The Glass is Half Full

Hello again! So sorry for the absence, but now this blog is back in business.

Last night, I went to see Gene Baur speak at a local college. If you are not familiar with him, Mr. Baur is the founder and president of Farm Sanctuary, an organization that rescues injured and abused animals from factory farms and allows them to live a peaceful, natural life in the rolling hills of Watkins Glen, New York. The group also does a ton of policy and legal work for the rights of animals.

Listening to Mr. Baur speak confirmed so much of what I've learned over the past two years about compassionate eating and the power we have every time we pick up our forks and dig in to eat. We have to power to choose foods that will not only make us healthier but will also save the lives of millions of living beings that currently live in squalid, heinous conditions. Gene Baur has devoted much of his adult life to documenting factory farm conditions and trying to change policy. He shared photos and experiences he has had, much of it painful to look at and overwhelming to comprehend. As my eyes were tearing up, I listened to this man speak with such equanimity and I thought, how does he find the strength to continue fighting for this cause he believes in when the odds for change are so overwhelming? 


So, I asked him just that question. "How do you not become completely overwhelmed when you can only make small changes while the problem is so huge and systemic?" And of course his answer made complete sense to me, as I often try to see the glass half full rather than empty. Mr. Baur, the optimist, said, "You have to focus on the positive changes." He went on to tell us that he knows he is making a difference when he looks into the eyes of an animal at Farm Sanctuary that he saved from a certain and unnecessary death and sees that creature living a peaceful and natural life. He said that when things seem so overwhelming, you have to focus on the victories and the progress that you have made. This is so valid, both in his struggle as well as all of our own.

I am so incredibly happy that I went to hear Gene Baur's lecture last night and I highly recommend that you check out the Farm Sanctuary website (listed in my blog list) to read more about the group's work. I want to take the lessons from last night and apply them to this blog. Sure I may include an uncomfortable fact or article from time to time on here, but I want to focus on all the positive things that come with being vegan. After last night, my commitment toward living a vegan lifestyle has been renewed and positively strengthened and I am going to sit down and start reading Baur's book right now!

Beautiful sight of the morning

While I was running this morning, I witnessed a beautiful sight. The sky above my head was clear and the stars were still out. The air felt a smidgen "cooler" although I use that term loosely. And off to the west, there were big, poofy clouds with heat lightning flickering continuously. It was like a light show while I was running. Fabulous! Have a healthy and happy weekend!

(Note: this picture above was not taken by me, but you get the idea...)

Self-regulation

I remember my husband coming home from a food industry conference a few years back and telling me that Pepsi is now healthy! His sarcasm was obvious, of course, because he knows this comment would now push every health-related button in me. But his point was that Pepsi was launching a product that would be "vitamin-infused" or something like that. Most companies that put out the processed crap in our grocery stores try such marketing techniques to reassure us (and when I say "us" I am especially referring to mothers who want to make sure we are feeding our children proper nutrition) that we are doing right by our kids. That is why Apple Jacks can be considered part of a balanced diet and french fries are listed as a vegetable in the school lunch guidelines.

Bottom line, people: think about what you are eating. If you choose to eat Cookie Crisp cereal because you want to junk out on something sweet go for it. Just don't fool yourself into thinking that it really has whole grains in it that are going to keep you healthy. Read Mark Bittman's latest in the Times this morning about food industry self-regulation...

http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/08/02/when-big-food-makes-its-own-rules/?ref=opinion

Your Garden

A Facebook friend of mine put up a post today that really made me think. He started by saying "Every thought, intention, and action is a seed." He then went on to say that it is our job, our responsibility to plant each seed and tend to our garden. Sometimes we plant good seeds, sometimes half seeds, sometimes bad. Whatever we plant will grow.

This post just really inspired me today because I have been struggling with staying positive the past week and a half. I've been lacking motivation and I've been allowing certain things weigh on me. I'd happily blame it on the continuous triple digit heat or the fiasco in Washington but I know this is not true. I've planted a couple not-so-great seeds and tended them with not-so-great water too. And I've done this with full awareness.

But I've also learned some great lessons by doing this. When negativity creeps up on me, I feel like I've developed some great tools to help me work through it and I've put those tools to good use this week to pick myself up. For example, I've been starting each day with the positive passages in my Daily Word, which is a spiritual magazine. I try to read at least one or two entries from the "Crazy Sexy Life" blog each day. I've surrounded myself with positive friends and made plans with them to give myself something to look forward to. I've reminded myself that I don't have to eat 100% healthy, 100% of the time. These are the good seeds. These are the seeds I will tend to with all my energy.

There is no time to wallow. Pick out the weeds and work on your beautiful garden.

A Taste of Vegan Chicago

I went to Chicago this weekend to visit some dear friends of mine from high school and just had to try some of the Windy City's vegan cuisine. As you can see from the picture above, I was even able to get in my green drink! (Don't worry, I also sampled some of the best hot fudge and non-vegan cupcakes I've ever had too). We visited Karyn's Raw Cafe in the Lincoln Park neighborhood. Now, it's not all raw so in addition to my green drink (called the Peaceful Warrior) I also had the Wild Rice Mix which included rice, barley, avocado, spinach, tomatoes and other yummy veggies. It was fabulous. Here's what it looked like:

My friend had a portabella dish, seen here:

Overall the food was quite good and I felt especially healthy after the Peaceful Warrior. Attached to the cafe was a little vegan shop with everything from vegan desserts to trail mixes to books about healthy eating. There are also several other Karyn's restaurants in Chicago so check them out if you happen to be in the midwest! Here is the website: http://www.karynraw.com/

Yesterday, we went to brunch at a place called Orange, which was also in the Lincoln Park neighborhood of Chicago. It's not a vegan place (and I didn't eat vegan there) but they had a very interesting and yummy dish I wanted to share. It's called Frushi and it is essentially coconut rice with fruit instead of raw fish (thank you very much). It was a delicious treat and a nice addition to the rest of my meal. Here is the website for Orange:  http://orangerestaurantchicago.com/Main.html

Rabbits and Crickets and Owls, Oh My!

There is nothing better than getting up just before the sun and going for a nice, sweaty, early morning summer run. Okay, well maybe there are a few things that are better like sipping rum punch on a Caribbean beach or box seats behind home plate at the Stadium, but for crazy old me, not much beats running with the bunnies. I'm going out of town this weekend and, given that my half marathon training plan has started, I needed to get in a six mile run that I would normally do on a Saturday. I got up at 5 and took off on a steady pace through my neighborhood. The first thing I heard was a Great Horned Owl hooting in a tree across the street. Of course the crickets were chirping away as well. And what run would be complete without the 22 rabbits that I saw in the hour that I ran? Now, running in the morning may not be your idea of a good time, but as I was out bonding with nature this morning, one thought was going through my mind.

I love this. 


Even if you don't want to run in the morning, go out for a walk just as the sun is coming up or stand on your front porch or just open the window and listen to the sounds of the morning. It can be beautiful so matter where you live. We currently live in a very typical suburban area but I remember clearly my early morning runs when I lived in Hoboken, NJ. I would get up early and get my run in before work and it was just as beautiful, if not more so, as it is here. Part of my run took my along the piers by the Hudson River and there, right before me was the most beautiful skyline in the world. It was amazing! I guess my point is this: take some time to get up early, enjoy the silence before your crazy day starts, and breathe. You might be surprised how well your day will go after that.

Knowing where your food comes from

It's easy to turn a blind eye to where our food comes from. As long as it's in the neat, clean aisles of the grocery store, it must be fine, right? As we speak, however, immense cruelty and suffering is being dealt out to the animals that will become America's sirloin, prime rib, and bacon. But two things are happening in regards to this cruelty: 1) We don't want to hear about it because, let's face it, we'd be morally obligated to give up our bacon double cheeseburger (what a shame that would be!) and 2) We're not being allowed to hear about it or see it because factory farms won't let people in to see how their operations run. Is there not a serious problem when we are not given access to see where our food comes from??? 


Read this article from Mark Bittman and, if you choose, look for his articles in the NY Times. He brings up excellent points and makes a case for being more conscious of our food choices. Hopefully one day his message and others like it will be loud enough for everyone to hear...

http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/07/05/banned-from-the-barn/?ref=opinion