I got served. My friend suckered me into being a vegetarian for 7 days. (Truthfully, she did no suckering but I thought it added color to the story.)  I accepted the challenge. I was intrigued by logistics. How can I fulfill my protein needs without eating meat? What am I going to do with that last serving of grilled chicken? If I swallow it but don’t chew, does it still count as eating?  This was going to be interesting.

Day 1 started like any other as I blended my protein smoothie and guzzled it down on my way to work.  For lunch, I had a salad with avocado squished all up in it. (Avocado makes everything better.)

 At 4pm, I started to crave a little sumthin’ sumthin’. My body wanted protein and finding abundant sources would prove to be the real challenge. My protein was limited to whey protein shakes and almonds.

Overall, Day 1 as a vegetarian was a success. However, a trip to the grocery store is mandatory. Brown girl cannot live off whey protein alone.

Other than beans and yogurt, do you have any delicious protein-rich vegetarian ideas for me? I cannot lose these buttery muscles.

Today is Earth Day.  At your next opportunity, go outside, take a deep breath, and blow mother nature a kiss. We are lucky to have what we have. In honor of Earth Day, my plant-loving friend, “Lily”, posted about a campaign called Veg Week.

VegWeek is seven-day celebration highlighting the many benefits of choosing vegetarian foods—for our health, the planet, and animals—and thousands of people nationwide are taking the 7-Day Veg Pledge as a fun way to discover new and delicious meat-free meals!

Despite have a plethora of vegetarian friends, I’d never considered walking on the dark side, I mean, green side. I’m looking forward to trying something new and blogging about the experience. I, Angel Stone, take the Veg Pledge to be my lawfully wedded husband. For the next 7 days, I promise not to nag, complain, or whine. I will be the perfect wife.

Anyone else up for the challenge? At least for a day or two? If not, do me a favor. Say a little prayer for me and my precious lean muscle. I hope it doesn’t go away.

I hope you’re not running in bulky shoes. (Looking at you with the side eye.) I’m not saying you need to wear the five finger, uber-minimal shoe, but your shoes should be as light as they can be for you. If you’re guilty of having too much shoe on your shoe, it’s time to trim the fat.

But trim the fat gradually. You’ve spent most of your life wearing bulky shoes so there may be discomfort in the beginning. It’s a change. Give your body time to adapt. Having said that, if you still feel discomfort after the break-in period, you might need to try a different shoe.

If you’re in the market for a lighter shoe (and you should be), these shoes will work great for running. They will also suffice for other activities, such as bootcamps, strength training, elliptical training, etc. The shoes I’ve listed below (also seen in first image) have varying degrees of support so you can find something that works for you.

Note: When moving to a lighter shoe, consider the health of your feet, i.e. flat arches, weak ankles, bunions, etc. Find the shoe that works for you. When you do, may you soar above the crowd.

1. New Balance WT101 (good for trail running) 2. Adidas Running Adizero Cadence 3. Mizuno Wave Universe 3 4. Mizuno Wave Ronin 3 (men sizes only) 5. Nike Zoom Streak XC 2 (great for cross country) 6. Brooks Green Silence 7. Saucony Grid Type A4 (very minimal) 8. Brooks T6 Racer 9. Inov-8 (not shown above; click here to see)

By mid-afternoon, do you hit a wall? Do you feel more sluggish, more stressed or more likely to send a curt email to the co-worker who keeps asking dumb questions?  What do you do in that situation? Mutter “sweet” nothings under your breath, email your best friend about your dumb co-worker, or smoke crack/chocolate /potato chips in hopes of numbing the pain.

The lunch you eat (or don’t) could be contributing to the 3pm scowl on your face. You’d be surprised how much food affects mood. I’d wager that a subway sandwich plus a side of chips will not facilitate your quest for world dominance. (By the way, do you people still eat Subway? That motto “eat fresh” no longer applies. Have you seen the chicken? It looks like a light-skinned hamburger that was pressed between a set of leggos. But I digress.) I encourage you to play around with your lunch options. Eat something different for lunch and see if your 3pm demeanor improves.

What should I eat for lunch, Angel Stone? Don’t worry, lil’ rabbit, I’ll tell you.

Fitness magazine has listed 9 great lunch ideas under 400 calories. Many of these are Angel Stone approved. Some of the meals include Quinoa Chicken salad, Tuna Nicoise, and the Greek Yogurt Chicken salad (brilliant). To see how to make everything, go here.

Are you calm and classy at 3pm? If so, tell us what’s on your plate.

Fitness Magazine released a list of 9 healthy breakfasts, each one coming in under 300 calories. Other than the fact that bread showed up in half of the dishes, I was pleased with their choices. (Disclaimer: I’m not anti-bread; I had a bagel between spin classes today. But I do think people rely on bread too much, eating it just because. I don’t eat bread every day and I don’t think you should. Why? Why not? There’s a ton of food more nutritionally delightful than bread. Stop taking the easy route every time. Try something new, boo.) The huevos rancheros, seen above, looks amazing to me. Check out the website to see 8 more breakfast ideas.

This isn’t a workout song. This is a pre-workout song.

The next time you’re negotiating with yourself, telling yourself that you’ll “exercise tomorrow”, that you “deserve a break”, that you “worked out really hard last week”, play this song. Listen to the lyrics and watch your self-pity disappear. If by the end of this song, you aren’t lacing up your shoes, shadowboxing, or enroute to the gym, then perhaps you had the song on mute.

Stic.Man, from Dead Prez, is an exceptional talent. Instead of writing a song about the hoes in his area code, he wrote a song (wait, a whole cd) about exercising, eating right, believing in yourself, and going for your dreams. I’m so in love right now.

Most mornings, I squeeze a whole lemon into my 32 oz. water bottle and sip on it throughout the morning. This works fine unless a seed slips into the mix. When that happens, I spend my time trying to avoid the seed. Or worse, I spit the seed back into the jug after it sneaks its way into my mouth. Necessary, yes. Classy, no.

This fruit infusion pitcher from Oneida would fix that.  I could still get my hydration on while maintaining my swagger. (The people who know me would argue that I never had swagger but they’re wrong, I tell you, wrong!)

Most people don’t drink enough water. This is a great way to stay hydrated and keep it fun. I bet pineapple flavored water tastes amazing.

P.S. For those who have no idea what I’m referencing in the title of this post, consider yourself lucky.