Top of the mornin’ to ya!
Despite my horrible sleep on Tuesday night, I slept like a log last night.
Don’t you find that sleep after a bad night’s sleep is always so restorative and deep?
It’s the same with workouts the day after a rest day…they are always strong!
And don’t cravings for salads and fruit suddenly appear after a weekend of unhealthy fare?
Our bodies always find a way of balancing it all out! It is amazing when you think about it.
One of the best lessons I ever learned was to TRUST my body. My body is smart and so is yours. It knows how to function. The reason we get into trouble is that we start to second guess what our body is trying to tell us. We ignore that little voice that says, ‘Your leg just doesn’t feel right, you shouldn’t go for that run’ or ‘You are hungry and should eat more today.’
We are taught to ignore our bodies signals.
I talked briefly the other day about how my hunger that was off the wall. I felt like I had a hole in my stomach! In the past I would have ignored it and not allowed myself to eat more. This would often lead to a binge.
Now, if I am hungry I allow myself to eat more. I don’t binge anymore and I haven’t in probably 3 years. Sure, on occasion I still may overeat (I’m only human and I love food!!!), but I would take this any day over bingeing and the extreme guilt that comes with it.
Trusting my body seems so obvious to me now, but it was such a hard concept for me to learn after years of depriving myself.
Onward to my morning!
This morning I was up around 5:45am after a solid 7 hours sleep. After doing about 1.5 hours work on the computer with a warm cuppa, my body told me it needed food.
Vegan French Toast
One food I thought I would never have again after going vegan is French toast. I came across a vegan French toast recipe and decided to give it a shot. This recipe is adapted from Vegan Coach. I was absolutely blown away by how similar this recipe tastes to the non-vegan version.
Ingredients:
- 6 slices bread
- 1 cup non-dairy milk
- 2 Tablespoons silken tofu (I used 1 tablespoon coconut butter instead)
- 1 Tablespoons nutritional yeast
- 1 tablespoon sucanat or brown sugar
- 1 tsp. vanilla
- 1/2 tsp. sea salt
- 1/2 tsp. cinnamon
- dash of nutmeg
- EDITED to add: 1 banana!!!
Directions: Put all ingredients except bread into a blender and blend until smooth. Preheat a skillet with some oil (make sure to also use a non-stick pan!). Dip the slices of bread into the liquid mixture and then place onto the skillet. Cook on both sides until browned. Serve with fruit and pure maple syrup if desired. Serves 2-3.
The taste of the batter was fantastic! It reminded me a lot of regular French toast.
Make sure you use a non-stick pan and oil it really well.
Or this will happen…doh!!
I’m not sure if this was due to my pan or to the batter, but my French toast never got crispy on the outside. I haven’t had French toast in a long time, so I can’t remember if it is supposed to be crisp or not! Anyone? :)
It also may have been due to my substitution- I used coconut butter instead of silken tofu.
Regardless though, it tasted fabulous.
I thought it was going to need maple syrup or some nut butter to go with it, but it was just perfect plain! Eric really enjoyed it too.
Tea was had…
We shared a big bowl of juicy cantaloupe:
Just a quick note about Glo Bars:
- Sold out glo bars have been replenished in the cart!
- Heaven, Refresh, and variety packs are also on sale
- Please note: The last day to place an order and have it shipped out before I leave for vacation is Monday March 15th!! If you need to stock up, now is the time as I won’t be back to the bakery until early April.
Hope the sun is shining where you are!! :)
Not being able to sleep is terrible. You have the misery of having partied all night… without the satisfaction.
~Lynn Johnston
I always have problems with my creations sticking to the pan- I guess I never use quite enough fat :)
This post about listening to your body came at a good time for me. I am having a day where I need a work out rest (it was supposed to be tomorrow but I’m taking it a day early because I am exhausted). But I ALSO have been starving all day. Double whammy. No workout and starving? I guess I just need a break :)
that happened to me the other day…no energy AND starving. It can be hard to accept but sometimes it just happens. I think it is hormonal!
Mmm…. ANGELA! That vegan french toast looks amazing!!
And thanks for all your musings about listening to our bodies. I definitely have those days when I’m trying to weigh how tired I am, with how hungry I am, and if I’ll even get a good workout in and/or just end up hurting myself, etc. Some days our body just needs some rest, and other times it’s good to push through. Our bodies will definitely let us know.
Thanks for being such an inspiration!
Mmmmm…I LURVE french toast…but I always forget about it, for some reason! Thanks for the reminder ;-)
Have to agree on the french toast – looks great!
So true about listening to your body, something I’ve been working on and benefiting from a lot since going raw and re-vamping the reasons I eat healthy to total health and not just weight management.
The French toast looks just like “regular” french toast. Every recipe I’ve seen has tofu, and I can’t do soy…may have to try with just bananas.
My hunger has been INSANE for the last few days. And, i am the same way with not wanting to eat more than I normally do, or at irregular times (I’m kind of type a over here). But a couple days ago, I just ate what my body was craving when I was hungry and I slept like a baby that night!
I could not agree more that we need to listen to our bodies. They really do know what we need best. And I too didn’t overcome bingeing until I began to listen and feed it.
Ho weird. I slept horrible on Tuesday night as well. But last night I was a log! Today my allergies are killing me but I was able to get through a good workout which cleared them up. haha! I love this post on listening to your body. So true and much needed! I have to admite though, its easier said than done.
That breakfast looks amazing! I love love love vegan French toast! I haven’t had cantaloupe for AGES & could really go for some right now…
Hi Angela, I was just wondering where you purchase your chia seeds from. I can’t fin them where I live and some online sources seem do not seem reputable. Thanks
I have been trying for the last 3 years to make a good vegan french toast. It usually turns out soggy and I toss it in the garbage. I’ve pretty much given up on trying to make one that resembles the “real thing”. This last time I made sure my skillet was super hot before putting the pieces of bread on it. It worked better but the middle is still soggy. My husband thinks instead of dipping the bread I should use the pastry brush and brush the mixture on it.
I tooo was thinking of brushing on the batter next time!
I prefer french toast that is crunchy on the outside too! That’s how I make it at home, but when we go out for breakfast all the diners make them soft. I guess a lot of people prefer their frech toast soft?
What great looking vegan French Toast! You have given me an idea for a weekend breakfast – love it : )
you are so creative in the kitchen! love this recipe! looks divine. you’re right about the body… it sure knows what it wants ;)
Like you, I did not trust my body for the longest time. (I had trust issues in general,) I’m still in amazement on how it really tells you what it needs – we just need to listen.
yum yum yum!
i love french toast!
that cantaloupe also looks amazing.
Your post was so inspirational to me today. I am recovering from an eating disorder and allowing myself to be hungrier on certain days is a major challenge for me. Today I have been struggling with this and it was really fitting that I read your post. Thank you!
When you decided to adapt your diet to a vegan one, did you start slowly, adjusting in stages?
For instance, from a diet with meat, to a vegetarian one?
Or did you just one day clean house (so to speak) and start fresh as a vegan?
I’ve been slowly adapting my diet, eliminating meats (still eating fish though right now), the thought of going completely vegetarian and ultimately vegan is still kind of overwhelming!
Oh my goodness! Where did you get your teacup? I LOVE it! I have just recently started reading your site, and I had to submit my first comment when I saw that teacup.
Mmmm, vegan French toast sounds excellent!! It looks just like the real deal too :-)
I’m totally with you on the no binging thing….I went through a very traumatic thing in my life 2.5 years ago and for a full year I would binge for a whole weekend (drinking included) and then try to barely eat during the week….I actually gained 10 lbs (I was a college athlete and working out 4 hrs a day) that year which is a lot for volleyball! It is a great feeling to be able to control everything now…I allow myself to eat, and sometimes I will overeat like you but never anything like binging