Moving

Hello all I have moved to www.questtobehealthy.com. My twitter is @McChopra. I hope you follow me....

Skinny Bastard

I just read Skinny Bastard by the folks who wrote Skinny Bitch. I have to say I have a strong stomach and am not usually moved to tears however, reading their descriptions of animals in slaughterhouses just reaffirmed plant strong all the way.

On the weekend I was introduced to a new vegan cookbook called Veganomicon which is awesome. There are lots of great recipes in there with a fair amount that don't include soy which is nice for a change. I try to keep my soy consumption to once per week.

Yesterdays meal was quinoa falafels on romaine lettuce leaves with a red wine vinaigrette. It was awesome. Today's breakfast was a big bowl (high fibre/high protein cereal) with hemp milk, and pink grapefruit. Snack was carrots, celery, and peppers with hummus. For lunch I am having some dirty rice and for dinner I am having more quinoa falafels.

Exercise has been a struggle, on Saturday I did some kettle bells, push ups and planks. The kettle bell swings killed my legs. Sunday I attempted P90X2 Yoga but kids got in the way so I ended up doing a bunch of pushups and sit ups. Monday was a holiday here so I took the kids on a long walk down to the Marsh by our house on the lake. The rest of the week it has not happened. This must change.

A Very Long Time

Hello,

it has been a very long time since I have made a post. I have to Christmas and New Years was rough. Totally fell of the Vegan wagon and ate lots of meat and bad food. The downside is I now weigh again what I did when I started. I also feel awful. Tired, lack of energy, bloated and just generally not feeling very well.

This brings me to today. I am back on the wagon and firmly back into the vegan lifestyle. I am using livestrongs Daily Plate to keep track of what I am eating as a way to make my eating more conscious. Even when I was eating fully vegan I had the desire to stuff my face all the time. Tracking what I eat keeps me from stuffing my face.

Health wise I need to start exercising as well. I am in such bad cardiovascular shape that climbing stairs leaves me winded. Pretty sad. I am going to slowly get back into exercise. So for the first couple of weeks it will be 30 minutes a day of cardio or strength training. I find if I do too much too soon I end up sick and then lose the will to continue.

I have learned that moderation is not for me. People always tell why not just eat moderately instead of 100% vegan. Well beside the obvious health reasons I have not moderation in me. If there is a bag of chips or a pound of bacon it will be devoured.

While I am at it I am trying to cut out TV and read more. I find TV to be such a time sucker and I figure I can use that time for other things. So keep watching for updates....

Raw Food

I am not sure why but for the most part when I eat in a raw food restaurant I always end up feeling slightly off afterwards. It must have something to do with the rich sauces they use.

I am starting to think that making my own raw food is the way to go. I have a dehydrator, mandolin, and spiralizer so all I need now is time. Tonight I am going to try out the spiralizer to make some zucchini noodles.

The inlaws are coming over for dinner and they always want to bring the meal when they come but now that I am vegan that is harder for them. They worry I think that I am not getting enough food. Strange how people think that a vegan diet is not sufficient to survive.

TGIF everyone.




- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

It has been a long time

Sorry it has been so long. I am still Vegan but had slipped into a few too many carbs. I am now back into full swing. I have been eating lots of raw food, thank you to Rawlicious and Live Food Bar.

Tonight I had some spiraled zucchini noodles with hemp, seeds, nuts, shredded cabbage, red onions, and tomatoes. The dressing was pesto. It was so good that even my kids started to eat it. The folks at live food bar certainly know what they are doing.

I am going to head out and buy a spiralizer tomorrow so I can make my own "noodles".


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Stuffed Tomatoes

I ate this last night and really enjoyed it:

1/2 cup quinoa
1 cup veggie broth
several tomatoes depending on the size
2 tbsps cumin
2 tsps salt
1 onion diced
3 cloves of garlic mashed
1 pepper diced
1/2 cup chickpeas
1 lemon
1 handful parsley

1. Saute the onion, garlic and pepper until it gets soft then add cumin and quinoa (don't forget to rinse quinoa under cold water).
2. After 2 minutes add veggie broth and simmer covered for 15-20 minutes or until water is nearly absorbed. Pre-heat oven to 400 degrees celcius. Core and seed tomatoes
3. Add chickpeas, juice of 1 lemon, and parsley(chopped finely) simmer covered for another 5 minutes
4. Stuff tomatoes with the quinoa mixture and put in the oven for 15-20 minutes.

Enjoy. This was really delicious and fairly simple to make.

Change of Direction

Okay so it has been awhile to which I must apologize however in my defense with the start of school and homework and busier work schedule I have not had a lot of extra time. The good news is I am still 100% vegan and going strong. I really don't miss meat and the only time I have tried meat while vegan it tasted nasty and made me feel sick.

The change of direction is I read an amazing article about a book called Wheat Belly. Apparently the wheat we eat today has been so drastically changed that it is making us sick and causing us to get fat. As a newly minted vegan I have relied heavily on vegan breads to get me through. However after reading this article and now listening to the audio book I have not choice but to go Gluten Free. Great so now I am the Gluten Free Vegan as if I didn't get enough jokes already.

For those of you who are interested here is a link to the article:
http://www2.macleans.ca/2011/09/20/on-the-evils-of-wheat-why-it-is-so-addictive-and-how-shunning-it-will-make-you-skinny/

I have to say this article explains a lot to me. Why as a vegan I still don't have the energy I would have expected to have.

One of the neat things about being vegan has been that it has forced me outside of my culinary box and I find that every night I am making something different for a meal. This weekend for a joke I made a vegan tofu "bacon" club sandwich. It was surprisingly great. Though I know I shouldn't eat those types of things very often it was fun and tasted exactly like a conventional club sandwich.

I am going to my parents house for Canadian Thanksgiving which is in two weeks. They are freaking out not knowing what to make me. I have just told them I will look after myself for the most part and just to make lots of salads. Though I have to say I made some awesome stuffed squashes on the weekend with quinoa, sauteed squash, onion, garlic, red pepper, spinach, chickpeas, lemon juice and parsley. It was quite good and I think Thanksgiving worthy.

I hope you all are doing well and going strong.

All the best

Jeremy