The Tofurky Debate

I got into a debate with my husband about what we should do for Thanksgiving. As you know, I am vegan, so I don't eat meat (or drink milk or eat eggs... ect). My husband on the other hand, isn't even a little vegan. So what do we do? I know, I will make a tofurky for me (becuase I really want to try it) and something like pizza for him. Okay, I know pizza isn't even a little thanksgiving, but I'm not making an entire turkey for one person! Plus, he love pizza and he actually requested it.

What about the sides?It's not Thanksgiving without the gravy, dinner rolls and pumpkin pie...... mmmmmm how I love pumpkin pie. But how do you make that vegan? Easy!!! There are substitutes for just about everything. I can use almond milk instead of cow's milk and margarine (earth balance is my favorite) instead of butter. It tastes just as good and it's better for you. No cholesterol and less calories! The only down side, is that it doesn't taste as good (well, to non-vegans. I love it personally).

I guess all that's left is to go shopping to find everything I need for my vegan Thanksgiving!

Getting Stronger

There is nothing I love more about getting shape, than that moment I realize I'm getting stronger. I started biking about a month and a half ago and 30 minutes of biking sucked! I had to keep motivating myself to get through it! Now, I crank up the resistance and I can bike for as much time as I like.

I just have to keep up with it now, because I don't want to start over again.

Night Out At A Vegan Diner

My husband is so sweet! Every time we go out, I have to ask the server a million questions to make sure the food doesn't contain animal products. My husband is neither vegetarian nor vegan, but he is 100% supportive of me. So to show his support, he found a vegan diner in Ft. Worth to take me for dinner called Spiral Diner.

The place was awesome and the menu was packed with choices. While I was super excited to pick something, my husband tried to find something he would like to eat. Food made with tofu and meat substitutes, isn't really his thing. He decided to get pasta dish, because it's a pretty safe bet. How can you mess up pasta? While I decided to get a hot hummus burrito.

So we get our food and mine was amazing! I love hummus, so you really can't go wrong. My husbands food on the other hand, had all sorts of stuff on it. It had broccoli, some weird nuts, and other veggies mixed into it. I tried it, and thought it was pretty good, but my husband didn't like it.

So after sitting and talking and eating for a while, we finish up and I get a piece of vegan red velvet cake to go.
I guess what this story really comes down to is, I have an amazing husband. How many people would sit through a dinner they hate to make their significant other happy? I have the most amazing and supportive husband.

Why I Decided To Go Vegan

When I originally decided to become a vegetarian, it was due to health reason. My mom has had two heart attacks and is a cancer survivor, so I have a lot to worry about when it comes to my health. As I have written about before, I haven't had the healthiest diet and it could create some serious problem for me down the road. Becoming a vegetarian forces me to start thinking about what I was putting into my body, becoming a vegan is helping me take it to the next level.

Being a vegetarian wasn't hard for me. I still ate cheese, drank milk and consumed eggs. I ate junk foods like cakes and cookies without feel bad about my choices. It was vegetarian after all! Well, it's a lot harder to have that same mentality and be a vegan (it's still possible, but a lot harder).

Besides my heath, there are other reason's I have decided to go in this direction (but my health is the #1 reason). Animal cruelty is on my list. When I was a vegetarian, the eggs I ate were free range. If I was going to eat animal products, it wasn't going to come from a business that abuses animals.

I'm so passionate about this. Animals should be treated with respect, even if they are being raised for burger meat.

I'm not the type of vegan who is going to tell people all the reason they shouldn't eat meat, because I really don't care what you eat. I changed my lifestyle for me.....

I found this list on another blogger website. While most of it is pretty extreme, they make a few good points. I hope this helps everyone to better understand my choices.

Courtesy of:
My Life As A Vegan Blog

20 Reasons To Go Vegan

1) Vegans on average live 6 years longer than non-vegans.
2) The average vegan total cholesterol level is 128. The lowest level for a heart attack is 150.
3) Milk consumption has been linked to ear infections, asthma, and a whole slew of other diseases.
4) Cholesterol can cause impotence
5) Vegans don't consume any cholesterol
6) Vegans don't smoke, and smoking is one of the leading causes of death
7) 33% percent of Americans are OBESE, while only 2% of vegans are
8) Tofu is a lot cheaper than steak
9) Fur has formaldehyde in it, which has been known to cause cancers and etc
10) Charred meats contain carcinogens that can cause cancers
11) Fast food meats like those at McDonald's have thousands of additives that are not only addictive, they can cause you to gain weight and mess up your whole body
12) The USFDA recognizes vegetarian and vegan diets as the healthiest diets.
13) Veal calves are often stillborn or unborn.
14) Veal calves that are born are raises in crates where they cant even turn around, and are fed only a diet of milk for 16 weeks before they are slaughtered.
15) Dairy cows on average live for 5-7 years, where as they are able to live to 20 years or more!
16) Pigs are more intelligent than dogs, and have the intelligence of a 3-year old.
17) Egg-laying hens are kept without water and food for 14 days at a time to force their bodies into another egg-laying cycle
18) It takes 7 cows to furnish a leather interior Mercedes-Benz
19) Milk is known to cause acne breakouts
20) MEAT IS DEAD FLESH

Results Worth Reporting

Finally! I'm seeing some results when it comes to my weight loss. Since I started my food diary (about 3 weeks ago) I've lost 6 pounds. Yay!

So you know, I've basically been watching what I eat and working out. Nothing like old fashion hard work to lose weight! There have only been maybe 2 or 3 days were I didn't meet my 1200 calorie goal.

The hardest part of my new lifestyle, is learning what I can and can't eat (as far as calories go). There are so many thing I love to eat, that have an insane amount of calories. For example, the average snow cone has 550 calories! That's insane to me! I would rather have a soft serve ice cream cone from DQ for 140 calories. My favorite places to eat are Schlotzsky's, Jason's Deli and United (the salad bar). I can eat an entire meal at all of these places for 500 calories or less. Plus, I'm a vegetarian and they have lot's of options for me.

So my advice is to take a look at what you eat, because one high calories item could be holding you back.

Eat This.... Not That.....

When it comes to losing weight, you need to get a little creative. No one want's to give up the food they love.

That's why I decided I was going to substitute items I loved, for thing that I still liked, but where lower in calorie.

Here is a good example. I love coffee! I love coffee to much, that I want to open a coffee shop someday. One of my favorite drink is a Carmel Frappuccino. While it's extremely tasty... it's also full of suger! A 16 once CF contains about 260 calories (without whip cream) and 45 grams of sugar! So instead of drinking in all those extra calories to get my morning coffee fix, I just changed what I order. I get a venti coffee with soy milk! This drink is amazing! Plus, they are cheaper! I save $1.50 every time I go to Starbucks.

So don't give up something you love, just find a way to make it work with your new lifestyle. It may take a little trial and error, but it's worth it in the end.

Dear Food Diary......

So I decided to start a food diary. I did this once before and lost about 6 pounds in 5 weeks. That's pretty good considering I didn't follow the rules for a good chuck of the time.

Right now, I'm on day 6 and I've lost about 2 pounds. I'm trying not to weight myself everyday, which is hard to do. I want to know my progress, but if the weight goes up, I know I will get discouraged. I'm using a website called myfooddiary.com. It's $10 a month, but it's so worth it. If it was a free service, I know I wouldn't use it. This keeps me motivated, because I'm paying for it.

The whole point of the diary is to make sure I hit 1,200 calories for the day. Which is hard, but effective. I like this, because it allows me to eat as much as I want, I just have to workout to burn off anything over 1,200 calories. Plus, it gets easier. The first few days of any diet suck. Once you get past the first week, everything is down hill. After seven day I don't have to eat as much to stay full, I have more energy because of what I'm eating and I overall feel better. Plus, if I'm writing everything down, I wont have that piece of cake that's in the office for someone's birthday.

There are many free service people can use to track their calories. I googled free food diary and found www.fitclick.com. There are many more just like this one, you just need to find one you like.

I also got really motivated and took some before pictures the other day. I have a goal of weighting 115 pounds before the first of the year. According to myfooddiary.com, this is completely achievable. Plus, now that I've posted this, I feel more compelled to make it happen. So wish me luck! I have a long 5 months ahead of me!

Proving Yourself.... to Yourself!

If there is one thing I've learned from competing in sporting events, it's that you are only proving yourself to yourself. I think most athletes compete, just to see if they can challenge themselves. Now, I know there are those athletes that are amazing and always compete to win, but there are plenty of competitors there, that just want to finish. If you watch an Ironman competition, there are plenty of people who want nothing more than to finish. There is nothing wrong with that. There are lots of people who train for an Ironman for months and take 900th place. There are also people that train for a year and don't finish.

I guess what I'm saying is, there is no reason you can't run a marathon, or do a triathlon, or bike 100 miles. I did... and I never thought I would.

This picture is from the Twin Falls Triathlon. I'm crossing the finish line! It was my first triathlon.

Why I Hate Running

There really isn't a good reason why I hate running, I just do. But thanks to my husband, I have been getting my butt up and running just about every day.

I think the thing that keeps me motivated is, it's a short run. We run a loop near our home, which is about 1.7 miles. I run it once a day with my husband Lloyd (we've been married 2 years now) who is a fan of running (not like me at all). Just the other day he said to me, "I can't wait to up the mileage." Really! because I could definitely wait to do that.

I've competed in events with running, swimming, and biking. Out of all of them, running is were I lose the most time. I would love to improve my run time, but it's hard when you don't enjoy it!

Is there really anyone out there that loves running? If so, I haven't met them!

I'm Just Lazy!

I decided the other day that I was going to lose weight and do it the right way. I have an extra 30 pounds I would love to get rid of, and I've decided this is the time.

I have done tons of sporting events. I started to ride my bike last year, which really got me started on trying to be healthy. Last year, I did multiple rides, ranging from 104 miles to 26 miles... and completed 2 triathlons. You would think this would help me lose weight.... think again.

Like everyone, I have gone up and down in weight. I was at my thinnest when I got married 2 years ago. Since then, I have gained 15 pounds. That may not sound like a lot to you, but when you're 5'2", it is!

As part of this whole getting healthy project, I have made some major lifestyles changes (which is what I want to do). I am now a vegetarian. This is for multiple reasons. I don't agree with farming and it helps me watch what I eat. Now, I have to make sure I am getting the appropriate amount of protein, carbs, and so on. This is great, because I never really thought about what I was eating before. This alone will not help me lose weight. I have been a vegetarian for two months with no weight loss.

I have been too lazy for too long and it's finally caught up to me. I'm not going to standby and let this happen anymore.

If you have any suggestions, or weight loss tips for me, please post them. I would love to hear what's worked for you.