Juice Feast

As we talk about a lot on here, we are vegan.  We have a pretty good diet in that we don't eat any animal based foods, we make our own vegetable stock and are working to lower oil usage.  So we're not getting any external cholesterol (only animal based foods have that), we're getting good amounts of fiber and we're not adding a lot of salt.

But we know that we can improve how we eat.  We're bad about planning our meals.  We eat out a lot and, yeah, we end up eating the same meals out of laziness and convenience just like everyone else.

We figured we needed to get in more nutrients, especially greens.  So what does that mean???

JUICE FEAST!!!

The good thing about juice feasting is that you get tons of nutrients in an easy to add way and lots of stuff I don't like to eat, like carrots or kale, I'm happy to drink.   For the past week and a half, most of our calories have come via juice.  Good thing they sell 25 lb bags of carrots!

Each day we're making enough juice so that each of us drinks at least 3 - 4 quarts of juice.  We tend to do a mix of our favorite ingredients, including:

• Carrots
• Apples
• Oranges
• Grapefruit
• Mango
• Lemons
• Limes
• Pineapple
• Celery
• Ginger
• Parsley
• Kale
• Spinach
• Cucumber
• Beets
• 1 tbl of ground flax seed added to the completed juice

It's actually really surprising how easy this can be.  I find that I'm not hungry afterwards at all.  My cravings for junk food goes away and I'm not dizzy or headachy or anything.  Plus, I tend to be very bad about drinking enough water.  This way I'm getting plenty of fluids so that helps too.

We haven't had many "detox" issues because we already eat pretty well, but if you did plan to do a juice feast, it's best to know what to expect.  You are more likely to work through any icky feelings if you know they are going to pop up.

One logistic that can make things easier is to make up your juices for the day and then vacuum-seal them for transport, just shake them up before you open them.  We use 1-quart mason jars and drink one for breakfast, one for lunch and then one late afternoon around 4pm or 5pm.  Then I might be set for the night.  We have been having a few "meals" here and there, as well as some solid snacks, so it's not a 100% thing for us.

Some people will go through some weight loss when doing a juice feast, especially if they have had a poor diet or health prior to making this change.  We may have dropped a few pounds but overall our goal is to add nutrients which we definitely are doing.

Juicing can be anything from adding a juice to your meal all the way up to a 100+ day juice only program.  It's always best to have a doctor's review before you make a major switch, especially if you have any health issues.  If you're just supplementing your diet, then juice away!  And have fun with it.  Mixing up flavors is the best part.  You don't know how delicious it can be until they go through the juicer and mix with the other flavors.  It's like a fun surprise in a glass.

Food - rules to live by

The Vegan Food Pyramid

via http://www.veganfoodpyramid.com/

How We Got Sicker

This amazing info-graphic easily depicts how our current health woes have developed over the last few decades:



via Vitality

2500 Calories Plus

I've been talking more and more here and on the Facebook page about dining excess.  Not just the way we eat but in the food that is being created, glorified and shoved in our faces over and over again.

I have noticed more and more some bad decadence at work from restaurants.  They are competing, I think, to see who can make us eat the worst.

Burger King's latest is a “burger” made with 4 Whopper patties, pepperoni, mozzarella cheese, marinara sauce and pesto and is coming this month to the New York City BK Whopper Bar in Times Square.

And while I know this is a gimmick, it is also real.  But why?

This 9.5" monstrosity is over 2500 calories, more than a day's worth of calories for an adult.   That alone should stop you but if it doesn't:

1. There are a hundred an forty-four grams of fat in the NY Pizza Burger.


2. There are fifty-nine grams of saturated fat in the NY Pizza Burger.

3. There are 3,780 milligrams of salt in the NY Pizza Burger (more than double the daily allowance for adults).

4. You have better ways to spend thirteen dollars.

5. You do not want to be a part of the culinary suicide that Americans are committing.

6. You want to be a role model for healthy eating.

7. Your stomach just turned at the idea of this culinary travesty.

8. You value your health, both now and in the future.

9. You do not want to participate in the methane production related to making that much meat and dairy – if in fact there is real meat and dairy used in that product.

10. You don’t have an interest in financially supporting the fast food industry’s belief that they can get rich by feeding America death-food.
 
I hate fast food in general, but when I see examples of garbage like this being served and idolized as food, it makes me crazy.

Sources:
Do not Eat This
Tiny Green Bubble

Vegan-a-go-go and a-cough-cough

If you haven't seen it, my latest "Vegan Expert" post is up on the Getting Healthy section of The Demoiselles. Check it out here!

In the article I gave tips on travelling and eating vegan/vegetarian while out and about. One thing I didn't mention is what happens when you've been running on an inconsistent eating schedule, staying up way way way later than normal, walking around in the snow and cold for hours and then having to deal with major flight complications.

Oh, yeah... you get sick.

So after all of the above, I got sick for the first time in almost 2 years. I've been fine all winter while the people around me succumbed to illness but not eating or sleeping properly lowered my resistance.

I hate to take medicine and I usually don't but I do get coughing issues and have been forced (by the hubby) to take some cough medicine. What he found for me seems to be the least "harmful" formula out there... a diabetic version.



With no sugar, alcohol, sodium, dye, codeine, sorbitol or fructose/HFCS it tastes gross, but it does work and doesn't fill me full of all the crap listed.

I'm not happy about taking it but I guess this is the best option. I'm trying to find out if it is vegan and animal-testing free. I'm not sure that it is but I'm hoping it is. It's really hard to find out this info. I think we need better labeling.

And I plan on getting better soon and staying well so I can avoid taking it in the first place!

Full of Flavor

One of the concerns we hear a lot from people when they ask us about being vegans and the food we eat is that they thing the food is going to be boring, ascetic or bland.

Let me just say, this is SOOOO not the case.

We are major foodies. We love food and ingredients and cooking and baking. Heck, I have at least 10 kinds of salt alone. So, when we switched to eating vegan, you can be sure it was not at the expense of our tastebuds.

One thing that you may not consider when you eat a typical animal product-centric diet is that most of the flavors in foods come from plant-based ingredients. Spices, herbs, vinegars, nuts, oils, marinades, dressings, ketchups, mustards, etc. All plant based.

Think about your favorite meals. Personally, I like a good burger, but what I love is the mix of textures, the ketchup, the onion. Having a veggie burger (or even better one of Laughing Seed's Hempnut Burgers, sigh) with the same burger fixings is perfect. Plus no upset stomach that I always got from ground beef.

For Mexican meals, we make veggie fajitas, tacos or burritos or taco salads with Crumbles and my favorite Moe's Art Vandalay burrito too.

Italian is all about tomato sauces which you can add a Field Roast Italian Sausage to (or use for a sausage-pepper sandwich) or risotto which I just make with veggie broth and EarthBalance.

Our favorite meals are usually Indian - we love the spices, the textures and the balance of the dishes - rice, naan, samosas, etc. Yum!

And then there is Thai. Thai cuisine is considered one of the most complex and layered because almost every dish ties in the five main flavor components: hot, sweet, salty, sour, and bitter. A meal we had recently at a local restaurant showcases this fundamental philosophy in the cooking.

The appetizer we started with was called a Healthy Plate and consisted of a leaf wrap (here it was kale) and then chopped red onions and ginger (hot), toasted coconut (sweet), peanuts (salty), lime (sour) and a tamarind sauce (bitter/sweet). You wrapped all of these in the leaf and popped them in your mouth. Amazing!



When we received our meals you could see the same flavors combined into the more integrated savory dishes. The hubby had a tofu dish but mine was all veggies.



We ended the meal with an amazingly decadent sliver of candied sweet potato topped with a rich and creamy coconut cream sauce that I could not get enough of.

Not one part of the meal had an animal product but yet it was complex, flavorful, delicious and satisfying.

It is easy to look at your favorite meals with a fresh eye. Don't get hung up on worrying that you will be "missing out" just think of it as cooking with a few ingredient substitutions and you will be surprised how easy and tasty cooking without meat, dairy and eggs can be.