Vida Vegan Con Wrap Up

31 Aug

I’m back from Vida Vegan Con and working to catch up on life. I still need to put away all the awesome free stuff I received! For more information on what I actually did at the convention, check out my live blog posts at Vegan Homemade – day one, two and three. I’ll also post a wrap up there with more pictures and my notes and thoughts soon.

I mostly stuck to the strategies I laid out to handle being in Portland without blowing up like a balloon. When I wanted to try everything, I took reasonable portion sizes (except for the doughnut and the giant burrito…ahem). In the lunch line on Sunday I even received a comment on my “restraint” – in a good way, not a snarky way. I didn’t have time to track during the weekend like I had wanted to, but I did track everything once I got back home. Tracking tip: If you don’t have time to track and are afraid you’ll forget everything you eat and drink, take a quick cell phone picture to reference later when you do have time. It will not only remind you what you had, but provide an idea of the portion sizes as well. I had to guess a lot since I didn’t know how dishes were prepared, but guessing is better than not tracking.

I ran my scheduled Couch to 5K session on Friday along the waterfront in downtown Portland. I didn’t know it was going to be so hot! I struggled to finish all 20 minutes of jogging and got a little lost trying to get back to the hotel. I thought I might have a mini heat stroke by the time I finally got back, but I was really glad I went because I didn’t find a single minute to exercise for the rest of the weekend.

I went over my points allowance for the week by quite a bit, but I knew that would happen and was okay with it. All the deliciousness in Portland was worth it. I’ll come up with some exact numbers in my next post.

Warning: The pictures below are not all Weight Watchers friendly! They are what I ate though, so I’m putting ’em.

Friday 8/26/11

breakfast – Hottie Black Eyed Peas & Greens, creamed corn, red onion and patty pan squash sauteed in 3/4 tsp Earth Balance (dinner for breakfast to finish up leftovers), iced coffee with soy milk
lunch – Food Should Taste Good multigrain chips, roasted red pepper hummus, dried apricots, 1/2 oz dark chocolate, 8 oz beer (snacks and free beer sample on the flight)
PM snack – half a Chocolate Chip Brownie Larabar
dinner – macnocheeto (burrito with macnocheese, peppers, onions, smoked soy curls and barbecue sauce), mint tea
reception/late night – 8 oz champagne, hazelnut cheese samples, lemon cupcake, 42 oz light beer, 16 oz regular beer, chick-o-stick doughnut (it was a long night)

Exercise – Couch to 5K Week 6 Day 2 (20 minutes running, 13 minutes walking)

Daily points used: 29
Weekly points used: 34
Activity points earned: 5
Activity points used: 14
Extra (non-existent) points used: 2

Mediterranean Tapas picnic pack available on Alaska Airlines

looks innocent enough on the outside...

Macnocheeto!

Heido Ho hazelnut cheese samples

Chick-o-Stick doughnut from Voodoo Doughnut

Saturday 8/27/11

breakfast: fruit salad with chia pudding, tofu scramble with mushrooms, roasted potatoes, one pancake, small biscuit with white bean gravy, apple cobbler, Greek coconut yogurt, coffee with coconut creamer
AM snack: kid-size oatmeal raisin granola bar
lunch: barbecue tempeh, orzo salad, pesto potato salad, raw cauliflower hummus with crudite, kale salad, beet salad, dark chocolate coconut ice cream bar
PM snack: half a Chocolate Chip Brownie Larabar
dinner: Gardein crispy tenders with sweet mustard sauce, mini burger, half a fresh roll, crostini with spinach dip, pizza with jalapeno, pineapple and almond, coconut ice cream sundae, 10 oz red wine, , 12 oz beer
late night snack: pastrami-style seitan on rye with sauerkraut and spicy mustard, root beer

Daily points used: 29
Extra (non-existent) points used: 55

buffet breakfast

...and buffet lunch

dark chocolate coconut ice cream bar

Galarama snacks = dinner. Gardein crispy tenders own me.

gluten-free pizza from Sizzle Pie

Coconut Bliss ice cream sundae with chocolate sauce, peanut butter, ricemellow creme and sprinkles

Upton's pastrami-style seitan sandwich

Sunday 8/28/11

breakfast – fruit salad, roasted potatoes, tofu scramble, two small biscuits with white bean gravy, coffee with mimicreme
lunch – large soft taco with lettuce, soyrizo, soy curls, salsa, guacamole, sour cream, pico de gallo and pepperjack Daiya, spanish rice, raw walnut taco meat, Food for Lovers queso, iced tea
dinner – airport salad (lettuce, chickpeas, kidney beans, black beans, tomatoes and fat free raspberry dressing), “N’Oatmeal” raisin cookie, airplane snack mix
PM snack – 2 cups popcorn

Daily points used: 29
Extra (non-existent) points used: 19