1 year milestone / check up done!

It's almost 1 year that I started my vegan lifestyle and diet. I know many people think i'm weird and extreme because I choose not to eat meat, fish, eggs, milk; others think it is a phase and that I will see down the road that I do need meat to survive; others think I just want to be different and annoying at dinner parties...

Well it's not a phase,
we don't need meat to survive,
I don't feel tired and anemic,
I don't want to be annoying at dinner parties (actually I hate it when people find out that i'm vegan and start the usual questions),
yes we can live without cheese,
no I do not take supplements. 

Today I got my blood test results back and they are not looking good... they are perfect !

Calcium levels are supposed to be between 2.15 and 2.55 mmol/L and i've got 2.25 ! 
> How is this possible?! If i haven't touched milk in a year, i mean we need cow's milk to have strong bones... ;)

Iron levels are supposed to be between 9-30 umol/L and i've got 18 ! 
> How is this possible?! If i haven't touched meat in a year? We need red meat to keep our iron levels high! :p

Cholesterol levels are supposed to be between 3 and 5 mmol/L and i've got 4 ! 
> I'm just lucky to have cholesterol levels low, this has nothing to do with my diet ;)

So I am the living evidence that we do not need meat to be healthy and that we actually can be healthier without the fat from animal products. 

Being healthy on the inside is also important and knowing that when I sit down for dinner no animal was tortured for me to have my dinner makes me happy, relaxed and I enjoy my food much more now.
I also have lost 28 lbs since i started this a year ago via a vegan plant based diet and regular exercise. I had never ran in my life and my cardiovascular system was in terrible shape. 
> I will run next week my first official 8k run ! :)

So... let me be the labeled as the weirdo, I'm happy enough to be the healthy weirdo. At least I am not spending my time thinking about the next special pill or tea to reduce my blood pressure and/or my cholesterol... The only way to do that is being healthy, altogether, is all aspects of your life, inside out: you have no idea how much power the mind has over your physical health! 

And to people worried about their cholesterol levels being high because you cannot give up your cheeseburger: sorry to break it that's nobody but your own fault, it's your choice to be healthy or unhealthy. 

#IamCecil

Seriously?? Common, everyday people shoot wildlife animals (lions inclusive), the only reason Zimbabwe is angry is because Cecil was a tourist attraction and because on the private ground where he was killed they DID NOT HAVE A PERMIT TO KILL A LION THIS YEAR. That's right, they have quotas and you can buy your right to kill a lion. 
Yes what happened to Cecil was awful but where are all these animal lovers i see on Facebook when other lions, elephants, rhinos, etc get killed? where are you when the Faeroe islands kill whales for sport? or Japan kills and enslaves dolphins? or Portugal and Spain torture bulls? where are you when cats and dogs get killed at your LOCAL shelter because there are not enough homes for them all? where are you when baby chicks get macerated alive because they are of no use in the egg industry? Or are you only Cecil because everyone else told you to be? 

Recipe #113 Omelette style Crepe / Wrap

Ingredients 

• 50 gr gram flour
• 1 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
• 1 teaspoon turmeric 
• 1/2 teaspoon hot paprika
• 10 tablespoons of water

Mix all the dry ingredients in a bowl and add 5 tablespoons of water. Mix with a fork everything until you have a paste. Then add the remaining water until you have a beaten egg like mixture.

Heat 2 tablespoons of olive oil in a frying pan. When it's hot add your mixture to the center of the pan. Let it cook on medium heat (too hot will burn the crepe) and don't try to turn it!
When you see that the crepe is dry and while frying is bubbling at the edges try to flip it with the help of a plate of with a tortilla flipper like this one

Then allow to fry on the other side for a couple of more minutes (1-3 minutes) not too long because it shouldn't be raw anymore. Let it cool down and you can use it as a wrap, as a savory crepe, as an omelette at breakfast, etc...

This crepe is a great source of protein as it provides 11 gr in this 50 gr recipe.

What's wrong with a piece of cheese?

Gabriele Meurer MRCVS, a former official veterinary surgeon in UK abattoirs, says

“What is happening right now in British slaughterhouses is quite simply a scandal. Sometimes when these creatures are hanging on the line bleeding to death, you can see the unborn calves kicking inside their mothers’ wombs. I, as a vet, am not supposed to do anything about this. Unborn calves do not exist according to the regulations. I just had to watch, do nothing and keep quiet. It broke my heart. I felt like a criminal. I left the Meat Hygiene Service and the country - completely disillusioned and full of disgust.”

DEFRA say that they do not see any justification for recording the number of pregnant animals who are slaughtered. However, a scientific paper published by the British Cattle Veterinary Association reveals that 150,000 pregnant cows are sent to slaughter each year. At least 40,000 of these cows are in the last stages of their pregnancy and are bearing calves who may be capable of independent life.

When Viva! asked what the government planned to do to prevent so many pregnant cows from being sent to slaughter, DEFRA replied

 “We do not believe that the slaughter of pregnant cows presents a specific welfare concern... We do not believe further legal measures are necessary to protect the welfare of pregnant cows or unborn calves.”

Vegan, for your health

High Performing Athletes - thriving on a vegan diet

I am currently reading Scott's amazing book Eat and Run. For those who don't know Scott:

Scott Gordon Jurek (born October 26, 1973)^[1] is an American ultramarathoner, New York Times bestselling author of Eat & Run,^[2] and public speaker. Throughout Jurek's career he has been one of the most dominant ultramarathon runners in the world, winning many of the sport's most prestigious races multiple times, including the Hardrock Hundred (2007), the Badwater Ultramarathon (2005, 2006), the Spartathlon (2006, 2007, 2008), and the Western States 100 Mile Endurance Run (1999-2005). In 2010, at the 24-Hour World Championships in Brive-la-Gaillarde, France, Jurek won a silver medal behind Shingo Inoue^[3] and set a new US record for distance run in 24 hours with 165.7 miles (an average pace of 8 minutes and 42 seconds per mile).^[4]Jurek has been meat free since 1997 and vegan since 1999.^[5][6]

He talks about his life as an ultramarathoner, how hard it is both physically and mentally to run a long distance and how his vegan diet helped him become a better runner than he was before. It is very interesting to see athletes coming out public and saying their increased performance it due to the "good fuel" they put into their bodies; all those fruit and veggies and no cholesterol protein.

This week I also read about Carlos Cuellar, a football player currently playing for Norwich City who says he is vegan since December 2014 and his performance has never been better. 

Another great example are the Williams sister, in tennis. Serena Williams, who recently won the ladies single in Wimbledon this year is vegan since 2012; her sister followed her diet too: read their story HERE

Also several bodybuilders such as the 300-Pound-Vegan are proving that plant based protein is the way to go, even if you want huge big muscles like them, you can do it on plant based goodness! Check his page here

So I am keeping my eyes open for more news that other athletes are switching to a vegan diet, and lifestyle, to improve their performance, help the planet and spare the innocent.

''Receitas Veganas''

I'm almost finishing the translation of the top visited recipes into a Portuguese book.

Here's a sneak peak:

Plant Power

Wake up, have a big glass of water

Go for a warm up 3k run. Followed by 25min cardio on the cross fit.
20 min weight lifting and you're done !

Try to do this on a raw till 4 vegan diet to maximize the weight loss results. 

Jus Roll Pizza night

We love Jus Rol products at home: they are tasty, easy to prepare and all products - even their chocolate rolls!!- are accidentally vegan. 

Today we found these new ones: pizza kit! Vegan friendly of course.

You just have to take the dough out of the can, roll it (with your hands even), spread the tomato sauce which comes in the package and place your toppings on it. 

So for tonight we used grated Violife pizza cheese, mushrooms, bell peppers and corn. It was delicious !! We are impressed both with the sauce and the dough; a very easy way to make a healthy pizza very quickly at home avoiding processed frozen pizzas and of course giving you the possibility of using cruelty free cheese.

The dough and the sauce in one package is enough to make 4x slices of the picture above. These are giant pizza slices and would be enough for an average pizza meal of an adult. The average calories in the dough for 1 of those pizza slices is 125 calories.

So you can impress your friends with homemade pizza next time you have them over for dinner ! ;)

Raw till 4

So if you ever wanted to loose weight and searched for tips and nutritional help to do this you might have heard about the bad boys: the carbs. Those little guys make you fat; skip your bread, drop the pasta, forget the rice because all of that makes you fat. Oh and never eat them at night, they hang onto your hips like a koala hangs onto his bamboo.

I was reading online about vegan, raw vegan lifestyle and I came across Banana Girl and the raw till 4 diet. It seems pretty easy to follow: loads of fruit and veggies (all raw) and cooked food in the evening, such as ... yes you got it, carbs! Low fat, high carb diet. Sounds crazy doesn't it?! :p

''Raw Till 4 is a lifestyle rather than a diet. A vegan program that focuses on eating A LOT of  raw fruits (especially bananas!) and vegetables, no animal products, little to no fats or seeds.  You basically eat whole, unprocessed raw foods until 4pm.  Then you are allowed to cook and eat certain beneficial foods, but again, without oils to help flavour and cook your food.  Following the raw till 4 program is challenging for those used to eating animal products, or even for vegans used to eating processed foods, but the health, fitness, and increased energy levels speak for themselves.''

So since Monday I have tried this. I eat a place of fresh fruit in the morning with seeds, and drink throughout the day A LOT of infused water (lemon, lime, orange), around 3 liters a day.

At lunch I have a huge plate with baby spinach leaves, tomatoes, cucumber and 2 tablespoons of corn. I eat fruit after lunch and also some more around 3 pm.

Sometimes I have 2 cookies around 4-5pm with water or tea or a coffee.

At dinner I have happily tucked into rice and pasta every night of this week: basmati rice and tofu on monday, cannellonis on tuesday, sushi dinner on wednesday and thai red curry with rice on thursday.
And believe it or not I have lost 1kg this week; 2.2lbs on my raw till 4 vegan diet.
So far I am pretty happy with the results, although I will skip doing this one day per week (such as saturday), I will continue to report on how I am doing on my raw till 4 /6 days a week diet in a future post.


PS: after loosing 27 lbs in the past months I can't remember the last time I had a BMI lower than 26 :) I am almost reaching a normal healthy BMI, just a few more kilograms to go - gogogogo I'm so happy ! :) 

I'm Loving it