bourbon blackberry lemonade. So good. I didn't get to eat dinner until 11 p.m., when I headed to The Bazaar for modern tapas: caprese salad, quinoa with fresh carrots and beets, Brussels sprouts (again), and a foamy passion-fruit cocktail. I was so pooped, I fell asleep at the dinner table. Embarrassing.
Day 5:
Since I was in Miami, I had some rice and beans, Cuban-style, for breakfast. (A croissant was also involved.) In the afternoon, I was busy seeing the backstage prep for the hair show, so I only managed to eat some olives and hominy around 5 p.m. After the show, I went to a restaurant by my hotel; the only vegetarian option was spaghetti with sun-dried tomatoes. Had some Brussels sprouts, too, but overall, I wish I'd had more vegetables.
Day 6:
Breakfast with the Oribe hair care team — I had lemon pancakes and eggs, plus a fruit salad of strawberries, blueberries, and pineapple. Headed back to Yardbird for more Southern goodness: grilled corn, hominy, kale salad, a bourbon blackberry lemonade, and some creamy mac 'n' cheese. Unfortunately, that last dish was a violent affirmation of my lactose intolerance. Bought a cucumber maki roll at the airport, but it tasted so foul, I couldn't finish it.
Day 7:
Back in NYC, back to Cheerios and almond milk in the morning. Picked up a green juice (kale, apple, romaine, and ginger) on my way to work. For lunch, I went big: chickpeas and mint, spicy brown rice with tomatoes, roasted Brussels sprouts, broccoli and quinoa with almonds, roasted carrots and cherries, and roasted red pepper. For dinner, I had lentils with rice and more roasted Brussels sprouts. I think it's safe to say that I really, really like Brussels sprouts.
