20 meat-free days
Mood:  a-ok
Now Playing: the White Collar pilot, yet again
Topic: blog update/general info
So, it's been twenty days since I've had even one bite of animal flesh. A couple of weeks ago, my mum decided she wanted to start going for walks in the evening again. After out twenty minute excursions with my three canine children, I feast on a spring mix salad with some sort of vegan protein, such as Morningstar Farms "chicken" grillers or seasoned and pan-fried diced tofu, plus nutritional yeast and some sautéed mushrooms. Depending on what protein I've added, I'll add either a squeeze of lemon juice or vinaigrette dressing. I usually go with the lemon, and I like some crackers and a glass of fruit juice with my salad.

I have to say, I'm feeling pretty good!

The eczema that's plagued me for years is finally clearing up. Yay! It is still exacerbated by contact with tomatoes, of course, but at least it's not as severe as it was. I also don't need as much moisturiser as I used to.

Maybe not ingesting a bunch of hormones and unnecessary antibiotics is behind my improved health. Then again, it could be that I hardly ever drink soda or anything with high fructose corn syrup.

Don't believe the ads the corn growers are putting out. HFCS is NOT natural. It's not something you'd find in nature. It's also difficult to keep it in moderation unless you're diligent about reading ingredients labels. There is also suggestion that HFCS, although it has roughly the same calories (too many) and nutritional value (that is, none) as sugar, contributes to obesity more quickly than sugar. If that's not bad enough, mercury has been found to be released during the process by which HFCS is made.

If you don't believe me, check out:

http://www.grist.org/article/Some-heavy-metal-with-that-sweet-roll-/

http://www.webmd.com/food-recipes/news/20090127/mercury-in-high-fructose-corn-syrup

Or, if you want to find your own sources on HFCS, http://www.google.com/m/search?dc=gorganic&eosr=on&source=mobileproducts&mrestrict=xhtml&q=High+fructose+corn+syrup+mercury

my health while getting closer to being vegan
Mood:  a-ok
Topic: vegan foods
Ever since I hit puberty, I have had this "extra roll" to my abdomen. Throughout my childhood, I had been skinny. Ribs sticking out. My doctors said I was healthy, except for a month or so that I was put on a liquid iron supplement.

Yup, I ate meat then, and I wasn't getting enough iron! And some like to claim vegans suffer from lack of protein and iron.

I didn't eat much back then, but I did manage to get the necessary nutrients. That supplement was just erring on the side of caution because my iron levels were a little low. It was only a temporary low dose.

But when I hit puberty, I gained weight. My body developed an hourglass figure, plus that darned extra bit of padding around my waist.

For about fifteen years, I've been trying to decrease the padding.

But perhaps due to an "omni" diet, it wouldn't budge.

My first real brush with vegetarianism was when I was in high school, when I was sixteen, I think. My dad had a subscription to Veggie Life, on the recommendation of one of his doctors. He got it for the health tips, not for the vegetarian nature of the mag. (I think that was the magazine title. It's been ten years since I saw it.)

In that magazine, I read about the wonderful variety and health benefits of not consuming non-human animals.

I'd stop eating meat for a while, start feeling better, but, because I lived with my parents, who have never considered vegetarianism, I didn't have a whole lot of options. There also weren't many meat-free options down here, in deep south Texas, back then.

So, here I am, over ten years later, closer to veganism than I've ever been in the past, and I feel wonderful!

No flesh, and I feel . . . lighter, airier, somehow.

Hardly any dairy or eggs, and my body fat is decreasing, albeit slowly. I also have more pep!

My dietary choices have expanded greatly. Necessity is the mother of invention. Plus, I love experimenting in the kitchen.

So don't believe the people who claim vegans and strict vegetarians are somehow less healthy.

Vegans tend to have less worry about cholesterol levels, blood pressure, and other such health problems because of a tendency to plan our meals more thoughtfully.

Try going meat-free for a day or better yet, a week, and see how you feel. Just remember to go for variety. There is a great wealth of foods free of animal products.

since I stopped using antiperspirant . . .
Topic: skin problems
When I used to use antiperspirants, I always felt like I sweated more than I should. I also tended to feel smellier because of the amount of wetness.

Since I've quit using antiperspirants these past several weeks, I've noticed that I'm actually sweating LESS.

Hard to believe?

I was surprised when I realised it, too. But it's true.

If I use either JASON Fragrance-free Deodorant Stick or the baking soda/corn starch/lotion I described in an earlier post, or even nothing at all, I don't sweat nearly as much as I did when using increasingly stronger antiperspirants.

Maybe it's because my body's not trying to cool off as hard as it used to. Maybe it's because I don't eat meat or much dairy anymore. Whatever the reason is, I'm taking it that a healthier lifestyle overall helps reduce sweat and body odour.

But that's not a scientific study, just my personal experience.

Why I call myself an aspiring vegan
Topic: vegan foods
Why do I call myself an aspiring vegan rather than vegetarian?

What does vegetarian mean, anyway? If you ask ten people, you'll likely get ten different answers, ranging from "vegetarians eat no animals" to "vegetarians hardly ever eat meat" to "vegetarians eat fish."

There are just too many "denominations" of vegetarianism for it to really have any meaning anymore. Granted, in some settings, among friends or like-minded people, there can be a consensus, but generally, quite a few call themselves vegetarians yet continue to wear leather and/or eat some form of animal-derived meat.

So I say I'm an aspiring vegan.

I really do make the effort to live a cruelty-free lifestyle, but, because I live in the southern tip of Texas, it is extremely difficult to be vegan.

Add to that my allergy to tomatoes (and ALL tomato products, just so we're clear; you wouldn't believe how many have ass-umed that I could have ketchup or tomato sauce because they think it's not really tomatoes somehow) and what I can buy and eat is kind of limited.

I make do with what I can find and what I can improvise. Fortunately, I enjoy experimenting in the kitchen.

Also, I am happy to know that our local Wal-Mart has begun stocking some more flesh-free frozen foods. They're not vegan, but like I said, I have to make do with what I can get. There are, of course, vegan Boca burgers and some Morningstar Farms products, which they've had for years, but now there are also Veggie Patch Meatless Meatballs, among a few other Veggie Patch products. Yummy!

(I know, some people don't like Wal-Mart, and they have their reasons, but here, it's them or driving half an hour to get to the larger HEB in the next city, since the HEB in my town has very little variety; not really any other options for someone who doesn't eat flesh.)

So, back to what I was saying about aspiring veganism.

I pretty much never consume flesh. And on the rare occasion that I have, say at a family function over the winter holidays, I feel horribly guilty and physically ill for days. Take today, for instance, I ate a little piece of fajita after no flesh passing my lips for several weeks. (Fajita means "little belt," from faja "belt" and -ita "little, small" and comes from cows. I don't know how it started to refer to "chicken thighs for fajita" when fajita is a cut of beef, NOT a style of cooking!) Even as I chewed, I felt sick to my stomach.

No more flesh for me.

Virtually no dairy, partly because it causes gastrointestinal troubles and upset, but also because of the suffering cows are forced to endure while being repeatedly impregnated to induce them to lactate, then brutally having their calves ripped away from them to feed the veal industry, if they're even allowed to live. If you call that living.

I sometimes still eat eggs, but, just as with any other animal-derived "food" product, I am not happy about it. It's generally in the form of those aforementioned frozen foods.

Yup, quite difficult to be vegan with a food allergy around here.

I opt for cruelty-free products whenever possible, and will likely write reviews of those I use on this blog.

My boyfriend of the last three years - can I call a 53 year old man "boyfriend?" - is quite supportive of my choices. He rarely eats meat, either, nut, being on the road a bit, as an appliance parts salesman checking on customers, he knows he likely couldn't go completely vegan.

This is the complete opposite of my ex, who I was with for nearly four dreadful years. He wouldn't even let me get Boca burgers because if we were going to get food, it had to be something we'd both eat. That might have made more sense or had more impact if he hadn't been smoking about four packs a day while I don't smoke. I guess that was just part of his attempt to control me.

Back then, I had already tried vegetarianism, but because I still lived with my parents and didn't have access to the wealth of information online, I didn't really know what I was doing. Plus, my parents are woefully ignorant about anything they didn't grow up knowing (meat-eating Catholics who haven't expanded their world view much).

Back then, maybe I just wasn't ready to make the changes to my life that I have made in the last few years, now that I'm . . . not a teenager anymore :-)

So don't try to tell me that I don't know what I'm missing by not eating meat/flesh. My parents fed me an omni diet throughout my childhood. My ex refused to allow me to be even the slightest bit veg. I know exactly what I'm missing out on: the horrid taste of years of abuse, the hormones and antibiotics animals are pumped full of, and the agonising death they suffer.

Mood:  hungry
Topic: vegan foods
About a month ago, I was very happy, excited even, that a local HEB
began carrying Purely Decadent Peanut Butter Zigzag dairy-free frozen
dessert! It is one of the most scrumptious vegan foods I have ever
eaten. Peanut-ty, chocolate bits, oh, so yummy!


Anyway, there's a contest to win some coupons for that dessert (any
flavours). Just go to the link below, then post the text below on
facebook or your blog, or go to http://twitter.com/writer_fmqa and rt
my earlier post.


"I just entered to win 5 FREE product coupons from Turtle Mountain, but
I need YOUR help. Go to http://heathereatsalmondbutter.com/2010/04/
01/a-so-delicious-giveaway/ & comment to win. Be sure to mention that I
(@writer_fmqa) sent you so we can BOTH win!"

Canine health and homemade food
Mood:  caffeinated
Since this blog is about health, and I do love my canine children, I feel a need to write about their health since I've been giving them homemade food.

What I give them is a combination of legumes, brown rice, vegetables (carrots, peas, green beens, and corn, usually), and oatmeal. You can find a more precise recipe at Mayv's Musings: Homemade Food for Dogs

I make sure never to give them onions (causes blood toxicity), grapes or raisins (cause kidney damage), chocolate or coffee (theobromine is lethal for them); also, check this site 25 Common Foods That Can Be Toxic For Your Pet for more detailed information.

So, anyway, I've been making my dogs' food for over three years now. They haven't had any fleas since, and their energy levels have increased, as well as their health! Considering they are each part Chihuahua, saying their energy levels have gone up is really something!

The only problem is that, if I make a bowl of oatmeal for myself, they think it's for them!

skin irritation, or what happened when I quit using anti-perspirant
Topic: skin problems
OK, here's my first real entry on this blog, not counting the introduction I posted earlier today.

I've been having some skin problems this past week. There's just no way I can describe it without being graphic, so here goes:

I made the mistake of using anti-perspirant the other day, and since then, I've had very irritated skin under my arms. It's almost like a little bit of the top layer of skin got scraped off in a spot. Then there are the little red bumps - Wait, this started about a month or so ago.

A month or so ago, I stopped using anti-perspirant and began using a homemade deodorant (2 Tblsp baking soda, 2 Tblsp cornstarch, mixed with ~5 Tblsp unscented moisturising lotion). For years, I had this dark, greyish skin, which I figured was at least partially due to the aluminum in anti-perspirants. And since I felt like I tended to sweat a lot, I used the strongest ones I could find without a prescription. Now that I think of it, maybe I sweated more *because* I was using stronger concentrations.

Anyway, within a couple of days, I noticed some gunk coming out of my skin. It looked sort of like . . . Have you ever sharpened a pencil and gotten some of the shavings on your skin? You know that metallic greyish colour? It sort of looked like that, except it was being excreted by my skin!

Every day, in the shower, I was carefully and gently scraping this stuff off of my underarms. After nearly two weeks, I had pink skin, pink as in new and sensitive. Then the peeling and flaking began. I guess the deodorant I was making myself helped to draw all that stuff out and helped my skin heal and recover.

Unfortunately, I decided to see what effect my old anti-perspirant would have after three weeks of not using it. Yup. Raw skin and little red bumps.

So now I'm patiently waiting for my skin to heal (again). I'm ve-e-ery gently applying the baking soda-cornstarch lotion after showering.

Yes, it really does keep me moisture- and odor-free pretty much all day. I rarely need to reapply, and the few days I do need to, it's just a tiny dab of lotion.

At least when it's warmer weather, I'll be able to wear sleeveless tops without being so self-conscious about lifting my arms!

Mayv's Quest for Health
Mood:  flirty
Topic: blog update/general info
What a relief! After a couple of things went hinckey, I finally got this blog up and running! :-)

What I will discuss here are topics of natural health, veganism, and my experiences in transitioning to a more organic lifestyle.

Some of my descriptions will, by necessity, be somewhat graphic. I won't shy away from expressing my opinions, no matter how controversial others may find them or how uneasy or queasy it may make some.

With that being said, I hope you find my little blog useful and helpful.

Peace,
Mayv