Announcement Time. Starting 1/1/13, Husband and I are doing a three month vegan challenge. Yes, I am going vegan for three months. I will then re-evaluate and determine if this lifestyle is for me. When in Portland, do as the Portlandians do?
You probably have some questions, and I will do my best to anticipate them. I also wanted to just share some of the interesting things that I have found during my research. It was so educational for me to write this post, and I think that learning about other lifestyles--even if they don't jive with
you--is such a beneficial thing! Hopefully you agree!
Here's the scoop:
But really, why?
Initially, I was intrigued by the health benefits and started researching. It is truly amazing what a plant based diet (I will be Vegan, which is ALL plant) can achieve, as many doctors today will tell you. We can truly reduce or eliminate MANY diseases in our society with a plant based diet. I have had digestion problems off and on for a while, and I am interested in what this diet holds for me. I'm only on this earth for a short time, and I want my life with my husband to be as long and healthy as possible. I believe this is my route to that.
Some information on the health benefits can be found in
this documentary
this documentary
this documentary
this documentary
All available on Netflix instant stream in the full version.
What about a peer reviewed study with some serious science?
Well, since I like my knowledge to be easily digestible and in video form, I found this video for you. His sources are all peer reviewed articles from the last year.
Next, I started thinking about the animal welfare issue. I personally have had deep compassionate feelings toward all animals from a young age. Everyone that knows me closely would verify this. This is not true for everyone. The treatment that all food animals receive currently is absolutely unacceptable to me. My thought process is that we know animals feel pain and understand the difference between a hitting and a petting hand. They also know humans can provide both. It's up to humans to be the smarter, better species and do the right thing. I won't link to such videos that depict the condition of animals right now, all over the world, but if you are interested you can easily find them on the internet.
Lastly, I think about the effect of animal product consumption on the planet. I won't talk about this a lot, but it is interesting to think that one pound of beef takes five pounds of grains to grow, and then that grain needs to be grown with lots of water, harvested, and shipped to the location of the beef. How many people can those grains feed? It has made me reflect even deeper about how I can help the Earth.
But your nutrients?
Honestly, this is the part I am the least stressed about. Here's what nutrients you might be wondering about.
Protein
We already eat a lot of Quinoa, which is a complete protein.
We love tofu, although I will try to keep my soy intake low.
Beans are a staple in my diet.
I drink a vegan (not initially on purpose) pea protein shake after the gym 3+ times a week.
We love lentils in Indian food and soups.
Even certain vegetables have protein. For example, calorie for calorie, broccoli has more protein than a steak. Obviously, I'm not going to eat enough broccoli in one sitting to equal the calories in a steak, but you see the idea that vegetables can have protein as well.
Calcium
Leafy greens for the win. Covered.
Iron
Chickpeas are great.
Beans of all types will be a staple.
B12
Once upon a time, we pulled up our veggies from the Earth and ate them. This dirt on our veggies is the where B12 was found. Nowadays, I don't like the taste of dirt and I bet you don't either.
So, I will be chowing down on some nutritional yeast, which is a great B12 source and a parmesan sub.
My coconut derived milk substitute is B12 fortified.
I will mostly likely buy supplements, but your body stores a lot of B12 for future use, so I'm not going to be deficient starting day one.
Omega 3
I will be ingesting flax oil daily in my salad dressings and by the tablespoon.
Vitamin D
This being the Northwest, I already take a D supplement.
All in all, I feel like my vegan diet will be more planned and balanced than my current diet!
Why not just be a vegetarian?
I have been mostly cutting out dairy for about 2 years now due to digestion. I love eggs so much, but I have ethical issues with them and I can do without.
So vegan is the natural next step.
But you love cooking!
We already eat at least 4 meatless meals around these parts a week. I promise that life will not be all salads. That would NOT fly with husband. I am intrigued about how my cooking will change.
What I am not going to do is mimic my diet now with lots of vegan subs like soy meats. You get the most benefits from non processed whole vegetables.
I am super excited about cooking vegan food and I will share lots of recipes with you on de blog!
So Sheridan, you are throwing away all your leather shoes?
In short, no. I am still working out where I stand on this issue. Am I going to buy leather shoes new? Probably not. Will I thrift a leather purse? Possibly. Will I wear the leather shoes I already own? Yes.
Think of money as a vote. If I buy leather shoes at a store and spend my vote that way, it might encourage them to buy more leather products for the store. If I get a leather purse at goodwill, will it encourage them to get more leather in? No, because they don't control who donates what. If I throw out my own shoes that I already have, that's just crazy.
If you STILL want more information, (Geez, have I created a monster??) this site is great.
http://www.vegankit.com/
It has some more animal welfare information, lots of food information, health information, basically it's got it all.
You probably have some questions, and I will do my best to anticipate them. I also wanted to just share some of the interesting things that I have found during my research. It was so educational for me to write this post, and I think that learning about other lifestyles--even if they don't jive with
you--is such a beneficial thing! Hopefully you agree!
Here's the scoop:
Why are you going vegan?
What it boils down to is that I can't figure out why I'm not already vegan. I have a lot of time to think about the person that I want to be while staying at home, and I think that the vegan lifestyle fits with the person I have always been. It's a lot harder to stop and think about a life decision while working nonstop. Thankfully, I have had the opportunity to spend this time aligning who I am with who I have always wanted to be.
Initially, I was intrigued by the health benefits and started researching. It is truly amazing what a plant based diet (I will be Vegan, which is ALL plant) can achieve, as many doctors today will tell you. We can truly reduce or eliminate MANY diseases in our society with a plant based diet. I have had digestion problems off and on for a while, and I am interested in what this diet holds for me. I'm only on this earth for a short time, and I want my life with my husband to be as long and healthy as possible. I believe this is my route to that.
Some information on the health benefits can be found in
this documentary
this documentary
this documentary
this documentary
All available on Netflix instant stream in the full version.
What about a peer reviewed study with some serious science?
Well, since I like my knowledge to be easily digestible and in video form, I found this video for you. His sources are all peer reviewed articles from the last year.
Next, I started thinking about the animal welfare issue. I personally have had deep compassionate feelings toward all animals from a young age. Everyone that knows me closely would verify this. This is not true for everyone. The treatment that all food animals receive currently is absolutely unacceptable to me. My thought process is that we know animals feel pain and understand the difference between a hitting and a petting hand. They also know humans can provide both. It's up to humans to be the smarter, better species and do the right thing. I won't link to such videos that depict the condition of animals right now, all over the world, but if you are interested you can easily find them on the internet.
Lastly, I think about the effect of animal product consumption on the planet. I won't talk about this a lot, but it is interesting to think that one pound of beef takes five pounds of grains to grow, and then that grain needs to be grown with lots of water, harvested, and shipped to the location of the beef. How many people can those grains feed? It has made me reflect even deeper about how I can help the Earth.
But your nutrients?
Honestly, this is the part I am the least stressed about. Here's what nutrients you might be wondering about.
Protein
We already eat a lot of Quinoa, which is a complete protein.
We love tofu, although I will try to keep my soy intake low.
Beans are a staple in my diet.
I drink a vegan (not initially on purpose) pea protein shake after the gym 3+ times a week.
We love lentils in Indian food and soups.
Even certain vegetables have protein. For example, calorie for calorie, broccoli has more protein than a steak. Obviously, I'm not going to eat enough broccoli in one sitting to equal the calories in a steak, but you see the idea that vegetables can have protein as well.
Calcium
Leafy greens for the win. Covered.
Iron
Chickpeas are great.
Beans of all types will be a staple.
B12
Once upon a time, we pulled up our veggies from the Earth and ate them. This dirt on our veggies is the where B12 was found. Nowadays, I don't like the taste of dirt and I bet you don't either.
So, I will be chowing down on some nutritional yeast, which is a great B12 source and a parmesan sub.
My coconut derived milk substitute is B12 fortified.
I will mostly likely buy supplements, but your body stores a lot of B12 for future use, so I'm not going to be deficient starting day one.
Omega 3
I will be ingesting flax oil daily in my salad dressings and by the tablespoon.
Vitamin D
This being the Northwest, I already take a D supplement.
All in all, I feel like my vegan diet will be more planned and balanced than my current diet!
Why not just be a vegetarian?
I have been mostly cutting out dairy for about 2 years now due to digestion. I love eggs so much, but I have ethical issues with them and I can do without.
So vegan is the natural next step.
But you love cooking!
We already eat at least 4 meatless meals around these parts a week. I promise that life will not be all salads. That would NOT fly with husband. I am intrigued about how my cooking will change.
What I am not going to do is mimic my diet now with lots of vegan subs like soy meats. You get the most benefits from non processed whole vegetables.
I am super excited about cooking vegan food and I will share lots of recipes with you on de blog!
So Sheridan, you are throwing away all your leather shoes?
In short, no. I am still working out where I stand on this issue. Am I going to buy leather shoes new? Probably not. Will I thrift a leather purse? Possibly. Will I wear the leather shoes I already own? Yes.
Think of money as a vote. If I buy leather shoes at a store and spend my vote that way, it might encourage them to buy more leather products for the store. If I get a leather purse at goodwill, will it encourage them to get more leather in? No, because they don't control who donates what. If I throw out my own shoes that I already have, that's just crazy.
If you STILL want more information, (Geez, have I created a monster??) this site is great.
http://www.vegankit.com/
It has some more animal welfare information, lots of food information, health information, basically it's got it all.
Bottom line, do what you like with your diet. One of the greatest choices we have on this earth is what we put in our mouths!
Please leave a comment with any questions you might have. I enjoy thinking about the things I need to consider while trying out this crazy life.
Please leave a comment with any questions you might have. I enjoy thinking about the things I need to consider while trying out this crazy life.
Thanks for reading! Best wishes and love from Portland.
Hey yo! This is yo girl Christy. I think it's awesome that you're doing this. I do it every year for about a month or two before the holidays, and OH MAN does it make a difference. You will feel incredible. I am definitely with you on the keepin' the soy to a minimum (and processed food in general, although I totally still eat some). I've never been a huge fan of fake meat to begin with (except those delicious Morningstar Farms black bean burgers). And beans are pretty much the best ever soooo....
ReplyDeleteI'm super excited for you! Definitely looking forward to seeing what you make. My faves were anything with sweet potatoes, fajita salads (lots o' lettuce, bell peppers, onions, salsa, beans, cashew cream, chipotle powder, smoked paprika - OMG), and veggie soups and chilis. Don't even get me started on sweet potatoes topped with veggie chili and green onions.
I don't really feel comfortable being totally vegan right now (you know why), but I can see myself doing it twice a year instead of just once a year later on. It just completely changes the way you feel.
Christy, you rock for giving me all of those ideas! I am super excited! Thanks for your great advice.
DeleteYay! go you :) If you are looking for recipes, we make this one all the time: http://www.milkfreemom.com/vegan-quinoa-sweet-potato-chili/. It is supper filling, and we didn't actually realize it is vegan until after we ate two pots. might be gluten free too. make it with some jalapeno cornbread... miss you hot stuff!!
DeleteAwesome Andie! I miss you so much!
DeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteI support you and funny thing is I already have those documentaries in my Netflix Queue. I haven't gone Veggie but have changed the way I eat (limit or no Corn products, Wheat, Soy, Sugar, beer). Yes I said Beer. Turns out I have had a lot of sinus problems this past Fall and as I researched my diet it turns out I am sensitive to the histamines in it (and probably the wheat - darn genetics).
ReplyDeleteSo far so good, I feel better! Watch King Corn and Food Matters. They are good to.
Love Ya