Christ is Risen- and so have my expectations

No, I'm not Greek Orthodox, I'm just lazy so sorry this post is happening a week after J's big day. On the other hand, V's (for Vegan!) big day is April 22nd, hope everyone can celebrate Vegan Day with some fruit, veggies, beans, and soy milk! I also highly recommend Super Protein Odwalla Bars, 16 grams of delicious vegan protein. A bit unfortunate that Odwalla is under the killer Coke umbrella but I've decided to pick my battle.s
2 weeks ago I went to a documentary called "A Delicate Balance" about how a vegetarian, vegan, or carnivorous lifestyle affects health. Although I love the new sexy PETA ad that the Superbowl refused to play, I'm pretty weary of vegetarian movies, pamphlets, etc as they tend to be heavy on the propaganda. I love animals, but that's not why I'm vegetarian...I'm more concerned with the earth and my health. Sorry if that offends but I gotta be straight up. ANYWAYS, this doc really impressed me because it wasn't pulling at viewer's heartstrings with 2 hours worth of sad looking, homogonized, half starved cows. Instead, it makes viewers think about the implications of what we put into our bodies on a daily basis.
Last year I reverted to vegetarianism after Lent because I didn't have a good reason not to. Sure, I felt healthier as a vegan, but it wasn't really enough to make me forgo yogurt and ice cream. While I'm still not 100% sold (sorry Andy and I destroyed your cheddar cheese chex mix last night, John), this movie made the most convincing argument to date for me to remain vegan...or at least try to when I'm sober.
As the daughter of a Type 1 diabetic (that's the kind you get when you're young, not because you're an obese American), I've witnessed the debilitating effects of this all too common disease. I've been vegetarian since 10th grade, and my mother swore off red meat about 2 years ago to lower her cholesterol (it worked, she doesn't need meds!), but my father refuses to change what he eats, often citing the need for a balanced diet because of his Diabetes. Let me make clear right away that I have no issue with meat eaters, watching people eat meat, buying meat at the store for my family...hell I even tried (read: failed) to grill a chicken at my summer solstice party last year. However, I have a huge issue with watching people eat themselves into unhealthy lifestyles. I'm not perfect; I helped myself to a lovely combo of a 30 rack of stones and Chex Mix last night and woke up this morning feeling a little heavier. However, I'd like to think my overall lifestyle reflects mostly healthy choices.
This documentary made me realize that dairy products are not always a healthy choice. Doctors did a study comparing Finnish children (Finland consumes the most amount of milk per person in the world) and Japanese children (a culture that tends to go light on the milk). The study found that Finnish kids were 36 times more likely to develop Type 1 Diabetes than Japanese kids...holy shit! Furthermore, a doctor at George Washington University- shout out DC- ran a study comparing 2 groups of Type 1 diabetics. One group ate a normal diet of dairy, meat, veggies, fruit, etc. The other group went vegan- something pops has always said is impossible. The study found that while Group 1's diabetes tended to get worse over time (typical), the vegans' diabetes remained controlled or got better. I always said that when I was pregnant I would stop being vegetarian to get my baby all the proper nutrients. I've now realized that this might not be the best option. We all remember the lawsuit against those crazies who let their newborn starve because they wanted it to be vegan. That shit is fucked up. However, given that Type 1 Diabetes tends to skip a generation and given that there seems to be a correlation between dairy and Diabetes, I'm really considering giving my kids soy products from the get-go. That's not that weird either if you think about all the lactose-intolerant people in the world. Point is, I want to do everything in my power to prevent my future bitties from the life changing effects of Diabetes. Thoughts?
Oh yeah, vegetarians live longer!

notes on a scandal

hey dc northwesters, Vegan Girl here...and i have the biggest news ever
spotted: five friends eating banana bread after some late night clubbing...what's a non-dairy eater to do? according to some very reliable sources at whole foods, the banana bread was actually vegan! wonder who's laughing now: A, M, bunny girl, jrcollegedropout or vgirl?
who am i? that's one secret i'll never tell. you know you love me, xoxo Vegan Girl

forgive me father for i have whimmed (and other revelations)

from the book of vegan revelations, chapter 1 verse 1

it's hard to show someone around your city without eating animal products. my dear friend joe, an avid anti-vegan, came for his spring break which was wonderful. tuesday night i decided to take him to kramer books and afterwards, a local spot that combines two of the coolest things ever invented by humans: books and desert. aided by alcohol and the wishes of my guest, i went out on a whim and ate cheesecake. i love cheesecake, but its pretty much the antithesis of vegan. therefor, i have decided that for every day i am not vegan, i will add 3 days of veganism on, post easter. im hoping this measure will be enough to end the drunken temptations

1.2

crepes fashioned from the hands of the crepe guy at eastern market make life worth living, i'm not sure i can reconcile this with being vegan. 6 days.

1.3

my friend julie, a vegan of 3 years, told me she does not drink guinness because it uses fish products. this is also a problem as guinness is my favorite beer. having had bad experiences with irish car bombs however, this is easier to give up than crepes. and luckily crepes are not as common as beer. and guinness is not as common as natty. although tom does appear to have a heady crepe maker, and pat does occasionally promote his irish heritage through the thick brown stuff

1.4

green tea soy ice cream rocks. so does zen soy chocolate pudding. and homemade sorbet. i came across this super simple recipe (if you could even call it that) and feel the need to pass it along:

2 cups strawberries or the antioxidizing berry of your choice. i used half fresh from whole foods (currently on sale because they're so ripe) and half frozen + 1/2 cup soy milk + 2 packets sugar. blend and freeze. today i had my sorbet and ate it too!

wasted away in margaritaville

cancun was a crazy week full of relaxation, intoxication, and sun. spent the first half of the week with the parents until my roomie joined wednesday and the late night debauchery began. 

i was vegan for the first 3 days, subsisting off of refried beans, watermelon, and pineapple. i began to feel guilty because i couldn't go out to dinner with my parents since everything in a mexican restaurant involves cheese. monday night i began to feel really sad for no reason- i was in mexico after all. i then began reflecting on my sleeping patterns, which involved going to sleep before 10 and waking up 10 hours later. 

deciding that this was not pms or a sudden burst of clinical depression, i found myself remembering a similar situation in zambia. living a  vegetarian lifestyle  in zambia is not uncommon because meat is so expensive and mangos grow everywhere. that said, malnutrition is rampant so much so that the UN recommends cooking oil with food as a source of protein (i believe that's about 2 grams per serving, which shows how dire the situation is). i gained a new understanding of malnutrition and the early to bed culture of zambia after only a few days as i began to go to sleep earlier than everyone else and felt sad all the time. i didn't recognize it for what it was until someone pointed out my sleeping habits to me, and we then realized that i needed more protein. powdered milk, beans, and cans of tuna ensued. 

recognizing the same symptoms in mexico, i decided i wasn't going to ruin my mood or my parents meals with a vegan lifestyle. while im sure it is possible to be a healthy vegan in a developing country or on a budget, i have not mastered how to get the proper amount of nutrients somewhere other than seattle or dc, both of which are full of a fair amount of foodies and quite a few whole foods (or whole paychecks as my mother calls it). thus, i resorted to eating vegan for breakfast and lunch and eating locally caught fish for dinner. this allowed me to get protein without causing a huge carbon footprint (at leas that i'm aware of) and contribute to local economy.

yesterday, sunday, was my first day back in the garden of vegan- i feel healthier already!

tuesdays with vegan

waking up to frozen foliage outside my window reminded me of the sometimes backward effects global warming incurs on our environment, including global oceanic circulation and, more obviously, increased precipitation (hedu snow). i then thought about the meat packing industry and its extremely unfortunate but largely unrecognized contribution  to global warming and thus the unusual amount of snow dumped from the clouds onto one of the most politically influential cities in the world. just as an example...in case you missed the Time article, 4 oz of steamed pasta leaves a carbon footprint of .18 lbs, while 4 oz of steak creates 10.5 lbs of problems. apologies that im new to this blogging thing and cant figure out how to post links, any help would be appreciated. that said, as much as i enjoy the current white blanket, i recognize what it symbolizes and i am extremely proud to think that in some small way, my eating habits make me part of the solution, not the problem

looks like somebody's got a case of the mondays

woke up to snow and a delayed start to school so i got to sleep in...therefore 12 hours without eating wasn't crazy and i just ate once i woke up...definitely no immediate changes in how i feel but we shall see. i also still don't feel as healthy now as i did last lent because i haven't been doing it long enough. all things with time, no? midterms are a bitch and i could def use a little snacky right now, but i realize this is because i want a taste in my mouth, not because im hungry- in fact, i'm quite full. the same thing happened last night, which leads me to believe that even if this "12-hour detox" idea is whack, its at least making me consider when i eat to live and when i just live to eat.

Today's Menu

Breakfast: 

the refrigerated remnants of last night's smoothie and kashi golean cereal with fortified soy milk

-i am never able to eat only 1 serving of this delicious god send in a cardboard box, i think i had about 3 cups

Lunch:

still full from the combination of a massive breakfast and a late start to the day i opted for the lighter choice of a vegan chai from my favorite AU haunt, the Dav...or as Graham called it today, "the i'm protesting to save the lesbian whales who live in the the rain forest" coffee shop

Snack:

had to keep it real with Glenny's BBQ soy crisps

Dinner:

homemade chili using organic chili beans, cut up yves pepperoni and melted soy cheese which gave the chili a delightful creamy consistency, i was very pleased. then unsweetened organic applesauce and another slight binge on my favorite cookies

-come to think of it maybe the cookies are the reason why i don't feel healthier but alas:i don't give a shit

I'm starting to think about spring break in Cancun next week and wondering how I'll be able to pull of vegan in Mexico...I tried last year and let's just call it what it was: epic fail

any suggestions?

everybody's workin for the weekend

midterms this coming week before spring break --> unhealthy late night eating habits, yikes!

I recently discovered goop.com, Gwenyth Paltrow's clusterfuck of a lifestyle website that offers everything from what to do in paris to how often to take adaptogens-don't worry, i had to wiki it too. while i'm  wary of the latest "detox" diet fad, i found one idea to be very interesting in her october newsletter. This idea comes from a cardiologist, Dr Junger, in New York who now practices integrative healing. His idea is basically that the body needs 12 hours per day without food, 8 for regular digestion and 4 more to detox from the "waste products of normal metabolism". I was initially appalled at the idea that i should spend half my life away from food (i looove food) but upon careful consideration i realized it's a little more reasonable than i thought. We all know you're not supposed to eat a few hours prior to sleep, and this  detox idea basically takes that and adds that you shouldn't eat a few hours after sleep as well. i've decided to try this for the week and see if it makes me feel better or worse. I'll be interested to see if i feel any different, especially because recent studies have really highlighted the importance of a big breakfast (and how am i to have a big breakfast if it gets pushed back closer to lunch?? f brunch, ill take as many meals as i can, thanks) I'll be in touch with how it feels...the added pressure of midterms should make this experiment extra challenging but hey, can't knock it till you try it!

In other news, Chelsea recently brought to my attention vegetarian co-op apartments and houses in DC...check Craigslist for more details if you're interested, seems pretty sweet!

Today's Menu

Breakfast:

Dr. McDougall's split pea soup

-Never lets me down but alas I only had time to eat it during my break from work (covered someone else's shift 9-1) so I didn't even have time to finish my beloved instant soup! Very upsetting.

Lunch:

TDR Delight with Arianna! Sauteed spinach and mushrooms, half a grape fruit, half a granny smith apple.

- Normally an excess of oil smothers any hope for nutritional value in TDR's veggies but today's selection wasn't bad! I helped myself to seconds.

Dinner:

Left over spaghetti from yesterday, added strips of soy cheese and yves pepperoni for some extra kick. Berry smoothie!! 1.5 cup fortified soy milk + 1 cup frozen mixed organic berries= glory. Duplex vegan creme cookies from Whole Foods: whenever Arianna asks for 1 i always end up eating 5.