Vegan pizza and a ROCKIN spin class

One of my co-workers told me she tried her first spinning class last week. I was so excited for her until I realized how much she suffered. She said she showed up a few minutes after the class had started, and just decided to jump on a bike and go. She said by the end of the class she could barely walk, and that its taken  almost a week to recover.

After giving her some pointers about how to make her next class successful (i.e. going early enough to have her teacher show her how to properly set up her bike) I decided it had been long enough. I signed up for a 6:30 class and made it a point to go straight after work.

And I’m so glad I did.

I rocked this spin class. Seriously-it was one of the best spin experiences I’ve had…well, ever. I don’t know if it’s because I just got done running a half marathon, but I felt great. It was an hour long class with lots of hills and a crazy cadence session. Do you find the cadences to be harder than climbing hills? Because I sure do.

Anyway, I was so excited about this class that I will definitely be making an appearance more often. I liked the music and the teacher was cool, and that always makes or breaks a class.

When I got home, I tried something I’d been meaning to try for a while:

Last week I read Lisa’s blog  last week and saw was having a pizza party. I’ve been wanting to make some  for a few days, but I didn’t have any GF crust on hand and honestly, the thought of making it was too exhausting for me. I’ve seen other people make pizzas with just tortillas (HEAB) so I thought, why not give it a try?

I took one Food for Life Brown Rice Flour tortilla

  

and pan fried it on a dry pan for about 2 minutes each side.

Then I cut up a green zucchini and some arugula and  topped the tortilla with:

• 1/4 cup tomato basil pasta sauce
• 1/4 of the zucchini
• Daiya mozzerella cheese

OK, so I read about this cheese on HEAB’s blog and I’ll be honest-I’ve never really been a big fan of “fake” things. For some reason, this interested me so I decided to give it a shot.

I can’t believe how good this stuff is. And there is nothing fake about this ingredient list. Their website states:

Daiya Cheddar Style Shreds are made entirely from plant-based ingredients and are:

• Cholesterol free
• Trans Fat free
• Dairy free
• Free of all animal products (Vegan)
• Free of common allergens including:
• Soy, Casein, Lactose, Gluten, Egg, Wheat, Barley, Whey, Rice, and Nuts
• Free of Artificial Ingredients
• Free of Preservatives
• Free of Hormones & Antibiotics

The full list of ingredients are as follows:

Filtered water, tapioca and/or arrowroot flours, non-GMO expeller pressed canola and /or non-GMO expeller pressed safflower oil, coconut oil, pea protein, salt, vegan natural flavours, inactive yeast, vegetable glycerin, xanthan gum, citric acid (for flavor).

I’m trying to be cautious of how much dairy and soy I eat, as I tend to eat  a lot of both. I drink soy milk (down to only one serving a day) but I love cheese and Greek yogurt, so I figured this would be a good way to sub both. So good. It almost tastes like butter. You have to try it.

So after the cheese, I put the pizza back on the pan for another few minutes and covered it to let the cheese melt. The closest to a pizza alternative that I could find that actually satisfied me. Yum. It was the perfect compliment to my kick ass spin class.

How would I be sure not to lose where I am “shape” wise if I’m not planning on running as much? Would spinning, a yoga class, the occasional swim and a run once or twice a week be enough to maintain where I am in my training?