I Eat to Live.

I'm sure you've all heard the popular mantra that 80% of a healthy body is made in the kitchen, the other 20%  is made at the gym. Sometimes it's 70/30 or 75/25. Sometimes it takes into account genetic factors. But, the point always remains clear, that what we eat has more to do with the way we look and feel than how much or how hard we work out.

So, I thought that maybe I should talk a little bit about how I've been eating lately, since becoming 100% vegan. After the first two weeks of being vegan, I lost 8 pounds. During the 3rd week, I lost 3 more. Now, coming up on the forth week, I think it is safe to say that my weight loss has gone much faster than it ever has on a normal diet. (By diet I mean "way of eating", not unhealthy food restriction.)

When I tell people I'm a vegan, I usually get questions like "So you don't eat meat, or milk, or cheese, or eggs... so what do you eat.", as if those are the only four foods on the face of the earth. I also get things like "Don't you feel deprived.", and, "How do you get enough protein/calcium/iron."

So, let me walk you through a typical day in our family.

I start off every day with a glass of green tea, with a table spoon of lemon. Lemon helps detoxify our bodies, and helps to balance the body's p.h.

Then, I drink a table spoon of apple cider vinegar, followed be a few gulps of water. It is really repulsive, but it also helps with detox and p.h. balance, as well as digestion, and a few other things.

For breakfast, at around 8, I have a Vega One Nutritional Shake. It comes in powder form, in a few different flavors. I add it to one cup of nondairy milk (usually almond), half a banana, some berries, and some leafy greens (typically kale or spinach). Then, I throw in some chia seeds, flax meal, and ice. I blend it until it is a the texture of a smoothie. It is really filling, and it is formulated to provide vegans with a lot of the nutrients that people assume we aren't getting. Although it is possible, and quite easy, to get protein, calcium, and iron from a plant based diet, Vega One makes it so much simpler.

At around 10:30, I have a snack. Typically I have fruit. Because fruit has such a high sugar content, it is important that it is paired with protein and fiber. So, I usually add a tablespoon of all natural peanut butter, or 2 ounces of raw nuts (cashews, hazlenuts, almonds, or walnuts). If I'm not going to be home, I will pack home made trail mix. Basically, just nuts with raisins and dried fruit.

I have lunch between 12 and 1, depending on the day. Some days, I just have dinner leftovers from the night before. If I make lunch, it is usually something easy to put together, like a baked sweet potato and kale, or sauteed vegetables with soy sauce. Always lots of vegetables.

Around 3:30, I have an afternoon snack. I try to do vegetables for this snack. So, hummus and carrots, or peppers and cucumbers. Just something to keep me full until dinner.

Dinner is the most fun. We have found a ton of great recipes, and already have our favorites figured out. They include black bean veggie burgers, heart of palm "crab" cakes, and peppercorn tempeh. It is really amazing how we can throw plant based foods together to make wonderful food. We are also able to have a lot of our old favorites, with just a little modification. We make vegan enchallidas, quinoa, spaghetti, and pizza. The vegan versions are just as good as the normal versions, and don't leave us feeling tired or gross.

After dinner, we have banana ice cream, which I'm sure I've talked about on here before. It is the perfect way to end any night, and it is an especially nice treat after I get home from the gym.

So, that's it. We eat a lot of good food, and get a lot of nutrients.

A lot of people wonder why we would choose to eat this way. The answer is simple, we eat this way because it is the healthiest way to eat.

I always here things like "our bodies were made to eat animals, humans have always done it." Well, to that I say, that I'm pretty sure that cavemen didn't eat cows and chickens. They most likely ate wild boar, deer, and small rodents. None of which are seen in the traditional American diet.

When we eat meat, we are giving our bodies a huge serving of protein and fat, without any fiber. Which is why meat consumption has been linked to all kinds of cancer.

You think it is healthy to drink milk, or eat dairy products? Think of it like this, when you go to the store, and buy a gallon of milk, you are literally buying cow's breast milk. That milk was designed to help baby calves grow to the size of, well, a fat cow. Clearly, it has the same effect on people. Besides that, we live in a culture that is so judgmental when it comes to breast feeding mothers. Heaven forbid a mother is still breast feeding her toddler (which is absolutely normal and beneficial) but we all pump our kids full of breast milk from a cow and say that it will give us strong bones.

Okay, before I go off on any more of a rant, I'm going to stop. But, to answer the questions you've all been asking- I eat a huge variety of fruits, vegetables, nuts, seeds, grains, and legumes. I absolutely do not feel deprived, and I probably get more protein, calcium, and iron than the typical american.