It is sooo good.

I may be a little behind, but to me this is new info! Maybe it is for you, too!
I always knew that breakfast was when we broke the fast of a night without food. What I didn't know was that during our night's fast, our body is working hard to clean us out. It's like a mini-detox every night! The longer our bodies have to detox, the better. When we eat late at night or too early in the morning, we are interrupting the cleaning crew and that process will shut down in order to work on the food that we just piled on top of whatever other food was there. Oops! I suggest trying not to eat anything after dinner (which should be at a normal hour) and then waiting until you are hungry to eat breakfast. This gives our bodies the max amoung of time for the nighly fast. Longer fasts are also very good for us for this same reason, like a full day fast!
For breakfast, it's best to have fresh fruit. Your body has cleaned out some old and/or toxic/diseased cells and is ready to replenish them. Fruit is great for healthy cells. The nutrients will also be best absorbed after your night's fast. If you want something upon waking, try a glass of water, or herbal tea (no sweeteners or cream).
I learned all of this last night from "the book" so I decided to try it out today!
At around 9:30, I thought I would like a fruit smoothie to break my fast. Here's what I did:
Chop one mango
About 3/4 cup fresh cut pineapple (actually left over from dinner last night)
About 6 sliced strawberries
One banana
One large carrot, peeled and chopped
I threw it all in the blender and zoomed it to a smooth consistency. I had no idea what it would taste like, but o h m y g o o d n e s s....it was sooo good! And, it was a LOT of food! I actually didn't finish it until 11, but that's because I was facebooking while I was drinking it. It filled a tall glass.
There were a few tiny carrot chunks, but they didn't taste bad. You could try using a food chopper with the carrots, or shredding them. I probably wouldn't cook them because they lose nutrients that way and it's better to have a few tiny chunks than to lose the healthy goodness.
I also learned that the best lunch food is a fresh salad. My favorite salad right now is a what I will call Strawberry Fields.
Fresh lettuce/spinach/whatever you like. I like spring mix.
Carrots...chopped, shredded, whatever
unsalted sunflower seeds
unsalted, raw almond slices
Lots of sliced strawberries
pomegranate dressing (this may not be the healthiest choice, but it is dairy free) Use sparingly or try a healthier option with less sugar.
toss, enjoy. I can eat lots and lots and lots of servings of this. It is sooo good.

In a pinch? Forgot to pack your lunch? Helpful hint from Chris: go to subway. No, don't get a sub, you're not that desperate! They sell any "sub" as a salad! Get the veggie delight salad and you can get iceberg or spinach, or both and load it up with as many other veggies as you want! Top off with oil and vinegar. No cheese!! No meat...that chicken is not very chicken-like, same with the seafood/tuna and other meats...I used to work there. Just don't do it. Stay away from the soup. Too much sodium and it is not fresh. (at least from what i observe) Steer clear of the pop/juice/tea and save money and your waistline by getting water.

I am a former pop addict. Also a recovering sugar addict. Seriously! :) My mother in law is teaching me about how awful sugar is for people. I'm eager to learn more. Don't go for sugar substitutes. They are worse. What we need to do is re-start our taste buds by doing a cleanse or fading sugar out of our diets. This will make natural foods taste sweeter to us and we can enjoy them more.
Yesterday afternoon I had a snack of sliced strawberries with sugar on top. I am so dissapointed with myself! Why add sugar? Sheesh!!
None of us are perfect, especially me, so don't be hard on yourself. Just keep educating yourself and taking steps to a happier, healthier you! :o)

Down-Sizing and Dairy-Free

A while back, Chris bought this blue shirt. It was tight when he bought it, but he bought it anyways. He also couldn't button the top button. This morning, he decided to try it on to see if it might fit. Looky looky, it DOES! Not only does it fit, but it is pretty loose and he can button the top button!!! I am so proud of him!! :o)
We've decided to be a dairy-free house. We have just become too disgusted with the dairy industry. I plan to start taking soy milk to the kids' school soon. David told me today that if they don't drink their milk at school, they don't get dessert. :(
I recently found out that 75% of people are lactose intolerant. I wondered how that could be...but then I realized that people just become accustomed to it over time. I have always had trouble with ice cream, but if I eat it often enough, it doesn't bother me. When I became a vegan 1 1/2 years ago and then tried adding dairy back in, it made me very sick until I, once again, became used to it. I think it's crazy that people who are severly lactose intolerant would add additional chemicals into their body, through medicine, to be able to consume dairy. Let's listen to our bodies.
I also learned that people who drink 2+ glasses of milk per day were 50% more likely to develop cancer. Think about the changes that people make in their lives to avoid cancer by small percentages. FIFTY PERCENT!!! Come on!!
If you are a baby and are nursing, more power to you. If you are a calf needing to get to 1000 pounds, more power to you. Otherwise, you might want to stick to green leafy foods for your calcium.

Short Clip

I have tried to explain to people before what veganism can do to help the environment and to help hungry people all over the world. People have many different reasons for going vegan: Animal rights, Health, Environment, etc.
This short clip explains how much of an impact going vegan has on our world. Listen closely.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OMZipCNZu8g&feature=mfu_in_order&list=UL

Interesting Article

My friend Kristin Iden lives in Marion, Ohio and shared this interesting article with me.
In my previous post, I shared that children need healthy food and healthy role models. This article emphasizes that point.


http://www.marionstar.com/article/20110314/NEWS01/103140304/1002/news01/Obesity-rates-hold-steady-Ohio-s-third-graders

What do you think?

Unbelievable

I have two blogs that I haven't been good about updating in the past year. The Burns Family (which became the church hunt blog) and Midwest Veg (my vegetarian journey). I am happy to announce that The Burns Family and Midwest Veg are becoming one in the same. Why is that? Well, guess whose hamburger loving hubby is turning (mostly) veg! MINE!!!!
I am beyond ecstatic that Chris and I are on the same page with the food we consume and the food we give our kids. Will David and Lilly be considered strange by their peers for eating hummus and drinking soy milk? I guess that's possible, but I see that as better than the alternative!
Even though we live in the midwest, we are so blessed to be in Lakewood, where vegetarianism/veganism is widly accepted. We have stores and restaurants with lots of flesh-free options. I hope that this trend spreads quickly through the U.S.

What happened with Chris? Anyone who knows Chris knows that this is a huge change. When new friends would ask me if my husband was also a vegetarian, I would just laugh. Even though he fully supported me in my veggie pursuits, there was absolutely no way that I could change his eating habits. He had to come to that point on his own.

Chris has been trying to lose weight for years. He has had many successes, but the struggle has persisted. Recently, he was introduced to Advocare products. This was life-changing and we are very grateful to Kristin and Chris Iden for their friendship. Chris committed to the 24 day challenge which required a very strict diet. No salt, no sugar, no dairy, only small amounts of chicken and fish. Chris thrived on this diet. After some time, the chicken felt too heavy for him and he was down to just fish for meat.

Chris has completed the 24 day challenge and he lost a total of 29 pounds. He is now addicted to this new lifestyle of healthy eating and uphill walking.
You all know that the book Skinny Bitch is what kick started my veggie lifestyle. Well, Chris has discovered Skinny's spouse, Skinny Bastard. (So sorry for these awful titles, and this is not recommended reading for young people or those easily offended)
He is having all of the same revelations that I had a year and a half ago and that I thought he would never grasp. I am so grateful!
This is especially good timing because I had just recently seriously started contemplating adding meat back into my diet. I don't know what I was thinking, but I'm so glad that God had another plan!

I would like to tell you what my 5 year old and 3 year old had for dinner last night (and enjoyed).
Small portion of salmon cooked in olive oil with walnuts on top
Sweet potato
Fresh cut pineapple
Whole wheat vegetable pasta with crushed tomato on top
Water, to drink

Keep in mind, what is written above is all that was in the food. No seasonings, butter, sugar...nothing. Kids do not need to be fed chicken nuggets and macaroni and cheese just because they are kids. They do not need to drink massive amounts of milk and they do not need to watch you consume those things, either.

We have decided to include organic fish in our family diet (including me). I love that this is our "family diet."

I am so proud of my family and so thankful for what God is doing in our lives.

More to come.

"God spoke: "Let us make human beings in our image, make them reflecting our nature so they can be responsible for the fish in the sea, the birds in the air, the cattle, and yes, Earth itself, and every animal that moves on the face of Earth." God created human beings; he created them godlike, reflecting God's nature. He created them male and female. God blessed them: "Prosper! Reproduce! Fill Earth! Take Charge!
Be responsible for fish in the sea and birds in the air, for every living thing that moves on the face of Earth."
Then God said, "I've given you every sort of seed-bearing plant on Earth and every kind of fruit-bearing tree, given them to you for food. To all animals and all birds, everything that moves and breathes, I give whatever grows out of the ground for food." And there it was.
God looked over everything he had made; it was good, so very good!"
Genesis 1:26-31a (The Message)