Beyond Willpower

Have you seen Julie & Julia? I'm currently in the middle of watching the movie Julie and Julia, my mom told me about it, I had no idea what it was about. I do adore it so far though. Speaking of my mom, I just want to say how excited I am that she is interested in my way of eating and I hope that these dietary changes help with some of her health issues as they have mine. I don't consider myself to be a preachy type of vegan, but I definitely love to give people information when they ask and my mom has been asking for a few months now. She just has all sorts of questions and her inquisitiveness is kind of cute to me. :) Also, I am a firm believer in he concept of leading with your fork. I love to cook for people and tomorrow my sister and I are going down home. I will have a lot to write about the cooking adventures we have Wednesday night. My sister is an amazing photographer and she will be taking pictures of the fabulous soy free, gluten free, vegan food! Keep a...

So the last week or two life has gotten pretty hectic. I've had work, job interviews, birthday celebrations and tons of doc appointments all over the place. I've been buying a bus pass because I've been running around so much. All of this of course makes it difficult to eat at home and eat healthy. I've been staying within my cals except for two days where I had two pieces of fruit extra. But I hate WHAT I'm eating and HOW I'm eating. The "what": I've been eating fried stuff. Fried tofu here and there, one day I had fries. I don't even finish my plate, but I still feel less than stellar after eating that crap. It makes me kind of mad that when you don't eat meat the only other options for you are unhealthy deep fried stuff. I feel awful buying a taco salad when I could just as well make one at home and they are 10$ when I go to this vegan friendly place up the street. I need to remember that it's not a waste if it's saving me calo...

"We may think there is willpower involved, but more likely...change is due to want power. Wanting the new addiction more than the old one. Wanting the new me in preference to the person I am now." -- George Sheehan I've always had an addictive personality, I overdo EVERYTHING, so it's good that I stayed away from drugs and alcohol and cigarettes and all that throughout my life.  I've stayed away from most negative things that are harmful to your health and mental well being...except food in excess.  I am a food addict I hear a lot of my friends tell me that they don't want to get 'all obsessed with dieting' and they want to live their lives like a normal healthy person. I get that, I do. Wouldn't it be fabulous? Unfortunately, I not only have no desire for such 'normalcy', I also think I would be incapable of it. Like an Addict who goes to AA/NA meetings and becomes obsessed/addicted to recovery or religion, I have become obsessed...

So, the last time we tried our 75% raw week it was about 50%, Joey was off work for vaca and it was our anniv and I was having fun cooking, so, meh. :( Before we get into that though, just want to provide these links: www.meatout.org and < here > is my blog post on the subject. Now back to your regularly scheduled blog posting... But, this week we've decided to do it again. We both need a jumpstart to our weight loss. I only lost 1 lb last week, which is fine, it's not a gain, but it's not on target either. I know some of it is my stomach issues. (Was recently diagnosed with ibs-c, the doc thinks the gluten intolerance was masking it.) I know the raw will help with my stomach as well. I think I need to be a bit more structured to keep me on track with the raw thing, I may be posting a daily raw journey on here for what I plan to eat to keep me on track. I know it helps.  I also got this raw uncookbook.  There seems to be way too much fat in it, even if it'...

~*~*~This recipe is gluten free and vegan~*~*~ As are all my recipes I tend to shoot for 2 servings, but this very low cal dish makes enough for leftovers unless you are both VERY hungry! This recipe was inspired by the potato spinach curry in Appetite for Reduction (pg. 232). I think this is a little quicker and I hate potato chunks so it uses marinara instead of chopped tomatoes. I think that makes it creamier too. *NOTE* Also, this recipe is best if made ahead of time and eaten later/the next day. The flavors really have time to soak in that way. Or you could probably make it in a slow cooker, I don't have one but this is an assumption. EDITED TO ADD:  I forgot, it's a bit more bitter than I like. I like to add a tiny bit of sweetener, this should just be to taste and the sweetener of your choice. Stuff you will need: to the drawing board! Prep directions: First, put 2.5 cups water with a veggie base/or use veggie broth, in a medium pot. While waiting for the wat...

~*~*~This recipe is gluten free and vegan~*~*~ As are all my recipes This makes 2 servings Stuff you will need: Stuff I forgot on the drawing board: Chili powder Daiya (if you like) or nutritional yeast Chopped red onion Prep Directions: The first thing you want to do is put your 2 cups of light plain soy milk (for the calorie watchers) over low heat while you chop your broccoli. Add 1 tbls veggie base. I just got some Spike veggie base powder and it's pretty good. As for the broccoli, I just use mostly florets and break them off or chop them into large chunks. I used about 2 cups of broccoli for the soup. *NOTE* I set aside about a half cup for garnish. Over low heat let 2 tbls of earth balance melt and simmer and then add the onions and saute until they start to turn clearish. Here, you need some type of blender/food processor. I use the new ninja master prep pro . I just add the broccoli Florette's to the bottom of the large container and pour the hot soy milk o...

Heya, just wanted to let everyone know that I have a story over at  http://www.theplantrx.com  where I'm featured as the success story of the week. Check it out and be sure to check the site out! It's very informative! I loved the video on that site with an interview with clinton about how he went vegan after his heart surgery:

This post was inspired by a blog I read called  My Effortless Vegan Weight Loss  over at  www.vegansoapbox.com : It got me thinking about my motivations as far as veganism goes. I will say I am not a fan of PETA so with all of their outrageous efforts to convert people, I most likely would have converted sooner if not for them. Seeing this ad did not make me want to 'go veg', it pretty much just made me feel like shit and if I had seen it a few years ago I most likely would have gone and eaten a full order of wings to drown my big fat sorrows. Annoying PETA ad:  When I watched  Food, Inc  sometime last year, I started to get really aware of just how horrific modern agriculture (aka, big food) really is. The changes I made to my diet happened slowly over the course of 2009-2010. After I went vegan  I started buying as much local organic stuff as possible. Food, Inc trailer: So anyhow, I did originally go vegetarian in July 2009 for healt...