vegan

1 Comment Posted on September 22, 2015October 5, 2015 Health, vegan

Vegans Don’t Get Enough Protein and the World is Still Flat

Take a look at me in this corny picture I took yesterday using a self-timer and a tripod.

If you saw me, and didn’t know who I was, would you think to yourself, “I wonder if that guy is getting enough protein…”?

Chances are, you see a guy who really doesn’t have weight to lose or to gain in order to be healthy. And that’s the truth: For my age and weight, I am perfectly in the “optimal” range.

I’m 34 years old, 5’9”, and weigh around 153 pounds (I fluctuate between 148 and 155 throughout the year).

But back in 2008, I peaked at 178 pounds, which according to the chart, put me in the “overweight” category.

So now that we’ve established I’m not underweight, or overweight, why is it that in the past few years, people have asked me if I’m getting enough protein?

After all, that’s not something people typically ask each other:

“Are you getting enough protein?”

In fact, I challenge you to name 3 people you’ve personally known in your lifetime who weren’t getting enough protein; excluding people with eating disorders or people dying of a disease- neither of which apply to vegans like me.

My guess is you can’t think of even one person.

Yet we’re obsessed with making sure people getting enough protein. Meanwhile, the irony is that we’re getting too much protein in the form of meat, which leads to cancer and/or diabetes.

But the moment people find out I’ve been a vegan for about 2 and a half years (and a vegetarian for more than a year before that), they feel compelled to make sure I’m getting enough protein.

Why is that?

Because we’ve collectively been brainwashed to believe that without eating animal products, we will not get enough protein.

In reality, vegans easily get enough protein from 6 easy sources: veggies, fruit, nuts, seeds, beans, and grains.

And again, look at me. How am I not living proof that vegans get enough protein?

Granted, if all I ate was white bread and apple juice, I could see the concern. But that wouldn’t be a healthy, balanced diet. To me that’s the equivalent of someone who “experimented with veganism in college.”

However, they failed because they weren’t actually getting enough all around nutrition, instead, they depended on processed foods.

It’s simple: I eat plenty of unprocessed veggies, fruits, nuts, seeds, beans, and grains.

I don’t have a gym membership. Instead, I simply take at least two 10 minute walks each day, as well as ride my mountain bike and go for runs throughout the week.

I don’t count calories. I don’t go hungry; I eat as much as I want. No portion control.

And I’m very happy.

Plus, I’m actually healthy. At least that’s what Dr. Thomas John of Vanderbilt Primary Care told me back in April when visited him for a check-up.

He even confirmed I’m getting enough protein; though I didn’t bring up I was a vegan until after he had already told me diagnosed me as healthy.

Now consider my former life. I was more than 30 pounds heavier. I had dyshidrosis; a medically incurable skin disease related to eczema.

I had constant sinusitis, sinus pressure, headaches and acne.

Of course, now, those are all a thing of the past.

Why would I ever go back to that?

This is what works for me. It’s not for everyone. However, I’m living proof it’s not crazy, but instead it’s a quite effective lifestyle.

I feel there’s a decent chance some people glanced at the title of this post and assumed I was “finally admitting vegans don’t get enough protein.”

Nope.

Actually, I’m showing how outdated it is to believe such a concept. It’s as crazy as still believing the world is flat.

Bonus:

Check out this video I made about what I refer to as “The Protein Conspiracy”…

Also, here’s a professional article, 8 Great Sources of Vegan Protein.

Plus, Vegetarians Can Expect to Live Longer, Study Shows.

1 Comment Posted on September 21, 2015September 21, 2015 Uncategorized

Dear Jack: Family in a Camry- “Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk Amusement Park”

4 years, 10 months.

Dear Jack,

For our final stop of our Camry family road trip across northern California, we drove from Monterey to Santa Cruz, before ultimately heading back to Sacramento, where Mommy’s side of the family is from.

Mommy had told me that once before she had been to the Santa Cruz Boardwalk Beach Amusement Park and thought our family would really love it.

So we put it on the agenda, following our trip to the Monterey Bay Aquarium.

Here’s my video I made about our trip there:

To get going, we stopped at Staff of Life’s Café Del Sol for some vegan donuts. I know that to an outsider that may not seem like that big of a deal, but for a vegan dad like me, it’s epic.

Where we live in Nashville, there is no easy access to vegan donuts; they definitely don’t sell them at our Whole Foods. It would be different if we lived in Portland, Oregon; which I hear is the “Vegan Donut Capitol of the World.”

But where we live, donuts made without eggs and milk basically cease to exist. Therefore, we enjoyed our breakfast!

When we arrived at the Santa Cruz Boardwalk, we had about 45 minutes to walk there on the beach; since we had arrived before the amusement park itself had opened yet.

Our family budgeted $50 for the 2 hours we were there; and we based on the 2 hour time limit on how much we were willing to pay the parking meter.

You definitely wanted to play some games, so bought $50 worth of tickets so we could go on two rides with all 3 of us, then let you go on several rides by yourself, then spend the rest on games.

I loved how ambitious you were! You rode your very first roller coaster with Mommy and me: the Sea Serpent. It was pretty thrilling for a boy who’s not quite 5 years old yet.

But at 42 inches tall, you were just tall enough to be permitted to ride.

Our other family ride was the Cave Train Adventure, where we were able to “time travel” to the days of caveman and dinosaurs; it was completely dark in there, except for the black lights.

For your individual rides, you were able to fly a plane as well as a drive a monster SUV, a boat, an orca whale, and a big rig truck. You loved it all!

And then there were the carnival games…

I made sure you only played the games with the sign that read, “A winner every time!”

Your best venture was Bob’s Fishin’ Hole. On the first try, we accidently figured out that the blue fish, which flowed further away from the ledge nearest you, were the heavier fish, which were worth the biggest prizes.

So you caught 3 blue fish and one the biggest prize they had: A giant blue pirate fish stuffed animal. On the first try!

By the end our 2 hours, you had a prize in each of the 3 sizes.

We returned to the Camry with 7 minutes to spare, then he finished our day with dinner at Whole Foods, where we enjoyed more vegan donuts.

And finally, that’s it.

That’s our whole Camry family road trip. We had a blast. I look forward to next year when we travel to San Diego for your Uncle Jake’s wedding.

Love,

Daddy

Leave a comment Posted on September 21, 2015September 21, 2015 Uncategorized

Dear Jack: Family in a Camry- “Monterey Bay Aquarium”

4 years, 10 months.

Dear Jack,

Our family had so much fun road tripping in the 2015 Toyota Camry from Sacramento to Monterey, California. Of course, our main stop on that leg on our trip was the historic Monterey Bay Aquarium.

Here’s my video I made about our trip there, where you can also hear the jingle I wrote for them:

First though, we stopped at Ike’s Love and Sandwiches; a sandwich shop that openly welcomes vegans and vegetarians. I had a very manly vegan meatball sub; as the picture demonstrates.

Once we parked the Camry, we enjoyed our walk from the parking garage to the Monterey Bay Aquarium. I liked taking the picture of you standing in front of the giant otter at one of the shops there near Monterey Canning Company.

Dear Jack: Family in a Camry- “Monterey Bay Aquarium”

The aquarium itself was everything we could have hoped for. I was snapping pictures the whole time as you pulled Mommy around, saying, “Hey, look at this fish!”

You seemed most excited by the sharks; as well as the station where we got to draw our own sea creatures, then “set them free”, by watching them swim across the giant screen in front of us.

I think my favorite part was how they presented the jellyfish; in colored lights which really showed off their translucent bodies.

Plus, an extra benefit of visiting the Monterey Bay Aquarium is that our family got to check out the Pacific coast; as the aquarium is situated right there on it. Looking down from the pier, we were able to see some seals in their natural habitat; just chilling out on a rock.

I love it that you’re at such a perfect age now to truly appreciate such a fun and wondrous event. It was such a treat for our family to experience the Monterey Bay Aquarium!

Before heading to the hotel for the night, we drove to El Cantaro Vegan Mexican Restaurant for dinner, as we talked about our favorite parts about the aquarium.

Mommy got to drive the Camry from there; you fell asleep within a few minutes.

Our next and final stop for our Camry road trip took place the next morning, when we visited the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk Amusement Park…

So stay tuned!

Love,

Daddy

1 Comment Posted on September 5, 2015September 5, 2015 car reviews, food reviews, parenting, Storytelling

Dear Jack: Family in a Camry- “Daddy Date”

4 years, 9 months.

Dear Jack,

This is the 1^st of several entries in my new miniseries, Family in a Camry. In August while on our annual family vacation, Toyota loaned us a 2015 Camry for our road trips around California.

So I decided to compile all our video footage and photos into a narrative to remember our trip.

After a day of flying from Nashville to Sacramento, you and I set aside a day to spend together; just father and son.

I struggle for a relevant phrase to describe a fun father and son day of activities. In the past I’ve referred to it as a “dadventure,” but “daddy date” is the phrase most people identify.

However, that’s a tricky phrase because it typically refers to father and daughter dates. When you talk about a father and son having a “date,” it does sound kind of weird.

Oh well, I’m committing to the phrase. I don’t care.

But I should also acknowledge there are critics out there who would say, “Why do you have to call it anything at all? Why can’t a father and his son hang out without it having to be a big deal as compared to if a mother spends time with her child? That’s like when people say a dad is babysitting.”

My reasoning is this: Mommy and I both work full time. It can be challenging enough for us all 3 to have good quality time together; much less just 2 of us at a time.

Therefore, it’s worth celebrating when I can spend a whole day with you. I am very aware of the unique dynamics that occur when you and I get to hang out together doing fun stuff.

So with that being said, once we settled in, you and I had some good times together at the Elk Grove Park; in the midst of a family reunion. We discovered that you and your cousin Scarlet have the same owl toy; you got yours in the Nashville airport on the way there.

You and I went fishing. It was something you had been looking forward to for weeks. You even especially packed your bug catching net for the event.

Yes, you are a vegetarian and I am a vegan, but we still made it work…

We didn’t have much luck with the fish in the pond there at the park, but you were very successful at “catching snails.”

For some reason, there were large, vacated snail shells all around the edge of the pond. So you filled your net with them and you were quite proud of your catch.

Later we went to go a see a movie together. While you were set on going to see Minions, for some reason you changed your mind on the drive there. Actually, I’m glad you did, because we loved Disney Pixar’s Inside Out. I’ve written a couple of blog posts about it, too:

5 Reasons Why Inside Out is the More Feminine Version of Big Hero 6

Who Is the Real Villain in Disney Pixar’s Inside Out?

I thought it was funny how you told me your favorite part of the movie was the female character, Sadness, who you told me is “a boy with long hair.”

For lunch we went to a vegan restaurant, which is a franchise, called The Loving Hut. I let you choose what we’d have for dessert. You chose the orange vanilla cake; we split it 50/50.

I was happy that successfully shot you with the straw wrapper.

Of course, I created a 2 minute video that features everything I just told you. So here it is:

But wait, there’s more…

We also spent a couple hours together filming the 19^th webisode of Jack-Man as well. Here’s that video as well.

So there’s the 1^st official entry of my Family in a Camry miniseries. Still more fun to come…

Love,

Daddy

Leave a comment Posted on August 31, 2015August 31, 2015 car reviews, parenting, Storytelling, Uncategorized

Dear Jack: 2015 Toyota Avalon Road Trip to Natchez Parkway Bridge/Butterfly Funeral

4 years, 9 months.

Dear Jack,

For this past week our family was given a 2015 Toyota Avalon XLE Touring Sport Edition to review as a family.

With us having just got back to Tennessee from our annual family vacation in Sacramento, where we reviewed a 2015 Toyota Camry, we decided to lay low this week.

Yet still, Saturday we managed to travel to midtown Nashville to visit the all new Baby+Co.; a spa-like place to give birth, sans the epidural.

Then on Sunday we decided to trek to Franklin to see the iconic Natchez Parkway Bridge. You nor Mommy had ever been there; whereas I had last summer when I reviewed the 2015 Lexus NX.

While I had the camera rolling as you used the parking lot curb as a balance beam, you stopped in your tracks as you discovered a butterfly that had breathed its final breath.

You were inspired to give it a proper (yet impromptu) funeral, so we did.

As we were getting ready to leave, after taking some family pictures, you were concerned:

“Where is the food? I thought there were nachos?”

I explained that the name of the place we were at was “Natchez”, not nachos.

We are a family who essentially never goes out to eat; not only because we are vegan/vegetarian and our options are extremely limited, but also because we are Dave Ramsey followers and it’s difficult to justify weekly restaurant money when it could be going to our “new car” fund.

However, you apparently caught Mommy and me at the perfect moment, because on the drive home Mommy discretely asked me, “Is there somewhere on the way home we might want to stop for lunch?”

Granted, I was happy to oblige; it would save me from dish duty.

We saw a Chili’s coming up on the right. Mommy told me that she recently went to a Chili’s with Grandma and your Aunt Jenny while we were on vacation, and she was surprised how accommodating they were to her vegetarian lifestyle.

So we turned into the Chili’s parking lot. They were so accommodating to my vegan and your and Mommy’s vegetarian requirements, that they actually had a whole page for “dietary restrictions” on their kiosk on the table.