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.

"So what exactly do you eat?"

If you are looking to win a popularity contest, being a gluten-free vegan is not for you. People look at you weird, sneer, laugh and roll their eyes. I even had someone say last night that I was that annoying person that servers hate. I totally get it.  I don't blame them. Maybe I am just doing it to be unique. I have so many different answers to why: optimal health (cancer/heart plaque fighting machine), lose weight, generally feel better, for #veganmofo, for shits and giggles...but not exactly for the animals as most Vegans. I love animals. I have a dog that I adore. I think kittens and bunnies are cute, however I have always been able to compartmentalize the treatment of animals and its affect on the environment to the tasty slab of meat on my plate. I used to advertise for the National Cattleman's Beef Association and have seen my fair share of slaughter houses without being fazed (except for maybe the part at the end of the line w/ the gun). I wish I could come up with a really good reason for this silly adventure but it just is what it is.

Leading to the title of this post, what exactly do I eat?...well here goes (by default everything listed is gluten-free):

Breakfast:

Homemade Oatmeal/Fruit Bars
Oatmeal/Fruit
Smoothies
Granola/Almond yogurt
Rice/Corn Flake/Granola Cereal combo w/ Almond Milk
Larabar
MacroBar






Lunch:

Salad (Lettuce, cucumber, oil/vinegar)
Nature's Path Vegan Bread w/ Almond Butter

Fruit: grapes, pears, apples










Dinner:

Roasted Veggies (Peppers, Eggplant, Squash)
Brown Rice (seasoned w/ Tamari)
Roasted Red/Sweet Potatoes
Hilary's Veggie Burger







Dessert:
Almond Milk Ice Cream
Dark Chocolate

Drink:
Wine, wine, wine

Restaurants:

Chicago Diner
Bombay Spice
Native Foods
Protein Bar
Urban Vegan
Rose's Bakery







RE my last post, I've balanced my food quantity intake. With workouts 6 days a week and a reduction of my drinking to 2-3 days a week I'm feeling pretty darn good. Hunger has subsided.

V Week 3

This week marks the third week that I have given up all animal products. Turns out that it's not that hard. I don't miss meat or crave it. The only time that I have faltered (twice) is that I literally would have skipped a meal if I didn't eat meat. I attended a fashion & food event with a friend and a work lunch that would have proved too difficult to satisfy my hunger without ordering a dish with fish.

A major lesson that I have learned in the past few weeks is how much better your body feels when you control your own food. Now as a gluten-free person this is typically my reality, but with truly embracing my new Veganism I had decided to eat out a few too many times. In the middle of my Vegan journey I felt terrible. I struggle with managing portion control when things are tasty.

Overall when you eat too much, it doesn't matter what it is, it will make you feel like crap. Classic lesson of slow down when you are eating and listen to your body. If only restaurant served 100% vegan friendly food at the exact right portion. A girl can dream.

Last side note. After reading "My Beef with Meat," I'm not sure I can ever truly consider an animal based diet every again. More to come on that.

Bird vs Bird Seed

If you are a current reader of my blog, you know that I've been on a food journey for quite some time. I'll try just about anything to feel as healthy as possible while still maintaining an entertaining and delicious experience.

In be past 2 months I've been dabbling in all things above and beyond just "gluten-free." Now, being gluten-free is nothing to balk at but at this point it's easy for me. The more you know how to be gluten-free, the more ways you know how to cheat being healthy (chips, snickers bars, candy in general...). It was time to up the anty.

I started with giving up cow dairy. That means no milk, no cow cheese (goat cheese still in the game), no ice cream, etc. I found it pretty easy as there are so many almond milk and coconut alternatives that are either just as tasty or better.

That gets me to the past two weeks. I have entered into a realm that I swore up and down I would never do as a gluten-free devotee. I went gluten-free vegan. Madness.

As a fairly savvy social media 30 something, I have become addicted to Instagram. Often I would post the gluten free food or restaurants that I have been to and tagged them with the proper monikers. And in return I would get likes or followers that are also interested in gluten-free living. One day as I was tooling around the "discovery" page I started seeing a new hashtag #veganmofo. 

Other than its apparent inappropriateness of the name, it seemed like a movement of some sort. And in fact it was. September is "Vegan month of food." There are people all over the world (literally) snapping pics and blogging about Veganism. And as I kept digging I realized there are thousands of people posting recipes daily. I was completely consumed by all the content and pretty pictures. I was in. Like all in. I've already made 3 plus recipes, have visited 5 vegan restaurants and posted 5 plus pics.

Now getting to the title of this post. In the midst of week 1 of Veganism, my cubemate/work partner in crime started a new diet as well. She is trying to reach the pure state of ketosis by giving up sugar 100%. As a recovering candy/sugar addict I see that as impossible. I'd liken the diet to the Atkins diet. She eats meat/salad/eggs/bacon/cheese. Pretty much the exact opposite of my diet.

Within our almost 2 weeks I have gained weight and she has lost weight. But this isn't about weight. This is about reaching optimal heath. I fear she is building up plaque in her arteries and she feels I'm consuming foods that are turing all to sugar (and then in turn fat). I feel like I'm a cancer fighting machine!

The diet wars begin. Stay tuned for updates in our challenge.