Vegucated

The title of this post has a few meanings. I was simply going to write about the documentary Vegucated that I watched this past weekend but it became so much more as I thought about it. I can't undo what I've learned in the past couple months. I can't pretend that I didn't watch this movie. I can't remove the words that I read from My Beef with Meat and The Kind diet from my brain. What's done is done.

Vegucated takes you on a 6 week journey where 3 avid meat eating New Yorkers learned about Veganism and everything that comes along with it. They went to farms, slaughter houses, educational seminars, food & clothing stores and of course consumed a Vegan only diet. The participants were in tears. I was in tears and I've been to slaughter houses. I know what it's like to be just steps away from where a stun gun is put to an animals head. My experience years back didn't stop me from eating meat, but I'll never forget the visions from those visits. What I maybe didn't realize was that I was going to some of the best of the best slaughter houses. In this documentary I saw the darker side and deeper view into the elements of the animal production process I didn't know about. I've been haunted by what they do to poor baby chicks. They put live chicks through machinery that looks the exact same as what you'd process candy or crackers with. I've saw pigs dipped into vats of boiling water. These are live animals we are talking about.

My Beef with Meat and The Kind Diet do a really great job of outlining the cause and effects that animals products have on our health and wellness. They outline how animals products cause all sorts of cancers and disease in just about every organ in our body. They share how the production process of animal products is depleting our natural resources like water and oxygen (that we need to stay alive!). Most importantly they share how every bit of a positive element that can be highlighted in an animal based diet can be replaced easily with a plant based diet.

There are few things that I just can't erase. I can't erase what the poultry industry does to baby chicks. I can't erase how female cows are continually impregnated until they are disposed. I can't erase the terrible physical feeling I had after having fish/dairy in my 24 hour relapse a few weeks back. I just can't. Not today.

Honey? Seriously?

Yes I'm that far gone. Well kind of. With Veganism, it's difficult to understand where it begins and ends.  I've questioned in the past week if I wanted to eat something based on a certain ingredient in a packaged food that had been tested on animals (according to a vegan online forum). Am I against fur? Am I against leather? Is my Veganism about my body or the bodies of animals? I don't know anymore.

What I do know is that I feel that to fairly call myself Vegan I have to abstain from eating anything that can live and die. Yes, I know you can say that about plants. If you don't feed them you can kill them. With that said, I'm going to go ahead and lump bees and their honey into the food ban list.

This past weekend my Dad proudly shared that he bought some Steve's sorbet for me. The flavor was Blackberry honey. Now I've had said sorbet before and I'm just not a fan. I think I've even blogged about this before. There are two camps of dessert people. Fruit or Chocolate/Creamy. I find sorbet's a bit too tart for my palette and prefer to have Almond Dream ice cream. When I declined the sorbet due to the honey not being Vegan my Dad gave me this look like "Seriously?!? Come on." I found the moment hysterical because for once I think he realized he created a monster. His influence has maybe taken me a step one too many. We shall see.

Ellen my Dietitian

This week at work we all received an email about a healthy living incentive program through our health benefits. You could receive up to $300 for participating! With the holiday's upon us and my penchant for anything healthy living I signed right up. Part of the program is to participate in a few activities including phone sessions with a health coach. I knew it would be slightly awkward but I gave it a go on Friday.

My health coach's name is Ellen and her main question was whether or not I had any health goals. I shared that it wasn't so much as a goal but more of a question about how to insure a healthy Vegan lifestyle. In my recent research on Veganism (gluten free) I've found discrepancies about how & what I really need to intake to stay safe and healthy.

Ellen, funny enough was gluten-free so I knew we were on the right track. She shared the following:

Protein:
-At my weight she shared that I needed 40-50 grams of protein a day. Sounds like a lot.
-1/2 cup of the following items can equal to about 7 grams: Nuts, Almond/Soy Milks, Tofu, Beans

Vitamins:
-I need B vitamins. She thought that my daily vitamin and healthy eating should cover me but an extra B vitamin couldn't hurt. She said it's water soluble so if my body doesn't need it I'll just flush it out. I was surprised to hear that my almond milks and even cereal (even Chex) are fortified with extra vitamins like A, B, C & D.
-Eat colors! I'm already all over that per my previous posts. As along as I eat red (peppers), green (leafy greens, brussel sprouts, asparagus), orange (sweet potato), yellow (squash), blue (potato, blueberry) etc. that I'm fairly covered health wise. My favorite food roasted sweet potato has a ton of A & C vitamins.
-Iron, commonly found in animal meat can easily be replaced with kale and spinach. She said that our bodies naturally absorb Iron easier from animals because our bodies are more similar to animals than plants. She shared that the waxiness on the outside of kale & spinach can be harder to break down. She said a very quick saute or blanch of the veggie can break down that wax to help better absorb the vitamin. With that said, you shouldn't over cook to eliminate all the vitamins you are trying to absorb.

Overall I was very pleased with the session. I have 3 more sessions that I can use over the course of the next year. My first was very impromptu and I wasn't very prepared since I didn't know what to expect. Now that I know I have a Dietitian at my disposal for free I am going to line up my questions!

Last note, she said if at any time I'm curious about my health status, my Dr. can do a blood panel to test my levels. I am definitely going to ask for that at my next yearly physical next month.

24

Anything can happen in 24 hours. Relevant to this blog, I had 24 hours that included a complete breakdown of my Vegan diet. Whenever you are trying something new there is bound to be a breakdown. I'm not going to beat myself up for it...how my body felt afterwards has done all the beating up I've needed.

I had a very pinnacle moment 4 years ago when 6 weeks into a new regime I had a breakdown. Then it was pasta and therefore having the epiphany after 28 years of stomach torture that I needed to be gluten free. This time, it was that my body does not need or want "animal."

To break it down, last weekend was crazy. I had friends in town for 3 days who were supposed to be in town for the marathon, but with an injury made their trip into 3 days of fun. My parents came into the city for a night in between back to back days of concerts. On top of all that, I was invited to celebrate my friends Jancy & Ben's engagement. With each I cheated. Things happens when you have been cocktailing and eating out for 3 days straight:

-Engagement party @ Mon ami Gabi: Shrimp cocktail & a mini pot of creme brûlée
-Brunch w/ Parents @ Southport Grocery: Gluten free Cupcake pancakes
-Dinner w/ friends @ Homeslice: Gluten free pizza

Now I did make it through without eating any red or white meat, but I still killed my stomach in the process. I felt so terrible Monday morning I thought about skipping work. On top of it I had caught a cold. My immune system was shot.

I vowed that morning that I would do everything in my "will" power to never eat animal ever again.

So far so good:

-Fell more in love with Amy's (specifically the Vegan Dal Soup). I've had her gluten free vegan pizza before which is pretty darn good.
-Tried a new Protein bar bowl. The Vegan Black bean quinoa bowl w/ tofu & spinach (added).
-Hilary's Veggie Burgers
-More Bob's Red Mill Oatmeal w/ berries & agave
-My favorite breakfast bar MacroBars
-Nature's path cinnamon raison bread w/ Justin's almond butter


Off to Whole Foods tonight. Craving roasted vegetables.

A Vegan Sanctuary

Sometimes you just need a down weekend. I'm currently approaching a fairly busy weekend with friends coming in town and had decided to head to suburbia last weekend. My family has always been very progressive with food and with my Dad being a current pescatarian I knew that I would find plenty to eat. Little did I know that it would be a gluten free vegan extravaganza.

For dinner Saturday, we had tacos. Ok, we have the most ridiculous tacos. I think they could have been the best tasting taco I've ever had. I know that sounds crazy with a clear exclusion of all animal goodness: cheese, sour cream, beef/chicken. I didn't miss any of it. How is this possible? This is how:

El Milagro Corn Tortillas
Sauteed Corn & Jalapeño
Sauteed Peppers & Red Onion
Standard Market Guacamole
Trader Joe's Black Bean Dip
Trader Joe's Verde Salsa
Fresh Cilantro




I ate 3 fully stuffed tacos.


Sunday I started the day with my Dad's special home-made granola. Then more tacos for lunch. And then once again a killer dinner. This time Mom made pasta (bionature gluten-free) with fresh farm stand tomato sauce with basil, garlic, Olive oil & vinegar. In addition to the pasta we had farm stand salad with roasted pine nuts and basic vinaigrette (olive oil, red wine vinegar, Dijon mustard). My Dad also
provided a great Pinot. Love.

The Mackey household. A vegan sanctuary. The only animal necessary was Dolls.

Vegan without the MOFO

Sadly Vegan month of food (#veganmofo) is over and it's time for me to stand on my own two vegan feet.

I'm hungry.

I may or may not have mentioned on my blog yet that I bought Alicia Silverstone's book The Kind Diet.  Until last night I had only flipped through the recipes for food inspiration but found I was selling the book short. It is critical to read the opening remarks. Like the title, it truly is about not only being kind to animals & the environment, it's about being kind to your own body.

I read a billboard on the highway recently that said 1 in 3 kids born today will live till over a 100. What if I live until I'm 90? Now my family history has not set me up to have that be my reality but what if it is!?! I need a strong heart.  I need to combat cancer. I need glowing skin. I need to manage my weight. I need strong bones. I need, I need, I need...

My head is spinning. I'm not training for a marathon. I'm not sick. I only have my own motivation. I need to learn to cook vegan dishes so that I'm not hungry. Plain roasted & raw veggies are not going to do it. I have work to do.