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.

Home made, sort of, vegan value meal

The other day, I was craving a chicken tender value meal from Wendy's. I contemplated going through the drive through and just getting fries, then going home and eat something else. I've done that before. But, that's kinda nasty. I resisted.

Instead, I dug into my freezer for a quick fix. I'm not always in the mood for the most healthy vegan meals. So, I made my own fast-food type vegan value thing.

Sweet Potato Fries

Soy "Chicken" Nuggets (Trader Joes)

Organic, Unsweetened Ketchup

Put it all together, and I got this after about 20 minutes in the oven:

It was not quite as satisfying, but by the end I didn't care. I was super full. I liked it. It was easy and prep free. Sometimes, that's all I want.

8 oz. of...meat

Well, I don't feel great about this, but this is what this blog is all about for me. Documenting my successes, failures, all of it. It's to motivate me, and hopefully help others.


2 weekends ago, I wasn't feeling great. I was hungry. I needed something satisfying. I was craving a burger from this place, 8 oz., I had been to many times in my omnivore days, and a few times since for a veggie burger. But, this time, my nostalgia for a real burger came over me. I really wanted one. So, I researched where they got their meat from, and it was from Estancia ranch. They claim the following on their website:


"We only sell beef from animals that graze in pastures on fresh green grass – no feedlots, ever... At Estancia, we raise healthy animals without using any growth hormones or growth promoting antibiotics. Our animals live their entire lives on the free range."


This was good enough for me, at the time. I know from reading Eating Animals that no matter how the animals live, even in the best of circumstances, of which I believe Estancia qualifies, the kill floors in the processing plants are a horror show. This did not deter me this time.


It's the first time I've had actual meat since going vegan. And it went down as easily as it would have a year ago, before going vegetarian. Satisfied.


I can't really say I regret it. I wouldn't have done it if I was going to beat myself up over it. It's crazy how what used to be something that required no thought now is a huge endeavor. What it showed me is how powerful my habits and rituals involving food are. They really drive my behavior. It's like an imprint in my brain that craves to be remembered. I just need more practice and it will get easier with time.

BP Protest in L.A.—on bikes!

This happened over a week ago, but I'm a bit back logged on my blog. And this isn't really a vegan story. Rather, something I was happy to see as someone who is concerned about the environment. That's a major reason I became vegan.

I was driving to the West side of L.A. on a Friday (maybe Saturday) night, and right as I was approaching Olympic and Robertson I saw a huge group of bicyclists in the intersection. This sometimes happens since there are riding groups in L.A. But, they didn't go anywhere. They just kept coming and coming, blocking the intersection, and chanting "F*ck BP"! Cars were honking, passersby were looking, cars were turning around—it was awesome. I was happy to be inconvenienced in this traffic. Apparently they went all around Hollywood and West Hollywood. Here's a video of a similar scene from that night:

 

This corner is also the location of BP's ARCO station that's "greener" than other stations. It actually looks really awesome. BP is going to have to do a lot more than build one awesome gas station to be a green company now.

100!

I just reached a milestone—100 followers on Twitter! And I'm pretty sure none of them are spam. They're legit. OK, I know. n00b.

http://twitter.com/iquiteatingmeat