Veganism

I am continuing my studies of eating a vegan diet.  As I choose to eat this way for health purposes, it is important to make sure I am doing it right in order for it to be healthy. One must know how to get all the necessary nutrients from what they eat. The way I ate before was a meat based diet and I doubt I was getting all the required nutrients from it as I never ate properly.  I am now much more likely to cook myself a meal than I ever was before I started to eat the vegan way.  So far it hasn't helped me to loose any weight, however it has made a dramatic and profound improvement to my cholesterol levels in just 3 months.

As I surfed the web tonight, I came across a very good web site on veganism. They had lots of interesting things to read about, including vegan sources of proteins, Omega 3, iron, etc.  I will likely share some of that info here, but for tonight I am going to share something from another website.

Is veganism a good idea?

By: AFP Date:  2011-08-23 Place: Washington

Last week former US President Bill Clinton told American news channel CNN that he is now a vegan and eschews meat, eggs, and dairy in order to be healthier. Once famed for his love of hamburgers and doughnuts, Clinton, who had quadruple bypass surgery in 2004, dropped 24 pounds and has lowered his cholesterol levels dramatically since adopting a near vegan lifestyle last year. So, is veganism a good idea? "Veganism is one of the healthiest dietary lifestyles...if done properly," reports LiveScience of Clinton's eating regimen. "It is also one of the unhealthiest diets in town if not done properly, which is often the case." Animal products are packed with nutrients such as protein, omega-3 fatty acids (in fish), calcium, iron, zinc, and vitamin B12. This means in order to consume vital nutrients, vegans need to be extra-vigilant by eating calcium-rich dark, leafy greens such broccoli, kale, turnip greens and collards, zinc-filled nuts and beans, omega-3 fatty acids in flaxseeds, and protein-rich foods such as beans every single day, adds LifeScience. Unskilled or new vegans can also fall into the traps of making poor food choices due to limited food options, or rely on meat substitutes, which can be loaded with salt and fat. MyPyramid.gov recommends that vegans consume beans, nuts, nut butters, peas, tofu, tempeh and veggie burgers to meet protein needs. "I like the vegetables, the fruits, the beans, the stuff I eat now," Clinton told Dr. Sanjay Gupta in the CNN interview. His diet strategy now, he says, is to avoid any food that might damage his blood vessels, and to follow the guidance of famed plant-based food proponent Dr. Dean Ornish and Dr. Caldwell Esselstyn Jr., who directs the cardiovascular prevention and reversal program at The Cleveland Clinic Wellness Institute.

Project House Cleaning

Yesterday I took all the stuff out of a couple cupboards in my kitchen.  I threw out several things then washed stuff that was dusty and going back into the cupboards.  I put my teas where my spices used to be as they need a whole cupboard as it turns out, but so do the spices. Odd for someone who rarely cooks.  Anyway, I decided to put in a new shelf in the one spot in order to put more of the spices. Today a friend brought me some wood which I quickly turned into a shelf.  Now instead of one shelf with spices strung all out and a lot of wasted head space, I have 2 short shelves of spices with little head space.  It looks so much better as well as being very user friendly.  Now I'm about to head into town to one or two Dollar Stores to find some baskets for organizing bagged spices and boxes of zip top bags, etc. I am pleased to have made some progress.

I haven't had a cold or flu for so very long, I would have to guess about 15 years, give or take. So you can imagine how much of a surprise it was when I got sick.  It started with my sinuses draining, which happens occasionally so no big deal, then the coughing and trouble breathing started, including coughing up large amounts of phlegm with a good deal of blood in it.  I went to a walk-in clinic and talked to a doctor who said I had pneumonia and wrote out a slip for me to get chest x-rays done and another for me to get some antibiotics.  Being Sunday I was able to get the antibiotics right away, and had to wait until the next day to get the x-rays done.  Thursday I went back to get the results and was told that the x-rays showed I didn't have pneumonia, but did have bronchitis.  Each day, bit by bit I am better.  Now I still cough a bit now and then though it's not so bad anymore and there was no phlegm coming up today.  I would say I'm almost mended.  I am very happy that tonight will be the last of the antibiotics and the start of healing from the damage of the drugs.

OUCH!!!

On Monday, two days ago, I was doing my volunteer work at the local Food Bank. I had done a bit of portioning of ice tea and orange crystals when Anna came and asked me to do some filing. i was busily doing the filing when suddenly I felt an extremely sharp and nasty pain in my left wrist. I really hadn't done anything that should have caused this to happen, was just moving some hanging files in one of the filing cabinets. It took some time for the pain to dye down enough for me to continue my work. Since then, I have had a very sore wrist and pain up into the back of my hand. I'm not sure what damage has been done in there, but am sure something has happened. This is not normal.

This left wrist is the one that was damaged in a crash on September 10, 2010 when I was riding my trike and was hit by a car. The distal radius (bone at base of thumb, goes up to elbow) was shattered right into the joint line (very bad), and every bone in the wrist was dislocated. I also had several other injuries, but this one was by far the worst. I was taken to hospital by ambulance and the next morning had surgery to reconstruct the wrist, and they put a metal plate in with 9 screws to hold it all together. After the bones were healed, the metal was causing me problems, so on March 30, 2011, I had a second surgery to remove the metal. At that time the surgeon also fixed the trigger finger issue I was having since the crash. I've had physiotherapy done on the wrist until the therapist decided she had done all that could be done for it.

Since the wrist healed from the second surgery, for about the last 6 months or so, the wrist has been pretty good. It has days when it hurts more than usual, when there's some clunking going on in there, but for the most part it's been doing pretty well, all things considered.... until 2 days ago. Now I have to keep the wrist and hand wrapped for support and just live with the extra pain. If it doesn't improve over the next few days, I will be going to see a doctor about it, though I don't think they really can do much of anything to fix it at this point.

Learning Online

I have been doing a bunch of research online, enjoying how much we can learn by 'surfing the net'.  I see ads on the TV for all the different courses and stuff you can get online and as I study and do research on all things that interest me, I think it's kind of like taking online college courses. I have been checking out vegan recipes and looking at recipe books this evening.  I also have been reading recipes for Quinoa in both burgers and bread.  I love learning, so having all this information at my finger tips is a real bonus.

Veganism Suits Me

The other day I went to visit my Mom, about a 25 minute drive north of where I live. I took along the ingredients for a vegan dish I wanted to try making and we enjoyed Spanish Rice for our dinner that evening. I brought home the left overs and last night I fried up some Vegan "hamburger", Ground Round then mixed in the Spanish Rice. It made for a very nice meal with some still left for another time.

This evening I am going to my monthly Vegan Pot Luck Dinner (and health video) so I plan to take Spanish Rice along for my contribution. I recently found and purchased a small cookbook in a 2nd hand book store and am so delighted with it and the recipes which are pretty much simple ones and all vegan. I've never been one for doing much cooking and certainly not for reading recipe books. Veganism must be agreeing with me, LOL. I was hoping it would help me to loose some weight, though so far it hasn't. What it has done for my health is lower my risk of heart disease!!

A1C (blood glucose reading for a 3 month period, important for diabetics): Oct. 6.3 ... Now 6.1 (desired <7.0)
LDL Cholesterol "bad stuff" : Oct. 4.4 ... Now 4.1 (desired <2.0 For non-diabetics I think it's <4.0)
HDL Cholesterol "good stuff" : Oct. 1.4 ... Now 1.54 (desired >1.0)
Total Cholesterol : Oct. 7.0 ... Now 6.4 (desired <4.0)
Lipid Ratio (risk factor for heart disease): Oct. 4.9... Now 4.2 (desired <4.0)

Even as a meat eater I was keeping my A1C at a good level as well as my Blood Pressure which is 120/80. As you can see, over the last 3 months, my risk of heart disease has dropped a lot, though it needs to come down more yet. After being Vegan for 6 months I'm sure it will show even more positive change. My next test will be early April.

Breakfast of Champions

I was just reading a yummy sounding recipe for breakfast. I usually eat Oatmeal for my first meal of the day, adding lots of healthy things into it. I cook the rolled oats with a pinch each of raisins and craisins (dried cranberries), then add fresh ground flax seeds (about 2 TBSP seeds before grinding), 2 TBSP each of Psyllium Husk and Nutritional Yeast, 1/2 tsp or more cocoa powder, 3 TBSP Lecithin Granules and about 1 cup of Almond Beverage. One very healthy and filling meal. Sometimes I even eat some nuts or fresh fruit with it. This being said, the recipe I just read, Chocolate Peanut Butter Quinoa and Oats, sounds like something I want to try. I think it's a bit high in calories so I would use Almond Beverage (40 cal. per cup) instead of the Soy Beverage (100 cal. per cup) to save 60 calories, or perhaps use 1/2 and 1/2 or 1/4 Soy to 3/4 Almond. I would also leave out the maple syrup.

Hmmm, but how would I get my Psyllium (for fiber) and my Nutritional Yeast (for the B vitamins, including B12), not to mention the Flax (for Omega 3 and fiber) and the Lecithin (to help reduce cholesterol)?? I guess I'll have to give this all some thought.... as I enjoy my Oatmeal.

Carob Peanut Butter recipe

Last week when I was 'out and about' I ended up buying a bunch of books... one 2nd hand book store on Thursday and another one on Friday. I got some really terrific deals at the one of Friday and great books at both. Several of the books are Vegetarian Cookbooks as I need to learn more about preparing meals now that I no longer eat meat or dairy, eggs, anything from animals. Well, most of the time I don't anyway, only maybe 5% of the time when eating at a pot luck or someone else's home I end up eating something with dairy in it or perhaps eggs in it. At home I am full Vegan and around 95% Vegan when out.

One of the new books I bought is called Of These Ye May Eat Freely and it has lots of great recipes that are pretty easy to make. This evening I made Carob Peanut Butter. It sounded too good and too easy not to, and wow, very yummy!! I ate some on bread and ended up eating some by spoon. Still some in fridge for tomorrow!! Here's the recipe:

Carob Peanut Butter
2 bananas or 3/4 c. apple sauce
1/2 tsp vanilla, optional
2 TBSP carob powder
1-2 TBSP sweetener, optional (I didn't use any)
1/2 cup peanut or other nut butter
Blend or stir until smooth.

Health Journal

I need to get my cholesterol levels down as well as loose weight. I have been working on this for some time now and just haven't had much success. About 3 months ago I went mostly Vegan which will help, I'm sure, and I have been taking supplements that apparently help to lower cholesterol, as well as eating more fiber rich foods. So far I haven't lost weight and tomorrow I will find out if there has been any change in the cholesterol levels as I had blood tests done Friday for my every 3 month diabetes blood sugar test as well as the cholesterol. Tomorrow I see the health nurse about my results to those tests. I know I have to drink more water and get more exercise as well as watch how much and what I eat... so I started the year off by starting a Health Journal where I will be keeping track of all I eat and drink as well as my daily blood glucose test results, exercise, how I'm feeling if that is effecting what I eat, etc. I haven't used my treadmill for several weeks and finally have started again... 15 minutes yesterday and 20 minutes today. Not a lot, I know, but it is a start and I will build up to longer. I weighed myself today and wrote that in the book too and each Thursday when I go to my TOPS meeting do the weigh in there I will record that 'official' weight in my Health Journal too. I am determined to get slim, trim and healthy!!

Today's weather, etc.

Today was amazing, weather wise. It was 10°C (50°F) and sunny, clear blue skies!! It was a pure delight at this time of year to be out and about without a jacket and be totally comfortable. I wish every day could be like today!! Of course, there is a draw back to this in that we had a small amount of snow the other day and today it did a lot of melting, now will freeze and be very icy. Not only could this be dangerous out on the highways, but I live on a hill so have a very steep driveway that can be very dangerous when glare ice as you can't stop and end up on the highway, risking hitting or being hit by oncoming traffic. So if it's going to be sunny and warm I want it to melt all the snow off the driveway and let it dry enough to avoid the buildup of ice. I wish everyone a safe and joyous winter!!

I attended my weekly TOPS meeting and found I gained 1 1/2 pounds over Christmas. While this is not good, it also isn't terrible. Apparently, the average weight gain over Christmas is 5 pounds, so I didn't do all that bad. The worst anyone in our group did was a 3 pound gain. Time to get busy and get rid of that along with lots more. After TOPS, I got gas in my truck, then went to lunch with the ladies, as usual, and had a Veggie Burger with side salad, took the top half of the bun off before I ate and left that on my plate, also using a lesser amount of the Italian salad dressing 'on the side'. I went and got some pellets for my stove (I heat my home with these pellets), then to the Bargain Bin to meet friend Pat and picked up a few items, including some nice sheets for my bed. After that Pat & I went to Dairy Queen where I broke my diet both as a vegan and a weight watcher... I had a Mini Blizzard... so could have been much worse. It was yummy!! When time to head home, I went to the used book store to look for some books I've been wanting. I got one of the ones on my list... and 4 that weren't on the list. This evening I browsed some in the book Cook With Tofu, it looks like some good information and recipes for a new vegan to learn from and enjoy.

Making Cookies... Again!!

I posted about making cookies the other day. Since then, I looked up Vegan Oatmeal Cookie recipes on the internet and found one that sounds really great so today I got what I need to make a batch or two of them, also for Christmas gifts. I'll bake them tomorrow or the next day. If you are interested, here is the recipe for you to check out! This fall I started eating about 95% Vegan. I have become very interested in eating healthily... and that sounds like something for another post.

Albert Einstein, physicist, 1921 Nobel Prize recipient:
"Nothing will benefit human health and increase chances for survival of life on Earth as much as the evolution to a vegetarian diet."

Food Bank Today..... Vegan Potluck This Evening

All my days lately seem to be very busy and tiring as well as wonderful. Today I had a medical appointment then went to the Food Bank to do another 2 1/2 volunteer hours. This month so far I have put in 11 1/2 hours there. With 818 Christmas Hampers going out this year, we have a lot of extra work to do putting those hampers together. Today my job was working on part of those Christmas Hampers. Ginger was putting 2 bags together so Iris and I could 'double bag' the veggies, so we would take a double bag and fill it with a 3# bag of onions + a 3# bag of carrots + a 5# bag of russet potatoes, tie the bags and stack them. In the 2 1/2 hours I was there, we did about 150 bags of which I know I did more than 50% as I was working at it by myself before Iris came in to help. It's a good thing I had a chiropractor appointment after that today as my back was not being kind to me at that point. As always, though, I enjoyed being at the Food Bank, doing what I can to help out.

After the Chiropractor all I wanted to do was come home and lay down, I felt so tired. However, my day was not yet over. I went to the Bulk Barn to pick up "a few things" and ended up picking up a LOT more than planned. YIKES!!! It came to $63!!!! Dang, groceries sure have gotten expensive lately!! I came home, used the washroom, packed up some Bean Soup I had made and off I went to my monthly Vegan Potluck and Video evening. GREAT food, WONDERFUL people, INFORMATIVE video on heart/artery health. I am so glad I went... and so GRATEFUL for being involved in this.

Making Cookies

I packed up the ingredients for 2 kinds of cookies I wanted to make for Christmas gifts for a few of my 'guy friends'. I could of course make them at home, but wanted to go visit my Mom so decided to do both at the same time. I should have just come home after TOPS and gone to bed, or visited Mom for a while and come home early to bed. I went on to 'overload' in tired and in pain. However, I managed to get it done in the end, and still drive the 25 minutes home.

First I made Shortbread Cookies using a recipe given to me by my friend Cat Gee. They didn't turn out as great as Cat said they would be, so obviously not as great as hers turn out. Firs, they took a lot of mixing to get them 'smooth and creamy', then I could only put 1 pan of 12 cookies into the oven at a time. The recipe said bake at 350 for 10-12 minutes until golden on bottom of cookies. Well, Mom swears her oven is right so I don't know why, but it was taking around 25-30 minutes to get them to golden on the bottoms. When baking the 2nd dozen I was checking to see if they were done and WHOOF, the pan fell and there were broken cookies all over the inside of the oven!!! I was not happy!!! I cleaned up the mess and got the 3rd dozen in to bake. Mom was gone to get us some dinner from Subway when this happened and came home to see me cleaning up the last of the mess. She said stuff like this has happened to her too, so that helped a lot. It helped me to see I'm not such an idiot as I was feeling like until then.

Shortbread finally done, I started the Peanut Butter Balls. These ones don't get baked and though a bit fiddly, they are easy to make and are very healthy. Ingredients include flax meal, oat bran, carob chips and powder, honey &/or maple syrup... stuff like that. When all is mixed together, you roll it into little bitty balls that you roll in chopped nuts, or chia seeds, or coconut, or quinoa, or sesame seeds, or whatever else you can think of like that. They are so YUMMY and well worth the work to make them. I think I'll make another batch to give to my brother and his wife.

Ahhhh.... 'Tis The Season...

'Tis the season for social gatherings when there are oh so many pot luck dinners to attend which means oh so many dishes to cook and take along to share with friends, and oh so many photographs to take of people and food at the parties. Christmas is a hard time of year for many people for many reasons, including so much over eating makes us gain the pounds when what we want to do is drop weight and inches for a slim, trim body and improved health. All the excess photographs I take can be put on my portable hard drives, yet the excess food I eat goes straight to fat that gets stored on my body. I need to make sure I get more exercise as well as do my best to refrain from the over eating thing!! Wish my luck!!

Eating Vegan

Yesterday I went to visit my Mom, taking with me some groceries I needed to make our dinner. I don't usually cook... for myself or anyone else, but since I've been choosing to eat Vegan, I am more interested in reading recipes and cooking meals. This is the first time I've taken groceries and cooked for my Mom and I think she was pretty happy. Hey, she even took seconds and that's unusual as Mom is a very small eater!! I have been going to a Vegan group to eat and to watch movies on health and why it is healthier to not eat animal based products. They not only fed us very well for 4 evenings, and showed us very interesting, informative videos, but they also gave us recipes and a great deal of health information handouts. What I cooked last night was one of those recipes.... Cuban Black Beans and Rice. I used brown Basmati rice. Mom had some spaghetti squash she had just cooked, not knowing I was planning to feed her, so we had some of that and spinach salad as well. A bit later, after playing a game of Tri-Onimos, we had tea and a great Tofu desert I buy in my favorite grocery store. A healthy meal, filling, and it stayed with me all evening.

NO TO SMART METERS!!

I've heard that connecticut electricity is fairly reasonably priced and I guess ours here is too, though it keeps going up and up as does the cost of all other things. It seems cost goes up more than income does and it sadly is hurting a lot of people. Now, the hydro company here is putting in what they call 'smart meters', which I and many other people feel are a violation of our privacy. Many people even believe they are dangerous to our health due to radiation!! Yesterday I noticed one of my Mom's neighbors had posted a sign beside her existing hydro meter stating that a smart meter is not to be installed there. I am going to post one beside my meter too. I was hoping to find one on the internet to print out, but haven't yet though I've been to several sites. I took some photos last night of the one I saw, so can use them to make up my own sign.

NO TO SMART METERS!!

My Thursday This Week

Being Thursday, I went to TOPS this morning (down 1/2#), then for lunch with 'the ladies'. As often happens, I also went to the Bargain Bin (2nd hand store) with some of my friends. I've been staying away from there a lot lately as I am working at getting rid of stuff, not wanting to bring more home!! Anyway, I've been wanting a duvet cover (queen size) as I was recently given a duvet that didn't have a cover (thank you so much, Cat, I love it!!) So guess what I found at the Bargain Bin!! Yup, a queen size duvet cover... BRAND NEW, STILL IN THE PACKAGE!!! Regular price $186.99.... It was priced $20.00 and being all the stuff in that area was 1/2 price today I got it for $10.00!!!! WoHOOO!!! I love a good deal!!! I also got a pair of short leather winter boots, 2 pairs of earrings, a set of 3 small canisters (very handy for various bulk foods), a blouse, a large bed sheet, an eagle patch (Harley style, says Ride Free and Motor Cycles) I'll give to a Harley friend at Christmas.... total cost $19.00!! Not bad!! While there I should have checked to see what they had for breeches, but didn't think of it then, so maybe next week. Anyway, I already have the duvet into it's cover and my bed looks great. Can hardly wait to slide into it tonight.

Another Rider Killed!!!

I have my TV on and the News is currently on. There was just a story about a PT Cruiser hitting a motorcycle and killing the driver of the motorcycle. I find this kind of thing most upsetting and unsettling!! Why? Because not only am I the owner and driver/rider of a motorcycle, but I too have been hit by a car. I am one of the very very lucky ones.... I lived to tell the story!! I lived to ride another day!! My trike (3 wheeled motorcycle) was totally destroyed and I received some very serious injuries that will forever plague my life. Yet I am alive and still functioning nearly as normal.

I asked the police and the insurance company, but neither one will tell me if the woman who was driving the car that hit me was charged with anything!! This woman nearly killed me and no one will tell me if she even got in any trouble for it!! Oh, I know the 'fault' of the crash was 'found in my favor', so my insurance premiums don't go up and hers do, but big deal, so she has to pay a little bit more for her insurance, just as she would have to if she damaged another car... which she did. Yes, after hitting me and my trike, she went on to hit a Honda car before she finally got around to stopping about 1/3 of a block further down the street.

Yes, I was one of the lucky ones!! The rider who was killed by the PT Cruiser was not so lucky! Statistics show that 85% of crashes involving motorcycles are cars hitting the motorcycles, and in most cases the car turns left into the lane of the motorcycle. When a car hits a motorcycle, it is never a good outcome!! I would really like to ask a question of some of these 'cage' drivers (cage = car, truck or van). I would like to ask "How does it feel to kill an innocent person? How does it feel to end the life of a man/woman, a father/mother, a son/daughter, a husband/wife?" Oh, I know that these people don't get up in the morning and say to themselves "I think I'll go out and kill a motorcyclist today"... and yet they do due to ignorance, due to being in too big a hurry, due to talking on their cell phone, due to just not paying attention to what they are doing!! Then they say "I didn't see it!" THEN LOOK!!!! My trike and I were not easy to 'not see'. I was wearing a salmon colored, highly visible vest over top of my black leather jacket, the trike is as wide as a car, and I was flying the Canadian Flag on it!! If she couldn't see me than I guess she wouldn't see a bicyclist or a pedestrian either. She nearly killed me... I hope she at least learned something from the experience. I sometimes wonder if she's ever even given a second thought to the woman she hit that day!!!

Preserving Fruit

Summer in the Okanagan Valley of BC Canada means a lot of nice fresh fruit on trees and in stores. I love eating fruit fresh off the tree and next best thing, locally grown out of the stores, but what about winter time? I know I would love to have fruit available in winter, but really have never 'put up' anything, so don't know how to do it right. On Facebook I have found lots of different pages, or walls as they call them, to 'Like' and stay connected with. One of them, Away to Garden, is all about horticultural how-to and woo-woo. It is the source for garden information and inspiration, by Margaret Roach, head gardener. What I read there just now was about farm-fresh peaches, frozen to perfection, which is a timely article since peaches will soon be abundant in the Okanagan. I look forward to trying what Margaret has shared with us here, and to enjoying my nice peaches all winter long.

Choices

Have you ever wondered about the hydroxycut side effects? I never take any pills without checking out the possible side effects. Oh, I used to, but at my age I feel I must be aware of all the choices I am about to make. I feel that education is vitally important, being educated about the choices we are making. Currently my doctor & health nurse are pressuring me to take drugs to lower my cholesterol levels and I do not want to do that as I do not like the possible side effects of these type of drugs. Therefor, I am taking natural products that I know are safe and that help to reduce the cholesterol, as well as watching the kind of foods I eat and being more active. I believe we have choices.