The area I hear people complain about the most is their back, and I’m not just saying that because my husband has degenerative disc disease. Second is probably the knees (my biggest struggle), but that’s a topic for another day. Did you know that approximately …
Not only is my health important but so is the health of my family. My pups are included in that. I actually had to put my girls on doggie diet food because they were putting on too much weight. (Yes, I know we need to …
There are 3 core reasons for what made me change my mind about eating animal products. If you’ve known me for a long time, you have seen me go from vegetarian as a teenager, back to meat eater, then to vegetarian/vegan in my mid 20s, then to a farm girl who raised her own cows for slaughter and now back again to full vegan. Each change was drastic and each had it’s own reason. I decided to go vegetarian when I was a teenager because I loved animals, but I decided I missed jerky too much. Peta was a huge influence when I decided to go vegan the first time, their videos get you right in the heart if you have any kind of love for animals. Then I moved back to family property and raised baby chickens, goats and baby cows. I know I change my mind about things like my underwear but I feel this change is permanent because it’s not just a small conviction, it’s multiple large ones that have huge impact in my life.
If you have followed my health journey for the last couple of years, you may have seen how important I have made protein in my life. You may have seen me carb cycling and eating chicken or some sort of protein 6 times a day. Let me tell you, I am glad I’m done with that! But I digress…
None of those are in order of importance, they are equally important to me. That is why I feel I will continue with this lifestyle for the rest of my life. Plus, did you see the food above? So many flavors and nothing beats fresh produce <3 When I was thinking about going vegan, all I could think about was how much I would miss cheese. I slowly started removing it, for instance, I would get a taco salad and opt for no cheese. Eventually it became second nature and I no longer crave it. There are so many food options, or alternatives to cheese that are different but flavorful and delicious too.
Yes, I promise I am, and they are, getting enough protein. Lets skip that topic right now though. Lets talk about bacon, yes, smoky, tasty bacon and how it is related to smoking cigarettes. The World Health Organization (The WHO) released a report that processed meat has a carcinogenic effect. In case you don’t know carcinogens cause cancer. Processed meats are classified as a Group 1 carcinogen, that is the same group as smoking cigarettes and asbestos exposure. Sure I dabbled and tried cigarettes when I was a teen but seeing my Grandma die because of cancer that started in her lungs, turned me off of that right away. After seeing the WHO’s report I quit processed meats too. Processed meats can be bacon or sausages, smoked, salted or even fermented meats. The WHO isn’t just a small research place, they are who all medical fields look to, in the US and throughout the world. Even the American Cancer Society is taking their claim seriously. They aren’t blasting it because they still want all the money people donate. If cancer goes away they lose their funding. But that’s a topic for another day. Besides most processed meats are loaded with fat, bacon and sausage in point, which is not healthy for you to begin with. By all means though, if just one cigarette here and there is okay, so is bacon on everything right? No, it’s really not…
Digestive wise, I had a friend ask me about my poop. I know, I know, tmi but when I was raising my own beef, I was eating it regularly. I ended up going to the hospital once thinking I had appendix issues, turned out I just needed to go. Haven’t had that problem since changing my diet. My husband used to have IBS(irritable bowel syndrome) and since we have gone to a vegan diet he no longer has issues either. Did you know that it can take up to 8 days to digest meat? It is literally rotting in your guts, gag!
And now the elusive protein. Really it isn’t as elusive as you’d think. If you are eating whole grains and meat and dairy, chances are you are getting too much. Too much protein can cause weight gain and can even be hard on your kidneys. How much do you need? I can tell you that my goal for protein intake is between 45-80 grams a day. The average woman is around 46 a day. Let me break down an average day of meals for you and show you how easy it is for me to meet my low protein goal.
I used to love omelettes, 3 eggs(18g), ham (14g) and cheese(14g), plus the toast(10g)… Crazy to think I had already met my protein goal before lunch. No wonder I had extra pounds. No wonder I always used to complain about having an upset stomach.
57 Health Benefits of Going Vegan Check out this website for even more reasons why.
I have always loved animals. My dream as a youngun was to become a veterinarian, but I didn’t have the drive to commit 8 years to schooling after high school. So that was left in dream land. I have had all sorts of pets, from dogs to ball pythons, to horses and turtles.
It’s kind of funny, in all the time that I spent growing up in Hood River, I don’t think I ever really appreciated the nature that surrounded me until a visit back to my parents house. I never realized how close Mt. Hood was and how big and beautiful it was until driving back up there after living in the Portland area. I got used to seeing it’s view through the city, which is pretty in it’s own way. There is just something about driving down a two lane highway and coming around a bend of fruit trees and the mountain peak taking up the whole skyline. It’s just awesome.
I was given the opportunity to move back to the country and that gave me a new appreciation for nature. Going on the trails via horseback and riding through a field of wild flowers, then finishing it with a beautiful view of 3 of the closest mountain tops is a memory I will always cherish. You don’t know what you have until it’s gone, really is true. Living in the country gave me a new appreciation for the balance of life. The balance of nature and how the ecosystem of cats hunting mice, coyotes keeping gray digger populations under control and wild turkeys keeping the bugs at bay, all work together.
I feel that all of these experiences have brought me even more insight as to why eating dairy and large farmed animals is wrong. I raised bottle calves, from a dairy farm across the river. As much as I tried to baby my babies, things went wrong, their health was compromised because they were taken away from their mom’s so that they could sell the milk. As hard as I tried, I know that the babes I raised would have been bigger and stronger if they had been with their mom. The ones I lost probably would have made it with their mom’s too. The two farms I would buy from were pretty good about making sure babies got the first of the colostrum. Though the little babies were kept in little areas and were alone except for feeding times. The mamas were pulled from their babes and you always knew that you were close to the farm because of the smell of manure from quite a ways down the road. Dairy isn’t very humane. Dairy isn’t very environmentally friendly either. I sure loved those babies though.
Environmentally speaking, did you know that 1 pound of beef requires 1,799 gallons of water, which includes irrigation of the grains and grasses in feed, plus water for drinking and processing? Americans are projected to eat just under 56 lbs of beef this year. Last year America’s population was 322,762,018, which will be even larger this year, that equals 17,945,568,200.8 lbs of beef to be consumed?!? That means we are using 32,284,077,193,239.2 gallons of water a year just for cows! That’s in the trillions, I can’t even fathom that number. Can you imagine if that water was used for the many people who have no water? The little children in Africa? The people suffering in Syria right now?!? These numbers don’t even take into consideration how much water is used for pork or dairy or poultry… It saddens me to think about us craving a burger more than we consider the life of another human being. And we wonder why California is in a drought.
That just addresses the water issue. That doesn’t address the inhumane treatment of animals going to slaughter, the inhumane treatment of animals before slaughter. If you have time, I encourage you to look into where your animal products come from. I’m willing to bet that you seeing calves dragged away from their mothers as their mother screams and chases after them will sadden you too. Seeing little piglets have their tails clipped off because they are in such small quarters that when they grown they will eventually start eating each other. Even the baby chicks going into the grinder alive because they are boys and won’t produce eggs sickens me. That burger is no longer guilt free to me because I am informed. As much as I don’t wish anyone to have to see animals to suffer, I know that education is the only way people change. Even then, sadly people will watch those videos and not care but will be upset when they see a starved horse or a beaten dog. They are all animals and they all feel. And that is one reason I will not eat meat or drink milk anymore. That’s not to say I am perfect, I struggle and still sneak in a Cinnabon here and there. That just tells me I need to be stronger and get better at controlling my sweet tooth. I also need to learn how to make my own bomb cinnamon rolls at home(and not eat the whole pan.)
Last but not least, I believe God has a plan for us. He wants us to be healthy and treat our bodies like temples. I believe that by following a plant based diet, along with exercising and not drinking alcohol, I am working towards the goal of being a temple. ♥16 Don’t you know that you yourselves are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit dwells in your midst? 17 If anyone destroys God’s temple, God will destroy that person; for God’s temple is sacred, and you together are that temple. 1 Corinthians 3:16-7♥ There is no doubt in my mind that you are what you eat and if you are eating unhealthy foods, your body and mind will reflect that.
I believe that the diet he intended for us from the very beginning is the diet we should be sticking to. ♥And God said, “See, I have given you every herb that yields seed which is on the face of the earth, and every tree whose fruit yields seed; to you it shall be for food.” Genesis 1:29♥
Yes, I know that since Noah meat was given as food. If you read Leviticus 11 you will see that there are clean and unclean meats. Interesting to see that pigs are an unclean meat, just sayin… The one thing I think is neglected when people see that we can eat meat is that you aren’t supposed to eat the blood. ♥ 2 The fear and dread of you will fall on all the beasts of the earth, and on all the birds in the sky, on every creature that moves along the ground, and on all the fish in the sea; they are given into your hands. 3 Everything that lives and moves about will be food for you. Just as I gave you the green plants, I now give you everything.4 “But you must not eat meat that has its lifeblood still in it. Genesis 9:2-4♥ (see also Leviticus 17) The Bible gives specific directions on how to cook meat so the blood is not in it anymore but to be honest it seemed like a lot of work and the blood is really what gives the meat its flavor. Plus all of the genetically modified cancer causing feeds are still used. So I’ll stick with my vegan eats.
You can choose to believe what the Bible says or not. Personally when so many things; medical studies, environmental studies, and the reduced lifespan of people from biblical times all point to eating meat as our downfall, I’m going to take that as a sign that change is needed.
Change is Hard
Like I said before, deciding to go vegan brought a lot of mental challenges. I had to battle my mind by making small changes. The very first thing we quit was pork. That was tough in the sense that gelatin is in EVERYTHING. Just last night I found some lotion that had gelatin in it.(Oh and by the way, I have found vegan marshmallows that I think are better than regular ones.) The second to go was beef, then chicken and then dairy. One step at a time is my life motto. And being able to forgive myself for slip ups, and continue to push to do better makes this lifestyle do able. I’ve gotten better at finding vegan options for EVERYTHING too. Cashews are this girls best friend!
If you’re interested in making the change and need favorite substitutes or recipes, I’d be MORE THAN happy to help!
Yes, I still am missing the pumpkin spice latte that I enjoyed at least once a week last year. So on a mission to add more pumpkin to my life I decided to quit the carving and paint our pumpkins this year. It may have …
Growing up I remember Hood River doing lots of fund raising to have a skate park. I remember all the wooden ramps and boxes and everything being made as cheap as they could but I always thought it was an awesome place to be during …
I’ve recently decided to cut coffee out of my life, again… I can honestly say I hadn’t missed it until all of the pumpkin spice latte talk recently! Why have I decided to quit coffee again? There are a couple reasons, the biggest is I love the cream and sugar. The problem with that is cream and sugar cause fat and I’ve been working hard in my home gym to burn that stuff off. Why should I keep replenishing the storage gut? The second reason, no caffeine means I get a headache. That means it’s something my body is addicted to. I don’t like feeling like I have to have something to feel good, I don’t even like to take Advil for crying out loud. So not only have I quit coffee but I quit using my pre-workout also. I haven’t removed it completely from my diet but will only be using it when I have a REALLY strenuous workout ahead (cough, Spartan Race, cough.)
And so, the search for a no coffee version began. It seemed that all the recipes I found have milk in them and since I’m vegan that didn’t work either. I found a recipe on allrecipes.com and tweaked it to work for me. The recipe I found was for a bigger batch, I scaled it down to a one cup treat because I have the self control of a toddler when it comes to sweets! I’d drink the whole batch in one sitting because there are only 2 pumpkin pie lovers in my house. Only downfall I’ve found with doing it this way, means I have a lot of left over pumpkin to use. I’m thinking pumpkin oats, pumpkin pancakes and pumpkin Shakeology! #winning
Step 1: Measure all ingredients and throw them in a pan. Heat it up and enjoy!
Bonus Step: If you decide to use the coconut oil, throw it in the blender to get a little bit of foam. Yum!
I LOVE STUFF! I LOVE BARGAINS! I HATE PASSING UP A GOOD DEAL! I HATE A MESSY HOUSE! I’ve learned that all of those things don’t coexist well together. My youngest son is 10 years old and he’s the ultimate example of clutter and disorganized …
I apologize in advance, I get a little heated and emotional in this posting. I’m not meaning to call anyone out and say anything bad about anyone, just being frank. I truly want to help everyone and I sort of have a thing for tough …
I don’t know about you but I <3 oatmeal! It’s my go to breakfast. I can eat it plain but I definitely prefer it loaded with goodies. I don’t mean butter, brown sugar and cinnamon(even though that is tasty.)
We need to work on reducing the added sugar in our lives and yes I know fruit has sugar too but it’s not the bad refined sugars that are found in almost every processed food you find. Breakfast seems to be a grab it and go meal or a hurry and eat a bowl of cereal. I’m here to tell you that starting your day with a dish of processed sugary carbs is not the way to go. BUT. I have to confess, I used to eat cereal for breakfast all the time. Frosted Mini Wheats were one of my favorite cereals because they are whole wheat, that meant they were good for me right?!? Once I decided to start eating healthier, I switched to instant oatmeal packets, which really aren’t much better. Below are the sugar amounts in just a few of my kid’s favorites. I only buy them once a month as a treat because I know that if I don’t allow it 100% of the time they are going to want it even more. (In case you’re wondering, the cereals I usually buy for them are Kix, Chex, Cheerios and Rice Crispies. They still mostly exceed their daily limit.)
The chart below shares what the American Heart Association recommends for your daily sugar intake. This chart is for adults. We are almost doubling the sugar intake recommended just starting our days out, that’s not counting the milk you pour over your cereal. What about the sugary creamers we have in our coffee, the sugar in juices, the sugar in our sodas at lunch time or the sugar in our “treats?” Sugar is the plague of obesity and diabetes, if we don’t start working towards lessening it we will never beat those two diseases.
I often hear “oatmeal doesn’t fill me up,” and I’m going to say that’s because you aren’t loading it up. Think about it, 150 calories of just oatmeal isn’t going to carry you very far. Adding more protein, fiber and energy to that bowl is going to make it carry you further into the day! Plus adding a texture variety seems more satisfying that a bowl of mush. Oatmeal is a great breakfast because its simple and doesn’t take long to make. Also, it has between 5-7 grams of protein in half a cup. When you’re vegan, and active, you bet you count every bit of protein you can! It’s minimally processed because if you were to eat it unprocessed our bodies wouldn’t be able to digest all the nutrients in it. Think corn 🙈🙊
Lots of fruits, nuts and seeds(those are for protein, not flavor.)
Fresh fruit is obviously the best fruit option because it’s going to be the most natural. Frozen would be the next best because while freezing it can take away a small amount of the nutritional content, it’s not enough to say you shouldn’t eat it. Plus frozen is usually cheaper than fresh and it stores easier. You can do dried fruit too, but beware it’s usually dried with added sugar. Canned fruit is the same, usually has added sugar so I’d try to stay away from that. Always check the labels, that’s one of my biggest clean eating tips. If you’d like to learn more about clean eating you can learn more on my blog here.
Nuts are usually raw because seems all the roasted ones are salted. No need to add extra salt in our diets either. Don’t get me wrong, our bodies do need salt but not in the excess we use today. Some of my favorite nuts are walnuts, almonds, pecans and pepitas(pumpkin seeds). They add good flavor and pack a little extra protein. Nuts shouldn’t be eaten in excessive amounts because they are high in fat, but good in moderation.
Protein per ounce (approximately)
Having extra protein to add along with Omega 3’s make adding seeds into your oatmeal a bonus. My favorite seed to add in is Chia seeds because you can’t taste them. They are kind of fun because when you add them to water they get jelly like. My second would be Hemp seeds as a topping, I don’t like them cooked into my oatmeal because I feel like it gets a peppery flavor, Troy just doesn’t like the texture. Then lastly would be ground Flaxseeds, I don’t really like the texture this adds, but I know it’s really good for you so I make sure they are always in my cabinet to rotate. It’s super important to eat a variety of foods so you get the best nutrition you can. All three seeds are rich in omega 3’s which is good for people, like me, who aren’t getting them from eggs or fish!
Seed Perks
I recommend trying honey, agave nectar, stevia extract or even a dab of real maple syrup. They are all really sweet but won’t give you the huge sugar spike that cane sugar does. Best way to start is use a little, and then a little less each time. Teach those taste buds that the fruits are good enough.
Approximately 10 grams of protein.
Ingredients:
Cook the oatmeal and chia seeds and top with the remaining ingredients. I am obsessed with coconut! I think it’s probably my favorite flavor for everything treat related!
Approximately 16 grams of protein.
Ingredients:
I like to throw my apples in when I add my oats and chia seeds because I like them a little softer. Once it’s ready to serve I stir in the cinnamon. Then I sprinkle the almonds on top and enjoy!
PS. Cinnamon all sorts of medicinal properties, check some of the benefits of use out here.
Approximately 20 grams of protein.
Ingredients:
Cook oats and chia seeds, then stir in blueberries and half the hemp seeds. Place in cup and sprinkle top with the remaining hemp seeds. Food tastes better when it’s pretty right? Plus those blueberries add extra antioxidants, and those of course help fight cancer too!
Approximately 14 grams of protein.
Ingredients:
Cook the oatmeal and chia seeds, then stir in the frozen raspberries and top with the walnuts. Just in case you were wondering this is Troy’s favorite way to have his oats. He loves raspberries.
Don’t worry, you can mix and mash up any fruit you love.
Try:
You name it, you can try it. It’s all about finding out what satisfies your pucker upper 🙂
Lets Talk Clean Eats! When I first started Coaching, I had no idea what “clean eating” was. I thought I ate pretty healthy, not counting my treats. Then I heard about a clean eating group my Coach was hosting. So of course wanting to know …