Exploring veganism...the raw food debate. (Also, minor setbacks!)

Hello Veggies!
I am sad to report I have had some setbacks. Initially, I set out to change my habits prior to my birthday, and now my birthday is basically here...and I am just getting started. I must be perfectly honest, in that I have not tried very hard to stick to a vegan regimen. Last week, I was back in my hometown of Ohio with my family for Christmas. My Mother has always been very respectful of my decision to cut meat out of my diet, but I did not want to ask her to remove eggs/dairy. So I enjoyed macaroni and cheese, cookies, cheese cake, and more. My plan was to get back on track at home, but my husband's uncle prepared the most delicious carrot cake for me EVER! And I am just so happy, but I obviously have been nibbling it (more like devouring it). My problem is that in the past year I have developed some emotional eating tendencies, and gain gratification from sweets. It is best, I steer clear of them until I can stick to a satisfying and healthful diet. SO tonight I wrapped up the cake, and have packed the remaining portions in the freezer. Cakes freeze! Just refrigerate the cake to harden the icing, cut the pieces, wrap tightly in plastic wrap and stash in a freezer bag. I can now take normal portions out every so often when I need a treat!!! Score!
This week I found myself searching for more information about women who participate in fitness/figure competitions, and ran across Erin Moubray, a pro bikini competitor on a LOW FAT HIGH CARBOHYDRATE VEGAN DIET! She follows a diet by a gentleman named Dr. Douglas Graham called the 80 10 10 diet. This diet is composed of 80% Carbs 10% Protein 10% Fat. I became quite curious because she has wonderful muscular definition, and I read the book myself. It was an interesting read. In general, he advocates a diet made up of fruits, and smaller portions of green leafy vegetables. Nuts, seeds, and fatty fruits/vegetables such as avocado are limited. In addition to this, he strictly forbids vinegar (good - bye salad dressings!), added salt, and alcohol to name a few. As you can imagine, to consume sufficient calories, one must consume meals of many bananas, whole watermelons, etc. I have thought about this pretty hard, and I can not confidently support this book for the following reasons:
1) I believe vegetarians/vegans should supplement the diet with Vitamin D/B12. Well, to each its own. However, deficiencies are real and serious.
2) At times, it seems he blames ailments such as cancer solely on our diets. Of course, we can not deny poor diet can increase the risk of developing certain types of cancer (endometrial, colon, breast, etc.). However, even people in perfect health can develop cancer, and there are other causes of cancer known/unknown.
3) Dr. Graham implies this diet is the ONLY WAY! Yes, I love plant based diets, but we can not make generalizations. People have to do what is best for their lifestyle.
4) In one part of the book he claims people who eat salad with olive oil are not eating a healthy meal because most of the calories come from fat. However, I think if you eat a salad with a few teaspoons of olive oil as opposed to a burger, you are doing alright.
There are good points in the book!! You may want to pick it up and see for yourself, as he does include large numbers of references (scientific evidence), for personal research. In the end I have come away with some good ideas. I do like the promotion of fresh, and organic produce in the diet. I do think fruits can be consumed in larger portions in the diet, and should not be grouped together with refined sugar filled foods. According to the book, natural sugars from fruits do not wreak havoc on insulin levels, like refined sugars.
I can not believe I have been through four years of medical school, and learned so little about nutrition. With obesity on the rise, I feel it should be a greater portion of the curriculum. I can definitely see how people are confused about what to eat now a days. I still believe, the closer to a whole food you can get ... THE BETTER!
Tomorrow, my birthday, and the last day of the year...I will embark on a vegan adventure. I will be continuing my supplements. Giving up the diet sodas. Limiting coffee. Eliminating desserts. Eating lots of fruits and vegetables. Here are my diet thoughts at this point, we will call this 12/31/11 Day 1.
1) Emphasize mostly fresh/organic fruits and vegetables. Limit fat to no more than 15% of my diet. I will continue to consume my protein through natural sources (Some resources recommend 0.8 grams per kilogram of body weight -- that's 40ish grams per day for me). Therefore, I will not be spending money on super foods/powders.
2) I will stick to raw simple meals for breakfast and lunch. For dinner, I will consider cooked options like quinoa, tofu or beans *both of which Dr. Graham denounces. However, I may decide three raw meals in a day is great!!! (I kind of want to give it a little try! Erin looks so good).
3) I will not be intermittent fasting because of the larger quantities of fruits I must eat.
That's about it!!!
4) I will eat at least 2,000 calories daily. Even though I am squishy.
I want to leave you all with a tidbit about diet/exercise. This week, I learned fruit can make decent meals. Experiment with fresh fruit and a blender if you are busy with children, or work. I recommend experimentation! This week, I used about 8 ounces of fresh squeezed OJ, two bananas, and about half a cup of berries to make a good smoothie. My dance teacher always says she starts everyday with organic blueberries, and she is always gleaming. They are full of antioxidants as well, so do try them. Also, look up recipes for GREEN SMOOTHIES where leafy greens are incorporated...often you can't even taste it.
Lastly, today in the gym I worked my chest. I use a machine to perform the incline and decline chest press. I also use a traditional chest press machine. Everyone I talk to feels the chest press on the decline is hardest, so I try not to progress too much (not yet) in the amount of weight I'm using when I am performing the incline chest press, so I can keep things as even as possible. I also perform push ups! They are awesome, do them! See you tube, or bodybuilding.com for pointers on technique. Lastly, I perform a "fly." (Think about pulling arms in toward your chest, much like a bird). I use a machine for this exercise as well. However, there are free weight variations of these motions. Pick whatever works for you!
P.S. I would like to thank my carnivorous former roommate for teaching me how to correctly purchase mango fruits. HAPPY NEW YEAR! PEACE&LOVE.

Christmas week! Eating more! Peanut sauce!

Hi veggies!
Lazy Sunday is coming to an end, and it's time to gear up for Christmas- time. This weekend I did not fast because I work out first thing in the mornings with my husband, and I do not believe in heavy lifting on an empty tank. It makes me feel like utter crap!!! Started both days with big bowls of oatmeal with dried fruit and had more than enough energy the entire morning to do everything I needed to do!
I have been reading about macronutrient ratios and vegan body building. Everything I read concludes to gain MUSCLE, one must eat MORE than the caloric needs for the day. www.bodybuilding.com has an awesome meal/work out plan for women (&men) interested in either losing weight, or gaining muscle. If I plug my info in it, it recommends around 2100 calories, so I guess I will try this. Nervous and RELUCTANT to do so given I'm a little squishy around the edges...but I want muscle, muscle burns calories, and thus burns fat. Also, many of the sample vegan body building diets do not adhere to the 40 40 20 macronutrient rule. I believe this is because many of the vegan sources of protein also contains carbohydrates. Example: Quinoa, beans, etc. In these plans women consumed around 125 grams of protein, 250 grams of carbohydrates, and fat levels varied. This is difficult to adapt as I did not have their weight/height information, but I get the general idea. I will continue to research this matter in detail, and update my blog if I can find more specifics. However, I am afraid I am in the dark about this matter at the moment. One helpful site is www.veganbodybuilding.com .
I would like to share a healthy and delicious recipe I found in Oxygen magazine (January). I do not prescribe to the magazine, but I am receiving three or four free issues. I have mixed feelings about the magazine for several reasons. 1) Every other page is an ad for some powder/pill which melts fat and/or puts on muscle. I prefer to do things more naturally. I believe people in desperate desire for a new, hot, and sleek physique are impressionable and pills are not a quick fix. On the other hand, they gotta pay bills. 2) The MAIN diet/exercise article was geared toward fat loss. For example: Only 1600 calorie/day allowance. The magazine is chock-ful of muscle - y women, and I am pretty sure most of them eat more. Anyhow, I digress. I found a pretty good recipe for peanut sauce, and actually had everything I needed for it. Bonus. I used it on top of sauteed tofu, and it worked well. Here it goes, from memory!
Peanut sauce Ingredients: 1/4 cup peanut butter (natural), 1/4 cup water, 1 tsp. low sodium soy sauce, 1/4 teaspoon ginger *I used allspice, because that's what I have on hand! Worked just fine.* 2 cloves fresh garlic, 1 tablespoon lime juice. 
(I know! I can't believe I actually have things like fresh garlic and lime juice randomly in my kitchen. Clearly, I'm grown!)
Just combine all the ingredients in a blender. If you are nit - picky over calories...simply plug the recipe into the calculator at www.myfitnesspal.com.
Anyways veggies (and others), if you are interested in becoming vegan, and your excuse for not trying it is expense; Check out the book Eat Vegan on $4 a day By Ellen Jaffe Jones. This is an optimal starter book. It was a nice, easy read, and not as mean or as extreme as Skinny B*tch. I MUST jot down some awesome quotes from the book:

"Today the lines between advertisements and news are so blurred, even an educated consumer can find it difficult to recognize a legitimate source and message."

"...a great number of government policies favor the promotion of animal based foods, such as meat and dairy, over vegan foods such as beans, fruits, vegetables, and whole grains. Government subsidies can make some foods, such as cheeseburgers, more affordable than salads."

"The USDA sets advertising budgets for agricultural products based on how much money is collected for them, and by far the greatest funding goes to marketing animal based foods."

"Commodities such as dairy/meat, which are indisputably linked with heart disease, obesity and other diseases of affluence, are at the top of the food chain of promotion dollars."

I think I have made my point! Ha! In the future, I will post about proteins and the vegan diet. Trust me, you can get EVERYTHING you need from a vegan diet, as long as you are informed. You do not need EXPENSIVE herbs, and formulas. I have been plotting my conversion for awhile, I have thoroughly checked all of this out! It really makes me mad that our government sells us out. You can not BELIEVE everything told to you regarding dietary recommendations when there is money to be made. It really gets me downright mad! Sigh*** Read the book, spread the word, make your dollar talk for you.
I didn't work out today. Make sure you give yourself at least one full day of rest per week. I am totally sore from a killer leg work out yesterday. My most effective moves include: the weighted squat machine, weighted calf raises, the abductor (thighs out)/adductor (thighs in) leg machines, leg extension machine, (quadricepts), leg flexion machine (hamstrings) and the awesome leg press. If you plan to eat in excess one day, legs are a great muscle group to focus on because you will burn calories for a substantial period of time after the work out. Good deal! Also, my husband always reminds me to challenge myself each workout, the last reps of each set should be difficult. Strength training should not be a breeze!
Ok, folks. It's my bedtime. Peace&Love! Xxxxxxxx

PS If you are a facebook friend of mine, who actually reads my blog, and also considers veganism...let me know! I will gladly chit chat with you. Same goes for any other fitness/diet concerns! I would be utterly flattered!

Intermittent Fasting / Quinoa - Black beans

Afternoon veggies!!!


Today I bring bad new and good news. The first bit: I haven't been following my plan at all. Not one bit! For example, my husband and I made fudge together over the weekend. It contained chocolate, sugar, milk, and marshmallow creme (which is by no means un-processed!). I also had pizza. I have been religiously going to the gym. That's about it. But as always, I will plunge onward!


The good bit: I read a lot of nutritional resources online. I have decided to try IF intermittent fasting to melt fat and build my muscles. Months ago, I read a book called the Alternate Day Diet (The up and down day diet) by a Dr. Johnson. It was a good read, and discussed alternating calories every other day. He recommends eating 20% to 60% of maintenance calories on the down day *depending on your goals of losing/maintaining*and 100% on the up day. His plan is based on pretty sound research (animal/human) which proves creating this type of caloric deficit promotes health in a variety of ways. For example: blood pressure stabilization.


Drawn to this idea, I stumbled upon the concept of a daily fast in order to enhance metabolism and burn fat. Daily fasts affect metabolic hormones such as insulin, glucagon, leptin, and more. Many of these hormones involve the usage/storage of substances such as sugar, and fat. If you are interested in these topics in greater detail, I recommend exploring www.leangains.com or finding a text book.


I plan to consume all daily calories between 1PM and 9PM. Otherwise I will be consuming, tea, black coffee and water. I will maintain my calories at 1500 for now, however I suspect I will need to increase this # to see positive muscle gains in the future. I will consume three vegetarian/vegan meals. I will not belabor the vegan part of my lifestyle YET, as I know it isn't smart to make a bunch of changes at once. My workout will be incorporated after the 1st or 2nd meal.


And guess what! I started today. I was perfectly content all morning, just as long as I had something cool to drink. Specifically, I drank several cans of seltzer, black coffee, and one to go -diet coke (Must quit these!). I experienced no headaches, crankiness or confusion. I was on the run with my son all morning. I broke the fast at 1 SHARP with a delicious dish of quinoa and black beans...which leads me to my NEXT topic.




How to make quinoa/black beans. I found an awesome recipe on www.allrecipes.com . I memorized it pretty much:
Ingredients (in no specific order)- black beans, quinoa, onion, vegetable broth, garlic, cumin, chili powder, cilantro.
1) In a saucepan, saute garlic (3 cloves) and 1 small onion in a teaspoon of your chosen oil. I just used PAM. Cook for about two minutes on low-medium heat.
2) Add 1.5 cups of vegetable broth, and bring to a boil over medium - high heat. Add in 0.75 cup of quinoa, reduce heat and simmer for 15 to 20 minutes.
3) Remove saucepan from heat. Toss in 1 can of black beans.
4) Add 1 teaspoon cumin, 0.25 teaspoon chili power, and 2 tablspoons cilantro. Stir it up!


That's basically it! I made it a bit more interesting by serving sauteed peppers/onions, and yves vegan ground crumbles over the quinoa. I topped it off with a tablespoon of vegan sour cream.
Pretty much the possibilities are endless. This could be served with any meat, salsa, avocado etc.
This will def. be a meal time staple!


As for exercise, today I will be training my chest. I will use the treadmill for 20 minutes alternating rapid/slow intervals. I will perform at least 1) the incline/decline chest press machine for 3 sets of 10, 2) incline/decline/traditional pushups, 25 of each kind, 3) the chest press machine for 3 sets of 10 (this machine differs from the previous ones, because once the arms are extended you press the arms together to form an arc motion).


Thank you for reading! 10 DAYS to CHRISTMAS! Peace and Love!

TGIF: I can't live on 1200 calories (Well, I just don't want to)

Hola veggies!

I made a few plans to my lifestyle changes. FIRST OFF!!! Ain't no way I am sticking to 1200 calories. Insane. Tried it earlier this week, and I was really hungry. I am sure it is totally workable for some, but I won't get the results I need with only 1200 calories. My main goal is to gain musculature, and in this process, lean out. I was faced with the choice to cut calories or eat to build muscle, and I have opted to try the latter. Muscle = increased metabolism = fat burnage. Good enough for me. The bottom line is to eat CLEAN. That's sorted!!!!

Next, I had to figure out how to achieve the 40 40 20 ratio with vegan food sources with the "my fitness pal" application. Admittedly, this was a bit difficult because a lot of great plant sources of protein also have a decent amount of carbohydrates. In addition to this, many vegan foods are low in calories, and I increased my goal to 1800!! Soy products, such as tempeh and tofu are an exception. I also discovered nuts and seeds have large amounts of protein, and plenty of good fats. Too many nuts bumps the daily limit above 20%. Needless to say this took a lot of tweeking.

In the end, I decided to purchase a vegan protein powder called MRM veggie protein. It contains around 130 cals per scoop, and provides a bit over 20 grams of protein. I can't wait to receive it! Here is the rest of my shopping list for the week: almond milk, organic apples, quinoa, black beans in a can, yves ground "meat" (soy alternative-not highly processed), salsa, onions, peppers, hummus (pre-made), edamame (soy beans), tofu, green beans, yellow peas, sweet potatoes, seeds and a few other items. I generally pick four or five meals and eat them all week. I don't eat three different types of meal each day of the week. I will avoid the boring details of listing my meals and nutrients, etc. etc. Here is the general meal plan: Meal 1 - Protein shake with almond milk, Meal 2 - Black beans, sauteed peppers/onions and faux meat on quinoa (salsa on top!), Meal 3 - Hummus and edamame, Meal 4 - Protein shake with almond milk, Meal 5 - Baked tofu cubes (marinated with Braggs liquid aminos) with a side of green beans, Meal 6 - NEW RECIPE! yellow pea&sweet potato soup, Meal 7 - little piece of greater than 70% cocoa dark chocolate. I will post the soup recipe this weekend!

Lastly, I wanted to touch on my weekly work out routine. I probably previously mentioned I train muscle groups once a week. I generally aim to do about 3 to 4 exercises for each muscle group. I perform 3 sets and 8 to 10 repetitions of each exercise. I increase the weight with each set. If I can not complete the reps, I decrease the weight. All my movements are slow and controlled. No rocking, using momentum, etc. I SHOULD be keeping track of the weight I'm using to continuously challenge myself. On the website www.bodybuilding.com you can sign up for a free account and log your progress. This is an awesome site to figure out what exercises to do, and there are also little instructional videos. Also, you tube is helpful as well. As for cardio, I use the treadmill for 20 to 30 minutes after each work out. Today, I will be working my shoulders with the following exercises: military shoulder press *machine, front&lateral raise with free weights, and the shoulder shrug *machine -- I don't know what you call it. Sorry! And shoulder press with free weights. To name a few! I'm still learning how to work each part of the muscle group, so I will update you as I learn.


Oops...not done yet! For lunch today I had a Good veggie sandwich. If you live near Winston Salem North Carolina, check out The Carving Board, which is a deli with soups, sandwiches, and salads. Order the veggie sandwich MINUS the mayo, and MINUS the cheese. Add dijon mustard. It was so yummy. It had roasted assorted peppers, avocado, cucumber, carrots, tomato, onion and lettuce. I ordered it on oat bread, and it was very fresh! I would provide a visual, but I ate it. Ha. Peace and Love!!!!

December is here!

Hi Veggies!
Once again, excited for my second blogpost! As I mentioned previously, I am focusing a lot! on exercise, fitness and the like. My birthday is at the end of the month. I have selected my birthday as a "goal" for my ideal physique. That being said...I will be sticking to a vegan 40 40 20 - 1200 calorie diet. 40% protein 40% carbohydrate 20% (good for me!) fat. In normal terms, I will be eating some more protein, and less carbohydrates. I have selected 1200 calories because this is the "recommended" caloric intake for a woman trying to lose a little weight. I picked up the bit about 40/40/20 from Shereena Johnston's Fitness page on facebook. She is a fitness bikini competitor, and a lovely source for exercise/diet concerns. Check her out!!! I will be logging all of my diet at www.myfitnesspal.com. This is a helpful tool because not only do you keep track of your diet, but you can also specify your nutrition goals. Check it out!!! I am pretty excited about this, because I couldn't find many links regarding higher protein/lower carbohydrate vegan diets on line. So perhaps, I can help others with similar goals. (I will try and post my stats to give ya'll some encouragement!)
Now I shall talk about the exercise bits. I will be attending an hour long cycle class three days this week. Monday through Saturday I will be lifting weights, one body group at a time. I may squeeze in pilates on Wednesday, we shall see. I will be working on these arms tommorow. I plan to incorporate hammer curls into my bicep routine. Hammer curls are different than your typical bicep curl because your arms are not supine (Holdin' soup), but rather rotated inward, such that the arms move like HAMMERS. Google it.
Lastly, I want to share a recipe with you. Last week, I bought some good 'ol quaker oats. The 5 minute kind. Oatmeal is a great source of complex carbohydrates, which means they do not cause an insulin spike like simple carbohydrates (example:white bread). They are coooomplex, thus they are processed slower, which is good. Anyways, I try and spice up my oats. I will cook it in almond milk/water, and add cinnamon and raisins to it. Raisins log in around 110 calories for 1/4 cup, and they are also high in sugar. They WILL NOT be appropriate for my goals at the moment.
Another oatmeal variation I like: cocoa-peanutbutter oatmeal. I cook the oatmeal according to the package. Then I add one tablespoon of cocoa, one tablespoon of peanutbutter, and one tablespoon flaxseed meal. Flaxseed meal is good, because it provides a PLANT source of omega three fatty acids, which are all the craze. (Meat eaters will boast they eat fish as a good source). It also fills you up! If you are not a baker, you may not be aware that cocoa is quite bitter, thus you may need some sort of sweetner for this conconction. I recommend Stevia, which is an ALL NATURAL zero calorie sweetner. Nothing artificial about it. Others will use agave nectar. There are many alternatives to fake sugar/white sugar. Unfortunately, all I have in my kitchen is brown sugar, and I use about a teaspoon of it. One teaspoon has 15 calories, and 4 grams of sugar. Thus you could make that call. Depends on  how much of a treat you want!!!! As for peanutbutter, I swear by all natural types made with no hydrogenated oils, it is much more creamy and peanut-ty. (Ha!) I even have my husband hooked. Although PB labels boast 0 grams trans fat, if you do not get the natural kind it lists PARTIALLY HYDROGENATED FAT under the ingredients, and it contains TRANS FAT. Which is quite bad for you, right up there with LDL fats. Just because a product boasts O gram trans fat, it may have MILLIgrams of it, so please read the ingredients folks, you don't want it at all. I'll step off my soapbox (for now). Peace & Love.

Excited!

Good evening friends, family, veggies!
I am too excited to finally start this blog. Thank you for visiting. I will be posting fairly frequently to keep track of my nutrition/exercise, and weekly I will try to discuss an article, recipe, news piece, book, or whatever applies.
I will begin by providing a little bit of background for those who don't know me. I'm from Ohio! I'm a month from thirty. I stay home with my two year old son. I graduated medical school in 2009, and I want to eventually become a child psychiatrist. I have been dabbling in vegetarianism forever. And I love to dance!!!
I became interested in veganism in 2011, and have been doing a lot of reading, and "googling" since then. Personally, I want to become "veganish" because I want to eat clean, decrease my carbon footprint, and feel comfortable about the origins of my foods. My husband and son both choose to keep their chicken, and I will continue to support that! My GOAL is to jump in head first -- tommorow -- that being said -- Christmas is on the horizon, and I will be going home AND partaking in dairy products. I just want to be perfectly honest with you!
I just joined a gym a couple months ago. I have been going about 5 days a week. My husband has so graciously helped me make a strength routine, which I will share with you down the road. Currently, I try to attend spin classes at the gym three times a week, and belly dance class once a week. I continuously tell myself when I reach my goals I can enter a fitness/figure contest, which is pretty much garbage, as I don't have the time, nor resources for such things! We all can dream! Right now, I am apparently 5'4", 120 1bs, 22% body fat. My goal is to trim down to about 18% body fat, and look better than I did in high school.
As I wrap up this post, I will admit I just finished off some Papa John's and two tofutti ice cream sandwiches (Yummy vegan treats!). It was all so very good, but the fun and games end now my-friends! Peace and love!