A Taste of Life

What's my favorite place to eat at the Hollywood Farmer's Market on Selma and Cahuenga every Sunday? Thanks for asking. It's A Taste of Life's booth, featuring Vegan Soul Food! That's right. Vegan soul food. Gotta love it.

My 2 favorite things are the breakfast sandwich and the mac and cheese. The sauteed kale looks good, although I haven't tried it. The BBQ Tofu is spicy and crispy and mega-yummy. But, The mac and cheese is a-ma-zing. It's thick and non-traditional, and I love it.

Apparently this place used to have a restaurant that closed down. I'm bummed I never knew about it or checked it out. But, the good news is the booth is here to stay and they are still distributing their foods via grocery stores and other venues.

So, if you're ever in the Hollywood area, check it out! But be sure to get there early. The mac and cheese goes fast!

I'm being interviewed on Animal Voices Radio

I'm going to be interviewed by the lovely people over at Animal Voices radio on Friday, October 15th, at 12:10 pm PST. Jonathan Safran Foer, author of Eating Animals and my inspiration for becoming vegan, will be interviewed immediately following at 12:30. It's going to be live and anyone can listen online at coopradio.org.

I'm extremely honored and excited for the opportunity to share my story.

The radio station is Co-Op Radio, 102.7 FM in Vancouver, BC. This is their mission statement from their website: Vancouver Co-operative Radio, CFRO, 102.7FM is a non-commercial, co-operatively-owned, listener-supported, community radio station. Located in the heart of Vancouver's Downtown Eastside, Co-op Radio is a voice for the voiceless that strives to provide a space for under-represented and marginalized communities. Co-op Radio aims to increase community participation by encouraging examination of the social and political concerns of the geographic and cultural communities of BC. 

I'll let you know how it goes!

Spread the Evol™

I just had a tasty vegan burrito for a snack—a frozen burrito. An Evol burrito. If you're in a pinch, it's a good, pretty healthy option. Here's why I find them superior to other frozen burritos.

1. They're vegan, and there are 2 flavor options
2. You can put them in the fridge for up to 7 days, which makes it much easier to cook without using a microwave (pan fry), or easier to microwave so the tortilla doesn't turn into a rock hard crispy shell
3. The packaging looks good
4. The copy is clever
5. They're pretty green

I like the Veggie Fajita flavor:

There's also a Tofu and Spinach flavor that I haven't tried:

The ingredients are pretty natural and healthy, considering it's a frozen burrito.

Enjoy! And keep it full of Evol.

Soy milk at Starbucks

Wtfiuwsb?!

(My spell check just suggested ethogram, whatever that is.) Clearly it wasn't yet familiar with the shorthand for "What the F is up with Starbucks"!?

Lately I've been drinking coffee again. It probably won't last long because I'm not a big fan of caffeine. But I go through phases. Anyway, the drink I usually order is an iced coffee with soy milk, unsweetened. Simple enough.

Some baristas were charging me $2.45, but others were charging me $2.95 (an extra .50 for the soy). But, the menu doesn't specify it. It says iced coffee, or iced coffee with milk, same price. A manager corrected the transaction once because he said it wasn't an up-charge. So, I thought that to be true. Occasionally, someone would charge me for the soy and I'd say it wasn't extra, and they'd fix it. That's until I tried this at one particular Bucks to the wrong barista. She wanted to make it into a whole big thing, telling me the menu says soy is extra, and I was wrong. I just said I order it a lot and it's not an extra charge. I don't want to make anyone's day suck.

But now I was curious. I called up Starbucks corporate outside on the sidewalk drinking my coffee. I explained to the gentleman from their customer service department that I enjoy an iced coffee with soy milk, and I've been charged inconsistently. I wanted to know if the extra .50 should be charged.

Drumroll please?!..........yes.

Hmm. Well, from now on, when I don't get charged the extra change, it's a bonus. That makes the whole experience better.

This leads me to another question. Why is soy milk an extra charge? Dairy milk is from an animal that needs to be raised and fed and milked and pasteurized and shipped cold and on and on. It's crazy soy milk, from plants, is pricier. What a world.

I stand corrected

I thought for sure it was the last we would have heard of Bill Clinton's diet. But, after hearing his claims, CNN did a follow-up segment with actual experts! "The Situation Room" with Wolf Blitzer on CNN followed up on Bill Clinton's plant-based diet. Amazing clip!

Bill Clinton, Vegan!

I don't think he's going to stop wearing leather or anything, but diet-wise, it sounds as though he's pretty much vegan, with an occasional piece of fish here and there. Pretty darn cool. He revealed his change in diet on CNN, and said it was to lose weight, repair his heart, and be healthier overall.

I'm surprised this hasn't gotten more attention in the media. It raises awareness for cardiovascular health as well as a plant-based diet. It shows how skewed our media is and what they consider worthy of follow-up. For example, we see stories going into the minutia of everything from chemicals in toys to genetically modified salmon. But, for some reason, this gets almost nothing.

I was happy to hear him give a shout out to the Campbell's, authors of The China Study. Check it out:

I'm back (post-surgery)

It's been a long time since I've posted here, but I'm back! I've had a lot to say so I've delayed posting until I had enough time to really get it all out.

I had surgery on my spine 6 weeks ago after a long battle with a ruptured disc that ended in a complete rupture. I was bed-ridden for the month of July in a lot pain, and have been recovering from surgery since the beginning of August. I'm just now getting back to work and my daily routine. The good news is the surgery was successful, the pain is gone and I'm recovering quickly. I see it as an opportunity given to me to get healthy from the inside out. I was in great shape, but there is always more to do. I need to concentrate on my core now.

How did the veganism go during this period of pain and recovery?

Definitely not perfect. Not even close. But, I did my best and I have no regrets. It was a very trying time for me mentally, physically and spiritually. It still is. It wasn't easy for me to leave my exercise routine and the martial arts, leaving my job, have my muscles atrophy, have my mind worrying about healing and the possibilities of not healing. On top of that, I was taking 7 Vicodin (pain killers) a day just to be able to get out of bed long enough to walk a bit, eat. and do simple household tasks. That medicine messes with your body chemistry affecting hunger, sleep, stress, mood and who-knows-what-else.

My appetite was dwindling fast. I got scared.

I was happy to be hungry, when it happened, rarely, because I wanted to be as strong as possible going into surgery. I was drinking my smoothies in the morning still. And at times I was craving meat. Nothing else was satisfying me or sounding good. And I had to eat. I think it was because I couldn't handle the volume of vegetables and vegetarian foods to give me adequate nutrition. Meat was a way to "cheat" and get the nutrients I needed in a concentrated fashion. And my mind and body were constantly sending me signals of what it wanted. That's not to say it's impossible to do it another way, but it's the way I chose to do it. I had meat a few times a week, sometimes more, and some cheese, in the month leading up to my surgery. And I've done the same since the surgery for the same reasons.

It's safe to say I panicked. I was scared of surgery. I was scared of not being strong enough to fully recover from my surgery. I was afraid if I didn't have the proper nutrition my body would not heal correctly. Or that I might have complications under anesthesia. And with my goal of teaching and learning martial arts for life, it was, and is, a scary prospect that my body may have been damaged and jeopardized my physical abilities. So, in my panic, I went back to what was familiar to me, and did what I had to do to make it work for me.

I still feel the same way I did when I started this blog. I'm against factory farming and I don't want to support it. I know animal consumption is generally unhealthy in large amounts. My injury and surgery have been somewhat of a test for my new diet, and I had too much at stake to risk it. However, it was always in my thoughts. I did my best to eat plenty of vegetables and fruits as I knew those things I needed to be strong also.

6 weeks post surgery, I'm gradually returning to my vegan diet. I still have meat a couple times a week. However, I'm not sure now if I will go 100% vegan. After reading The China Study, it seems reasonable to ingest some meat to be sure my body gets all it needs. I could see eating meat as 1-5% of my diet. And of course I would seek meat not factory-farmed. I haven't made up my mind completely though. I may decide to go back to 100% vegan. I just want to know that I get all I need, and I have to be realistic.

At the very least, even while not being vegan, my diet has changed immensely from where I was a year ago. I eat way more vegetables and fruits and a much wider variety of them. I didn't even know what kale was, and now I eat it almost every day- and usually raw. I'm way more open to new foods. I cook vegan at home 100% the time. I eat way less meat - I used to eat it daily in large amounts. I almost always order the vegetarian option anywhere I go - from a taco truck to Pho to whatever. I don't think I ever ordered a vegetarian meal in a restaurant until last year.

Overall, I'm proud of how far I've come and the changes I've made. I'm extremely happy to be well and to be recovering quickly. I know my diet has changed for the betterment of myself and the planet.