Carnivore Comforts

So I have been Vegan now for about 5 months.  At first, changing my eating habits was for health reason.  Then, as I have explained in earlier posts, it became about animal rights.  All and all, I am learning that it has been about breaking a bad habit.  But switching to Vegan isn't like remembering to take your shoes off at the front door, it's a total lifestyle change.  And with that there is a very BIG, bad, habit to break.

I mean I have spent the first 30 some years of my life eating whatever I've wanted and not having to think twice about it.  And I do believe that eating (certain foods at least) is an addiction.  Comfort foods are just that; meant for comfort.  Your having a bad day, what do you do?  Have some of grandma's recipe Mac and Cheese?  Or maybe you had a stressful day at work and you go out with some co-workers to grab a burger and fries?  Those kinds of high fat, greasy, foods trigger something in your brain that just calms you down and makes everything seem alright.  You don't think about how hard your body has to work to digest high fat, inflammation causing, foods.  And in my earlier years I didn't think about what the poor animal had to go through to get on my plate.  But now I think about both when it comes to what I eat.

So eating right has been awesome for me.  I've lost weight and feel great.  But sometimes there are things in everyday life that can trigger those old feelings of eating whatever I wanted.  Right now my boyfriend and I are buying our first Condo together.  It is super exciting!  It's a big step for us and we can't wait to move into our very own home!  But if you've ever bought a house you can understand all the stresses that come along with it.  Getting tons of paperwork together.  Waiting for your closing date.  Scheduling movers.  Packing, unpacking, forwarding mail and changing your address on everything!  UGH!

So lately I have been struggling with being such a new Vegan.  Days like today make me have huge cravings!  And having those cravings don't make me a bad person, but it is super hard not acting on them.  I mean I am only human, and I am a human that has spent 95% of my life never thinking twice about what I have eaten.  In the past, at times like this, I would so order a pizza or go out for a burger.  But now I know that, that is not an option.  But sometimes it's like I have a huge battle going on between my taste buds and my brain.

I know that in time, this will get easier and easier.  I will find new, Vegan, foods that will become my go-to comfort foods.  But being in the early stages of my transition has not always been easy.

Subliminal messages making you unhealthy?

Every now and then I will have the slightest craving for a food that I once used to eat before becoming vegan.  Maybe something like fried shrimp or a pizza with real cheese and pepperoni.  But they come and go and are now becoming fewer and farther between.  All I really have to do is remember why I chose to become vegan in the first place.  Starting as a vegetarian was a health choice.  Becoming vegan was because of my love and compassion for animals.

I think after you have been vegan for more then a couple months, you really start to notice just how often fast food companies and processed food products are flashed right before you face.  I mean I can sit down to watch an hour long TV show and see a commercial for just about every kind of fast food franchise out there.  Or I can hear about he newest miracle pill that helped the local radio DJ loose 30 pounds.  And while listening to that I will see billboard after billboard of more of the blah blah blah this diet or blah blah blah that pill driving into work.   It's no wonder it is so hard for someone to change their eating habits or to learn about proper nutrition.  Fast food equals obesity and that leads to the next weight loss gimmick and that all equals one thing:  money.  There are no quick fixes and if you have to spend a lot of money to get the results you are looking for, you are probably just wasting your time and money!  

There is no money in healthy people.  I mean genuinely healthy people.  I have lost 15 pounds by doing no more then just changing what I eat.  The amount of time I spend working out has not changed.  But, what I put in my mouth has!  And I wasn't even looking to loose any weight.  I thought I was right where I was supposed to be.  But your body knows where you should be and once you give it the proper fuel, it will take you there faster and easier then you ever thought possible!  You will reach a new level of healthy.  I sleep better, wake up ready to go, and I am rarely tired.  And I am "regular" beyond belief!  I actually get excited to be able to go to the bathroom at the same time everyday, like clock work.  And if I go two times a day, well that's just an added bonus!  But enough of the potty talk.  I will save that for its own blog one day!

I really feel changing what you consume is a very psychological choice.  It does take a lot of will power.  You have to want to change your eating habits.  And I do agree with what more and more research is showing, that food is an addiction.  Eating certain foods can have different affects on your mind and body.  If you eat foods high in fats, sugars, and salts, then your crave those foods more and more.  Likewise, I think if you eat nutrient rich foods more and more, you will begin to crave them.  And you will eventually be able to break your addiction with the wrong foods.  Your palate will change for good and the pounds will drop off before your eyes.  But you have to want to change.

I wanted to be healthy and then I also wanted to make a differences when it came to the animals that were suffering needlessly.  But it took time and I had to educated myself.  The key thing here is that I wanted to do it!  And you can too if it is your true desire.  So be patient with yourself.  Be kind to yourself.  And in return you will be happy with the results.  Namaste.

Yoga, Pilates, and Running oh my!

So I'm really excited about getting this blog up and running and gaining new readers.  I just have so much on my mind that I want to ramble on and on about that I don't know where to start!  I have totally enjoyed my transition over to being Vegan.  There have been so many positive things that have come from going down this path.  One, I have lost weight without even trying.  But I do have to give some of that credit to the fact that, besides eating a diet that is nutrient dense, I also work out anywhere from 3-4 times a week between yoga, Pilates, and my occasional run.

I've been doing yoga for about 6 years now.  Currently I attend class once a week.  (I used to go 3 times a week and I would like to get back to that.)  I have a wonderful yoga instructor that I have been with the whole time.  I would highly recommend her if you live in North Austin, Cedar Park, or Leander TX.  Her name is Veronica Armstrong and she currently works at the Cedar Park Recreation Center, as well as at Flow Yoga.  Veronica also offers a donation based class on Saturday mornings at HK Taekwondo.  The classes that I normally attend are a Hatha style with Vinyasa Flow.  For me yoga is like my religion.  It makes me feel at peace with my body and mind. 

I currently only go to yoga once a week because at the beginning of this year I discovered Pilates and currently attend those classes twice a week.  I am fortunate enough to work for a wonderful company that offers Pilates classes to it's employees free of charge, twice a week, right at work!  I love being able to get in an hour long workout without having to do anything but change my clothes.  Pilates has been a wonderful addition to my yoga and running.  Yoga, I feel keeps me flexible, and Pilates has helped me tone up through strength training and resistance.  I am still very new to it all but I hope to keep Pilates as a regular staple in my workout regimen.

I have been a runner for about 6 years now.  I have always been a believer in doing restorative exercise, like yoga (and now Pilates too), to improve your running.  Many different athletes would also agree with me there.  After four years of running and dealing with some of the pains associated with it (shin splints, hip pain, knee pain, and lower back pain) I started to learned about, and transitioned to, minimalist running or "barefoot" running.  I learned that if you let your foot act more like a foot, by not wearing traditional, coffin like, running shoes, you can perform at a different level.  A level that, for me, has rid me of any and all prior aliments.  I learned to allow my body to work the way it was designed and in turn improved my running.

Now imagine doing the same with your diet?  So the next thing I started to learn about was what you fuel your body with and how it affects your physical abilities.  Basically, if you put poor, over proceeded, chemically altered and animal based foods in, then you will have a less desirable out come in whatever physical activities you do.  Imagine only putting foods into your body that are in their purest forms and have not been shot full of chemicals.  When I started to do that, by switching to a vegan diet, I was worried at first how it would affect my running.  Would I be getting enough of the right "fuel" to still run 3 or 4 miles at a time?  The answer was a BIG yes!  I actually hadn't been focusing on my running at all since my last race in December of 2012.  I would run on and off but I wasn't on a schedule like I used to be.  So, when I went out for my first run after being a vegan for a month, I was worried that I wouldn't make it past a mile.  Boy was I surprised!  First run out I did 3 miles no issues and the next time I did 4 and it was like I had never stopped training.  And I felt so good!  I wasn't tired or thirsty or hungry.  I honestly felt like I could have even went another mile, but I didn't want to over do it.

So yes, I am a firm believer in, if you take care of your body it will take care of you.  You will recover faster, be able to push yourself longer, and over all just feel better.  I'm not a doctor but I have found that eating a healthy diet that is void of all animal products and in turn, nutrient dense, has greatly improved my physical activities and over all I just feel better.  I can't wait to share more of my discoveries and journeys with you.  Until then, Namaste!

  

Monkey Toes 2.0 back and better then ever!

This page started back in 2011 as a blog about my transition into Minimalist Running shoes, aka Vibram Five Fingers aka, My Monkey Toes.  My posts will still continue to touch on my running journeys as well as my love of Yoga and Pilates.  But for now I think the most important thing to open with, is how to get you body running on high octane fuel by changing the way you view the food at the end of your fork!

So, I've only been Vegan for a little over two months now.  I went Vegetarian back in March of 2013 after watching a couple different documenataries on Netflix.  One of which was Forks over Knives.  This is a wonderful gateway documentary that explains benefits of eating a better diet, consisting of nutrient rich foods, as opposed to what has become the "typical Western diet".  The other documentary that I watched about a month later was Vegucated.  This film touched on some of the same topics as FOK but also discussed the environmental aspect of eating an animal based diet.  Now I am a huge animal lover.  I don't have any human children but I do share my home with two, four legged, feline children.  And they are treated with the same care, love and respect.  Vegucated, educated me about how horribly animals that are seen as "food" are treated and it put me into tears.  I was appalled by what I had learned and felt very deceived.  Watching that, was my "ah ha" moment.  It was the moment that, as an animal lover, I could never look back and I could only call myself a hypocrite if I chose to just look the other way.  So I change my diet from that day forward.

So being Vegan for me, started mostly as a healthy life style change and then became a personal way to protest all and any animal cruelty.  Along with watching these films (as well as many others that will pop up as a recommendation on Netflix), I have also read many books on being Vegan, or what some people refer to as a "raw diet".  And let me say right now that I hate the word "diet".  I am not on a diet.  I have never really dieted in my life before.  I have alway been in decent shape and have never had any serious health concerns.  I chose to make a "lifestyle change" to better myself and my future.  So if you are looking for a quick fix or a way to lose a couple pounds for bikini season, then being Vegan, or eating raw, is not for you.  I think becoming a Vegan is more of a psychological choice and the health and environmental benefits are a nice addition.

So, as I was beginning to say, (before I had to take my stand about "diets") I have read many books on these types of lifestyle changes as well.  A great one that really backed up was the FOK documentary spoke about is Eat To Live by Joel Fuhrman.  Many others are,  The Engine 2 Diet: The Texas Firefight's 28-day..... by Rip Esselstyn, who is also featured in the FOK documentary and a fellow Austinite.  Rip also has a new book out called "My Beef with Meat" but I have yet to read it.  Currently I am reading a book called Thrive: The Vegan Nutrition Guide to optimal Performance in Sports and Life by Brendan Brazier.   I will post and talk about some more titles on my page as I get this blog moving again.

I am very excited about this new journey I am on.  I hope to share those things here with you in the future. You only get one life and one body and I think everyone needs to learn more about how to embrace them, in a happy, healthy way.  Until later, Namaste.