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!