it’s been a while since i’ve written, i know. been pretty busy with the final touches of our website splash page and helping the boyfriend move. contrary to my vegan counterparts, who have both felt that they’ve lost weight this past month, i feel that i’ve gained a couple pounds, or at least lost some muscle tone. i attribute this to the lack of yoga in my schedule lately (no correlation, just sheer laziness) and a greater devotion to food and eating and consuming more than i normally do. i have never had a huge connection to food and can often times take it, or leave it. i’ve found that this month has brought more focus to what i ingest and i’ve had to be more mindful of my dietary requirements, thus consuming more calories (i think anyways. as jess mentioned, we don’t have a scale so this is all speculation). i have pledged to myself to get back on the yoga train for october to nip this in the bud-though i’m sure the consensus among most would be that i could use a few extra pounds 😉
ahh, now that that’s out of the way i wanted to share a bit of vegan wisdom that i have picked up along the way, the first being the title of this post…
1) blurring the meal lines-i struggled so much at first with the loss of eggs in the a.m. but never missed them any other time of day. once i let go of the cultural aspects of dining, what to have and at what point in the day, a weight was lifted. i began to have a protein, carb, and lotsa veggies whenever i sat down to eat and eventually breakfast transformed into simply the first meal of the day. nothing more, and free of preconceived notions of what that meal should be. samosas, soups and beans are some of my favourite morning nibbles now.
2)no cream – creamy-dairy has a an indescribable sumptuous texture, flavour and lasting memory. how can a dairy loving vegan duplicate this blessed food group? easy! blend, blend, blend! the food processor is a vegan’s third arm. so many foods, once blended become ‘creamy’. nuts, seeds, artichokes, avocado, a simple marinara put in the blender, tofu, just to name a few.
3) yay falafel!-i’d like to pay homage to that lovely little deep-fried chickpea nugget. falafel is fantastic and has definitely contributed to my vegan success. in fact, i’ve found middle eastern cuisine in general to be quite conducive to the vegan lifestyle. try it and love it today 🙂
4) getting some help from supplements-now i don’t take pills, but i do lean on nutritional powder mixes, effervescent vitamin pouches and all natural electrolyte drinks for a boost in energy, vitamins minerals and essential nutrients. some may poo-poo this and prefer to get all their essentials from food, and to them i raise my vitamin water and toast them and their efforts…i need a little help from my friends 😉
5) stay cool-what i mean by this is just that. i have been blessed with incredible support from friends, co-workers and strangers and been able to engage in exciting and thought-provoking discussions regarding vegan food, the vegan lifestyle, animal rights and ethics. i have also been met with ignorant f**** that for some reason or another take my eating choices personally and have an inability or blatant disregard to examine where their food comes from, or at the very least, understand the vegan side of the fence. i’ve remained cool, remembering to pick my battles. i suspect that as we become more aware as a society of the negative effects of the meat industry on the environment and our bodies, that some of them may have a change of heart. and maybe one day they will look at a farm animal as an equal with it’s own intrinsic rights and not an object to be utilized. i give credit of that last sentence to my cousin brooke, innately vegan, defending animal rights every day with a vengeance! xo
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