Protein - How Much Do You Really Need

Think you know about how much protein you need in your diet?  Maybe you do and maybe you don't...either way, check out what the USDA guidelines are (of course, if you're an athlete you get to have a bit more):

How much food from the Protein Foods Group is needed daily?

The amount of food from the Protein Foods Group you need to eat depends on age, sex, and level of physical activity. Most Americans eat enough food from this group, but need to make leaner and more varied selections of these foods. Recommended daily amounts are shown in the chart.  

Daily recommendation*
Children		2-3 years old		2 ounce equivalents**
		4-8 years old		4 ounce equivalents**
Girls		9-13 years old		5 ounce equivalents**
		14-18 years old		5 ounce equivalents**
Boys		9-13 years old		5 ounce equivalents**
		14-18 years old		6 ½ ounce equivalents**
Women		19-30 years old		5 ½ ounce equivalents**
		31-50 years old		5 ounce equivalents**
		51+ years old		5 ounce equivalents**
Men		19-30 years old		6 ½ ounce equivalents**
		31-50 years old		6 ounce equivalents**
		51+ years old		5 ½ ounce equivalents**

*These amounts are appropriate for individuals who get less than 30 minutes per day of moderate physical activity, beyond normal daily activities. Those who are more physically active may be able to consume more while staying within calorie needs. 

What counts as an ounce equivalent in the Protein Foods Group?

In general, 1 ounce of meat, poultry or fish, ¼ cup cooked beans, 1 egg, 1 tablespoon of peanut 
butter, or ½ ounce of nuts or seeds can be considered as 1 ounce equivalent from the Protein 
Foods Group. 

The chart lists specific amounts that count as 1 ounce equivalent in the Protein Foods Group 
towards your daily recommended intake: 

		Amount that counts as 1 ounce equivalent in the Protein Foods Group		Common portions and ounce equivalents
Meats		1 ounce cooked lean beef		1 small steak (eye of round, filet) = 3½ to 4 ounce equivalents
		1 ounce cooked lean pork or ham		1 small lean hamburger =  2 to 3 ounce equivalents
Poultry		1 ounce cooked chicken or turkey,  without skin		1 small chicken breast half =  3 ounce equivalents
		1 sandwich slice of turkey  (4 ½ x 2 ½ x 1/8”)		½ Cornish game hen =  4 ounce equivalents
Seafood		1 ounce cooked fish or shell fish		1 can of tuna, drained =  3 to 4 ounce equivalents 1 salmon steak =  4 to 6 ounce equivalents 1 small trout = 3 ounce equivalents
Eggs		1 egg		3 egg whites = 2 ounce equivalents 3 egg yolks = 1 ounce equivalent
Nuts and seeds		½ ounce of nuts (12 almonds, 24 pistachios, 7 walnut halves) ½ ounce of seeds (pumpkin, sunflower or squash seeds, hulled, roasted) 1 Tablespoon of peanut butter or almond butter		1 ounce of nuts or seeds =  2 ounce equivalents
Beans and peas		¼ cup of cooked beans (such as black, kidney, pinto, or white beans)  ¼ cup of cooked peas (such as chickpeas, cowpeas, lentils, or split peas) ¼ cup of baked beans, refried beans		1 cup split pea soup =  2 ounce equivalents 1 cup lentil soup =  2 ounce equivalents 1 cup bean soup =  2 ounce equivalents
		¼ cup (about 2 ounces) of tofu 1 oz. tempeh, cooked ¼ cup roasted soybeans 1 falafel patty  (2 ¼”, 4 oz) 2 Tablespoons hummus		1 soy or bean burger patty =  2 ounce equivalents

NOTE: 1 Ounce = 28.3495231 Grams

The only thing that I don't like about this chart is that they haven't listed any fruits or vegetables and, face it, protein is a building block - every living thing has protein.  So, when you're counting protein intake, don't forget to take fruits and vegetables into consideration as well.

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Anemia...What May be Underlying.

If you can't figure out why you're always anemic, especially since you've changed your diet and take your iron supplements, it may not be an iron intake issue but your inability to absorb vitamin B12.

Yes, there are ties between anemia and vitamin B12.  I know that I've blogged about the wonders of vitamin B12 but I think this is also an important thing to know, especially if you (or someone you know) has ever developed atrophic gastritis (it's the last checkpoint of chronic inflammation of the stomach lining which is mostly attributed to infection with H.pylori) and has been iron deficient often.

If this is the case, vitamin B12 can't be absorbed effectively, leading to a deficiency in B12 which leads to a deficiency in the production of red blood cells.  Vitamin B12 is a very important component in the production of red blood cells.  This type of anemia is called pernicious anemia and can happen at any age but if you're over the age of 50, you have a higher chance of developing it.

What's the solution? There is a B12 injection as well as a nasal spray that cuts out the middle man, so to speak.  Have your levels checked for all of your vitamin & mineral levels - that's something I learned from a very knowledgeable neurologist!

If you want to read more about pernicious anemia, you can click here for the National Health Institute's information.  

All information on this blog is my own pursuit of information on the road to getting my BS in Nutrition Science and as a mode of studying.  

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Sensa (R) ... Have You Heard About it?

The other day I had my first impression of Sensa(R) via a T.V. commercial - my first thought was "What the hell??" and then my next thought was "Oh No!"  I still haven't quite made up my mind if this new manmade creation is a good thing or not and I can only decide that for myself.  Either way here's what I am having issues with, if you're curious:

1)  The creator of this taste/olfactory (smell) enhancer is a neurologist and has a so-called team of medical professionals listed on the website, all of which do not include ANOTHER neurologist.  I wonder why that is...no, really...I wonder why?

2)  Anything that claims to be a taste or smell enhancer, my hackles get raised because the red light in my brain goes off with the thought of it being an excitotoxin (also known as MSG or MSG derivative/relation). For those of you that don't know my stand on this, let me refer you to an older blog entry "Flavor Enhancers" - and the short of it is I DON'T LIKE THEM nor do I like what they cause to happen in our bodies (migraines and elevated heart rate for me).

3)  The website shows clinical studies information but these seem to have all been conducted by the Sensa(R) creator, Dr. Alan Hirsch - I'd like to see some clinical trials conducted by other neurologists and specialists using the scientific method.

4)  Not that I wholeheartedly trust the government but this seems to be labeled as a supplement (I've searched on the FDA's website and there's no mention of it) which means it doesn't have to really prove that it does what it says it does, nor does it need enough scientific research to be placed on the market. I know that goes for most of the vitamins on the market now too but still, it's something to think about.

5)  Did a little bit of web surfing on it and found Henry the Health Hound's website had an interesting article about Sensa (R) - you can check it out here. Also, see what WebMD has to say about it here.  Lastly, Consumer Affairs has their say about it here. But don't stop there, if you're really thinking about trying this out, make sure you do P-L-E-N-T-Y of research beforehand.

So to be a pain, I emailed the company and requested their ingredient list -- we'll see if I hear back from them or not.  I'll update the blog when and if I hear from them.  In the meantime, be careful of miracles because they're usually not what they seem like on the surface.

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Life and Health Aren't Separate Entities!

So, I watched two documentaries last night that were uplifting but also frustrating.  The first was "Fat, Sick and Nearly Dead" (a Joe Cross film) the other was, finally, "Forks Over Knives".  The movie that frustrated me the most was "Fat, Sick and Nearly Dead" (see the official movie website for a synopsis).  It frustrated me to see people that were quite obviously in need of a diet change to be healthier but instead of giving whole plant foods a chance to work their miracles, they went on the defense about how they "don't eat to live, but live to eat" and how everyone will die someday and why not die happy by eating what they want.  Uh-huh...okay, here's a scenario for those people - my grandfather had that same exact attitude, he also had type 2 diabetes. He refused to take medication and refused to change his eating habits...he lost BOTH his legs to foot gangrene and the end of his life was spent in a hospital bed!  Yeah, that's definitely the way to live, isn't it?

So, for giggles (that's sarcasm, by-the-way), let's say that you eat what you love to eat (or at least what you've been tricked into loving to eat, thanks to excitotoxins).  You take all the dozen or so meds that you will eventually need to keep up with your lifestyle.  Your energy levels keep dropping while your weight keeps increasing so that when those grandkids come over you have no energy to do much more than sit in your recliner and watch T.V. with them.  Then one day, you wake up in the morning and you have a funny pain across your chest, down your left arm and up into your jaw - it hurts so much that you feel like you can't breath.  You call 911 and off you go to the hospital where they tell you that you've just had a heart attack then the news that you need bypass surgery.  Fast forward a few weeks and now you're home, back to eating what you want because no one is going to tell you what you can or can't eat, right?  A month later, you're at the breakfast table and, yep, another heart attack! You reach for the aspirin and call 911 - again.  This time the doctor tells you that you need a triple bypass and if you don't change your diet you might not survive the next one.  You still dig your heels in and keep eating.  A few months later, you get a funny tingly feeling on the left side of your head and your left arm, then when you stand up your left leg gives out and you fall.  Now, you've had a stroke, according to the ER doctor. You can understand him but when you try to speak, nothing comes out.  You're whole left side is numb and your brain feels foggy and slow.  So now your life is spent trying to get over the stroke.  Wonder how you would rate your quality of life at this point??

I'm not saying that these things are 100% avoidable with a better diet but why would you step in the path of a cannonball (unless you work for the circus)?  The studies have said so much about how things are more preventable than what people think...why do people prefer to continue to suffer?  Oh and another good one is the excuse that "if this is what God has planned for me, so be it".  Hello?!? Did God come down and force you to eat those greasy hamburgers??  No, but have you ever heard of free will?? Also, if you're going to use the God argument, my response to it is "God only helps those that help themselves"!

So, live to eat?  Is being confined to a hospital bed for the last 5-10 years of your life considered really living, especially if there had been a chance to avoid it?  I don't think so.  I want to be like Fauja Singh and running a marathon at the age of 100! Go veg!

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Vegan Food Lacks Flavor?!?!

What?!? Are you flippin' kidding??  Yeah, I've heard the "oh, I'm sorry, it must be really boring" response to the announcement that I eat a vegan diet.  I was just talking about this with one of my daughters today as we sat down to eat a late lunch at the Loving Hut.  Why do meat-eaters assume that vegan food is bland or boring?  Their assumption is really kind of stupid and ignorant, don't you think? Predisposed to thinking that everything outside the realm of meat is sub par.  But, really, we use all the same seasonings and flavors (mostly), I explained to my daughter.  That's when she surprised me by suggesting to these naysayers to eat a piece of meat prepared simply in the oven and without any seasonings whatsoever and then point out that that's the only flavor that's missing from a vegan diet!  Cool!  Who should we test this out on first???  :-D

Vegan eating is not bland and, in fact, we are constantly looking for fresh, new ways to prepare our food or to add something different.  If anything, I'd say it's the complete opposite of bland, it's...it's...heck, I can't even think of the word that would describe it fully...scrumptious? satisfying? flavorful?  Well, whatever the word is, I find myself truly enjoying the different tastes and discovering different ways to make my food :-D

Here's how boring it is...check out the "Walking the Vegan Line" blog post about her French Yule Log recipe...you'll go into a chocolate coma just reading the recipe!! http://walkingtheveganline.blogspot.com/2008/12/daring-bakers-challenge-french-yule-log.html

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Motivational & Self-Help for Everything!

I am about to push...er, recommend a book to the universe (or at least anyone who reads this blog :D ) but, before I do that, I've got to do a build-up first or this might be a pretty boring post.

Some of you might be aware that I decided to finally start watching "The Biggest Loser" show this coming new season (BTW, which premieres on Tuesday, September 20th!) but I like to get caught up with any show I decide to watch that's been on for a while.  So onto Hulu I went and all the way back to the very first episode of the show.  As I first started watching those episodes back-to-back, I really could NOT stand Jillian Michaels! Seriously.  I thought she was mean and thoughtless and too severe (especially in contrast to Bob Harper's style which has also changed a lot from the beginning of the show). But then something happened.  Slowly, I started realizing that she had a really great psychological understanding of why people get to that "Biggest Loser" stage in their lives.  She doesn't take very long to realize what their triggers are or what the "chinks in their armor" are and then she digs in - very much like a doberman but the hurt is going to make those people (hopefully) realize what their issues really are and make them bring out those issues into the light of day.  Breaking someone down so they can build themselves back up!  It's brilliant!  Well, I think she uses her abilities brilliantly :D  Yes, even when she's yelling & insulting them as they sweat buckets to endure the physical side of her technique.  But, I believe, she does it to bring out what needs to be brought out by removing barriers, making them so raggedly tired that there's no energy left in them to fight back and keep their emotional walls up.  Now, mind you, I'm not saying that I know how she thinks or anything but all of this has just been small observations as I progressed through the numerous episodes that I watched over the Summer.  I'm also not about to start worshiping her (even though I believe there is a goddess in every woman) or anything but I can acknowledge that she knows her stuff AND not just weight loss, dieting, and exercise!  

Fast forward to a few weeks ago.  I was tired of listening to music during my workouts so I decided to download a few motivational audiobooks.  I tried one and found that I had much better focus during my exercise routine than when I listened to music.  I went on to a second audiobook but didn't really care so much for it. I went back online to find something else for my next workout.  As I was scrolling through some "same ol', same ol'" types of motivational books, I had an idea and decided to search for something written by Jillian Michaels, thinking a fitness motivational audiobook would be really cool.  But, it wasn't her fitness books that caught my eye.  It was another book she released earlier this year called "Unlimited: How to Build an Exceptional Life"  I downloaded it and I haven't regretted it one single bit!  If you get your hackles up at the mention of something written by Jillian Michaels, let me just say this to you: Open your mind and give her book a chance because it is profound!   It's very much her personality in the sense that it's "no holds barred" and she uses strong language on occasion to get an important point or two across but it's well organized with information and ideas that JUST MAKE SENSE!  The audiobook makes me feel like she's really standing there, next to me (or jogging alongside me) and talking to me like a very emotionally intelligent (& mentally intelligent) friend who's giving me her sage advice.  For example, why do some of us feel guilty if we acquire something we've wanted/desired for a long time?  Why do we feel guilty about having wants & desires for something more than what we have?  Do you want to know what her take is on this concept? Get the book! Oh wait, you know what?  Please get the book and read it - let your mind be open to see the possibilities because what if the way you've been thinking and doing things has given you the same undesired results repeatedly, does that mean the next time you try doing or thinking the same way it'll work out better? If you believe that, then please don't get the book :-)

So, with that said - love her or hate her, you know she helps people get results and achieve their goals, and not just with weight loss and exercise.  I read a lot and, honestly, there have been only two books up until now that have helped me be a better person emotionally and have helped me find my paths in life - this book will definitely be the third on that list (scroll to the end if you want to see my list). Get this book - read it or listen to it then go back and do it again & do the exercises the second round - that's what I'm doing (a little difficult to write answers down when you're trotting along on a treadmill or on the pavement)! 

Thank you, Jillian Michaels, for writing something so perceptively right! 

My emotional & life path changes have been transformed for the better by the following books:

1) Living with Joy, by Sanaya Roman (yes, it's a new age, spiritual book but it made me realize how much of my life's reactions are my own choice);

2) The Journey of Souls: Case Studies of Life Between Lives, by Michael Newton (this was the first time that I felt I had learned the truth of our existence, it FELT right);

3) Unlimited: How to Build an Exceptional Life, written by Jillian Michaels (this is just an addition to everything else I've learned about myself, the universe, and life)

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Today was...

Today was a contemplative day for me. I'm still following my vegan 21-day challenge (Yay for day #16!!) and I'm feeling pretty good but that's not what I was thinking about.

Yesterday I was accused of pushing my new "diet" (we'll talk about that word later) onto people around me. No, wait, I believe the word was "hounding" and not pushing. Nonetheless, this upset me more than I wish to put down here (let's just say that I went to bed angry AND woke up angry AND I'm still pretty ticked-off). I love my family. I love my friends. Now, when I discover new things that just might keep us all alive longer and healthier, I try to make this information available to those that I love. Heck, no use in me hanging around if no one else will be here with me, right? So, ya, maybe I do come across to them as "hounding", "pushing", "nagging", etc. but, is that what I'm doing really? No lies, I do get excited about learning something new. Could my loved ones mistake my excitement as trying to coerce them into eating healthier or to just do things my way? I contemplated this today on the way to my weight-lifting session with my trainer.

Then I started thinking that, on top of all the reading and studying that I do about nutrition and eating habits, I've been watching all the seasons of "The Biggest Loser", back-to-back. I've seen those MRIs on there that show how the fatty tissue congests all the internal organs and pushes them into unnatural positions. I know that bad nutrition and obesity are behind the number one cause of death here in the United States. I get it. But I want everyone near-and-dear to me to also realize it. By-the-way, if you don't know, according to the CDC's 2007 Mortality report, the leading cause of death here is heart disease. Number two is cancer, which I've read some wonderful stories that people completely REVERSED and eliminated cancer by changing their diets to vegan (haven't really looked for research studies on it yet but maybe that's something for next week). But am I "preachy" about it? Am I like a church minister trying to convert a bunch of sinners and knowing it's a hopeless situation, I still keep thumping that bible? Hmmm, maybe.

Well, that drive this morning, paired up with the adrenaline of a near collision, made me think about this in particular: Why do I feel like I need to "fix" everyone around me? To make them healthier? To get them to feel good? Then, it dawned on me - the underlying reason for my, I guess you can call it, obsession with "healing" people. I thought about my life and then it came to me.

Growing up, I had been very close to my godmother/great aunt. When I was 9-10 years old, she had been diagnosed with incurable cancer. She told me, as I perched on her lap and she sat in her favorite rocking chair, that she was very, very sick and that she was going to die. I hugged her and told her "no", that she wouldn't die because I was going to grow up to be a doctor and I would fix her. She laughed a little and said she wished she could wait but she wasn't going to be able to but that she wanted me to still be a doctor and find the cure for cancer. I promised her.

As the months slipped past, I watched that lively woman deteriorate before my eyes as she endured horrible bouts of chemotherapy. I watched as she got sicker and sicker, her hair falling out in clumps and her trying to hide it with a kerchief tied around her head. I remember her having to be kept at the hospital one time and I wasn't allowed to go see her, then she came home - I watched over her and witnessed her fitful sleep with full-out hallucinations from the drugs they were giving her to dull her pain. And, I felt helpless, completely and utterly helpless. Eventually, the pain bled through the drug's power and she was taken again to the hospital, kissing us and telling us "good-bye", looking at us as they backed out of the garage as if she KNEW
she'd never come back and...she never did. I now believe that's why I "push" healthier eating habits because it is the one thing I can control.

See? This isn't just about my adventures with foods and ways of eating healthier. Sometimes my own little psychological self-evaluations may cause someone else to also think about why they do something. Honestly, I never want to see another loved one suffer like that if it can be prevented at all. But, I'm also still hurt that these people I call "loved ones" would turn on me so quickly and easily when I hadn't been hurting them (in fact, they went out of their way to make sure I was suffering their verbal "comical" abuse). It's just so much easier to NOT care...maybe this was to show me where my behavior comes from and to stop fixing everyone else and focus just on me?? I think I can handle that :D


Oh and about the word "diet" - I abhor that word's connotation! Let me just state this once and for all --- my veganism is not a "diet" it is a healthy way of life and it's a choice - it's MY choice because I don't want to wind up at the end of my life having to be hooked up to machines or having to take a boatload of drugs just to keep going. Choose it or don't but don't roll your eyes when I ask waiters about ingredients in my food, got it? Good!

Today is the 8th day of the self-imposed vegan challenge and I think I'm doing okay with it. The challenge has been challenged severely only once in the first week when I took my mother to a steakhouse for her birthday dinner. The look on the waiter's face was priceless when I informed him that the 3 out of 4 diners were vegan! He followed up his astonished facial expression by asking me if I knew that that was a steakhouse! When I told him why we were there, his demeanor changed and he was bending over backward to try to find things that the girls & I could eat. All-in-all, it really wasn't too bad of an experience and it taught me that even the most red meat oriented restaurant could be worked around in order to allow me to stick to my eating plan. We were happy, my mom enjoyed her meal, & the waiter got a nice plump tip.

Another obstacle I've come up against is my sugar cravings. I'm not craving meat or any dairy products but I have been going a little crazy with sugary treats (which ends up defeating one of my reasons for going on this challenge). I couldn't help myself. There are soooo many yummy alternatives in this category that I felt that I needed to try them, just to make sure they were all as good as they looked. They have vegan cookies, cakes, whipped cream, pies, cheesecakes, & candy bars that taste as good (& some tasted better) as the mainstream products! With that said, I have returned to a more realistic sweet tooth soother in the last few days -- fruit. Also, there's this new creation for vegans that was created by a chef - MimicCreme (http://www.mimiccreme.com/ ) and they have a whole line of different nondairy cream substitutes. I've been using their sweetened creme (it's like sweetened condensed milk) and pouring a few tablespoons over sliced strawberries mixed with sliced mango and it's really, really good...good enough to calm my sweet cravings.

Cooking at home is still difficult for me now with the house going on the market and not knowing when I'll get a text from someone wanting to show it, but I'm trying. We still use a few of the prepackaged things to make meals faster, just in case. Everyday I learn more about the healthy benefits of removing animal products from one's system. So far, the biggest improvement in my health is the feeling of being lighter and having more energy. Even my trainer noticed this past week that my muscles weren't fatiguing as quickly, even though she'd increased my weight amounts (she does this a little every week). On a side note, I'm happy to report that as of last week I was leg-pressing 400lbs, which seems a lot but I don't think so...going to keep pushing that increase so I can tease Sean that I'm leg-pressing a quarter of a ton :D

Other things I learned this week:

1) Fat stored in all of our muscle cells (called intramyocellular lipid) & what that means to our metabolic health.

Insulin escorts sugar & protein from our blood to our cells to be quickly converted into energy, right? The efficiency of this process depends on how much fat is built up inside the cell. If there's too much built up inside these cells, insulin has a lot of trouble being able to open the cell membrane to allow glucose inside. And, if glucose can't get in there, then it doesn't get converted to energy, if it doesn't get converted to energy, what do you think happens to it? BTW, the buildup of fat inside the cells is what leads to insulin resistance then type 2 diabetes. The other big problem is once there's too much fat built up, it also partially turns off the genes that produce mitochondria ("burners" or metabolizers) which makes it HARDER to burn off fat! (See the study http://www.nature.com/ijo/journal/v28/n4s/full/0802853a.html )

2) Fish oil isn't as good as it's being promoted to be.

15%-30% of the fat in fish is saturated fat -- look up the definition of saturated fat and you'll find that it's been found to increase cholesterol levels. Also, a study in the British Medical Journal (BMJ 2006; 332:752-60) found that neither fish nor fish oils protect against cardiovascular disease or cancer. They've found that switching to a chicken & fish diet only lowers LDL by about 5%...wow, only 5%?? I won't mention the lowered percentage found by changing to a plant-based diet :D (okay, yes I will...20%-30% lowered LDL).

3) Grilling has been pushed at us for years now as being the preferred, healthier way of preparing meat but is it healthier? Well, not really...ever hear of carcinogens?

When meats are heated at high temperatures, cancer-causing chemicals called "heterocyclic amines" form inside the meat. It's due to the alteration the heat causes to the amino acids, creatine, & other compounds (or man-made compounds stored in the animals cells) stored in the muscle tissue. And which is the biggest source for those chemicals? They occur in all grilled meats but the biggest culprit is --- chicken!

Well, that's what I've learned over the last week. It's certainly given me some food for thought of whether I will return to animal products wholeheartedly when the 21 days are over or limit my animal products to once a week (or every two weeks) or stay vegan for the rest of my life. Well, I've got another two weeks to think about it.

21-day Vegan Challenge, Day #2

Starting yesterday, my girls & I have challenged ourselves to be vegan for 21 days! This comes about from having read some interesting studies and a book written by Dr. Neal Barnard entitled "21-Day Weight Loss Kickstart". This is a good choice for me (the girls came along on this journey by their own choice) considering that I have already been removing most dairy products from my diet because of my seasonal allergies and have been decreasing the amount of meat because of cholesterol issues. Plus, it's not just about avoiding animal products, it's also about watching the fat content and keeping oils (all of them, including olive oil) down to a minimum.

Most people that I've told that I was starting this challenge have expressed skepticism. One of the questions that I've gotten a lot is "Aren't you afraid you're not going to get enough calcium & protein?" Answer is "No, I'm not" because I know that there are higher & better sources of these (& other vitamins & minerals) than eating the muscle tissue of an animal and eating/drinking an animal's milk that was meant to fatten its offspring. Another question has been "You know you'll get really sick when you go back to eating meat, right?" Not after only 21 days and even if it did happen (the getting sick part) doesn't that say something about what our bodies really think about ingesting other animals? If our reaction after being on no animal products for awhile is to get physically ill after going back, doesn't that say something about, maybe, meat is more of a poison than a nutritional necessity?

I'm not saying I'm all gung-ho about veganism, I love the taste of meat - pork, chicken, beef, fish, shellfish - and I'd like to think I'll be able to be vegan most of the time with small vacations into omnivore-land. Hell, I love hot fudge brownie sundaes too but I know those aren't good for me either. I'm not going to try to lure/coerce my friends or family members to do this and I'm not going to limit going out to restaurants with people just because I'm vegan right now. I've learned enough to be able to go to just about any restaurant and get a vegan meal that isn't just a salad :D so I don't think my lifestyle will be affected either. I am hoping that my cholesterol levels will drop and maybe some pounds will go too.

Plus, this is an awesome era to try this out in because there is SOOOO much out there, even at Walmart (yes, not including the produce section)! The girls and I have been doing our research throughout last week (and ongoing) about what is sold where. We started a list of the things we've tried and what we've liked, what we didn't like, etc. Since we've been working hard on getting the house ready for showings, I haven't had much of an opportunity to do a lot of cooking so we've been trying a lot of the frozen meals and prepackaged foods. The girls are even better at reading those ingredient labels than I am (did you know there's dairy in frozen onion rings?) Here are the things we've liked so far: vegan bacon (even though it looks like those dog treats "Beggin' Strips"), beans & rice burritos, sweet & sour chick'in with rice, blueberry pancakes, "beef" jerky, coconut ice cream, lasagna, potatoes with peppers & mushrooms, carrot cake, chocolate chip cookies, seasoned ground "beef", black bean chili, lemon poppy seed muffins, oatmeal with fruit, Tom Kha Gai coconut soup, vegan chocolate, and some candy bars.

So, this is a journey for us that seems to be off to a fun start :D Let's see how far the girls & I can get...I bet I can go all the way through the 21 days!