Friday, April 25, 2008
Aspartame - Yuck
Monday, February 25, 2008
Eating my Smoothies and Whey...
Strawberry-Peach Smoothie
2 cups fortified OJ
1 banana
2 cups fresh (or frozen) sliced strawberries
About 10 slices of frozen peaches
Two or three handfuls of ice
2 scoops of Strawberry Whey Protein (20g or protein per scoop)
Blend on smoothie setting of course and tweak it to your liking.
Reese's Cup Ice Cream Smoothie
(maybe more of a milkshake)
2 scoops of Vanilla Whey Protein
Blend
Posted by ChrissyJo at 7:08 AM |
Labels: health, Recipes, Smoothies, Vegetarian
More Mad Cows
Don't trust the FDA to protect you from unsafe food. The only reason this was revealed was because of an undercover operation from an "outsider." The Humane Society and organizations such as PETA finds things like this all the time. Oddly enough the government ran FDA does not. Why? They don't care! They care about money and money alone. It doesn't matter school children were being fed sick and diseased beef, but that it was being paid for.
The fact that it took this long to warn the public and recall the meat is shocking enough. If you were shocked by the videos, it isn't an isolated incident. The common "acceptable" practices of cattle raising is almost equally as cruel and disgusting.
If the torture, or the saturated fat and cholesterol content doesn't bother you, your risk of contracting serious disease such as e-coli, salmonella, and mad cow disease should.
If there is one thing I am learning is vital to all of us, it's that you should find your news from sources outside of the "unbiased" mainstream... that's a whole story in itself though.
Posted by ChrissyJo at 7:08 AM |
Labels: animal abuse, beef, cows, mad cow, salmonella, slaughterhouses
Monday, December 17, 2007
If you don't have enough reasons to love President Bush...
US on Mad Cow: Don't Test All Cattle http://buzzflash.net/%20story.php?id=33366
"The Bush administration said Tuesday it will fight to keep meatpackers from testing all their animals for mad cow disease. The Agriculture Department tests less than 1 percent of slaughtered cows for the disease, which can be fatal to humans who eat tainted beef. But Kansas-based Creekstone Farms Premium Beef wants to test all of its cows. Larger meat companies feared that move because, if Creekstone tested its meat and advertised it as safe, they might have to perform the expensive test, too."
Why would they want to fight to have more illnesses in our country?
Tuesday, December 11, 2007
Food Allergies
Posted by ChrissyJo at 10:28 AM |
Labels: allergic reactions, food allergies, gluten, nutrition, vegan, Vegetarian, wheat gluten
Wednesday, December 5, 2007
Jennifer Love Hewitt Bikini Pics
While I think its a sign of a problem, I don't think its body image.
Its America's diet. There is no way she could be eating healthy and exercising and look like that. America is probably near the fattest, laziest, and most unhealthy country in the world.
Honestly - I think she looks awful in those pictures.
While you should take pride in your body, I don't think eating whatever you want and fooling yourself into thinking its fine and normal is not healthy. It will lead to huge problems later in life. I'd like to see her go vegetarian or even vegan and go to a gym two to three times a week and see how much better she not only looks but feels. My guess would be she wouldn't be eager to go back to how she was because she loves her body no matter what it looks like.
She says she is a size two, which is not fat. While a size two, four, six, eight, ten, twelve, or fourteen is not fat in my opinion, I think she is a liar. I'm a size four and could not see the woman in those pictures getting into my clothes. You can be a larger size but still be healthy. If your adult frame is capable of a size two but suddenly you've become a size ten without having children, you are not healthy.
Maybe I'm being too insensitve here but I just don't think being fat should be any more okay than it is already - not because of appearance and vanity but because of the health of the entire country. Should we really raise kids to think that being fat is okay or is that just setting them up for self-destruction? If superficial reasons are the only reason people will take care of themselves, then maybe they're doing some good.
What do you think about body image and health in the United States?
Posted by ChrissyJo at 7:54 AM |
Labels: bikini, fitness, health, Jennifer Love Hewitt, swimsuit, vanity, Vegetarian
Wednesday, November 21, 2007
Oh, Nuts! and seeds, and legumes!
Since becoming vegetarian, nuts have become my new best friend. Like I have mentioned before, I keep some on my desk and eat a few handfuls a day. Besides being a great protein substitute for meat, they have many great nutritional benefits. Hey, they're even in the meat group on many food pyramids.
They do have some fat, which is sometimes called "good fat." What does that mean?
Almonds and walnuts, my two personal favorites, have recently been show to lower your bad cholesterol (a benefit of monounsaturated and polyunsatured fats). Thus, they may reduce the risk of heart disease and related problems as well as colon and lung cancer (American Heart Association.) The fat in nuts gives you needed energy and calories and can help you curb cravings for more unhealthy snacks. Looking at my jar, I also see that they have Zero mg. of cholesterol.
What nutrients do they contain? Fiber, iron, vitamin E, potassium, niacin, zinc, phosphorous, biotin, riboflavin, and selenium to name a few. My current jar of vanilla bean almonds have 20% of your daily magnesium (helps you absorb calcium, prevents abnormal blood clotting, helps maintain blood pressure); which leads to something else great about them - they don't get boring. You can get different flavors, textures, healthy and semi-sinful - but chocolate has many benefits, too - so I say go for it. They go great in salads, side dishes, main dishes - there are lots of ways to cook with them, have them in "butters," or just plain.
There are so many different kinds, too - in case you're not a fan of some.
Almonds, Cashews, Hazel Nuts, Macadamia Nuts, Peanuts (a legume), Pecans, Pistachios, Sesame Seeds, Sunflower Seeds, Walnuts, that's all that come to mind right now but I'm sure there are many more.
Eat an ounce or two a day for health!
Thanksgiving
Well it's that time of year. I can't wait to go to my first Thanksgiving as a vegetarian and hear everyone talk about me like I'm a freak of nature. Even though me not eating turkey isn't going to spare any of them, as they'll be cooked regardless, I can't even think about having any. There are so many delicious things to enjoy at Thanksgiving anyways. If you absolutely love the taste, there are many substitutes, but I can do without those, too.
Here is the newly released video of the practices at a Butterball slaughterhouse from a PETA undercover investigation. Absolutely awful! The workers have to be messed up in the head BIG time! They're enjoying torturing them. PETA has filed charges for them to be charged with cruelty, but I think we're still a long way away from "humane" slaughtering - as the factory farm animals are treated just as poorly.
Not to be a total downer - Have a Happy Thanksgiving!
I can't wait for the homemade bread, pumpkin pie, sweet potatoes, candied carrots, mmmm :) . Rather than just being thanksful for your nourishment though, be sure to give thanks for the special time with your loved ones!
There are tons and tons of vegetarian Thanksgiving recipes that I will be making next year, my first year in my own place!
Posted by ChrissyJo at 6:23 AM |
Labels: animal rights, Butterball, PETA, Thanksgiving, Vegetarian
Friday, November 16, 2007
My Progress
Posted by ChrissyJo at 11:32 AM |
Labels: diet, eating right, meal plan, nutrition, Veg*n, Vegetarian
Thursday, November 8, 2007
Daylight Come and Me Wanna Go Home - Foot Cramps :(
I was about to eat dinner last night and on my way to my chair I started screaming. Both of my feet cramped up at the same time for about five minutes. It's happened a few times lately, but never so extreme or in both feet simultaneously. So, I had to look up why that would happen. The only answer I found - lack of potassium. It plays a big role in muscle contraction and nerve stimulation. It also helps you keep a normal water balance and keeps your brain functioning, but that is besides my current dilemma.
I checked my vitamins with 80+ ingredients and potassium wasn't one. Something as basic as that is not in there but random, never heard-of things are.
How do you get potassium besides the obvious, bananas?
Cantaloupe, Grapefruit, Oranges, Tomatoes, Tangerines, Prune Juice, Potatoes, Honeydew Melons, Lentils, Dry Beans, and Raisins to name a few.
I've eaten several of those items in the last week, so I'm a little confused as to whether potassium is really the culprit or not. I still felt it was important to cover potassium, as it is a vital mineral but not sure if I can attribute my foot cramps to it. With it being in so many fruits and vegetables, it seems I should be getting my RDA easily, even without vitamins. As my research seems to be failing me, does anyone else have any ideas why I'd be having frequent foot cramps?
Thursday, November 1, 2007
Live from New York!
Oh how I miss Kevin Nealon on Saturday Night Live! He is another surprising vegetarian. Rather than just adding him to the list of celebrity vegetarians, I wanted to do a separate post. I had to include his quote. I found it on a few sites but I guess I should credit goveg.com because they had the most complete information. I'm sure the main story is on PETA but I didn't read it on their site.
He said:
"I can't wait for meal time when I can chow down on the decomposing corpse of a tortured animal," he says. "I like knowing that eating meat makes me four times more likely to have a heart attack or stroke."
I have been wondering... Many people say they are veg bc something serious happened to them - heart attack, stroke, cancer, etc. Why wait? Doctors obviously know how bad meat is for you so why not prevent those things now instead of risking your future health?
More interesting, he became veg 18 years ago for the same reason that I did.
"I became a vegetarian after I became aware of factory farming and slaughterhouses and the torture and inhumane handling of all these animals."
Those are awful! So many people think the cows just roam around in a peaceful pasture living a great life. If you see how these precious little piggies, cows, etc. are treated, you won't have much trouble keeping meat off of your plate! It has been going on for over two decades?! I thought factory farming was probably a much newer thing from companies pushing for progress; I guess it isn't that new though.
Watch the video of Kevin Nealon here and let me know what you think!
Posted by ChrissyJo at 8:00 AM |
Labels: Celebrities, Kevin Nealon, SNL, Vegetarian
Tuesday, October 30, 2007
If Oprah approves, it must be good!
Quinoa (pronounced keen-wah) is a great food for new veg*ns to try. If you haven't frequented natural food stores, you may not have come across it before. It is gluten-free if you have allergies. It contains lysine, making it a complete protein - good news for us VegHeads! It made Oprah's Top 10 Superfoods list, too!
1 cup has:
22 grams or protein
(approx. 50% of RDA) More than a 1/4 lb. Hamburger!
87% of your iron!
10% of your calcium
(peertrainer.com)
There are many other nutrients in this cross between a cereal and a grain, too. It looks similar to sesame seeds. One cup has about 15% of you daily fat and 40% of your carbs, so you may want to adjust your carb intake on days you eat this. (It is worth 3 points).
See the complete nutritional label on nutritiondata.com.
I wanted it to be the next 'food of the week' but there's too much to say, I doubt it would fit in the right column. Here are the nutritional benefits:
Lower Type II Diabetes risk
Eases altitude sickness
Protection against heart disease
High fiber content prevents gallstones
Cardiovascular health
Magnesium and Riboflavin can ease headaches and cause them to occur less.
You can find many recipes featuring quinoa! VegWeb has a great collection!
vegparadise.com suggests raw quinoa in salads, cooking the leaves like spinach, or including it in soups or rice pudding
Monday, October 29, 2007
Trick-Or-Treat
Sign the petition against Mars, Inc.
They still do testing on animals for their candy.
"Mars has funded cruel experiments in which mice were fed a candy ingredient and forced to swim in a pool of paint and water. The mice had to find a platform to try to avoid drowning, only to be killed and dissected later. In another experiment supported by Mars, rats were fed cocoa and anesthetized with carbon dioxide so that their blood could be collected by cardiac puncture, a procedure that can lead to internal bleeding and other deadly complications. Mars also supported an experiment that involved cramming baby mice into small Plexiglas chambers and then submerging the chambers for nearly five hours in a chilled water bath to determine whether or not a chocolate ingredient affected the mice's breathing rates. In the second phase of this test, experimenters shoved tubes down mice's throats to force-feed them an ingredient in chocolate, deprived them of all other food, and finally killed them and cut them up for analysis.
Mars' top competitor, Hershey's, has pledged to PETA that it will not fund or conduct experiments on animals."
Please urge Mars to follow Hershey's lead and immediately end all support for animal tests!
Posted by ChrissyJo at 12:00 PM |
Labels: animal rights, animal testing, animals, candy, Hershey's, Mars Inc., PETA
Sunday, October 28, 2007
Live Long and Prosper
Breakfast
cereal and milk or soy milk, omelet, grits, oatmeal, bran muffin
Lunch
spinach salad with whole grain crackers, peanut butter and banana on whole-wheat bread, meatless chili and cornbread, split pea or lentil soup, bean burritos or tacos
vegetable stir-fry with rice, macaroni and cheese, spaghetti with sauce, pasta and vegetables, caesar salad, meatless enchiladas
Snacks
trail mix, cheese (soy option) and crackers, fruit, frozen yogurt, sunflower seeds, veggies and dip, pudding, vegetable juice, peanuts, granola bar
Tuesday, October 23, 2007
Iron Deficiency in Veg*ns
According to the American Dietetic Association, recommended iron intakes for vegetarians are 1.8 times those of nonvegetarians because of lower bioavailability of iron from a vegetarian diet.