This one is obvious. I decided no pictures. Lol. I hope no one was actually expecting before pictures. My last official Friday weigh in on October 30th had me at 147.8 lbs. I'll use that as a metric.
WHO released the Meat is Death story earlier this week. The timing was weird and fortunate. I'm tired. My last meat was chinese bbq and my last dairy was a No Name yogurt. I'll see you guys (the food) soon in a month. Peace out.
Saturday, October 31, 2015
Friday, October 30, 2015
Motive #4 - Simplicity
Tonight I moved all my stuff from the 2nd story to the basement. I didn't even bother counting how many trips that took. Every year I move up and then later that year, I move down... don't ask. Last time I moved up, I did 70 trips. Crazy. Bringing stuff up the stairs is harder. I'm sure I did it in less trips going down cause I was able to carry more per trip. There's nothing like moving all your stuff to make you wish that you had less stuff. Also, every time I make this move, I tell myself that I'm going to get organized and throw stuff away. I might actually do it this time. November is going to be a busy month of torture.
During the summer, I read "the life-changing magic of tidying up; the japanese art of decluttering and organizing" by Marie Kondo. I really liked the book and wanted to declutter and throw things away/give to charity. We just have too much stuff and in addition, I suffer from the ailment of not being able to throw stuff away. I also watched a documentary called Tiny House on Netflix when I was on vacation in September. I think I can live in 200 sqft. I almost kinda do now. I feel like I've got a strange attraction to simplicity/minimalism. I also like the idea of a tiny house minimizing our global footprints. In a strange way, I think becoming part time vegetarian in the long term would also help reduce my global footprint. I don't want to get on a soap box cause I like my steaks but I also realize how much land it takes to raise cattle.
Right now nothing feels simple about being vegan. I feel like it requires so much planning and thinking ahead, but when I when I was more naive, I thought vegan diets were simpler. I'm imagining my first week in November just eating raw food. Maybe when I get sick of eating carrots and celery, I'll look into making some real food that actually needs to be heated.
Stay tuned tomorrow for my pre-vegan diet shirtless before pics. Peace out.
During the summer, I read "the life-changing magic of tidying up; the japanese art of decluttering and organizing" by Marie Kondo. I really liked the book and wanted to declutter and throw things away/give to charity. We just have too much stuff and in addition, I suffer from the ailment of not being able to throw stuff away. I also watched a documentary called Tiny House on Netflix when I was on vacation in September. I think I can live in 200 sqft. I almost kinda do now. I feel like I've got a strange attraction to simplicity/minimalism. I also like the idea of a tiny house minimizing our global footprints. In a strange way, I think becoming part time vegetarian in the long term would also help reduce my global footprint. I don't want to get on a soap box cause I like my steaks but I also realize how much land it takes to raise cattle.
Right now nothing feels simple about being vegan. I feel like it requires so much planning and thinking ahead, but when I when I was more naive, I thought vegan diets were simpler. I'm imagining my first week in November just eating raw food. Maybe when I get sick of eating carrots and celery, I'll look into making some real food that actually needs to be heated.
Stay tuned tomorrow for my pre-vegan diet shirtless before pics. Peace out.
Thursday, October 29, 2015
Motive #3: Education
When I was younger, I was at a church summer camp (that actually happened during May long) and decided that I was going to take as many showers in a day as I could. The rule was I couldn't take back to back showers. I actually had to do something in between showers. The site had a gym and so we'd play basketball before breakfast and after breakfast and before lunch and then we'd do group activities after lunch and then more basketball before dinner and etc., . Anyways, I took 7 showers in one day. It started to really hurt. My skin was getting pretty raw. Refer to motive #2 here.
What is education? Is education learning facts or is education an experience? I learned that 7 showers in one day is too many showers. I've already started learning a lot preparing for this crazy vegan month. I've learned that I need B12 supplements cause I can't really get it anywhere else. I learned that spinach is rich in iron but your body doesn't really absorb any of it. I learned how much almond milk cost when on sale at Superstore. Those are the facts I've learned so far. **Disclaimer... all nutrition "facts" are loose facts because everything seems to be in dispute.
Come November, I'll get an education in what it's like to be "vegan" and I'll actually taste the almond milk, but I'll save words on that for later. Peace out.
What is education? Is education learning facts or is education an experience? I learned that 7 showers in one day is too many showers. I've already started learning a lot preparing for this crazy vegan month. I've learned that I need B12 supplements cause I can't really get it anywhere else. I learned that spinach is rich in iron but your body doesn't really absorb any of it. I learned how much almond milk cost when on sale at Superstore. Those are the facts I've learned so far. **Disclaimer... all nutrition "facts" are loose facts because everything seems to be in dispute.
Come November, I'll get an education in what it's like to be "vegan" and I'll actually taste the almond milk, but I'll save words on that for later. Peace out.
Wednesday, October 28, 2015
Motive #2: Torture?
Going vegan can't be that bad. I was feeling kinda nauseous this morning so for lunch today I had some triscuits and a granola bar. That's vegan right? I haven't been feeling very hot this week at all. I'm not really sure what it is. Hopefully I feel better so that October can go out with a blast with meat.
Torture. I don't think I chose to go vegan in November for this reason. There were other circumstances that made sense for me to do it in November, but November has been a month where I've knowingly chosen to torture myself. Well, that statement is true for the last 2 years at least as I attempted Nanowrimo. I was able to do it my first year even though I didn't have a great idea for a story. I think my premise for the 2nd year was better but I stopped about a week in. Writing is such torture. It's silly that I've decided to go vegan in November and to blog about it. It's like I'm doubling up on the torture this month. Triple if you count what's going on at work.
I think torturing ourselves is really a first world problem. People do it all the time. How many people do you know that have trained for a marathon? I mean really train. That is torture for even those who love to run. It kills your feet and knees. You chafe everywhere. When Boxing day rolls around, people will camp outside in the freezing Canadian winters to be first in line to save $20 on a DVD player. ** Insert something stupid you chose to do recently for no reason here. **
The first world gives us the luxury of doing these stupid things. Some of them might actually be good for us but we tend to take them to the extremes. I mean, yes, I could have just been a vegetarian in November. That would certainly have been an easier challenge but I had to be more extreme. I had to be "vegan". But I can totally change my diet and still not miss out on the nutrients I need. I have so many options for alternative foods and if there are nutrients I can't find easily in food, I can easily buy supplements to get me through the month. Hmm.. has this turned into a thanksgiving post? Peace out.
Torture. I don't think I chose to go vegan in November for this reason. There were other circumstances that made sense for me to do it in November, but November has been a month where I've knowingly chosen to torture myself. Well, that statement is true for the last 2 years at least as I attempted Nanowrimo. I was able to do it my first year even though I didn't have a great idea for a story. I think my premise for the 2nd year was better but I stopped about a week in. Writing is such torture. It's silly that I've decided to go vegan in November and to blog about it. It's like I'm doubling up on the torture this month. Triple if you count what's going on at work.
I think torturing ourselves is really a first world problem. People do it all the time. How many people do you know that have trained for a marathon? I mean really train. That is torture for even those who love to run. It kills your feet and knees. You chafe everywhere. When Boxing day rolls around, people will camp outside in the freezing Canadian winters to be first in line to save $20 on a DVD player. ** Insert something stupid you chose to do recently for no reason here. **
The first world gives us the luxury of doing these stupid things. Some of them might actually be good for us but we tend to take them to the extremes. I mean, yes, I could have just been a vegetarian in November. That would certainly have been an easier challenge but I had to be more extreme. I had to be "vegan". But I can totally change my diet and still not miss out on the nutrients I need. I have so many options for alternative foods and if there are nutrients I can't find easily in food, I can easily buy supplements to get me through the month. Hmm.. has this turned into a thanksgiving post? Peace out.
Tuesday, October 27, 2015
Motive #1: Anything you can do, I can do better.
People are doing new things at the gym all the time. The gym is constantly getting new equipment and there are constantly new people there doing weird exercises I've never seen before. And I always wonder to myself, "Can I do that?" or "Is that really heavy?" Last Friday, there was this new blonde and she was doing hip raises with a barbell across her hips with 45s on. I wondered if I can do that and I'll probably never know cause I've never seen anyone else do it and I don't want to be that guy... the guy that takes the time to set up some exercise and then end up not being able to do it.
Recently some of the channels I follow on Youtube have gone on vegan challenges and I wondered if I can do it. Some of them looked so miserable. I don't think I would be that miserable but now I'm getting scared. I have no idea what I'm going to be eating in November, but I can do it better than you. Peace out.
Recently some of the channels I follow on Youtube have gone on vegan challenges and I wondered if I can do it. Some of them looked so miserable. I don't think I would be that miserable but now I'm getting scared. I have no idea what I'm going to be eating in November, but I can do it better than you. Peace out.
Monday, October 26, 2015
Introductions (Vo = 0, t1 = - 5 days)
Newton's first law for writers: a writer in motion will remain in motion and/or a writer at rest will remain at rest until acted on by an external force.
I'm at rest.
I have not written for a while and I can feel it. My keyboard misses me. You only really need a mouse to binge watch on Netflix. Consuming content is so easy once you gain momentum. Making content is hard... just like staying on topic.
So a couple weeks ago, I decided I would go "vegan" for the month of November. But why the quotation marks? I was told that what I'm going to do is not technically vegan. I will still wear a leather belt. I will wear runners made of cow. And I might dine on cookies that have eggs on the ingredient list. I'm choosing to use the word vegan as a short hand to mean that I will not being eating meat, dairy, cheese, fish, and eggs. This is my month and I make the rules.
Join me on your own adventure with your own rule or follow my journey and maybe I'll throw in a poem here or there. Stay tuned for my motives. Peace out.
I'm at rest.
I have not written for a while and I can feel it. My keyboard misses me. You only really need a mouse to binge watch on Netflix. Consuming content is so easy once you gain momentum. Making content is hard... just like staying on topic.
So a couple weeks ago, I decided I would go "vegan" for the month of November. But why the quotation marks? I was told that what I'm going to do is not technically vegan. I will still wear a leather belt. I will wear runners made of cow. And I might dine on cookies that have eggs on the ingredient list. I'm choosing to use the word vegan as a short hand to mean that I will not being eating meat, dairy, cheese, fish, and eggs. This is my month and I make the rules.
Join me on your own adventure with your own rule or follow my journey and maybe I'll throw in a poem here or there. Stay tuned for my motives. Peace out.
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