Things are going great...for the most part;)

I am human after all....right!?
That, and my sense of will power is close to NONE....ugh.

Thanksgiving I put being "vegan" to the side (though not too far to the side...the veggies still took up a HUGE portion of my plate) and made room for meat.
I'll be honest...this was the first Thanksgiving that after eating I didn't feel my stomach coming out of my body....and I think it's because of how I've been eating for the majority of the week.

Again, I'll say I'm about 80/20 when it comes to being plant based with my diet.

Here is a rundown of what I would like to have as a "typical" day for me: I tend to or I feel I need to eat every 2 hrs....only small "meals", if you can call them that..for me I find it helps to keep my energy level up...I try not to ever "be" hungry, because that's when I make poor choices in foods.

Morning: I wake up around 5am to make hubby's lunch (and in case I've forgotten to unpack my kids lunches from the day before, so I can get their ice packs into the freezer)...at this time I have a glass of water with lemon in it....if I'm cold, I'll warm up the water...I've also started adding ginger in as well...here's why:

Ginger: activates blood circulation in your body and improves overall radiance but also helps improve the tone of your skin!  It’s really refreshing and ginger is great to help fight off colds as well. Fresh ginger contains something called gingerol, which possesses anti-inflammatory and antibacterial properties, which aids in healthy cellular activity in the gastrointestinal tract, so make sure you are putting fresh ginger root in your water!
Lemon juice: contains high levels of potassium and vitamin C. A strong antioxidant, lemon juice is also a mild diuretic, so adding lemons to your drinking water can help support your liver and kidneys in their natural job of flushing out toxins.

Breakfast: Most mornings it's a shake (plant based....mostly Vega brand...LOVE the vanilla almond one, especially with frozen cherries, it's like drinking cake batter..) with a cup of unsweetened almond milk and whatever frozen fruit I have on hand.

Other times (when I'm in a cereal kind of mood and if it's in the cupboard) I'll have a bowl of GoGo Quinoa cereal (in cocoa flavour) with almond milk, nuts (like almonds or walnuts) and fresh fruit. But I don't have this too often...just like commercial cereals it has lots of sugar (I usually only do a 1/2 c serving)...but it's yummy (and wheat and gluten free)

I like having the options I guess.

Snacks: I have a few snacks during the day....they range from almonds with 1/2 apple, walnuts with 2 tangerines, hemp protein shake (mostly after a workout or at the end of the day), "trail mix" (raw nuts with goji berries and unsweetened coconut), and right now I'm just starting to experiment with roasted chickpeas..

Lunch: salad...I say salad but it's more like a big bowl of whatever raw veggies are in my fridge that day...and I add in hemp seeds and pumpkin seeds for my fats and protein (did you know that Hemp is a complete protein source, meaning it contains all 10 amino acids that the body requires, as well, it's a great source of omega-3 and omega-6...hemp also contains Edestin, an amino acid specific to hemp, that has been considered an integral part of our DNA which then makes hemp seeds the closest plant source to our own human amino acid profile...interesting isn't it!?)
...I've also been getting into making my own dressing...just made my own creamy ranch using soaked cashews as the "cream" base...it was really good (I'll put the recipe on here soon!)

Dinner: This is where I usually have some meat (if I'm feeling like it)...or I just do a quick stir fry and add in hemp seeds again, sesame seeds (which are a great source of calcium!!) or if I have had time during the day, to try out any vegan recipes that I happen to come across (right now I'm into making "patties"...zucchini and chickpea to be exact...kind of my "meat" on my plate...)

To get more food ideas, I tend to go to my "books"...right now they are "Whole foods to Thrive", "The Thrive Diet" and "Crazy Sexy Kitchen"...and Pinterest is always a good place to find things;)








.....AND....now here's where for "the most part" comes in....(BIG sigh here)...and maybe my extreme (and ever lasting?) AH-HA moment!

For the past month...I've been eating like CRAP. And it's showing...actually it's amazing that it's showing so quickly and how....WARNING...picture isn't that appealing...be careful.

When I first went "vegan" and decided to go all vegged-out and processed food free....amazing things happened....
* the extreme redness in my cheeks went away (meaning the inflammation in my body was disappearing), my skin tone and colour evened out with this as well (many people commented on how "glowy" my skin was!)....minimal makeup was needed.
* my extreme dry skin disappeared (especially on my feet...which were TERRIBLE...and I'm an aesthetician to boot!)...
* my hair did amazing things (was shiny, easy to manage...I have very curly hair..)
* and the pain that I experienced on a daily basis...whether it was a headache, joint pain, back pain etc...went AWAY. swear. on. my. life.

then....I started eating meat/highly processed foods again....the redness in my face came back (and increased my use of more foundation and concealer!! ugh..)....my dry skin has reappeared...strange, but only my right foot has thick dry skin on it (remember I warned you about the picture...it's posted way at the bottom, so if you don't want to see, you don't have to....you're welcome!)....and my hair has completely revolted against me (and the "Grey Family" has invited more friends to join them on my head...lovely)...and headaches became a daily thing.

So....seeing how I can visibly notice the difference between how I feel when I'm eating "vegan" versus how I feel when I'm eating "non-vegan"....you'd think it would be an EASY decision on how to resume my dietary lifestyle.....but it isn't...everyday is going to be some sort of struggle...our "world" isn't equipped for healthy eating...you can see junk food everywhere you look...when I'm watching the morning news, commercials for Wendy's hamburger combos are on...really!!?? At 7am there needs to be a Wendy's commercial?

Anyhow....it will be a long (and I think frustrating) road...but if it means I feel good...my body is getting what it needs, and if I can ignore those strong cravings....then it should be ok.



Ok...now...here's the picture of the bottom of my foot....sorry.

Happy health~