This is the winter of the polar vortex.  The winter of cold, depressing, climate zeniths, of crisp, painful winds, treacherous ice, burdensome snow, and hibernation. 

Except Day 4 of the Beachbody Ultimate Reset, which was a beautiful, glorious Saturday.  Sunny and warm, with not a cloud in the sky.  If I were not on the Ultimate Reset, I could tell you exactly where I would have been.  I would have been enjoying an al fresco brunch, soaking up the sun, breathing in the fresh air, feasting on eggs benedict and all-you-can-drink mimosas, happy to be alive on a wonderful weekend.

Did I get to enjoy the nice weather?  Sure.  Though, it was mostly walking to and from the grocery store, which was followed by hours spent in the kitchen preparing meals.  Sigh.  It took every bit of strength to remind myself that these 21 days will change my life.  It’s okay.  There will be other sunny brunch days in the future.

Anyway, day 4 was another delicious day.  I have thoroughly enjoyed every meal so far from the Ultimate Reset recipe book, and day 4 was no exception.

The breakfast included a fresh fruit plate with yogurt.  Flipping ahead in the Reset recipe book, I see that the breakfasts for the last week of the Reset are solely comprised of fruit.  No eggs, no grains, no yogurt (animal product) – just fruit.  Knowing that is what lies ahead of me, I am a little nervous about whether I will be satiated until lunch, but that is a hurdle I will have to face when i get there.

Day 4 Breakfast

 

Yeah.  I’m guilty.  I try to make these dishes look pretty for you, dear ready.  Enjoy!

Lunch.  I was so excited to make lunch because the recipes are fairly quick and simple:  nori rolls and lentil-lime salad.  I had made a big batch of brown rice a couple of days ago, so I wouldn’t have to wait the 30 minutes to cook the rice in order to make the nori rolls.  Well, I had my smokey tempeh cooked and I was ready to roll, then I realized I was out of brown rice!  Always make double, triple, heck, even quad batches of your grains, and when you are out, make more ASAP.  Lesson learned.  I fought the grains, and I won.  Too bad these will probably only last us a day or two.

Quinoa and Brown Rice Reserves

I have come to the conclusion that the nori rolls with smokey tempeh and veggies is my absolute favorite meal thus far in the Reset.  I’m really digging the smokey tempeh, even craving it, and kind of sad that I don’t see it further in the recipe book.  I will definitely be making these post-Reset.  The nori rolls were accompanied by the lentil-lime salad that I had earlier this week.

Day 4 Lunch

Finally, dinner included stir-fried veggies, a cucumber and tomato salad, quinoa, and nori gomasio.  Nori gomasio is essentially a seasoning that you make for some of the Asian-inspired dishes that involves grinding up a toasted nori sheet (which I did on the stove), some Himalayan salt, and a bunch of sesame seeds.  It really made the stir-fried veggies.

Day 4 Dinner