myjourneytowardsrecovering-blog

[myjourneytowardsrecovering-blog]

http://features.peta.org/Sexiest-Vegetarian-2012/Contestant.aspx?cid=8583

To all my followers on Tumblr! If you could please take 2 minutes to click on the link above, I have applied to be a contestant for the 2012 sexiest vegetarian/vegan next door on PETA’s website. As most of you know, I am...

[myjourneytowardsrecovering-blog]

Day Seven

I was unable to write the last two days, because I was extremely busy catching up on school work and spring cleaning my house.  I am on Spring Break right now at my college, and so being off campus has made this an easy process.  I am away from campus junk food and have time at home to cook and prepare food for myself.  Definitely a little experimenting going on in the kitchen.  It has been fun trying new foods.  I finally tried the Gardein chipotle lime chicken fingers and they weren’t bad at all.  They had pretty much the same consistency as chicken fingers that you would get out of a Tyson chicken bag.  Only these chicken fingers were actually good for you.  They are jam loaded with protein.  Not to mention the fact that no animals were harmed during the making of Gardein's products.  The main ingredient, water!  Can't get enough of that in your body.  I went to the Whole Foods Store again today to find some organic face wash to try and start helping clear up my acne.  In the last seven days, no new pimples have arrived and so I was happy about that considering most mornings there is always a new one.  Could it have to do with the fruit and veggies that I am eating?  I hope so.  Anyways, I purchased Alba Botanica Natural Acne Dote face and body scrub and deep clean astrigent.  They were both $9.99.  The astignet claims to reduce your breakouts in eight hours, so I’ll see about that.  I also bought a book for $14.95 called "Juicing for Life".  It gives a ton of recipes for juicing for various reasons.  I bought it specifically because it had juicing recipes to help clear up acne.  It also gave reasons for acne.  Everything it told me to stop doing I had already stopped as a result of going vegan, such as no junk food or milk.

            Ya know, I haven’t taken any naps really either.  That’s been nice, because I get to spend my entire day getting things accomplished.  I guess you could say one week in to my new way of life and I am already beginning to feel more energized.  That’s awesome.  To my surprise also, I am still not craving any foods.  At the end of today, I am saying “Cheers to Plants” and "Hello, new life, it's so nice to meet you!"

#vegan #vegetarian #Alba Bontanica #whole foods #diet #weight loss #acne #juicing #juicing for life #gardein

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Day Six

Fear not.  Although I do not have a post from my journal for today either (like yesterday), there is a nice post waiting for tomorrow that capped days 5, 6, & 7.  Looking ahead into my journal, I rarely missed a single day of typing, because I found it so beneficial for me to allow time to reflect at the end of the day.  So-pretty much from tomorrow on, the journals get more in depth.  I found that I somewhat missed out on the writing experience by taking my two day break, and jumped right back into things.  Check back tomorrow, and please read on!

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Day Five

My apologies.  On looking back at my journal I did not write anything down today.  But, I thank you for reading my blog and I can promise you that it only gets better.  Please continue to read.  Thank you.

[myjourneytowardsrecovering-blog]

Day Four

I ate literally the exact same thing as yesterday.  I was so pleased with my eating from yesterday that I woke up and literally wanted the exact same things to eat for today.  So, that was easy.  Except, I tried a different halo bar today.  These HALO bars are so good.    It completely satisfies your sweet tooth.  Delicious.  Then, this evening, I watched another documentary, called Forks over Knives.  I found it online on a website.  It was a really interesting documentary that talked about the health benefits of eating an all plant based diet and how heart disease and other health risks are directly related to consuming foods that come from animal by-products.  I would highly recommend watching this documentary to everyone.  It is important for everyone to watch, because it sticks to the facts of basic science and directly relates to the average human being.  I am going to try to convince my parents and brothers to watch it, because as corny or cheesy as it sounds, their health means a ton to me too.  Not only does not eating meat and eating plants help your health, but according to the Doctors in this study, it actually reverses damage caused by eating animal, such as high cholesterol and heart disease.  Health issues aren't just linked to meat too.  The link issues to dairy, eggs, and so on.  Basically, all animal by-products.  It completely fascinated me.  If for no other reason that I should have chosen to go vegan, it was for that reason alone.  Aside from animal cruelty, animal rights, acne, or weight gain, I am happy so far with my choice after watching Forks over Knives, because I want to live a long and healthy life.  I would recommend this documentary to anyone who is skirmish about watching the factory farming industry videos, or who doesn't want to watch the videos on the slaughterhouse.  It has none of that type of footage in the documentary.  It is all health related and connects what eating a plant based diet can do for someones health. Personally, I do not want to high blood pressure, diabetes, cancer, heart disease, or high cholesterol to follow me into growing older. A lot of these health issues are present in my family.  My grandparents and my parents both struggle with a list of health issues. I want to live healthy.  So for now, I have been even more reassured that I am doing the right thing here.  

#Vegan #Vegetarian #Whole Foods #diet #weight loss #acne #animal rights #animal cruelty #family #Forks over Knives #factory farming #slaughterhouses #documentary

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Day Three

I had a banana for breakfast today.  It was quick and easy.  I had a pretty big day, so it was one those, "grab-n-go" options.  I must say, it was a much healthier and more satisfying option then my old quick breakfast.  That usually consisted of McDonald's or Burger King drive through.  That makes me nauseous to think about at this point.  Ew.  Then, later  I mixed berries, carrot juice, kale, and  some protein powder to make a shake for my lunch. I got to tell ya, it was really tasty honestly.  I could barely taste the kale.  It just tasted sweet form the berries.  Who knew that something that would turn out to be a greenish-brown color could taste so good?  Not to mention, it did keep me filled until I had a snack.    I had a halo bar for a snack.  It was delicious.  Seriously.  I bought it at Whole Foods.  There tiny little snack bars, they have S'mores, Rocky Road, and two other ones that I cant think of the name right now.  But, lets be honest, I am a chocolate fanatic.  I am so happy that I found these vegan snack bars that are so sweet and "dessert" like, that I still can feel like I get to have my sinful pleasure.  For dinner today, I sizzled up thinly cut slices of tofu, on the skillet, with some sweet chili sauce and put it over top a plate of boiled brown rice.  It was phenomenal.  I am not much of a cook really.  Although I am learning.  This dinner was delicious though and luckily I made extra and stored it away in the fridge, so I bet I know what I am having for lunch or dinner tomorrow.  Everyone's skeptical ideas of tofu are wrong.  I think its great personally.  It somewhat takes over the taste of whatever you cook it with.  I mean, I have had tofu before.  But, I have never prepared myself.  I think I did a good job!  By evening, I had a pop cake for a late night snack.  I purchased the pop cakes at Whole Foods store too.  There like flat, little rice cakes; however, they're not like the thick rice cakes that you often see at other grocery stores.  There different.  It is hard to explain.  But, there is no cholesterol, and only 16 calories.  I sprinkled some cinnamon on it and ate it with a teaspoon of organic peanut butter.  Yummy.  Again, as previously stated days before,  I am not craving animal foods still.  Other then that I had a really busy day; however, I am still finding time to manage cooking an preparing my food. Yes, it takes a bit more effort than going through a drive through, but it tastes a heck of a lot better.  Prep time total in cooking today, probably 20 minutes.  Honestly, I have waited in drive-through lines for that long before.  As of right now, I'm choosing the banana and tofu.

#Vegan #Vegetarian #Whole Foods #diet #weight loss #animal rights #animal products #tofu #McDonalds #Burger King #fruits #vegetables

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Day Two

I am still not cravings any animal products.  Surprising to me, because I usually eat cheese almost everyday.  Seriously, I use to eat cheese every day.  Ironically enough though, I am not having any cravings or missing it at all.  Thats good news.  Aside from that,  I bought a brita water bottle and a blender from target today.   The water bottle was $9.99 and the blender was only $21.99.  I want to start blending my fruits and vegetables together in the morning to make juices for breakfast.  I heard that you are able to mix the veggies in with fruit, and it tastes surprisingly good.  I went to the Whole Foods Store right down the road from me, about 2 miles away.  Spent $147.71, but I got a ton of food. 

- kale, spinach, grapes, bananas, oranges, clementimes, red raspberries, black raspberries, blue berries, 3 containers of tofu, sweet peppers, carrots, onions, squash, zuchinnis, grapfruit, Bolthouse Carrot Juice and Green Goodness (the big jugs), tomatoes, 2 boxes of 365 roasted veggie pizza (vegan), 3 evol burritos (vegan), bag of Gardein chipotle lime chicken fingers, frozen fruits, frozen veggies, veggie sticks, Kashi cereal, Popcakes, 8 HALO bars, 8 Fruit bars, bag of cajun spiced pumpkin seeds, whole wheat brown rice, and a big container of soy protein mix. 

I would have to say that it was one hell of a successful shopping trip!  It wasn’t anymore then any of my other shopping trips to the groery store would have cost me.  I mixed the berries with a tomato and some of the carrot juice into my blender for lunch.  I had a salad for dinner and popcakes for a late night snack.  I was satisfied.  I am still satisfied.  So far, this seems like its going to be easy, although I know that I am only two days in and I am bound to face struggles.  Today was fun though.  I really enjoyed my trip to Whole Foods.  I was in their forever!  The wall of vegetables looked beautiful. Honestly, like you could take a picture of it, it looked so healthy and beautiful.  I have a feeling I will be shopping there more often.  In conclusion- good day two.

#vegan #vegetarian #Whole Foods #diet #HALO #Gardein #animal #animal products #animal rights #groceries #target

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Day One

It has been an interesting day.  I woke up this morning, deciding that today would be the day.  Well- I have nothing to eat in the house.  Okay, I have some things.  But, a lot of my food has to go, so I bagged up anything that had egg or milk as ingredients, all the frozen soups, meat, and fish in my freezer and distributed it to my neighbors, so that I didn't just spoil food.  They were very gracious and in someways I feel like I did a good thing.  I figured one of the best ways to kick start my road to veganism again was to watch the Food Inc. documentary again, so I did.  It helped.  It helped a lot actually.  I am pretty angry and upset again over watching the farming industry.  I wish that everyone could watch this documentary, but not everyone will, because they don’t want to be exposed to the harsh realities and cruelty that surrounds us.  It is so sad.  Literally, it breaks my heart.  I cannot understand how anyone could treat animals that way.  I put a quote from Paul McCartney on the desktop to my computer screen.  It reads, "If slaughterhouses had glass walls, everyone would be vegetarian.  I am going to use it as a daily reminder of how choosing to eat an all plant-based diet, also means you are choosing to stand against the cruelty of the farming industry and the horror that animals go through in the slaughterhouses.  My boyfriend teases that his chicken for dinner was a happy chicken and that it lived a long life.  I wish that were the case, but unfortunately, its not.  Even with the dairy cows.  It is so sad.  They rip away baby cows from their mothers, so that we can drink their milk.  It was meant for her babies.  On top of that the baby male cows are then used for veal and are locked in small confinement, barely able to move.  I just cant support that. People choose to not educate themselves on these realities, because they want to eat feeling guilt free.  It’s selfish really when you think about it.  It's disgusting.  Not only is it horrible and horrifying treatment for the animals,  but it is absolutely disgusting to know how are food gets handled.  Ugh. I cried watching the documentary and I could literally start crying again.  But aside from the animal rights issue, it is so much healthier for you.  In terms of my choice to go vegan, I think I can get people to accept it more if I focus on the health benefits. I hope after 364 more days, I will be able to justify my reasoning.

            I barely have anything to eat in my house anymore now.  I am going to have to go grocery shopping tomorrow night when I get done with school and stock up my fridge ans freezer with vegan, plant-based, animal friendly foods.  Everyone says that going vegan is expensive.  I never really thought about it when I tried eating "animal free" awhile ago and since I am writing in my journal, I am going to write down what I get at the grocery store and how much my bills are from now on.  I would have to say that today was easy though.  I’m not missing animal products yet at all.  I just ate the fruits and vegetables, mostly frozen that I did have available in the house.  Nothing to out of the ordinary.  No fast food though and that's one positive plus.  My fast food consumption was getting scary.  I think eventually I will do some research on the fast food industry as well.  Hopefully, it will make me not miss the quick grab and go lifestyle of eating.  After All, that's why most people east fast food right?  I mean I know that's why I do.  Its simple.  Its cheap.  Its convenient.  I live a busy life and its easy to just slip through a drive threw.  No more fast food for me.  I have a strong belief that my body will thank me for that sooner than later.  

#fast food #Food Inc #farming #animal rights #vegan #vegetarian #paul mccartney #diary #journal

[myjourneytowardsrecovering-blog]

Introduction to My Journal and the Beginning of Self Reflection

            I am twenty-two years old, female, living in a tiny apartment downtown, while I finish my degree in education.  Over the last year I’d say, my overall health has been, eh, not so hot.  I have more recently begin to catch everything that would slow me down, from sore throats, to runny noses, the flu, a fever, belly aches, bloating, occasional constipation, and fatigue.  I have headaches all the time.  I am tired all the time.  My day to day routine consists of at least a three-hour nap.  I have trouble getting up in the morning and I struggle to get enough sleep.  I wake up almost every morning with a headache.  I am currently suffering with the worst adult acne of my entire life.  My face is horrible, even to the point that my partner made a comment to me about it.  Now, I’m about 5’2 -5’3 and usually walking around comfortable at about 128 pounds.  Right now, I weigh 138.  It is the heaviest I have ever been in my entire life.  To be honest, I am a pretty active girl.  I’m cheering at my college and so to my surprise I cannot believe how much I have gained over the season.  Ten pounds.  Ten pounds is a lot on my 5’2 to frame to add. 

            So, I've made the decision that something has to be done.  For the next year, I am committing to myself to go vegan.  Completely vegan.  I have considered and tried going vegan or vegetarian before, but growing up eating meat and chicken and eggs, and dairy my whole life, has made it very challenging.  Before when I tried it, it was because I had watched the food documentary, Food Inc.  I was disgusted with the farming industry and couldn't support the treatment of animals.  It was then I decided to go vegetarian.  Then, I somewhat felt like a hypocrite, because the dairy cows go through just as much pain as the slaughter houses, so I decided to go vegan.  I was doing really good and was feeling great.  I went home for Christmas break from college and caved in from my mom’s home cooking.  Now, I've been eating animal products again up until my writing this right now.  I am the heaviest and unhealthiest I have ever been.  I am planning to journal and log everything, everyday, over the course of my year commitment.  My goal is to get my weight back down to me healthy weight of 115, clear up all the acne on my face and back, feel more energized, and increase my endurance and flexibility.  So, here goes nothing.  I hope I learn and discovery something about myself through this journey.  I hope that in the end, it is all worth it and I have a story to share with others.

#Vegan #Vegetarian #Food Inc #Factory farming #journal #yoga #weight loss #diet #acne #animal rights