Diet/Excersise...week 9

So it has been a while since posting about how my Veganism and Exercise routine have changed my life so completely, not really but in a way it has. I must say first about 5 years or so ago I did Weight Watchers with a group of teachers I worked with and I did enjoy it. I pretty much ate what I wanted to and watched my points. The only thing after I lost my 10% and then maybe a few more pounds, I plateaued got frustrated and slowly gained that 25 pounds back, so I was hovering around 226 for the past few years, I took some off but it always came back. So this year when I went to see my doc she told me straight I needed to lose weight, I needed to get my cholesterol in check and I needed to become healthier, so I did. In about 6 weeks being Vegan I drop my cholesterol 100 totals points, dropped my triglycerides 100 points also and the best part I went from a moderate risk to a low risk in the heart disease field HUZZAH! Also since working out I have dropped about 23 pounds or so, I am currently at 203 which is the lowest I have been in well 4 years. While on weight watchers I was working out a little, running a little and just trying to get some daily exercise, nothing to vigorous. When I told me sister I had an easier time doing weight watchers she was like, well you are older and its harder to loose the weight since now I am at the gym 6 times a week (at least) for at least an hour each time. I am noticing a difference, but I guess I need to keep my patience. My other problem I have been having lately is the plateauing issue AGAIN! So I am doing to a program at the gym called the EDGE REVOLUTION. You compete for who looks the best after 8 weeks, you get a personal training session, a pilaties session and also nutrition coaching. My worry about nutrition coaching is that some people think being a Vegan is bad because you aren't getting enough protein and other nutrients from the meat, well, I am doing fine and my doc said I was doing fine on my diet with my numbers, just need to up my "healthy cholesterol." The program is pretty much all based on looks...awesome. At least we are broken into age groups and for the first time I have registered for something I am in the 30-39 group, yay. Well we shall see!

Keep your religion out of my politics

When I was a school boy I learned about government in school. I learned that we elected people to different positions in government and these people made the laws so that the everyone's life would be better. The laws were to help people live better lives, raise good children and grow up to be good adults who would elect more people and do it all over again. We were taught religion in church and taught about government in school. We NEVER EVER taught were TAUGHT about religion in school except that different people around the world practiced different religions. I remember in school that America was founded on principles of freedom of religion. You can practice whatever religion you want, but the government cannot force you to practice a religion and no one can force you to practice a religion. I am sure this has always been happening but the only thing that I have heard is how much of a nut-job these people are or how these people form cults and bring people in and brainwash them. Let think about this for a second, nut-jobs, cults, brainwash. Sound familiar? Sound like something I have heard over the years. Over those years I went to church, a catholic church, and from what I remember a pretty liberal one. I think one of my more religious great uncles said "oh yeah, that is one of those "progressive" catholic churches." When I was 10 I had no clue what that meant. I was taught to always remember the golden rule which I believe goes something like this "do unto others as you would have them do unto you." As far as I know that should apply in everyday situations and in politics alike. I mean seriously, if the big headed nut jobs on the TV and the political machine alike just follow the golden rule, I believe the world would be a better place. If people would just stop and THINK before they talk and blabber on about this that and the other thing then people would love each other. I really think that, and it may sound like a simple idea, a simple plan, a plan for world peace. I believe that in every Bible out there, in any written "word" there is something somewhere written down about treating each other as we would want to be treated. No matter what religion, no matter who is practicing what, don't tell people what to think, what to believe, tell people they are good, they are great and they deserve to be treated well. If we think about what is going on these days with the poor president, he is just trying to do his job. People seem to be making this difficult by trying to bring religion into the picture. Just because one president was very forward about his religion this DOES NOT mean every other president has to be. I mean come on, let the guy do his job, he is trying to be an inspiring leader and can't do his job if everyone else does not do their job. If we look at the Gettysburg address - "and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth" we need to stop and think. It seems that America would better be served by a few people for those few people, not the masses. Come on people, love one another, be good to each other, we are ALL created equal, no matter what, no matter who, now let's start acting that way!!!

Me a vegan? Realy?

So I went to the doctors and recommended to stop eating/devouring dairy products. What can I say, I love cheese, and butter...and ice cream. Like I have said in the past, I love food. I just love it pretty much no matter what it is I will eat it, except olives, like I have said before. So I have been a "vegaquariam" for about 6 months now and decided, well why not take the next step. I will stop eating the seafood, cheese, butter, eggs, and become...duh da duh...a VEGAN. Yup I said it, meat and potatoes sauteed in bacon bits with a side of mayo Andy became a Vegan. Which means no butter, no eggs, no sauteed in bacon bits and NO mayo...Veganaisse just doesn't cut it. Easy I thought, I love veggies, fruits, whole grains, I can do this. Piece of cake. Now I need to worry if I am eating enough calories, or getting the right nutrients I need. I also need to worry about what is for dinner. Gone are the "lets through some chicken or fish on the grill and eat it with rice or whatever. Now its what veggies can I grill with Tofu, Can I grill Tofu, what is Tempeh? do I have a suitable substitution for chicken? To all these questions I say YES I CAN/DO! Protein is easy now that I have discovered Lentils, Tofu, Garden Protein, Tempeh (cooked right,) and some other suitable proteins. I have found delicious vegan chocolate and have made dessert with it! Soy Yogurt instead of real yogurt, granola in the morning and lots of fresh fruit. Like I said I love food, it works for me, and I am good cook so win win. Jeremy can still have his meat, but I will keep my potatoes...sauteed in EVOO or water...

The Garden in three parts.

Part 1: The Good:
I love my garden, it is a little small but perfect for what I need, it gives me fruit and I can eat everything that comes out of it. So far this season I have harvested my tomatoes, tiny heads of broccoli, some herbs, 5 beans, some lettuce, and well that is it so far. I am glad I endeavored on this journey and have learned a little about planting, next year I will have one additional bed and space the plants a little more. I will also not be as impatient and plants according to charts and what not. Even though it is hot doesn't mean I should plant. Anyways I got a load of tomatoes, enough to make a salad and some salsa, and to have as part of a dinner and it made me rethink my Subway sandwich for the time I was eating it. I looked at the pink tasteless ones on my sandwich removed them and put on the juicy red ones from my garden. The colors of summer truly came out but soon I would find out, some colors you do not want in your garden.

Part 2: The Bad:
This is broccoli, this is about how big it got, broccoli likes cold, broccoli does not like HOT. The temperature has reached just about 101 for a few days, poor broccoli. This is the unpredictable weather I have been dealing with. Of course I rushed and planted everything together. I could rip them up and plant new ones, then I would get some nice heads in early September. Maybe I will. This is the bad I have been dealing with, but just remember there is always next year so we shall see what next year brings, I will be armed with the knowledge of the weather and will plant a little better next time. Of course I will have some nice compost also which I started this summer. One thing I was not prepared for (but of course was warned against) was a not so nice little creature who haunts my nightmares and is the reason I don't sleep at night.

Part 3: The Ugly:
Why me I ask, why when I look at this critter do I convulse with fear and cringe in anguish. Why am I so afraid of one little 5 inch worm. Why would this little critter bring a 200 pound man to his knees crying and wanting to throw up. This critter is gross, give me spiders, snakes, creepy crawly gross hissing cockroaches any day, but this caterpillar or Tomato Hornworm grosses me out and makes me sick. This thing I realize is a living being and this thing I realize needs nourishment itself, but it looks like a fantasy creature out of the likeness of Dr. Who or Star Trek. It ATE of my plants, one of my plants of course being 4 feet tall and full of small cherry tomatoes, I caught it before it could do more damage BUT STILL!! I saw it screamed a little on the inside, took a picture of it and proceeded to find the longest stick and put it in a bowl of soapy water, it's demise was the spoils of war but you know what...IT ATE MY PLANTS! Damn little thing I don't need humongoid moths flying around my house, YUCK. Lesson learned, I just need parasidic wasps to get rid of them, good.

Fruits or Veg of my labors...or lack there of

Being the pretty hands-off type of guy I tend to be (let nature take it's course) I decided to let my garden do it's thing this year, and see what happens. A lot has happened, but I am sure a lot more could have happened. Here is an example. I did not follow the "gardening rules" by planting my broccoli 12 inches apart, or whatever I was suppose to do because well, I didn't have that much space, instead I did some kind of French gardening method where I kinda of bunched them all together. Look at that, broccoli. The same with the tomatoes. I bought four different plants hoping you know maybe one will grow, what do you know I have fruit on all four of the plants. I crowded my garden, so what, I have a yield, maybe it's not the best yield, but I did it and I put minimal effort into it. I made the beds, added the soil, added the plants and gave it water when it didn't rain, presto, fruits and veg.
I am pretty proud of the fact that anything grew. I didn't really do much. What didn't grow was the carrots, beets (one is left), and corn. The reasons are because they got eaten when they were little. The carrot tops all got eaten by a neighborhood cat (I know because one day they were all gone and I saw a cat in my garden.) The beets, well maybe when the beans are gone and other plants are gone I will have a late beet season, we shall see. For now I am happy with my tomatoes and broccoli. Later in the season I should expect everything else to come up. The B-sprouts and cauliflower is doing fairly well. I have beans that I can pick in a few days as well as a tiny bit of leaf lettuce. Well that is all for now.

Veg has exploded...

SO I love looking at my garden and thinking, I helped do this. I planted these plants (some seeds) gave them the water they needed, positioned them so they got 6 hours of sun light and everyday when I got home from work talked to them, gave words of encouragement and words of thanks and now...FRUIT!
As a child I remember my dad always in the garden, as I have said in previous posts, but never really appreciated the fact that all that work yielded the prize. It takes patience and time, you are growing something from a tiny seed and then it gives you it's yield. This year was my first year for many things, first house, first garden, first year brewing my own hard cider, etc. I am finding it more and more satisfying knowing that my hands had a part in the growing of these plants, and the food me and my family will be consuming. I always knew it was hard work and I knew you needed to do a lot for these plants, but it was the satisfaction I did not know about. I am glad I am doing this, I am glad I am a part of a world where I can take part in giving life to something for my nourishment. I would love to have a bigger plot to do even more with but there just isn't space, next year I will add another 4X4 plot so I will have space to grow more different plants, I will also take a lesson from this year and not crowd like I did. I read it was okay because of the way the area is set up you CAN crowd a little, and since I am already yielding tomatoes I am assuming it is working fine. We shall see in the next few months what I yield. So far neighborhood cats have eaten the tops off of my carrots as well as most of the beets. now I have empty space which will be taken up by either the cucumber plant or I may plant one eggplant in the next few weeks. But again it feel wicked good to know I had a part in this growing of veggies! Thanks Earth for giving my what I need to live.

...being Veg...again...for the fifth time...

Hi all, not many people read my posts but you know it's nice for me to have a place to put down my thoughts and if people want to read then so be it. This post is about my choosing to become a vegetarian, or at least a compromised version. When I graduated high school for a while I was a vegetarian, but quickly realized in college you ate salad, cheese pizza, and veggie burgers. There was not much else of a choice. I also didn't have much money to spend on food so I had to choose whatever the cafeteria had to offer. So I started eating chicken and then just ate whatever. A few years later down the road I geared myself up again and quickly dropped meat, but again I was hit with the staunch reality of limited food, limited knowledge of what was out there and a general laziness. I mean I really did not like eating salads for 2 meals a day and eggs or cereal in the morning. It was my own fault for not gaining the knowledge I could at the time. Really I didn't think to seek anything about being vegetarian, I just knew what I knew and went from there.
I wasn't armed with much ethnic food, Chinese food was fried chicken fingers, chow mein and fried rice. Italian food was pizza, pasta with red sauce, and typically the "italian" sandwiches we would get from the store. In Maine an Italian consists of meat (usually ham), American cheese, long cut dill pickles, white onions, tomatoes, and green peppers covered in salad oil all on a 12 inch or so white italian roll. They are good, everyone in Maine knows when you say Italian, you want this sandwich. Outside of Maine I realize they have many names: Hoagie, Grinder, Hero, Sub. The difference is the oil, the pickles, and the meat. Veggies always came from the ground and were mostly whatever came out of our garden. We never really strayed from the veggies we could grow. Typically (and I have written about this) they consisted of Peas, beans, beets, corn, carrots, broccoli, cauliflower, tomatoes, cukes, potatoes squash, and zucchini. Most of these were cooked in the typical fashion, steamed with butter, salt and pepper. We ate meat with every meal, ham, hamburger in some form, or chicken. So this is what I knew. In Maine being a vegetarian typically meant you ate chicken and fish. It is a meat and potatoes state, almost literally since their big crop is well, potatoes. I knew I was a daring eater and always liked trying new foods, so I decided again to not eat meat and not eating meat isn't cheap, you would think it is since you aren't paying for the meat, but fresh produce is expensive for some reason, reasons which I have since learned.
I have read a lot of books and I have seen a lot of documentaries about the farmers in America and also where food comes from. I have watched Food Inc and King Corn all about the food in America. Also have read Omnivores Dilemma and Animal, Vegetable, Mineral. They all provided me with good info that I could arm myself with and what not. I have also read a lot of diet books and have read about different diets. They all seem to say the same thing, eat small meals with lots of whole foods. I mean its true. Veggies and fruits are good for you, and it doesn't matter how much you eat of them. Obviously the fruit sugar can add up but a balance is good. The meat on the other hand just seems a little out of place. I know where it comes from, I know how they are treated or can be treated. I have just come to the conclusion that I am over meat. I am over the fact of how the meat is treated and preserved. I feel that if I can shoot or kill my own animals I would eat them because then I would have been a part of that animals life. If I could raise and kill my own food I would, but until then, I will stick with raising veggies and learning how to do things that will help me survive if I need to. I know how to cook, fish, garden (we'll see,) knit, crochet, sew, make cheese, and other stuff.
So I guess my whole point was this time I am sticking to it, I am eating vegetarian with the exception of fish and unless I kill that deer or moose or raise my own chickens, I will let everyone else eat them.