I've been busy!
Stop yelling at me!
I know you guys hang on my every word and have a hard time getting along without me, but I've had things to do. It can't always be about you all the time...yeesh!
Anyway, I have been busy. All this cooking and cleaning that I now have the energy to do is really taking it's toll on my blog time (and TV time, ahhh!). Plus, my dear sweet cousin is getting married in July, so you know what that means....yes, lots of planning and smaming and tanning and canning...huh?
what just happened, I got lost for a second, right then...Much to do!
Her bach party was last weekend and we went wine tasting! So fun! I know what you're thinking...."while being intoxicated for 14 hours (yes, you read that correctly) were you able to stay true to your new way of life, aka veganism?"
I'm so glad you asked!
I did really great! Ask anyone that went. ("That seatbelt saved my life!") I ordered a veg salad with a vinagarette and ate with my hands over my eyes so that I could not see all the cheesy, white, pasta that I was surrounded by! ("Why are we getting into white vans?" "Because we don't live here Amanda!") Back in the room, I may or may not have had a chocolate covered caramel....come on, caramel? Anyway, I was proud of my drunk ass.
Moving on. What else have I been eating? I know you are wondering, because what else could you possibly have been thinking about for the past week? Well, let me tell you. I knew I wasn't doing GREAT with my amount of veg intake, so I have been having a salad for lunch. Half spinach, half baby romaine. They I just add whatever I have. Beans (any beans, man I love beans). Peppers (any peppers, man I love peppers). Broc. Zuch. Mushrooms. Ect. Then, I put this kick ass thousand island dressing, that I MADE (yep, read it right), on and shazam! Awesome yumminess!!
Also, I made these deliciouse enchiladas that I found at my new favorite place to live, http://www.thekindlife.com/. My cousin was coming over to get her hair done (not by me in my house, because that would be illegal..) and my aunt came to watch the kiddos (while I wasn't doing her hair in my house because that would be illegal). Mo brought a salad and I made the enchiladas. We even garnished with faux sourcream. SOOOOO good! Ask the none vegans! They liked 'em too! These will become a staple for sure. Pretty simple too.
Tonight I made some chopped up tofu sauted in safflower oil, and Nearly Normal (in Corvallis) tofu seasoning and added it to some cous cous. Yummo! And Jack ate it! HOORAY!
I'm still doing my smoothies for breakfast, exept, at my new favorite place to live, I got a tip to add spinach or kale to the fruit smoothie (I know, ewww, this was my thought too), they said you couldn't even tell. So, I gave it a whirl, and it's true! Can't tell. Love it.
I am still in the midst of reading The Kind Diet (don't worry, there will be a monsterous post about this book too), I don't get a lot of time to concentrate on reading alone. And I want to soak in every word! I will say this, all of the things I am doing right now (veganism, kind diet reading (Alicia is a little more intense on everything), gDiapering, ect.) is taking me down a path I never really thought of myself going down. I am really begining to care deeply about the footprint I make on this earth. I mean, don't get me wrong, I always cared about the Earth and what we were doing to it, but I was always one of those "Well, how much difference can one person make?" and "It's just easy to not worry about how much water you're using and water bottles are so convienent." blah blah blah. Excuses.
I"ll be the first to say, my mom (bless her heart) has recycled since before recycling was cool. Like had to haul your stuff to the thing and seperate it into the things. So, that's always been something I"ve done and cared about because I was raised that way (another topic about teaching our youngins and the impression it can make!). So I'm totally there with recycling...I am being more conscious about doing a good job, but I'm also trying to take shorter showers, use less dishes, be aware of what I'm buying and where it came from (can't wait for Farmer's Market!) use less plastic (including no more water bottles (sorry Mr. AP!) and no more soda bottles), we've been switching lightbulbs for a while now and the more I learn, the more I want to do! I want to start a garden! I am home, so why not? I have the space, so why not!? We can change things, if every person that reads this starts recycling, that's huge! And then you tell your friend and she tells hers, ect. I just think we underestimate our voice and ability.
Oh bother, now I'm all amped up to write what I've learned in the Kind Diet, but I"m not done yet! I really think you'll be blown away by some of the statistics and findings, I know I was.
No
Not now!
Not finished!
Ok, Peace love and recycle (at least!)
Wednesday, April 28, 2010
Tuesday, April 20, 2010
Uh oh....and Yahoo!
I"m so excited.....again....
I found a new website.....
And it has so much to offer!!
I could spend hours.....
Because that's what I have in my day,
Hours to give!
But I must!
This is soooo awesome!
Ok, so remember how I said this whole thing was set off by seeing Alicia Silverstone on Oprah? (Well, I did.) And I really want her cookbook and while looking up the name of it, I came across THIS!
AHHHH! Any spare minute I have in the next couple of days (which is not many, my cousin's bach party is this saturday, much to do!) I will be here at this site soaking up as much as I can. It's a forum too! I can get asnwers!
And I love love love Alicia, always have (hello, Clueless, who doesn't love Clueless?) She is so natural and earthy and beautiful....she is my inspiration!
And it's also about home and style and health and just being nice to this earth we live on! So exciting! There will probably be much more to follow once I dive into this website...be prepared!
Peace love and Alicia!!!
PS. all the links are the same website....I hope you didn't touch them all, but if you did, haha and sorry.
I found a new website.....
And it has so much to offer!!
I could spend hours.....
Because that's what I have in my day,
Hours to give!
But I must!
This is soooo awesome!
Ok, so remember how I said this whole thing was set off by seeing Alicia Silverstone on Oprah? (Well, I did.) And I really want her cookbook and while looking up the name of it, I came across THIS!
AHHHH! Any spare minute I have in the next couple of days (which is not many, my cousin's bach party is this saturday, much to do!) I will be here at this site soaking up as much as I can. It's a forum too! I can get asnwers!
And I love love love Alicia, always have (hello, Clueless, who doesn't love Clueless?) She is so natural and earthy and beautiful....she is my inspiration!
And it's also about home and style and health and just being nice to this earth we live on! So exciting! There will probably be much more to follow once I dive into this website...be prepared!
Peace love and Alicia!!!
PS. all the links are the same website....I hope you didn't touch them all, but if you did, haha and sorry.
Monday, April 19, 2010
BBQ SEASON!!!
I am really excited because we're coming on BBQ season! Who doesn't love BBQs?! But what dies a vegan eat at a BBQ?
Let me tell you!! You eat Gardenburger BlackBean Chipotle veggie burgers! These are sooooooooooooooooo delicious! I had Mr. AP throw a couple on the grill for me and Mr. Squish tonight. Turns out there are a little to spicy for the wee one. This worked out amazingly well for me because I ate both of them!
I went sans bun and mixed up some veganaise ( I'll say it again, tastes like regular!), yellow mustard, and a little bit of ketchup, voilà! So delicious! And good for you! There are only 3 grams of fat, plus 5 grams of fiber and 5 grams of protien per patty. Bonus!
So you have to take your own patties and perhaps dip (if you want to go that far), but at least you know that you're eating what you want to be eating! And you can always bring a salad to share too, then you'll have plenty to enjoy!
Conclusion: a must try! Even if you're not a vegan! (sidenote: potential to be dry if you don't use a dip/smear/dressing of some kind)
Peace love and Gardenburger BlackBean Chipotle veggie burgers!
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone
Let me tell you!! You eat Gardenburger BlackBean Chipotle veggie burgers! These are sooooooooooooooooo delicious! I had Mr. AP throw a couple on the grill for me and Mr. Squish tonight. Turns out there are a little to spicy for the wee one. This worked out amazingly well for me because I ate both of them!
I went sans bun and mixed up some veganaise ( I'll say it again, tastes like regular!), yellow mustard, and a little bit of ketchup, voilà! So delicious! And good for you! There are only 3 grams of fat, plus 5 grams of fiber and 5 grams of protien per patty. Bonus!
So you have to take your own patties and perhaps dip (if you want to go that far), but at least you know that you're eating what you want to be eating! And you can always bring a salad to share too, then you'll have plenty to enjoy!
Conclusion: a must try! Even if you're not a vegan! (sidenote: potential to be dry if you don't use a dip/smear/dressing of some kind)
Peace love and Gardenburger BlackBean Chipotle veggie burgers!
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone
Friday, April 16, 2010
Caution and Loss
I have been waiting to write this blog post. I wasn't even sure I was going to write it, it's not a need to know kind of thing, but we go through things in life so we can tell our story and potentially help or touch someone with it. I'm more writing this as a "caution" and as an explanation. You'll understand the caution part in a minute. But I do believe this whole thing contributed to my "jump start my life, kick my ass into gear and live a better day" mentality. So, here we go...
Preface: At my 6 week check-up after giving birth to Jack, I decided to go with an IUD for birth control. I'd heard good things and we weren't sure when/where/if we wanted to have another baby (let's be honest, I did, but we were humouring Mr. AP), so it sounded like a good option.
Additional preface: I breastfed Avery until she was 13 months old, and we were down to the just once in the middle of the night feeding for about the last month, but nonetheless, I didn't start my period (the real reason I breastfeed, screw healthy babies, I don't have to bleed for over two years! kidding, I kid) until about a week after I was done.
Back to first preface: I also breastfed Jack for about 13 months, possibly a bit more, I think we were around Thanksgiving when we stopped. And it wasn't a choice of his, it was mine because he was still waking 2-3 times a night and that's just silly! Anyway, I wasn't really sure what to expect as far as red rivers go because of the IUD. I didn't give it a ton of thought (why? not sure, maybe it was the thrill of the holidays and who wants to think about their period at the most wonderful time of the year?). Anyway, January comes around and I start to think about it.....
Story:
It's about the middle of January and I have a feeling I'm pregnant. Well, that can't be, I have an IUD, don't I? (if you don't know what an IUD is, it's a tiny little Y shapped piece of plastic inserted into the mouth of your uterus, and there are strings left hanging down) Well, I checked for the strings.....no strings that I could find...uh oh. So we bought a test.......
took it....
positive.
I'm kind of excited...I did want another baby. Bret is not excited. He did not want another baby. I'm confused, happy, sad (because Mr. AP is not excited), worried (there could be all kinds of issues if the IUD is still in there), curiouse about what happened to the IUD....lots and lots of questions.
Since we moved, I call a clinic that includes midwives and DRs in Corvallis. I tell them my situation and they want to see me right away. First I must go get blood drawn (oh how I love needles). A day later....
In I go, anxious as hell. I'm thinking there is a possibility that I'm a couple of months (remember when I stopped breastfeeding?). We do the usual chit chat, but there is nothing to be done except an ultrasound (the internal kind). Let's do this already. So, in goes the wand...ok, there's my uterus and a.....blob. Midwife says, well, that could be the beginings of a baby or a blod clot. Alright. There is no sign of the IUD. They want be to head over to the hospitol for a full ultra sound to make sure it didn't migrate somewhere else. Alright. Short story, it didn't, it must have fallen out somewhere, somehow, sometime.
Here is the CAUTION part: If you have an IUD or know someone that does, check it daily! If not daily, then at least before you do your deed.
Back to the story. So, my blood levels said I was pregnant. I was to come back in a week with another blood test and another wand ultrasound. I came back. This time there is a sack and another sack (I forget the names of the sacks, but the inner and outer). These are definatly the beginings of baby. Ok, so I'm pregnant. And my blood levels have trippled. (No, it's not twins). Ok, I'm pregnant. Still no heartbeat or alien looking baby. So, now it's safe for me to wait 2 weeks to come back. They acctually joked, "What, did you feel your cells dividing?" because by the measurement of the sack, I was about 5 weeks, which means I took the test when I was 1 week pregnant, talk about finding out early.
Two weeks go by and I go back in. This time, there is a heartbeat :) Now I'm starting to get excited and it's a little more real. It might also be that I'm going to Disneyland in a week, but excitement is in the air. Mr. AP is begining to accept the idea of having a number 3, we start talking about where they will go, probably move the two youngest into Avery's room and split it down the middle, things like that. I go to Disneyland with mom and Av and Aunt Joanie and Jamie, so fun. I'm feeling better there than I have the whole time, I just think it's because it's the Happiest Place on Earth! I have not told my mom yet.....
We get back from Disney and I tell her. Turns out she had an idea and it's had time to settle and so she's ok with it, even excited. My next Dr. appointment is a couple days after I get back from Disney. My mom took the kids to the park while I went (much easier, and thank heaven she did this time). I go in and do the usual, but now I'm 10 weeks and they try to get the hearbeat with a doppler, no luck, but not panicking because it could still be too early for that. They bring in the wand ultrasound again. She finds the baby (there are arms and legs) but is having a hard time finding the heart beat (my stomach sinks), she goes to find a Dr to see if there is something she is missing (apparently, my uterus is really deep down by my tailbone (no wonder I had back labor with both kids). The Dr. confirms that she is not missing anything...there is no heartbeat. I'm trying to hold it together. I have to look away from the screen that is showing my little baby with arms and legs and no hearbeat. Apon measuring the baby, it measures about a week and a half behind, so he (I was pretty sure it was a boy, I was sweating (and stinking) and having sex dreams like I did with Jack) had been gone for a while (probably why I felt so good in Disney). They left me alone to get dressed and be by myself for a bit. I lost it. (I am now too writing this, it's really good for me though) I don't like to cry in front of strangers, so I had it together by the time they came back. They told me my options and suggested that since it was a Friday, I go home and think about it and call back on Monday if I decide to have surgery to take care of it. That's what I choose to do. (And luckily, I was going away with my wonderful friends to the beach, just what I needed.)
When I went into the waiting room, my mom was there with my two kiddos. I didn't tell my mom until we got into the car. I don't even like to cry in front of people I do know (not about real stuff, movies, commercials, tv shows, that's all fine, but when it comes to me things, no way) So I didn't cry. I didn't cry when I told Bret or my best friend or my dad. I waited until Bret went to work, and then I cried.
I decided to have surgery. I didn't want to wait around for my body to do what it might not even do. I couldn't handle that. I won't go into details about that, but it was my first surgery (besides wisdom teeth). It went "well". I am good.
I know this happens to a lot of women out there, way more than we know. It has probably happened to you, even if you didin't know it. I think it has happened to me before, but really early on. Not like this. I am still sad about it, like when I find a baby toy in Jack's room or a binky, or the newborn diaper still in his diaper drawer. But I also feel ok about it. I was feeling guilty for Jack when I was pregnant. He is still such a baby in so many ways, much more so than Avery was at his age. He still needs me, he still needs lots of squishy snuggles and loves and kisses. And not that I couldn't have given that to him with a new baby, it just wouldn't be the same. He wouldn't even have been two when the new baby came. So for me, this is what makes it ok. I know we'll go there again and probably here in a while. It really wasn't the right time for us (even though we would make it work, because really, when is the "right" time), but I think it's brought everyone around to my way of thinking: ANOTHER BABY!!
Peace, Love and BABIES!
Preface: At my 6 week check-up after giving birth to Jack, I decided to go with an IUD for birth control. I'd heard good things and we weren't sure when/where/if we wanted to have another baby (let's be honest, I did, but we were humouring Mr. AP), so it sounded like a good option.
Additional preface: I breastfed Avery until she was 13 months old, and we were down to the just once in the middle of the night feeding for about the last month, but nonetheless, I didn't start my period (the real reason I breastfeed, screw healthy babies, I don't have to bleed for over two years! kidding, I kid) until about a week after I was done.
Back to first preface: I also breastfed Jack for about 13 months, possibly a bit more, I think we were around Thanksgiving when we stopped. And it wasn't a choice of his, it was mine because he was still waking 2-3 times a night and that's just silly! Anyway, I wasn't really sure what to expect as far as red rivers go because of the IUD. I didn't give it a ton of thought (why? not sure, maybe it was the thrill of the holidays and who wants to think about their period at the most wonderful time of the year?). Anyway, January comes around and I start to think about it.....
Story:
It's about the middle of January and I have a feeling I'm pregnant. Well, that can't be, I have an IUD, don't I? (if you don't know what an IUD is, it's a tiny little Y shapped piece of plastic inserted into the mouth of your uterus, and there are strings left hanging down) Well, I checked for the strings.....no strings that I could find...uh oh. So we bought a test.......
took it....
positive.
I'm kind of excited...I did want another baby. Bret is not excited. He did not want another baby. I'm confused, happy, sad (because Mr. AP is not excited), worried (there could be all kinds of issues if the IUD is still in there), curiouse about what happened to the IUD....lots and lots of questions.
Since we moved, I call a clinic that includes midwives and DRs in Corvallis. I tell them my situation and they want to see me right away. First I must go get blood drawn (oh how I love needles). A day later....
In I go, anxious as hell. I'm thinking there is a possibility that I'm a couple of months (remember when I stopped breastfeeding?). We do the usual chit chat, but there is nothing to be done except an ultrasound (the internal kind). Let's do this already. So, in goes the wand...ok, there's my uterus and a.....blob. Midwife says, well, that could be the beginings of a baby or a blod clot. Alright. There is no sign of the IUD. They want be to head over to the hospitol for a full ultra sound to make sure it didn't migrate somewhere else. Alright. Short story, it didn't, it must have fallen out somewhere, somehow, sometime.
Here is the CAUTION part: If you have an IUD or know someone that does, check it daily! If not daily, then at least before you do your deed.
Back to the story. So, my blood levels said I was pregnant. I was to come back in a week with another blood test and another wand ultrasound. I came back. This time there is a sack and another sack (I forget the names of the sacks, but the inner and outer). These are definatly the beginings of baby. Ok, so I'm pregnant. And my blood levels have trippled. (No, it's not twins). Ok, I'm pregnant. Still no heartbeat or alien looking baby. So, now it's safe for me to wait 2 weeks to come back. They acctually joked, "What, did you feel your cells dividing?" because by the measurement of the sack, I was about 5 weeks, which means I took the test when I was 1 week pregnant, talk about finding out early.
Two weeks go by and I go back in. This time, there is a heartbeat :) Now I'm starting to get excited and it's a little more real. It might also be that I'm going to Disneyland in a week, but excitement is in the air. Mr. AP is begining to accept the idea of having a number 3, we start talking about where they will go, probably move the two youngest into Avery's room and split it down the middle, things like that. I go to Disneyland with mom and Av and Aunt Joanie and Jamie, so fun. I'm feeling better there than I have the whole time, I just think it's because it's the Happiest Place on Earth! I have not told my mom yet.....
We get back from Disney and I tell her. Turns out she had an idea and it's had time to settle and so she's ok with it, even excited. My next Dr. appointment is a couple days after I get back from Disney. My mom took the kids to the park while I went (much easier, and thank heaven she did this time). I go in and do the usual, but now I'm 10 weeks and they try to get the hearbeat with a doppler, no luck, but not panicking because it could still be too early for that. They bring in the wand ultrasound again. She finds the baby (there are arms and legs) but is having a hard time finding the heart beat (my stomach sinks), she goes to find a Dr to see if there is something she is missing (apparently, my uterus is really deep down by my tailbone (no wonder I had back labor with both kids). The Dr. confirms that she is not missing anything...there is no heartbeat. I'm trying to hold it together. I have to look away from the screen that is showing my little baby with arms and legs and no hearbeat. Apon measuring the baby, it measures about a week and a half behind, so he (I was pretty sure it was a boy, I was sweating (and stinking) and having sex dreams like I did with Jack) had been gone for a while (probably why I felt so good in Disney). They left me alone to get dressed and be by myself for a bit. I lost it. (I am now too writing this, it's really good for me though) I don't like to cry in front of strangers, so I had it together by the time they came back. They told me my options and suggested that since it was a Friday, I go home and think about it and call back on Monday if I decide to have surgery to take care of it. That's what I choose to do. (And luckily, I was going away with my wonderful friends to the beach, just what I needed.)
When I went into the waiting room, my mom was there with my two kiddos. I didn't tell my mom until we got into the car. I don't even like to cry in front of people I do know (not about real stuff, movies, commercials, tv shows, that's all fine, but when it comes to me things, no way) So I didn't cry. I didn't cry when I told Bret or my best friend or my dad. I waited until Bret went to work, and then I cried.
I decided to have surgery. I didn't want to wait around for my body to do what it might not even do. I couldn't handle that. I won't go into details about that, but it was my first surgery (besides wisdom teeth). It went "well". I am good.
I know this happens to a lot of women out there, way more than we know. It has probably happened to you, even if you didin't know it. I think it has happened to me before, but really early on. Not like this. I am still sad about it, like when I find a baby toy in Jack's room or a binky, or the newborn diaper still in his diaper drawer. But I also feel ok about it. I was feeling guilty for Jack when I was pregnant. He is still such a baby in so many ways, much more so than Avery was at his age. He still needs me, he still needs lots of squishy snuggles and loves and kisses. And not that I couldn't have given that to him with a new baby, it just wouldn't be the same. He wouldn't even have been two when the new baby came. So for me, this is what makes it ok. I know we'll go there again and probably here in a while. It really wasn't the right time for us (even though we would make it work, because really, when is the "right" time), but I think it's brought everyone around to my way of thinking: ANOTHER BABY!!
Peace, Love and BABIES!
Go away please....
So a friend of mine stopped by yesterday...one I haven't seen in a really long time and one I don't like, at all. You know who you are "friend". Don't pretend you guys don't know who I"m talking about (sorry if there are any men reading this, including my father)......
This "friend" hasn't been here since January of 2008 (nice friend huh?). This friend brings chocolate. Lots and lots of chocolate. Not fruit, not vegtables, not cous cous, not pollenta, not whole wheat pastry flour, she is evil. She brought ice cream. She made me eat a muffin before I had my fruit smoothie this morning. She forced a couple of licks of Avery's icecream cone down my throat. I'm pretty sure she is responsible for my cheating with the cheese too, she just sent it ahead. I've been eating lots of Newman Os too. Now this is all vegan that I'm eating (besides the icecream licks and cheesy pizza), but it's not what keeps my day going the way I have become used to. Today, for the first time since the first week of giving up all those lovely vices I had, I got a headache. I know it's from too much sugar/not enough good stuff. Go away "friend", you are not welcome here.
I will gladely bid her farewell when her "visit" is over. I'm going to have to learn to say no to her when she comes around again!
On a good note, I've made some more things that I like! Both from SBITK.
First, I made a delicious whole wheat muffin that you can add any type of fruit to. I tried dried blueberries from bulk the first time and the second I didn't have quite enough, so I added some vegan chocolate chips for a treat and it's nummy! I could almost eat a whole bowl of just the batter (and it would be safe because there are no raw ingredients).
The other night, I invited my mom over and we had portabello mushrooms, zuchini and onions marinated in balsamic vinager, olive oil, honey, and spices; seared on a skillet and then chopped up and put over cous cous. Loved it. So did mom. I'll do it again.
In conclusion, my "friend" is making this difficult on me, but we all need to be challenged now and again...and I hope this headache goes away by tomorrow, I do NOT miss them at all. I'm so unproductive. Yuck.
Peace, love and unwelcome "friends"
This "friend" hasn't been here since January of 2008 (nice friend huh?). This friend brings chocolate. Lots and lots of chocolate. Not fruit, not vegtables, not cous cous, not pollenta, not whole wheat pastry flour, she is evil. She brought ice cream. She made me eat a muffin before I had my fruit smoothie this morning. She forced a couple of licks of Avery's icecream cone down my throat. I'm pretty sure she is responsible for my cheating with the cheese too, she just sent it ahead. I've been eating lots of Newman Os too. Now this is all vegan that I'm eating (besides the icecream licks and cheesy pizza), but it's not what keeps my day going the way I have become used to. Today, for the first time since the first week of giving up all those lovely vices I had, I got a headache. I know it's from too much sugar/not enough good stuff. Go away "friend", you are not welcome here.
I will gladely bid her farewell when her "visit" is over. I'm going to have to learn to say no to her when she comes around again!
On a good note, I've made some more things that I like! Both from SBITK.
First, I made a delicious whole wheat muffin that you can add any type of fruit to. I tried dried blueberries from bulk the first time and the second I didn't have quite enough, so I added some vegan chocolate chips for a treat and it's nummy! I could almost eat a whole bowl of just the batter (and it would be safe because there are no raw ingredients).
The other night, I invited my mom over and we had portabello mushrooms, zuchini and onions marinated in balsamic vinager, olive oil, honey, and spices; seared on a skillet and then chopped up and put over cous cous. Loved it. So did mom. I'll do it again.
In conclusion, my "friend" is making this difficult on me, but we all need to be challenged now and again...and I hope this headache goes away by tomorrow, I do NOT miss them at all. I'm so unproductive. Yuck.
Peace, love and unwelcome "friends"
Monday, April 12, 2010
Cheater Cheater!!
I cheated.
In a bad bad bad way.
It wasn't totally my fault!
My husband brought home an irresistable veggie delight pizza!!!
RUDE!!!
And so wonderful!!
I had 3 pieces.......................................
And immediatley wanted to chuck it back up, I felt horrid. And I can still feel the effects...this was two days ago. I've been clogged up, you know I'm talking poop again, and I've felt a little tired. I also think I'm fighting the cold my kiddos had, but my body is doing a great job, way better than ever before! I don't think it's the worst thing in the world that I cheated (melting cheese right in front of my face, are you kidding me?) This will happen, it will. I will let it...I will eat milk chocolate sometimes, it will happen, I will let it. I just won't let it interfere with what I'm doing. I will keep on my path and live a better life. (cue the music)
Ok, I'm just saying I'm not expecting perfection from myself, it is what it is and the results I've seen already are amazing. The next step is to add in a workout routine (I'm coming for you Keri!). I don't know how much wieght I've lost, but my pants fit better (or worse, depending on how you look at it, I have no ass to hold pants up in the first place) energy level wayyyyyy up, cooking waaaaaayyyyyyy up, skin looking soo much better ( I almost feel I could leave the house without makeup!). They go on and on, but it's only been a couple of weeks, so I"m hopeing they just continue!
Peace love and a little bit of cheating is ok (as long as it's with cheese.....)
In a bad bad bad way.
It wasn't totally my fault!
My husband brought home an irresistable veggie delight pizza!!!
RUDE!!!
And so wonderful!!
I had 3 pieces.......................................
And immediatley wanted to chuck it back up, I felt horrid. And I can still feel the effects...this was two days ago. I've been clogged up, you know I'm talking poop again, and I've felt a little tired. I also think I'm fighting the cold my kiddos had, but my body is doing a great job, way better than ever before! I don't think it's the worst thing in the world that I cheated (melting cheese right in front of my face, are you kidding me?) This will happen, it will. I will let it...I will eat milk chocolate sometimes, it will happen, I will let it. I just won't let it interfere with what I'm doing. I will keep on my path and live a better life. (cue the music)
Ok, I'm just saying I'm not expecting perfection from myself, it is what it is and the results I've seen already are amazing. The next step is to add in a workout routine (I'm coming for you Keri!). I don't know how much wieght I've lost, but my pants fit better (or worse, depending on how you look at it, I have no ass to hold pants up in the first place) energy level wayyyyyy up, cooking waaaaaayyyyyyy up, skin looking soo much better ( I almost feel I could leave the house without makeup!). They go on and on, but it's only been a couple of weeks, so I"m hopeing they just continue!
Peace love and a little bit of cheating is ok (as long as it's with cheese.....)
G pause
Two days ago I stopped using the g's. Jack was getting a rash on his bum and I wanted to see if it was from the g's or something else. I started using the 7th Gen dipes again and it still hasn't totally gone away. So, perhaps it's not the g's. However, then we ran out of the 7's and had some Huggies Pure and Natural left over....the second we put one on he starts scratching his butt. So, I went to the store and got some 7's and some G's in a medium. I still haven't called them to ask about the fit, but after looking at the sizing criteria again, I think the mediums might be the answer (ps. the dual pack of G covers has a $5 off coupon if anyone is interested in trying!)...update coming soon.
Shopping
I know I said my next post would be about my shopping trip to Fred Meyer...but do you really want to read about what I bought at the grocery store? I didn't think so. Too bad. I won't go into super detail and write out my shopping list or reciept :)
Fred Meyer has a pretty decent "Natural" section. The one in Corvallis carried the Gs so I figured it might have more choices than Albany (plus Corvallis is a little bit more..."Natural" anyway). It was a bit bigger, so I found most of what was on my list. (I still need to get up to a Whole Foods or something to get the last few things.) I bought lots of the flours/dried fruit/pasta in the bulk section so it was a lot cheaper. I spent a big chunck of change, but it won't be like that everytime. I had to buy the basics all over again. New flour (Whole wheat PASTRY flour), natural sugar, REAL vanilla extract, whole wheat pastas, cous cous, fake butter (tastes like butter!), veganaise, fake creamcheese (haven't tried it yet), ect.
Now, don't get me wrong, buying fruits and vegies (especially if you go the organic route, which I tried to on the things that wouldn't be peeled) is not cheap in anyway. And they go bad if you don't use them. You can't go to overboard or you'll be wasting lots. For the majority of fruit, we get frozen because we do the smoothies. But I"m asking for a juicer for my birthday (please please!) so I can combine the fruits and vegies and hopefully get the kids to drink them too. I think it's worth the cost. In SB, they make a good point, we spend all this money on cars, homes, clothes, toys, ect, why can't you spend the same about of money on your body, without which, you could not enjoy these other things. While we are in no position to add extra money to any area in our life, we will make it work, because we are worth it and so are our kids.
I also bought some "sausage style" and "bacon style" sausage and bacon that's not sausage and bacon. I haven't tried it yet, but I'll let you know when I do. I'm optimistic.
Peace love and shopping smart for your body so it's super healthy and you live a really long time to enjoy your house, clothes, cars, toys, kids, ect.
Fred Meyer has a pretty decent "Natural" section. The one in Corvallis carried the Gs so I figured it might have more choices than Albany (plus Corvallis is a little bit more..."Natural" anyway). It was a bit bigger, so I found most of what was on my list. (I still need to get up to a Whole Foods or something to get the last few things.) I bought lots of the flours/dried fruit/pasta in the bulk section so it was a lot cheaper. I spent a big chunck of change, but it won't be like that everytime. I had to buy the basics all over again. New flour (Whole wheat PASTRY flour), natural sugar, REAL vanilla extract, whole wheat pastas, cous cous, fake butter (tastes like butter!), veganaise, fake creamcheese (haven't tried it yet), ect.
Now, don't get me wrong, buying fruits and vegies (especially if you go the organic route, which I tried to on the things that wouldn't be peeled) is not cheap in anyway. And they go bad if you don't use them. You can't go to overboard or you'll be wasting lots. For the majority of fruit, we get frozen because we do the smoothies. But I"m asking for a juicer for my birthday (please please!) so I can combine the fruits and vegies and hopefully get the kids to drink them too. I think it's worth the cost. In SB, they make a good point, we spend all this money on cars, homes, clothes, toys, ect, why can't you spend the same about of money on your body, without which, you could not enjoy these other things. While we are in no position to add extra money to any area in our life, we will make it work, because we are worth it and so are our kids.
I also bought some "sausage style" and "bacon style" sausage and bacon that's not sausage and bacon. I haven't tried it yet, but I'll let you know when I do. I'm optimistic.
Peace love and shopping smart for your body so it's super healthy and you live a really long time to enjoy your house, clothes, cars, toys, kids, ect.
Friday, April 9, 2010
Word, G
Well, we've had plenty of poops, plenty of pees and so far, I'm loving them. I feel great when I flush everything down the toilet!
I have noticed with the poos, that because of where the liner hits, poop never goes up the back! I wonder if this is true with newborns/younger babes too....? The poop is very contained and because the liner goes around the leg in the same place as underwear, it doesn't go out the sides either! I find this to be an awesome perk! Sometimes one wipe takes care of all the poo. And I have left the diaper on after a poop through some running/sittting/rolling, just to make sure it wouldn't squish out, it didn't!
My only problem I'm having is a slight rub from the buttons that attach the liner to the cover. I've been messing with the fit, but I might give them a call (because they say to!) and see if they have an suggestions before I run out and buy more covers and order the monthly shipment.
Peace love and poop free legs and backs!
I have noticed with the poos, that because of where the liner hits, poop never goes up the back! I wonder if this is true with newborns/younger babes too....? The poop is very contained and because the liner goes around the leg in the same place as underwear, it doesn't go out the sides either! I find this to be an awesome perk! Sometimes one wipe takes care of all the poo. And I have left the diaper on after a poop through some running/sittting/rolling, just to make sure it wouldn't squish out, it didn't!
My only problem I'm having is a slight rub from the buttons that attach the liner to the cover. I've been messing with the fit, but I might give them a call (because they say to!) and see if they have an suggestions before I run out and buy more covers and order the monthly shipment.
Peace love and poop free legs and backs!
Thursday, April 8, 2010
So...What do you eat?
Lots! More than I ate before I started this whole thing!
Let's start at the begining. I knew that the transition would be kind of difficult (especially financially, let's face it, healthy food costs a lot, don't even get me started.), I didn't want to throw food away, but I was anxious to start. So I started just doing what I could, stop drinking milk, coffee, soda. Stop eating junk food and processed food, this went on for about 4 days until I could make it to the store. I started at Trader Joes (thank heaven it's in Corvallis now!). I used to just love it for the fantastic candy/goodies they make, this time I completely skipped that section (ok, not skipped, it's above the freezer isle for heaven sake! but I did not reach up!). I bought a ton of fruits (mostly frozen) and vegies, beans, oatmeal, Agave nectar (sugar sub), rice milk, choco soy milk, nuts and some whole wheat flour...that's the gist. This was a small start, I didn't bring my list I had been compiling, so it was off the top of my head.
In the morning, I wait until I"m really hungry (the only time your body can cleanse and detoxify is when your stomach is empty) and then I make myself a delicious fruit smoothy. I switch it up a lot, pineapple, strawberries, mangos, blueberries, pom seeds, sometimes some cocoa powder or choco soy milk as the liquid, plus ground flax seeds, soooo good! My mom happened to have a Magic Bullet collecting dust in her garage, so I snagged it (thanks mom!). It really is fantastic and if I had to lug out the blender every morning and clean it, I so wouldn't do it. My husband has one every morning too, only difference is that he puts this disgusting meal replacement crap in it that smells like rotting meat (it has bovine collostrum in it, think on that for a second...). Anyway, totally healthy and great. You are supossed to eat fruit first thing in the morning and wait at least 30 minutes to eat anything else, it digests super fast. If you add a carb with it, it will acctually stop you up.
Now sometimes I need a little snack before lunch, sometimes not. I know there are plenty of people that don't eat breakfast at all, so this would be a great, easy addition to the nothing you eat already. And for some people it wouldn't be enough, so you just wait your 30 and then eat some oatmeal or something? If I need a snack I eat some nuts (Trader Joes has a delicious honey seaseme covered almond) of some kind or down a glass of water first.
Lunch: So far, my fav thing I've made is (what some call) Cowboy caviar:
chopped tomatoes
chopped avocados
corn
black beans (or any kind, or two kinds, or 3 if you really like beans, but now it might be more of a bean salad...)
chopped peppers (green, red, orange, yellow, all of the above, I've tried them all, can't go wrong)
diced red/yellow/white onion (red probably best)
a drizzle of olive oil
garlic salt
sea salt and pepp
half a lime
Sooooooooooooooooooooo yummy!!! Eat like a salad or on a chip. So far fave chips for this dish are Tostidos scoops: Hint of jalepeno. I have made it for lots of people and for just myself. I think from now on, I will leave out the avocado and just dice it as I dish it so it doesn't go brown because I make a big batch and then eat it for a couple of days. Anyway, probably a staple for now and Bret loves it too!
Sometimes I have oatmeal for lunch. The steelcut kind, not the quaker instant kind.
The book ultimatly says a fresh salad with lots of veggies is ideal for lunch, that's the goal!
Potatoe salad! Made with dill, Veganaise (I'm telling you, it tastes like real mayo), fresh chopped dill, little bit of vinager, and sweet relish. SO great! Bret liked this one.
Roasted red and green peppers with garlic and onion and fried polenta....yummo. I wasn't sure I would like this one, but I did! Most of the things I make are derived from Skinny Bitch in the Kitch because it's the only vegan cook book I have so far. But a great website is goveg.com and that leads you to lots of tips and recipies. Anyway, back to polenta. In the book it calls for making your own polenta, but I had bought the premade in a roll kind. So, I sliced up the peppers and diced up the onions and I only had dry chopped garlic, but it worked fine. You toss all of this with sea salt and pepper in a bowl with olive oil and stick in on a roasting pan in the oven for about 20. Meanwhile, putting a little bit of oil (should be coconut oil, it's best for high heat cooking, I'll go on more about this later) all I had was olive, sliced up slabs of polenta and fried both sides for about 7 minutes each. Pulled out vegies, put on polenta, washed it down with choco soy milk. This was my first official vegan meal that I cooked myself. I was sooo proud! And it was soo yummy! Bret tried it the next day, lets just say he wasn't a fan....
Burritos:
Whole wheat tortillas. Black beans. Guac. Tofu sliced like chicken (it really just takes on whatever flavor it is surrounded by). mushrooms. green pepper. Great!! I invited mom over for this and she enjoyed it too. This is when I tried the cheese, let's just say I didn't put it in my burrito :(
I did try to make pancakes from scratch with a recipie in SKBITK, it didn't go well. I believe my problem was that it called for whole wheat pastry flour and I just had whole wheat flour. The pancakes would turn to rubber on the top right away and then never cook all the way through. Disapointing for all involved. I will try again though!
Ok, so that's it for now, I'm almost caught up to what it happening right now!
Hint: I went to Fred Meyer.....
Peace love and whole wheat PASTRY flour
Let's start at the begining. I knew that the transition would be kind of difficult (especially financially, let's face it, healthy food costs a lot, don't even get me started.), I didn't want to throw food away, but I was anxious to start. So I started just doing what I could, stop drinking milk, coffee, soda. Stop eating junk food and processed food, this went on for about 4 days until I could make it to the store. I started at Trader Joes (thank heaven it's in Corvallis now!). I used to just love it for the fantastic candy/goodies they make, this time I completely skipped that section (ok, not skipped, it's above the freezer isle for heaven sake! but I did not reach up!). I bought a ton of fruits (mostly frozen) and vegies, beans, oatmeal, Agave nectar (sugar sub), rice milk, choco soy milk, nuts and some whole wheat flour...that's the gist. This was a small start, I didn't bring my list I had been compiling, so it was off the top of my head.
In the morning, I wait until I"m really hungry (the only time your body can cleanse and detoxify is when your stomach is empty) and then I make myself a delicious fruit smoothy. I switch it up a lot, pineapple, strawberries, mangos, blueberries, pom seeds, sometimes some cocoa powder or choco soy milk as the liquid, plus ground flax seeds, soooo good! My mom happened to have a Magic Bullet collecting dust in her garage, so I snagged it (thanks mom!). It really is fantastic and if I had to lug out the blender every morning and clean it, I so wouldn't do it. My husband has one every morning too, only difference is that he puts this disgusting meal replacement crap in it that smells like rotting meat (it has bovine collostrum in it, think on that for a second...). Anyway, totally healthy and great. You are supossed to eat fruit first thing in the morning and wait at least 30 minutes to eat anything else, it digests super fast. If you add a carb with it, it will acctually stop you up.
Now sometimes I need a little snack before lunch, sometimes not. I know there are plenty of people that don't eat breakfast at all, so this would be a great, easy addition to the nothing you eat already. And for some people it wouldn't be enough, so you just wait your 30 and then eat some oatmeal or something? If I need a snack I eat some nuts (Trader Joes has a delicious honey seaseme covered almond) of some kind or down a glass of water first.
Lunch: So far, my fav thing I've made is (what some call) Cowboy caviar:
chopped tomatoes
chopped avocados
corn
black beans (or any kind, or two kinds, or 3 if you really like beans, but now it might be more of a bean salad...)
chopped peppers (green, red, orange, yellow, all of the above, I've tried them all, can't go wrong)
diced red/yellow/white onion (red probably best)
a drizzle of olive oil
garlic salt
sea salt and pepp
half a lime
Sooooooooooooooooooooo yummy!!! Eat like a salad or on a chip. So far fave chips for this dish are Tostidos scoops: Hint of jalepeno. I have made it for lots of people and for just myself. I think from now on, I will leave out the avocado and just dice it as I dish it so it doesn't go brown because I make a big batch and then eat it for a couple of days. Anyway, probably a staple for now and Bret loves it too!
Sometimes I have oatmeal for lunch. The steelcut kind, not the quaker instant kind.
The book ultimatly says a fresh salad with lots of veggies is ideal for lunch, that's the goal!
Potatoe salad! Made with dill, Veganaise (I'm telling you, it tastes like real mayo), fresh chopped dill, little bit of vinager, and sweet relish. SO great! Bret liked this one.
Roasted red and green peppers with garlic and onion and fried polenta....yummo. I wasn't sure I would like this one, but I did! Most of the things I make are derived from Skinny Bitch in the Kitch because it's the only vegan cook book I have so far. But a great website is goveg.com and that leads you to lots of tips and recipies. Anyway, back to polenta. In the book it calls for making your own polenta, but I had bought the premade in a roll kind. So, I sliced up the peppers and diced up the onions and I only had dry chopped garlic, but it worked fine. You toss all of this with sea salt and pepper in a bowl with olive oil and stick in on a roasting pan in the oven for about 20. Meanwhile, putting a little bit of oil (should be coconut oil, it's best for high heat cooking, I'll go on more about this later) all I had was olive, sliced up slabs of polenta and fried both sides for about 7 minutes each. Pulled out vegies, put on polenta, washed it down with choco soy milk. This was my first official vegan meal that I cooked myself. I was sooo proud! And it was soo yummy! Bret tried it the next day, lets just say he wasn't a fan....
Burritos:
Whole wheat tortillas. Black beans. Guac. Tofu sliced like chicken (it really just takes on whatever flavor it is surrounded by). mushrooms. green pepper. Great!! I invited mom over for this and she enjoyed it too. This is when I tried the cheese, let's just say I didn't put it in my burrito :(
I did try to make pancakes from scratch with a recipie in SKBITK, it didn't go well. I believe my problem was that it called for whole wheat pastry flour and I just had whole wheat flour. The pancakes would turn to rubber on the top right away and then never cook all the way through. Disapointing for all involved. I will try again though!
Ok, so that's it for now, I'm almost caught up to what it happening right now!
Hint: I went to Fred Meyer.....
Peace love and whole wheat PASTRY flour
Wednesday, April 7, 2010
Choices: How and why
Here is the run down of how I started the process of cutting out any animal by product, processed sugars and flours (really processed food in general, as much as possible anyway), fake sugar (NEWS FLASH: worse than processed sugar), Soda, coffee ("Coffee is for pussies."), medicine (you know, the Tylenol for headaches (wah), cold medicine (double wah) ) and how I began putting the good stuff back in.
WARNING: I do go on a bit about my choices and why they were made. If you don't want to know about this stuff, stop here, otherwise, continue. I'm not trying to preach, convert, or in any other way convince you to change your ways. I'm simply explaining why I chose to change mine. Thankyou and have a nice day if you chose to read on, if not.....fine, stay close minded...kidding, I'm kidding..
Soda: Red because, say it with me, "Soda is liquid Satan." Did you know it can acctually increase calcium loss? And if you're going to drink soda, please drink the real stuff. Diet is so much worse for you! At least sugar (in it's original form), is NATURAL. The crap they put in diet soda is man made. Aspartame, an ingredient found in diet soda (check) contains methyl alcohol. When this substance enters your body, it turns into formaldehyde! That's right. sick. "Perhaps you have a lumpy ass because you are preserving your fat cells with diet soda." Plus all these artificial sweeteners were denied 7 times by the FDA. Makes ya feel good, right? It gets worse, just read the book if you're interested in the politics of the government controling our "health".
This was a pretty easy choice for me and I have already done it for 2 years before. Done.
Coffee: I love coffe. Especially with the right creamer. Yum. Mr. AP and I love trying new kinds of coffee and creamers. Drink it every morning.
That said...one should not need coffee to wake up. "If you can't wake up without it, it's because you are either addicted to caffeine, sleep deprived, or a generally unhealthy slob." Yikes. Caffeine can cause all kinds of issues, including many that I had: consipation, fatigue, headaches, ect. On top of that, coffee is highly acidic. If you remember anything from health class, our bodies have a ph level they like, blah blah. So, too much acid and your body just rebels and says Oh yeah, well here's some more fat! Or it makes more fat cells to keep the acid away from your organs.
This was hard. I love the smell of coffee. But, it's done. After I read the coffee section, I was done. Haven't had it 2 weeks now and I"m going strong.
JUNKFOOD!: Oh junk food, how I love thee. I will miss you deeply, but I will not miss the icky things you do to me. Sure, they're full of hydrogenated everything, sugar, fat, blah blah...what got me was the chemicals. There are enough chemicals in most packaged junk food to make it last for years. "So your junk food has a shelf life of 22 years and will probably outlive your fat, sorry ass." Fat free and low fat are worse, shocking, I know. "..Chemical shit storm."
Now, this almost made me cry, until I read about all the great "junk food" that's out there! And I've tried some of it. For instance, Newman-O's Hint o' Mint cookies taste just like Oreos, for real. And the cook book Skinny Bitch in the Kitch has tons of recipies for cakes, cookies, frostings, all those yummy things! There are even chips out there that don't have the nasty stuff in them, so you can eat them, just moderation.
You're really not giving up that much. So this job was easier than planned....until.....
Easter! Candy candy everywhere! AHHH! Ok, so I had some. It was here and I had some. Bad mama. Now it's gone and it's ok. I know I'll slip up, but it's OK!
PAIN MEDS: Ok, so I get (got!) headaches alot. So....I took alot of pain meds. I never fully looked at the reason for the headaches. Sure, I could've tried cutting something out here and there to see if it helped, but that seemed like a lot of work at the time. Now, I can cut out all of it! At one time! And I want to! And I did!
I'll be honest, I did get a couple of headaches the first 2-3 days, from the sugar and caffeine withdrawls. But since then, none. I honestly feel so much better. I know I will get the occasional headache (because big boobs + small shoulders = sore muscles = headaches) but nothing like before. HOORAY.
If I get a sinus infection, I'll get antibiotics, don't worry, I'm not going crazy on you.
Refined/processed sugar/flour: This is no brainer, we all know it, we just don't do it. I don't feel the need to go into this one.
Easy choice: if it says high fructose anything, enriched, fortified, or refined, DON"T BUY IT. done.
Dead, rotting, decomposing flesh: giving up meat was also a pretty easy choice for me. I don't eat much of it anyway, I can't stand the look of raw meat/chicken/seafood, and it smells horrible. As I said before, the things I learned in this book (which we all kind of already have an idea about) about the way the animals are "grown" and slaughtered literally made me sick to my stomach, I had to stop reading. I didn't need anymore reason to quit right there and then. But what really surprised me and made total sense was that we are not meant to eat meat. Our bodies were not made to digest meat. You have to read the book to really get the story, they put it so great. But here's the gist: we don't have the God given abilites to hunt and kill animals with our own two hands. We were smart enough to create tools and weapons to aid us in this, but real carnivors do not use tools or weapons, they were given their claws, teeth, talons, speed. Sure, we were smart enough to create the tools, but we were also "smart enough" to creat cigarettes, alcohol and drugs. On top of that, our digestive tracks are much longer than any carnivor. Their meat passes through very quickly, but ours takes a long time and gets clogged and begins to rot and ferment. gross. One more note, carnivores have acidic saliva, ours is alkaline, not made for breaking down meat.
Easy. Done.
All Other animal crap: Eggs, eh. I never loved them, deviled? Yes please. And the line that really got me? just think about what you're eating for one second...On the whole, not tough. Done.
Cheese....cheese is the one thing that tops junk food. I shouldn't even talk about it. I've only tried one vegan cheese and I didn't love it, sad face. I'll keep trying. THis is aparently the worse thing for you.
Dairy in general...first line in the dairy chapter: "Go suck your mother's tits. Go on. Suck your mother's tits." These ladies mean business. We are the only species that drinks milk as adults and another animals at that! Here's some perspective. Babies nurse from their mothers for the first 1-2 years of life so that they can quadruple their size. The same thing happens for many other animals, including cows. Cows create milk to grow their babies into 2000 lb giant cows. Should we drink this and expect not to get fat? Probably not. Fat free? Nope. There are ton of other reasons, too many to chat about, but do you need more? Really? Ok, got allergies? Maybe not. Eat lots of dairy? Dair produces mucus, lots, your body will develop a cold/allergies to fight the dairy. There is so much I want to write, but this would become a book. Oh wait, there already is one.
Hard? yes. Done anyway? yes.
Rice milk isn't bad at all on cereal and in smoothies. Chocolate soy milk is delicious! Veganaise (yep, mayo substitute) seriousley tastes just like real mayo and wayyyyy better than the low fat crap.
So, this has gone on wayyyy longer than intended. I'm going to call it a night. Tomorrow I will let you in on what I acctually have been eating (yep, I am still eating). This is my number one question: "So, what do you eat then?" we are so brain washed! I eat everything else!! Number two question: "How will you get enough protein?" Answer: we eat waaaayyyy too much protien as a nation! So, I'll get what need easily thankyou.
Peace love and no more dead, rotting decomposing flesh!
end note (of sorts): All information is from either my head (opinions) or the book Skinny Bitch by Rory Freedman and Kim Barnouin. All sentences in quotations are direct excerpts from said book. (Think that will cover my ass should I get sued for plagerism?)
WARNING: I do go on a bit about my choices and why they were made. If you don't want to know about this stuff, stop here, otherwise, continue. I'm not trying to preach, convert, or in any other way convince you to change your ways. I'm simply explaining why I chose to change mine. Thankyou and have a nice day if you chose to read on, if not.....fine, stay close minded...kidding, I'm kidding..
Soda: Red because, say it with me, "Soda is liquid Satan." Did you know it can acctually increase calcium loss? And if you're going to drink soda, please drink the real stuff. Diet is so much worse for you! At least sugar (in it's original form), is NATURAL. The crap they put in diet soda is man made. Aspartame, an ingredient found in diet soda (check) contains methyl alcohol. When this substance enters your body, it turns into formaldehyde! That's right. sick. "Perhaps you have a lumpy ass because you are preserving your fat cells with diet soda." Plus all these artificial sweeteners were denied 7 times by the FDA. Makes ya feel good, right? It gets worse, just read the book if you're interested in the politics of the government controling our "health".
This was a pretty easy choice for me and I have already done it for 2 years before. Done.
Coffee: I love coffe. Especially with the right creamer. Yum. Mr. AP and I love trying new kinds of coffee and creamers. Drink it every morning.
That said...one should not need coffee to wake up. "If you can't wake up without it, it's because you are either addicted to caffeine, sleep deprived, or a generally unhealthy slob." Yikes. Caffeine can cause all kinds of issues, including many that I had: consipation, fatigue, headaches, ect. On top of that, coffee is highly acidic. If you remember anything from health class, our bodies have a ph level they like, blah blah. So, too much acid and your body just rebels and says Oh yeah, well here's some more fat! Or it makes more fat cells to keep the acid away from your organs.
This was hard. I love the smell of coffee. But, it's done. After I read the coffee section, I was done. Haven't had it 2 weeks now and I"m going strong.
JUNKFOOD!: Oh junk food, how I love thee. I will miss you deeply, but I will not miss the icky things you do to me. Sure, they're full of hydrogenated everything, sugar, fat, blah blah...what got me was the chemicals. There are enough chemicals in most packaged junk food to make it last for years. "So your junk food has a shelf life of 22 years and will probably outlive your fat, sorry ass." Fat free and low fat are worse, shocking, I know. "..Chemical shit storm."
Now, this almost made me cry, until I read about all the great "junk food" that's out there! And I've tried some of it. For instance, Newman-O's Hint o' Mint cookies taste just like Oreos, for real. And the cook book Skinny Bitch in the Kitch has tons of recipies for cakes, cookies, frostings, all those yummy things! There are even chips out there that don't have the nasty stuff in them, so you can eat them, just moderation.
You're really not giving up that much. So this job was easier than planned....until.....
Easter! Candy candy everywhere! AHHH! Ok, so I had some. It was here and I had some. Bad mama. Now it's gone and it's ok. I know I'll slip up, but it's OK!
PAIN MEDS: Ok, so I get (got!) headaches alot. So....I took alot of pain meds. I never fully looked at the reason for the headaches. Sure, I could've tried cutting something out here and there to see if it helped, but that seemed like a lot of work at the time. Now, I can cut out all of it! At one time! And I want to! And I did!
I'll be honest, I did get a couple of headaches the first 2-3 days, from the sugar and caffeine withdrawls. But since then, none. I honestly feel so much better. I know I will get the occasional headache (because big boobs + small shoulders = sore muscles = headaches) but nothing like before. HOORAY.
If I get a sinus infection, I'll get antibiotics, don't worry, I'm not going crazy on you.
Refined/processed sugar/flour: This is no brainer, we all know it, we just don't do it. I don't feel the need to go into this one.
Easy choice: if it says high fructose anything, enriched, fortified, or refined, DON"T BUY IT. done.
Dead, rotting, decomposing flesh: giving up meat was also a pretty easy choice for me. I don't eat much of it anyway, I can't stand the look of raw meat/chicken/seafood, and it smells horrible. As I said before, the things I learned in this book (which we all kind of already have an idea about) about the way the animals are "grown" and slaughtered literally made me sick to my stomach, I had to stop reading. I didn't need anymore reason to quit right there and then. But what really surprised me and made total sense was that we are not meant to eat meat. Our bodies were not made to digest meat. You have to read the book to really get the story, they put it so great. But here's the gist: we don't have the God given abilites to hunt and kill animals with our own two hands. We were smart enough to create tools and weapons to aid us in this, but real carnivors do not use tools or weapons, they were given their claws, teeth, talons, speed. Sure, we were smart enough to create the tools, but we were also "smart enough" to creat cigarettes, alcohol and drugs. On top of that, our digestive tracks are much longer than any carnivor. Their meat passes through very quickly, but ours takes a long time and gets clogged and begins to rot and ferment. gross. One more note, carnivores have acidic saliva, ours is alkaline, not made for breaking down meat.
Easy. Done.
All Other animal crap: Eggs, eh. I never loved them, deviled? Yes please. And the line that really got me? just think about what you're eating for one second...On the whole, not tough. Done.
Cheese....cheese is the one thing that tops junk food. I shouldn't even talk about it. I've only tried one vegan cheese and I didn't love it, sad face. I'll keep trying. THis is aparently the worse thing for you.
Dairy in general...first line in the dairy chapter: "Go suck your mother's tits. Go on. Suck your mother's tits." These ladies mean business. We are the only species that drinks milk as adults and another animals at that! Here's some perspective. Babies nurse from their mothers for the first 1-2 years of life so that they can quadruple their size. The same thing happens for many other animals, including cows. Cows create milk to grow their babies into 2000 lb giant cows. Should we drink this and expect not to get fat? Probably not. Fat free? Nope. There are ton of other reasons, too many to chat about, but do you need more? Really? Ok, got allergies? Maybe not. Eat lots of dairy? Dair produces mucus, lots, your body will develop a cold/allergies to fight the dairy. There is so much I want to write, but this would become a book. Oh wait, there already is one.
Hard? yes. Done anyway? yes.
Rice milk isn't bad at all on cereal and in smoothies. Chocolate soy milk is delicious! Veganaise (yep, mayo substitute) seriousley tastes just like real mayo and wayyyyy better than the low fat crap.
So, this has gone on wayyyy longer than intended. I'm going to call it a night. Tomorrow I will let you in on what I acctually have been eating (yep, I am still eating). This is my number one question: "So, what do you eat then?" we are so brain washed! I eat everything else!! Number two question: "How will you get enough protein?" Answer: we eat waaaayyyy too much protien as a nation! So, I'll get what need easily thankyou.
Peace love and no more dead, rotting decomposing flesh!
end note (of sorts): All information is from either my head (opinions) or the book Skinny Bitch by Rory Freedman and Kim Barnouin. All sentences in quotations are direct excerpts from said book. (Think that will cover my ass should I get sued for plagerism?)
gDiapers: Day #2
I was going to wait until tonight to post the second update, you know, a FULL day in the gdipes. However, we had a good incident and so I wanted to make sure I shared all the gory details while they were fresh (pun).
So, like I said, I didn't try the overnight yet. This morning (6:30) I put a new g on Jack. Around 10, we were going to Costco so I gave a quick change before we headed out. Well, guess who fell asleep on the way to Costco, all the way through Costco and would've happily stayed asleep had I been putting him in his comfy bed and not the car seat. Anyway, no real nap test yet. I still wanted to give it a real test. I was planning to leave it on for the full 4 hours to really get it soaked. Well, right around the witching hour, I smelled something funky...you guessed it! We had an even better test on our hands! Super full pee diaper, plus gooey poo (sorry if I'm too graphic for you, but I just call it like I see it, in everything, including poo)!
I put him up on the changing table and carefully undid the velcro...it came off great! There was a little poo on the liner (which they say can happen and you just rinse/wash it off and/or throw it in the wash!). I let the little squish run around bare for a few while I demonstrated the flush for Mr. AP. I was so proud showing him how you rip the sides and the top to let the insides fall out (it wasn't as smooth as I had hoped, but we got it done). Then, I flushed!
It didn't go down.
It backed up.
The toilet filled with water.
Oi.
My proud moment had turned disasterous. I was standing there with a poopy, wet outer section dripping with poo water. Mr. AP walked away.. I thought surely he is going to get me a plastic bag and the plunger....
nope.
2 minutes later, I shout (still standing over the toilet holding poo) "What are you doing?" "
"Why?"
"Because I'm standing over the toilet holding poo paper and am unable to move."
"What do you want me to do about it?"
"I don't know, maybe use your head and bring me a plastic bag and the plunger?" (perhaps a little mean, but come on)
So, now I have the tools. I start plunging all the while trying to keep little grabby hands (not big grabby hands) away from the plunger (it's a stick playing in water, can you blame him?) I get it free and realize the culprit is a wipe! I had left one in there! I remove said wipe and flush, goes down with ease.
Moral: Don't flush wipes. Only poo and pee and G!!
Still loving the g's! We only have two with 3 liners and it's working just fine. As for the pooy liner, I hosed it off in the kitchen sink and it was stained a little, so I soaked it in some gentle cleanser and it's good as new!
Peace, love and G
So, like I said, I didn't try the overnight yet. This morning (6:30) I put a new g on Jack. Around 10, we were going to Costco so I gave a quick change before we headed out. Well, guess who fell asleep on the way to Costco, all the way through Costco and would've happily stayed asleep had I been putting him in his comfy bed and not the car seat. Anyway, no real nap test yet. I still wanted to give it a real test. I was planning to leave it on for the full 4 hours to really get it soaked. Well, right around the witching hour, I smelled something funky...you guessed it! We had an even better test on our hands! Super full pee diaper, plus gooey poo (sorry if I'm too graphic for you, but I just call it like I see it, in everything, including poo)!
I put him up on the changing table and carefully undid the velcro...it came off great! There was a little poo on the liner (which they say can happen and you just rinse/wash it off and/or throw it in the wash!). I let the little squish run around bare for a few while I demonstrated the flush for Mr. AP. I was so proud showing him how you rip the sides and the top to let the insides fall out (it wasn't as smooth as I had hoped, but we got it done). Then, I flushed!
It didn't go down.
It backed up.
The toilet filled with water.
Oi.
My proud moment had turned disasterous. I was standing there with a poopy, wet outer section dripping with poo water. Mr. AP walked away.. I thought surely he is going to get me a plastic bag and the plunger....
nope.
2 minutes later, I shout (still standing over the toilet holding poo) "What are you doing?" "
"Why?"
"Because I'm standing over the toilet holding poo paper and am unable to move."
"What do you want me to do about it?"
"I don't know, maybe use your head and bring me a plastic bag and the plunger?" (perhaps a little mean, but come on)
So, now I have the tools. I start plunging all the while trying to keep little grabby hands (not big grabby hands) away from the plunger (it's a stick playing in water, can you blame him?) I get it free and realize the culprit is a wipe! I had left one in there! I remove said wipe and flush, goes down with ease.
Moral: Don't flush wipes. Only poo and pee and G!!
Still loving the g's! We only have two with 3 liners and it's working just fine. As for the pooy liner, I hosed it off in the kitchen sink and it was stained a little, so I soaked it in some gentle cleanser and it's good as new!
Peace, love and G
Tuesday, April 6, 2010
Second New Adventure: Day 1
It's no secret, Jack is a high maintenance kid. He's allergic to a few things, he has excema and sensitive skin, he needs his mama, he doesn't talk quite yet (more of a uh uh followed by a whine and then a cry if you don't get what he's trying to tell you in a speedy manner), but we couldn't love him more!
Somewhere during all of this, we came to the conlusion that his skin does not like his diapers (Huggies). He is constantly scratching his hind end which did lead to a bactierial infection (come one, open wounds on your butt + poop = bactieral infection). So, we started thinking about changing the diapers. We started with Huggies pure and natural. I really liked them, but there was still behind scratching and rough patches. So I bought some Seventh Generation chlorine free diapers (after research and finding they were the best "natural" disposable). So far, we really like them. No leaks, and scratching has decreased. But then I thought, why not take it a step further? Now, I'm not going to pretend that I am ambitious enough to go cloth, no I couldn't keep that up, I just know it. So I decided to check out Gdiapers. I looked at these when I was prego with Jack, but at the time, it just seemed too expensive.
Either I was wrong, or the price has come down. I researched and they compare to disposables after you get the outer shells, which aren't bad either ($14ish individually, but bought in packs, they are cheaper). I went to their site to find out what it was really about. http://www.gdiapers.com/
This is what they look like, super cute. They come in tons of colors and fasten in the back, as you can see, so baby has a more difficult time undoing and smearing poo everywhere. Inside, there is a snap in liner and then a disposable or cloth insert.
The disposable inserts can be thrown away, flushed (yes, down the toilet!) or composted (not for me). They are totally biodegradable and only take about 100 days to totally decompose! Compared to a disposable diaper, chlorine free or not, which takes up to 500 years to fully decompose! Are you shocked? I was. Also, we Americans send 52 MILLION disposable diapers to landfills everyday! That's insane!
So, I decided to get two covers and a pack of disposable liners and give it a whirl! This is literally day one.
Jack has had on his Gdiaper since about 2:30 and we've changed a pee, no problem, flushed with ease. I so wanted him to poop so I could see that how that all played out (crazy I know, willing your child to poo so you can play with your new toy) and he did! Hooray! I changed him and it was a breeze, threw the poo and liner in the toilet (you rip open the liner and let the inner part come out first) and flushed away! I am still doing the beginer flushing, two seperate flushes, one for the inner liner and one for the outer. It's a little hard to explain, but the website has a video, awesome.
So far, so good! It does take a little bit more time and it's possible that if we were to go out and about to somewhere other than a house or something, I would take along some Seventh Generation...but we'll see. I am a little hesitant to try them at night. I think I'll wait a couple of days and make sure I really like them and have the fit right. The thing I hate most in the middle of the night is a diaper/pj change, it always equals bad sleep for all!
Anyway, this is my other new adventure! I'll keep you updated
Peace and flushable diapers
Somewhere during all of this, we came to the conlusion that his skin does not like his diapers (Huggies). He is constantly scratching his hind end which did lead to a bactierial infection (come one, open wounds on your butt + poop = bactieral infection). So, we started thinking about changing the diapers. We started with Huggies pure and natural. I really liked them, but there was still behind scratching and rough patches. So I bought some Seventh Generation chlorine free diapers (after research and finding they were the best "natural" disposable). So far, we really like them. No leaks, and scratching has decreased. But then I thought, why not take it a step further? Now, I'm not going to pretend that I am ambitious enough to go cloth, no I couldn't keep that up, I just know it. So I decided to check out Gdiapers. I looked at these when I was prego with Jack, but at the time, it just seemed too expensive.
Either I was wrong, or the price has come down. I researched and they compare to disposables after you get the outer shells, which aren't bad either ($14ish individually, but bought in packs, they are cheaper). I went to their site to find out what it was really about. http://www.gdiapers.com/
So, I decided to get two covers and a pack of disposable liners and give it a whirl! This is literally day one.
Jack has had on his Gdiaper since about 2:30 and we've changed a pee, no problem, flushed with ease. I so wanted him to poop so I could see that how that all played out (crazy I know, willing your child to poo so you can play with your new toy) and he did! Hooray! I changed him and it was a breeze, threw the poo and liner in the toilet (you rip open the liner and let the inner part come out first) and flushed away! I am still doing the beginer flushing, two seperate flushes, one for the inner liner and one for the outer. It's a little hard to explain, but the website has a video, awesome.
So far, so good! It does take a little bit more time and it's possible that if we were to go out and about to somewhere other than a house or something, I would take along some Seventh Generation...but we'll see. I am a little hesitant to try them at night. I think I'll wait a couple of days and make sure I really like them and have the fit right. The thing I hate most in the middle of the night is a diaper/pj change, it always equals bad sleep for all!
Anyway, this is my other new adventure! I'll keep you updated
Peace and flushable diapers
New Adventures!
Ok, so remember how I needed some inspiration in my life? Well, found it!!
I'm trying two new things at the moment, one pretty big life style change and another smaller, easier change. I'll post them seperate.
First and biggest.
I read Skinny Bitch. I realize this book was written in 2005 so I'm a little late to the party, but I always thought it was just about being skinny. It's so not. There is so much more. Ok, sure it's about being skinny a little, but more so about being HEALTHY! And that's my goal.
Those of you that know me know that I haven't always had the best eating habits, ok ok, NEVER had even remotely good eating habits, ever. I much prefer junk food over anything, except chocolate. Some of my favorite "meals" include crutons dipped in ranch, chips and guacamole, saltines dipped in ranch (more of a snack if I don't have crutons), fries dipped in ranch (ok, ANYTHING dipped in ranch), pancakes with powdered sugar and berry syrup, nachos..you get the idea. AND MILK. People are pretty sure that I'm only alive due to the fact that I drink an enormous amount of milk. I've never really had a thing for meat, I'd eat on occasion if it was cooked for me, but I never craved it. I'm kind of obsessed with cheese, any cheese (except blue, ew, rotten cheese?). If there's cheese, count on me to eat it. Then there is chocolate. Chocolate anything. Candy. Cookies. Pie. Really sugar in general too. But who doesn't love all of these processed foods? They are all sooo yummy!
If you know me well, you also know that I have headaches on a pretty regular basis. I am also tired for the majority of the day. I don't cook. I want to cook, but I don't have the energy or the know how. I don't like to clean, therefore, I don't do it often. I am sick quite a bit too, if there is a sickness within 10 miles of me, I get it. And it lasts for a long time. In general, I don't feel good. I don't feel like conquering the world (or my laundry/cleaning/cooking). I have always wanted this to change, but I've never really done much about it. I've tried a thing here and there, but never stuck to it. So now you have my medical/food history.
The seed was planted a while ago when Alicia Silverstone was on Oprah. They were also talking about the documentary Food Inc. Alicia was talking about her cookbook and being completely vegan. She talked about how she used feel crappy all the time, have no energy, trouble sleeping, bad skin, ect. Then she tried cutting out all animal by product (meat, dairy, eggs, anything containing any part of any animal) and she could not believe the way her body and everything else changed. The whites of her eyes were white, she had boundless energy and her skin was glowing like a pregnant lady. Then there is the poop. Yep, I'm going to talk about poop for a minute, skip if you please. I poop 2or 3 times a week and like a rabbit. Not the correct way to poop, so I've heard. Alicia talked about how she poops 2, sometimes 3 times a day and they are always easy and shaped like an s, sometimes a c. Wow, that would be neat. I thought, well gee, that sounds pretty great! But how in the heck do you cut out EVERYTHING with animal anything in it? That's a lot of stuff!! I couldn't possibly give up cheese (turns out, one of the worst things for your insides), or chocolate (don't have to, just MILK chocolate) and if nothing else, MILK! I can't live without milk! Milk does a body good, right? Or does it..... Anyway, time went by and then I was somewhere and someone started talking about reading Skinny Bitch and about becoming vegan. They said some facts from the book and it all made a lot of sense. So I ran out and got the book. I started reading.
First of all, it's funny and no nonsense. The first line is "Are you sick and tired of being fat?". Healthy=skinny. It talks about giving up your vices. Drinking: "Of course it's easier to socialize after you've had a few drinks. But being a fat pig will hinder you, sober or drunk." So funny and true! They tell it like it is. "Soda is liquid Satan."
As I went throught the chapters, I began giving things up. I officially started eating COMPLETELY vegan on Tuesday March 30th. Meat was not a hard thing to give up. And as I go along, the other things are all replaceable and I'll let you know how they taste and turn out as I go. The book is a lot about the treatment of animals on factory farms. It's all very horrible and I don't like it, but it's not my main reason for doing this. The way they describe how we are not meant to eat/digest meat and animal products makes total sense!
I'll explain in another post, I should've done this one a while ago. It's getting to long!
So, this is my new adventure and I'll share it with you as time goes on! Tell you what I like, don't like and love! How I feel (already 100 times better), when I slip up (I will! already have, darn Easter and it's yummy candy!) and how I do getting the kids to try these things. Jack already has to be a partial vegan due to his allergies (I say partial because he can't live without his chicken nuggets...oops). Av will be harder, but I don't plan on forcing them to eat this way and only this way. Just giving healthier options in general and setting a good example.
Wish me luch!
I'm trying two new things at the moment, one pretty big life style change and another smaller, easier change. I'll post them seperate.
First and biggest.
I read Skinny Bitch. I realize this book was written in 2005 so I'm a little late to the party, but I always thought it was just about being skinny. It's so not. There is so much more. Ok, sure it's about being skinny a little, but more so about being HEALTHY! And that's my goal.
Those of you that know me know that I haven't always had the best eating habits, ok ok, NEVER had even remotely good eating habits, ever. I much prefer junk food over anything, except chocolate. Some of my favorite "meals" include crutons dipped in ranch, chips and guacamole, saltines dipped in ranch (more of a snack if I don't have crutons), fries dipped in ranch (ok, ANYTHING dipped in ranch), pancakes with powdered sugar and berry syrup, nachos..you get the idea. AND MILK. People are pretty sure that I'm only alive due to the fact that I drink an enormous amount of milk. I've never really had a thing for meat, I'd eat on occasion if it was cooked for me, but I never craved it. I'm kind of obsessed with cheese, any cheese (except blue, ew, rotten cheese?). If there's cheese, count on me to eat it. Then there is chocolate. Chocolate anything. Candy. Cookies. Pie. Really sugar in general too. But who doesn't love all of these processed foods? They are all sooo yummy!
If you know me well, you also know that I have headaches on a pretty regular basis. I am also tired for the majority of the day. I don't cook. I want to cook, but I don't have the energy or the know how. I don't like to clean, therefore, I don't do it often. I am sick quite a bit too, if there is a sickness within 10 miles of me, I get it. And it lasts for a long time. In general, I don't feel good. I don't feel like conquering the world (or my laundry/cleaning/cooking). I have always wanted this to change, but I've never really done much about it. I've tried a thing here and there, but never stuck to it. So now you have my medical/food history.
The seed was planted a while ago when Alicia Silverstone was on Oprah. They were also talking about the documentary Food Inc. Alicia was talking about her cookbook and being completely vegan. She talked about how she used feel crappy all the time, have no energy, trouble sleeping, bad skin, ect. Then she tried cutting out all animal by product (meat, dairy, eggs, anything containing any part of any animal) and she could not believe the way her body and everything else changed. The whites of her eyes were white, she had boundless energy and her skin was glowing like a pregnant lady. Then there is the poop. Yep, I'm going to talk about poop for a minute, skip if you please. I poop 2or 3 times a week and like a rabbit. Not the correct way to poop, so I've heard. Alicia talked about how she poops 2, sometimes 3 times a day and they are always easy and shaped like an s, sometimes a c. Wow, that would be neat. I thought, well gee, that sounds pretty great! But how in the heck do you cut out EVERYTHING with animal anything in it? That's a lot of stuff!! I couldn't possibly give up cheese (turns out, one of the worst things for your insides), or chocolate (don't have to, just MILK chocolate) and if nothing else, MILK! I can't live without milk! Milk does a body good, right? Or does it..... Anyway, time went by and then I was somewhere and someone started talking about reading Skinny Bitch and about becoming vegan. They said some facts from the book and it all made a lot of sense. So I ran out and got the book. I started reading.
First of all, it's funny and no nonsense. The first line is "Are you sick and tired of being fat?". Healthy=skinny. It talks about giving up your vices. Drinking: "Of course it's easier to socialize after you've had a few drinks. But being a fat pig will hinder you, sober or drunk." So funny and true! They tell it like it is. "Soda is liquid Satan."
As I went throught the chapters, I began giving things up. I officially started eating COMPLETELY vegan on Tuesday March 30th. Meat was not a hard thing to give up. And as I go along, the other things are all replaceable and I'll let you know how they taste and turn out as I go. The book is a lot about the treatment of animals on factory farms. It's all very horrible and I don't like it, but it's not my main reason for doing this. The way they describe how we are not meant to eat/digest meat and animal products makes total sense!
I'll explain in another post, I should've done this one a while ago. It's getting to long!
So, this is my new adventure and I'll share it with you as time goes on! Tell you what I like, don't like and love! How I feel (already 100 times better), when I slip up (I will! already have, darn Easter and it's yummy candy!) and how I do getting the kids to try these things. Jack already has to be a partial vegan due to his allergies (I say partial because he can't live without his chicken nuggets...oops). Av will be harder, but I don't plan on forcing them to eat this way and only this way. Just giving healthier options in general and setting a good example.
Wish me luch!
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