Health

1 Comment Posted on Health, People, Recipes, Storytelling, Uncategorized, vegan

What Do Vegans Eat for the 4th of July? Just Ask Me, The Manliest Vegan on the Internet!

It’s understood in our American culture that a real man takes pride in eating bacon, sausage, and beef.

Especially on July 4th. He simply (and ironically) laughs in the face of high cholesterol and onset diabetes.

Why? Because it’s manly to eat meat.

And because… ‘Merica!

How else could a man possibly get enough protein?

However, I am currently taking America by storm, as I am stumping both scientists and sociologists alike…

They are being forced to take notice that I am in deed the manliest vegan on the Internet, yet I am still alive and well.

Miraculously, I am perfectly in the correct height/weight/age range. I not overweight nor underweight. In other words… I’m getting enough protein.

How is it that I am not a walking skeleton? Why does I seem so happy and content in life? 

I am currently baffling our nation, as Americans everywhere are trying to wrap their minds around the fact that I haven’t eaten any pork (which includes bacon and sausage) in 8 and a half years, any meat at all in 5 and a half years, and no eggs or dairy in over 4 years.

My protein comes from six sources:

Veggies, fruit, beans, grains, nuts, and seeds.

So what does a manly vegan eat on July 4th? Whatever I want, as long as it consists of veggies, fruit, beans, grains, nuts, and seeds.

For this July 4th, my wife made a vegan lasagna (containing noodles and veggies) and some vegan sausage by Field Roast Grain Meat Co. as well. And I liked it.

I didn’t feel left out. I didn’t feel victimized. And I didn’t feel jealous.

Why? Because I am the manliest vegan on the Internet.

Instead, other men surely felt left out that they are not part of my manly vegan club.

(Mic dropped.)

 

2 Comments Posted on fatherhood, food reviews, Health, parenting, People, Storytelling, Uncategorized, vegan

Louisville, Kentucky is Definitely a Vegan Friendly City: Officially Endorsed by The Manly Vegan (That’s Me, Obviously!)

Fact #1: I am the manliest (and most humble) vegan on the Internet- and the entire world refuses to refute my claims.

Fact #2: Your family will have no issues finding plant-based, cholesterol-free food in Louisville, Kentucky.

Just a little over a month ago I proclaimed that Destin, Florida is still not a vegan-friendly town; after my 2nd visit there in 2 years. But being the emotionally intelligent man I am, and being a man who understands how the free market works, I quickly acknowledged that it’s not Destin’s fault they don’t cater to vegans:

There is simply not a demand in Destin for vegan food. Destin instead attracts a lot of families with young kids who are okay with feeding their families fast food.

Louisville, Kentucky is the complete opposite. It attracts enough crazy people like me; people who depend on veggies, fruit, beans, grains, nuts, and seeds for their nutrition; as opposed to animal products.

I was extremely impressed by Louisville’s Whole Foods. One of the best I’ve seen, actually! Not only was it conveniently close to the Louisville Zoo where my family was visiting, as we ventured in the ever-manly 2017 Toyota 4Runner, but the Louisville Whole Foods had the most impressive array of vegan baked goods; including vegan donuts, which I have found are rare beyond the West Coast.

By the way, my wife and kids are vegetarians; not vegan.

Something peculiar, in a good way, that I noticed about the Louisville Whole Foods was this:

There were are lot of older people shopping there. I have never seen so many healthy, fit senior citizens in one place.

It was such a delight. Because that will be me in 20 years. I will be the healthy, fit 56 year-old vegan jogging man. Forget migrating to Florida when I retire! I just need to find my way back to Louisville!

My only regret is that I didn’t get a chance to try the alluring vegan jerky of Stan Chase’s Louisville Vegan Jerky Co.

I did, however, manage to quickly snap pictures of his vegan jerky options for future reference. By the way: Stan, if you’re reading this, and want to send me some samples, I would be honored to do a special blog post, and YouTube video, featuring your product…

After all, I am the manliest vegan on the Internet, as we’ve already well established. I am clearly the perfect demographic fit for your jerky.

So yes, fellow vegans of America… go to Louisville, Kentucky.. You belong there.

There are plenty of options of places you can eat, like Chuy’s, where I enjoyed the veggie fajitas; which I ordered without sour cream or cheese.

Ah, I am just so happy. So happy to know that despite my major disappointment in Destin, the ying to the yang exists in Louisville.

Fact #3: Louisville, Kentucky is man enough for the Manly Vegan.

Fact #4: Destin, Florida is not.

Fact #5: I am very curious about vegan jerky now.

6 Comments Posted on Health, Recipes, Uncategorized

I Used Rosemary Essential Oil for Hair Loss for 6 Months and This is What Happened…

On a daily basis from December 25th, 2016 until June 25th, 2017, I faithfully applied rosemary oil onto my scalp. I also included other oils as well, along with pumpkin seed oil in pill format.

1 ounce almond oil (carrier oil)

18 drops rosemary oil

3 drops rose hip seed oil

3 drops sage oil

3 drops lavender oil

-Plus one pumpkin seed capsule daily (but 2 daily for the first month)

The results? Inconclusive.

6 Months Before…

New hair did not grow in. However, there is no obvious evidence that my hair continued to thin either. So I can’t prove it didn’t maintain and keep the hair I still have.

But obviously, no… it did not serve as some magical cure for hair loss that people on the Internet want it to be.

6 Months After…

Believe it or not, I’m now technically more popular as a YouTuber than I am as a daddy blogger. For the past year and a half, I have been making about 3 videos a day about hair loss on my YouTube channel.

My original intention was to create popular videos for children to watch with their parents, like my Jack-Man series…

 

As well as my Uncle Nick series…

 

But the free market decided otherwise. What people actually chose to spend their time watching were videos where I casually talk about hair loss.

I hit the 1,000 subscriber mark back in February, and now I’m over 1600. What that means is this: I make supplemental income now, as a YouTube. It’s currently over $50 a month, as YouTubers get a cut of the revenue from the commercials that play right before my videos.

And that number of subscribers is growing daily.

 

So while you know me as the daddy blogger, there are over 1600 YouTube subscribers who know me as an accidental expert on hair loss. Pretty weird, huh?

 

Did using these oils help my hair loss? I provided pictures though, so you can be the judge.

And in case you’re interested in trying out some shampoo that contains some of the oils I use everyday, here’s a link to Amazon.

1 Comment Posted on fatherhood, Health, parenting, People, Storytelling, Uncategorized, vegan

Dear Holly: Sharing Spinach Snacks with Your Brother’s Dinosaur? Or Simply Making Them Disappear Another Way?…

1 year, 2 months.

Dear Holly,

Tuesday when I came home from work, the first thing you and Mommy and your brother did was check out our new ride for this week, the 2017 Toyota 4Runner. Twenty minutes later, we finally made our way back into the kitchen.

While Mommy made pizza, and your brother made fossils from his dinosaur toys and Play-Doh, I helped feed you a new bar that Mommy picked up last weekend at Kroger: Happy Tot Organics Fiber & Protein Soft-Baked Oat Bar, Apples and Spinach flavor.

I told Mommy, “Wow, look at Holly! She really likes this apple and spinach snack bar. We need to keep buying these!”

As I was pinching off little clusters for you so that could easily consume them, I noticed you were really intrigued by what your brother was doing with his dinosaurs.

So I borrowed one that had an open mouth, and stuffed one of the clusters in it. You loved the challenge of using your little fingers to remove the green food from the Triceratops’ mouth. To heighten the theatrics of the event, I made low-pitch growling sounds, in an effort to convince you that he dinosaur was wrestling you for the food.

You growled back and you ate the bar, cluster by cluster.

Finally, the bar was gone and I had to open a 2nd one for you!

A few clusters into it though, you finally had your fill. At that point, I took you out of your high chair and we played on the carpet with your toys until dinner was ready.

Fast forward to about an hour and a half later, after you and your brother were asleep, and Mommy and I were finishing up cleaning the kitchen.

As Mommy was wiping down your high chair, she commented, “Either Holly dropped a lot of these bits from that bar… or she was hiding them down here the whole time!”

Hmmm…

Holly, you may have done an excellent job of successfully convincing me you were actually eating those apple and spinach bars. Perhaps I was so caught up in playing dinosaur with you, that you were secretly just dropping the clusters beside you without me ever realizing it.

If so, nicely done!

Love,

Daddy

1 Comment Posted on Health, Uncategorized, vegan

I’m the Crazy Guy who Actually Buys the $6 Fluoride-Free, Sodium Lauryl Sulfate-Free Toothpaste

That’s right. When you see those expensive “natural” toothpaste brands without all the mysterious chemicals and think, “Seriously, who would waste money on that?!”…

Well, now you’ve got a face. It’s me.

Though I’ve got most people fooled with my Facebook pictures, having them think I’m just a regular married man with two kids, as we enjoy a leisurely outing at the Nashville Zoo on the weekend, the truth is… I’m secretly buying that hippie toothpaste.

For the past decade, I have refused to buy “normal” toothpaste. I want some toothpaste with some character. I want some toothpaste with soul.

So whether it’s the legendary half-Jewish Dr. Bronner’s All-One Toothpaste, or some other seemingly obscure brand that also refuses to put fluoride in the product, I just typically go with the one that’s on sale. So if I’m lucky, I might only have to spend 4 or 5 bucks…

Plus, I have found that these vegan-friendly brands of toothpaste tend have more interesting flavors.

I despise mint flavored toothpaste. It’s too demanding. I don’t want to have to be consumed by the flavor of my toothpaste.

So natural cinnamon is a great fit for me. I also enjoy the anise flavor as well.

Oh, and today, I lucked out at Whole Foods and found “coconut chamomile” flavor on sale for $3.49, which was nearly 50%.

Seriously, how cool am I? Tonight I will get to brush my teeth with Jason’s “Simply Coconut Soothing Toothpaste” made with coconut oil, aloe vera juice, chamomile extract, and witch hazel water.

But no fluoride and no sodium lauryl sulfate.

Perhaps by default, I have spent most of my life being obsessed with brushing my teeth. I always brush my teeth a minimum of twice each daily, sometimes more.

I keep a toothbrush and toothpaste in my desk drawer at work, just in case the moment feels right.

As for the rest of the world, let him use minty Colgate or Crest. Let them spend half the amount of money as I do on toothpaste.

Meanwhile, I’ll be the crazy guy declaring, “It’s all a big conspiracy, man. The government’s been secretly putting small amounts of toxic fluoride in our drinking water…” as I brush my teeth with six dollar toothpaste void of such similar evil corporate agendas.