Today I was able to put on a pair of jeans that I haven't worn since last winter...made me appreciate running a little bit more.
This weekend I was introduced to a book by Chris McDougall, after I was complaining about some joint pain in my ankles. I found it rather interesting.
If you click on the link above you will find a short video explaining his reason behind writing this great book! Very useful and interesting information.
Today for lunch I made a quick rice and vegetable recipe (one that I stole and added a little too from my new friend Sarah Hughes...thank you Sarah!)
In a food processor I chopped carrots, then celery, then onion and then a red bell pepper. I sautéed these veggies in water, added some garlic and Tomato Basil Mrs. Dash, a little pepper and mixed together with some cooked brown rice and pieces of cooked butternut squash that I baked in the oven.
Quick and easy and works well as a side for the kiddos dinner when you need to get those veggies in.
Another of my favorite food staples are these babies...
Found at any Fry's Marketplace, I LOVE mixing either one of these in brown rice...heat in the microwave for 30 seconds...makes a great lunch!!
Why do I eat like this? There are lots of reasons that I choose to be a vegan now, but originally I chose to eat this way after my mother introduced me to John McDougall's cookbook.
In 2010, my sister was diagnosed with hypothyroidism, something that my mother and myself would later be diagnosed with as well. (I now have been diagnosed with Hashimoto's Disease)
My mother was concerned for my sister's health because she was displaying symptoms of an autoimmune disease. Her first thought was to try to help heal her symptoms with diet, this is how she came across John McDougall.
For the longest time my mother would come over (she lived conveniently across the street) with a dinner she had made, (which contained no meat), and would try to convince me how much better it tasted without any meat or dairy. We always kind of laughed about it and told her "no thank you".
I really at the time felt that meat was put on this earth to eat. However, I had just recently had my sixth child and was in the stage of losing the 80 lbs. I always gain with EVERY pregnancy, ugh.
My mother was concerned for my sister's health because she was displaying symptoms of an autoimmune disease. Her first thought was to try to help heal her symptoms with diet, this is how she came across John McDougall.
For the longest time my mother would come over (she lived conveniently across the street) with a dinner she had made, (which contained no meat), and would try to convince me how much better it tasted without any meat or dairy. We always kind of laughed about it and told her "no thank you".
I really at the time felt that meat was put on this earth to eat. However, I had just recently had my sixth child and was in the stage of losing the 80 lbs. I always gain with EVERY pregnancy, ugh.
I still remember the night my mother brought over Fettuccine. It was delicious. I ate it up and asked which restaurant she bought it from. When she told me it was made of tofu and it only took her 15 minutes to make, I was hooked. I noticed that my mother was thinner and she had been making things I really enjoyed, and I decided I wanted to look more into this "Vegan" thing. For the next three months my mother and I made dinner for both our families together. We tried a different recipe from McDougall's cookbook every night. Sometimes I would buy a whole chicken just to add some meat for the kids and the hubby. Or I would buy cheese when we made homemade pizza and put it on half the pizza for the family. I however, was determined not to cheat. I wanted to see the results of being a "faithful" vegan. There was no denying the results. At this time in my life I wasn't working out, yet I weighed less than I did when I got married. I felt great. I never went hungry. I was eating things I love like potatoes and pasta and I had more energy than I had had in a long time.
John McDougall has written several books, his lectures can be purchased online and he hosts seminars that can be viewed over the web. There is so much information out there. Even if being a vegan is not the lifestyle you wish to maintain, just learning about what foods do to our body is important if we want to live a long and healthy life.
Below is an excerpt from John McDougall's newsletter. The entire newsletter on athletes can be found here http://www.nealhendrickson.com/mcdougall/030900puathletesarepeopletoo.htm
Animal Protein Can Stimulate Growth – At a Price
It has long been rumored that the levels of the muscle building hormone, testosterone, are raised with meat-eating. However, recent research comparing people following various diets has found vegans (no animal products) have 8% more testosterone than lacto-ovo-vegetarians, and 13% more than people on the standard Western diet (with meat and dairy).22 (Fortunately, this extra male hormone is kept safely bound with a protein to prevent over-stimulation of the tissues, including the prostate.) So, if not testosterone, then what in the meat-eater’s diet could possibly be growth-stimulating?22-23 There may be some truth that eating all that protein stimulates muscle growth.24,25 Protein raises insulin-like growth factor-1 (IGF-1) in the human body, stimulating the growth of muscle and all other tissues. Meat-eaters are found to have 9% higher levels of IGF-1 than vegans.22 People eating dairy and eggs (lacto-ovo-vegetarians) have 8% higher levels.22 Unfortunately, IGF-1 also stimulates the growth of cancer of the breast, prostate, lung, and colon by stimulating cell proliferation and inhibiting cell death – two activities you definitely don't want when cancer cells are involved.26,27 Eating all that meat and those dairy products could make bigger muscles – but, how often do athletes think about the effects on their health? Beauty is more than skin deep – for sure. And ugly goes clear to the bone.
The rippling firm muscles of athletes send a message of good health, but this appearance is deceptive because what lies underneath is a quagmire of disease. All that “muscle building” food is also loaded with acid, cholesterol, saturated fat, and is deficient in dietary fiber and complex carbohydrate. Looking beyond the exterior you will find bones depleted of strength and structure (osteoporosis) by the acid, arteries filled with festering sores (atherosclerosis) from the fat and cholesterol, and bleeding-bulging hemorrhoids caused by straining to pass a fiber deficient stool (constipation). You may think you are looking at a new Lexus, but rather it’s an overdriven Edsel.
Big is Not Better
Greater height and sometimes greater muscle weight are generally considered desirable qualities and size may be the winning difference for athletes, especially for basketball and football players. However, when winning at life and health, increased body size is counterproductive. Shorter, smaller bodies have lower death rates, longer average life-spans, and fewer diet-related chronic diseases. Research shows shorter, lighter people live longer. For example, men of 5 feet 9 inches (175.3 cm) or less live almost five years longer than men over this height. Men shorter than 5 feet 7 inches (170.2 cm) live seven and a half years longer than men taller than 6 feet (182.9 cm).28,29 Taller women have more cancer of the ovary30,31 and breast,32 and men have more prostate cancer.33 Overnutrition, especially during youth, results in greater height, and poorer health.34
You Can Have Height, Strength, and Life
If you met my 3 children you would find a serious contradiction with the above discussion. My daughter, Heather, is an inch taller than Mary. My oldest son, Patrick, is 3 inches taller than I am, and my youngest son, Craig, is 2 inches taller (and the boys are very muscular, too). They were all raised on the McDougall diet. So how did they grow so tall and strong?Feeding a high-fat, high-protein diet is only one way for a person to attain greater body size. The alternative, healthy way is to encourage natural development by allowing the growth plates of a child’s long bones to remain open longer, into their mid and late teens. The growth plates (called epiphyseal end plates) are located at the ends of the long bones and, as the name implies, this is where growth occurs. A rise in sex hormones (primarily estrogen) after puberty causes the growth plates to close.35,36 The rich Western diet prematurely raises sex hormones, causing precocious puberty, and prematurely closes the adolescent’s growth plates.36 (For more information on precocious puberty and diet see the McDougall Program for Women book.) A healthy diet, like the McDougall diet, allows puberty to occur at the correct age (say 14 to 17 years rather than 8 to 12) – thereby growth continues into the late teens. Therefore, you can have it all for your children and grandchildren – tall strong bodies and good health by feeding them plentiful amounts of delicious meals, like oatmeal for breakfast, vegetable soups and sandwiches for lunch, and bean burritos and spaghetti for dinner. (People from some Asian countries, like Japan, and from our own past are small because of a relative deficiency of food (calories) during their adolescent growing years.34,37)
Athletes are People, Too
The diet of a horse is essentially grass and grains. To raise a racehorse would you feed your colt meat? – Of course not. You would just feed it more grasses and grains during growth and training. The same applies to people. Basic nutritional needs do not change with an increase in activity. So the same diet recommended for people applies to athletic people, too. To violate this basic truth results not only in horrific health, but also pitiful performance.However, the more important lesson we have learned here is: the best diet for athletes is also the best diet for all of us. If a diet very high in carbohydrates – starches, vegetables, and fruits – makes athletes – those living at the extremes of human performance – winners, then following their example will result in superior nutrition for all of us and our families. Can’t possibly be any other way.
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