Category Archives: dieting

Nov4

Meatless Mondays (or any day) on a Budget

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My transition from vegetarian to vegan was pretty abrupt.  I’m sort of an all or nothing thinker and for me, to just go for it was the best option.  However, it did take me some time to adjust to this new way of eating and there was a little bit of easing.  I began shooting for “1oo% plant based days” but that first month did include a bit of cheese here and there when offered to me by others.

You don’t have to go “all the way” to reap the wonderful health benefits of a plant based diet.  Maybe you aren’t in a place where you are ready to dive head first into the world of no animal products.  That’s okay!  I know the first time Josh suggested to me that we become vegans I was told him absolutely not.  It took me a year and a whole lot of my own research to make that for myself.  The great news is, you can just take it a little bit at a time!

Meatless Mondays are a great way to start!  Choose one day (or even meal) per week and make it meatless or completely vegan!  Its only 1 day and it will encourage you to discover the wonderful world of plant based recipes!  For a 4 person household, having one meat-less day a week is equivalent to giving up driving for 3 months in terms of carbon foot-print!  If every American gave up meat and cheese one day a week, it would equivalent to taking 7.6 million cars off the road! Not to mention what it will do for your help!   This strategy might also make the transition easier for your partner and family.  Include them in it!  Help your kiddos understand why you are doing it–for health, environment, humaneness to animals.

With a baby on the way, Josh and I have been discussing our budget and I’ve been challenging myself to be a little more thrifty and conscious of my purchases.  With that, I’m doing my best to cut back on some of the “luxury” vegan food items I’ve found myself splurging on lately.  Eating a plant based diet can be done on a budget!  It just takes some planning!  Nomeatathlete talks about “A Grain, A Green, and a Bean”. It can be as simple or as fancy as you’d like.  Grains are relatively cheap and if you buy dried beans, and then splurge just a little on organic greens you’ll be making delicious, healthy meals for stinkin’ cheap!  You can spice it up however you like!  Sometimes we add some fancy store bought curry sauce from Trader Joes (check the ingredients for animal products) or just add a little soy sauce.  You can even just sprinkle some of your favorite spices on there and call it a day!

Grains we LOVE

  • Brown Rice
  • Quinoa
  • Barley
  • Burgler
  • Amaranth
  • Whole Wheat Pasta
  • Wild Rice

Greens we LOVE

  • kale
  • swiss chard
  • collard greens
  • spinach

Beans we LOVE

  • chick peas or hummus
  • black beans
  • kidney beans
  • white beans
  • lentils (any kind)
  • Organic, Non-GMO tofu
  • Tempeh (soy)
  • Field Roast (not a bean but delicious and high in protein)

We cook the grains and then add the beans and greens and whatever veggies we have around that we want to toss in.  We leave it on a low heat just long enough to warm it all up but not so long as to really cook the veggies–the fresher the better!  Add some sauce or spices to your desire and ENJOY!

Nov3

A Scary Story and a Rainbow of Hope.

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Last Wednesday we celebrated Halloween.  I dressed up in a ridiculous pregnant cat costume (teets and all) and set out with our costumed friends to a couple of bars in our neighborhood. I’m not super into Halloween.  I don’t like scary things–zombies, vampires, blood, and the sort gross me out.  I also don’t like the the over consumption and glorification of candy–processed chunks filled with drugs like sugar and caisine (not to mention an assortment of unpronounceable chemicals).  Despite all the things I don’t like about Halloween, it was a lovely excuse to be silly with friends and enjoy their company and our interesting neighborhood.

A conversation I overheard while I was splurging on my vegan field roast melt (since I couldn’t indulge in a cocktail or glass of wine I thought I’d at least indulge in a sandwich), got me thinking about some of the food choices I’ve been making lately (in my pregnant state) and also about how other’s think about food, health, and diet.  After excusing myself at 9:30 to go home for some preggo sleepy-sleepy time, I pulled out my old friend The China Study and began picking through it.  After reading just a few pages, I couldn’t keep my eyes open any longer, but I also couldn’t fall asleep because I was so disturbed by what I’d read…Here is an excerpt:
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Oct7

Autumn Runs and Freedom from “Dieting”

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How the heck did it get to be October already?  So far, we have been granted the most glorious Washington October I can recall.  The mornings have been crisp and chilly, with glorious sunshine that slowly warms up as the day rolls on.  By afternoon, it’s in the low 70′s and then the evening brings the chill again which is great for a warm dinner and snugly blankets (and early bedtimes).

I skipped out on the toddler music class and stroller fitness both days this week because I just could not stand to let these beautiful fall mornings slip away without enjoying them. So, I loaded the girls in the stroller and hit the road at Point Defiance Park each morning, allowing the girls a peaceful snooze in the old growth forests as I worked my way around 5 mile drive.  Speaking of which, I seem to be adding a few minutes to my time each week.   All of us are getting bigger–Jen’s girls, me, and the sweet potato in my belly.  I’m learning to let go and be okay with slow.
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Aug22

How Pregnancy has changed me (thus far)

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Whose belly is that??????

My body was telling me I was pregnant moments after conception–well, maybe not moments but within days I was feeling a little morning nausea on my runs.  That I might be pregnant crossed my mind but I tried to not obsess over it and dismiss the nausea as a little bug…

When my menstruation date came and went I took a pregnancy test that read negative.  I waited a few more days and Auntie Flow still had no arrived so I took another test.  It was positive–as were the next 3.  Over the next few weeks I felt my body changing from the inside out.  Of course there was the nausea and the extreme exhaustion…and then my bra started to feel a little snug, the thought of eating spinach salad (a staple in our house) made me gag, then my pants started feeling uncomfortable, and I was craving childhood foods like my mom’s Mexican Pie and Nachos (neither or which are vegan).
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May29

Vegan Starter Kit

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The other day, a friend of mine posted this on my facebook page:

Melissa! I have a couple of questions for you. 1) Do you know of any good vegan cookbooks and 2) Do you know of any blogs or other resources? I’m playing with the idea of going vegan but definitely need more resources to help me feel confident in my food choices, etc. Thanks! and how’s life? 

It probably goes without saying that I was giddy with excitement when I saw this message.   I decided to put a little starter kit together for her and for anyone else who might be teetering on the edge of a plant based life style.

Before I dive into some of my favorite resources, let me reassure you–if you eat a variety of plants (fruits, veggies, greens, grains, legumes, nuts, and seeds) throughout your day/week, you WILL get enough protein as well as all the other beautiful nutrients your gorgeous bodies needs to thrive!  Have fun!
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Feb1

Happy Cooked Food Day!

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30 days of raw is over in the Jorgensen household and we are “allowed” to eat cooked food again!  There are so many things I want to cook (and eat) that I hardly know where to start and I don’t want to over do it.  I mean, most of our diet is raw anyway so I’m trying to keep things as normal as possible so as not to throw everything off.

We began new healthy habits! During our 30 days of raw, we started a few new things that I plan to continue to incorporated on a regular basis.  The biggest one is sprouting.  Sprouting brings grains back to life.  When you eat sprouted grains, you are actually eating a living plant, full of life giving enzymes!  We sprouted quinoa, barley, wheat berries, and lentils.  We also soaked almonds, sunflower seeds, and pumpkin seeds.  We pretty much had something sprouting or soaking around the clock for the last month.  It was fun!
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Jan1

Happy 2012!

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It’s January first and that means that Joshua and I are off on our raw adventure!  I was going to get the ball rolling with a green juice feast (liquid diet for the day) but because I also needed to get a long run in for the week, I decided to postpone the juice feast until tomorrow.  Details to come…

Juice feasting or not, I’d like to see green juice become a part of our morning routine.  Its like a flooding your system with vitamins, hydration, and and enzymes first thing in the morning.  Some people say, “why juice when you could blend and get all the fiber?”  You know me, I’m a fiber fanatic, but first thing in the A.M. our bodies want nutrition and stat!  By removing the fiber in the juicing process, our bodies quickly absorb all the goodies the veggies have to offer.
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Dec16

Portage Bay Cafe and Full Circle Organic Farm

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This morning I checked out Portage Bay Cafe in the University District of Seattle with my Auntie Shawn.  We arrived just after 12:00 (I say morning because we were eating breakfast–I realize this is lunch time and technically afternoon) and the place, which is quite large, was packed.  There was a bit of a wait but luckily for us, there were two seats with our names all over them at the counter.  We took our seats and a waitress with a tree tattoo on her arm brought us coffee and without me even prompting, asked me if I wanted soy milk! The best part about the joe was the mug– it said, “Eat live you give a damn”, which turns out to be their motto.

Portage Bay Cafe focuses on providing Seattlites with local, organic, seasonal, and “oh baby, that’s good” meals in a casual setting (“oh baby, that’s good” is mine, not theirs).  Most of their producers are within a few miles of the restaurant.  This means you’re not only get super fresh, in season food, but they know their suppliers personally which provides accountability for delivering only the best!  One of their providers, Full Circle Farm, has been on my mind since Thanksgiving when I saw their table at the turkey trot my family took part in.    They are an organic farm located in Western Washington that delivers fresh, organic produces to the Northwest.  I’ve been considering signing us up for a weekly box of goodies.   I’m happy to say that my visit to Portage Bay was the clincher–We are now members of Full Circle Farm.  Can’t wait for our first box!
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Dec14

Feeding kids to death.

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Its no surprise, we’re all talking about it, American children are getting fat. Really fat.  With obesity related diseases on the rise, children today are expected to live 10 years LESS than their parents. That’s a whole decade cut off their life because of the food they eat! Kids are not being taught about food in the homes or in the schools.  School lunches mostly consist of fast-food oriented grub that’s filled with saturated fats, sugar, and preservatives.  French fries are seriously considered to be vegetables.  What?

As I listened to Oliver speak, I found myself connecting with the passion and urgency in his voice.  It really is life or death. As educators, parents, aunts, uncles, brothers, sisters, neighbors…we have to do something to save ourselves and our children’s futures. We can’t leave it to a government (although it would be nice if they got on board), its about us and caring for our families and communities.  Teaching kids about food and how to cook is a great first step.

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Sep8

Diet Smiet.

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Like so many young women, I struggled with body image through most of high school and college.  I was by no means overweight but between media and listening to other girls (particularly my fellow athletes) talk about their weight and disgust with themselves, my relationship with food quickly became a destructive force in my life.  The summer before my junior year, one of the girls I coached gymnastics with went on a diet.  She was a tall, thin, beautiful blond.  I remember thinking, “Oh my God, if she thinks she is overweight, what does she think about me?”  I started dieting that very day.
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