Day 4 - 21 Day Plant-based Eat Healthy, Feel & Look Great Challenge

Comment

Day 4 - 21 Day Plant-based Eat Healthy, Feel & Look Great Challenge

Welcome to Day 4! I'm posting one day early for Sunday June, 4th. Today I don't cook at home a lot. This shows you what happens when I eat out, but I give some tips for eating at places like steakhouses and other American restaurants. There is a nice recipe for my favorite decadent smoothie in there too. Thanks again for everyone who is giving this a go. :)

Comment

Day 3 - 21 Day Plant-based Eat Healthy, Feel & Look Great Challenge

Comment

Day 3 - 21 Day Plant-based Eat Healthy, Feel & Look Great Challenge

Day 3, (posted 1 day early) for Saturday, June 3rd. Join us on our third day of the challenge. You can follow along as is or use it as a general guideline. Remember this is a snapshot of what I am eating, you may need to adjust for your individual needs. Allows feel free to snack on fruits, vegetables, smoothies, nuts and seeds as you see needed. 

Comment

Day 1 - 21 Day Plant-Based Eat Healthy, Feel & Look Great Challenge

Comment

Day 1 - 21 Day Plant-Based Eat Healthy, Feel & Look Great Challenge

The 21 day challenge starts Thursday, June 1st. After some inquiry from some of my yoga students, I decided to provide a daily snapshot of the way I have been eating. I post the days challenge 1 day early if you want to stay on top of it. Try some of the recipes or just use it as a general guideline towards eating more fruits and vegetables. If you start in a little later that's okay too. The goal is to begin better habits that may one day shift your whole way of eating. 

Comment

Resources

1 Comment

Resources

HAPPY COW APP

If you are at all serious about doing this, stop what you are doing and download this free app now. This app is a lifesaver and a game changer. It's crowd-sourced in nature and will let you know where there are vegan and vegetarian options around your geographical location. I use it all the time when I'm traveling and sometimes I just check it out to see if someone has discovered something I haven't seen yet. If you are shy about downloading an app, you can search their data base on your desktop

 

ORGANIKA KITCHEN

3546 Post Rd, Southport, CT 06890

This is a newer plant based mostly take-out restaurant on the Westport/Southport Border. My husband and kids, love, love, love this place. The owners are super friendly too. I'm very thankful it's here. They are very relatable to most palates. I enjoy the juices and the Mediterranean bowl and the nourish bowl although I always ask for more greens because they area little too heavy for my tastes.

 

CATCH A HEALTHY HABIT

39 Unquowa Rd Fairfield

Hands down my favorite. It's all raw so you might want to start with the smoothies and the desserts if you are new to this or order their salads. The owner Glen has been very helpful to me. At one point this year he leant me 3 cookbooks and showed me which kind of dehydrator to by. They really know what they are doing over there. I would order anything on the menu there. 

 

TRANSITION FOODS

These are meat and cheese substitutes for the most part and the ones I really like. I refer to Wholefoods here and in Fairfield County, CT there is one Wholefoods that tends to always fail with their selection. It's the Westport one. I only depend on produce and bulk items when I walk into that store. The specialty vegan section is frustratingly lacking. It's worth your while to venture out to Wholefoods in Fairfield, Danbury or Darien. Sorry they aren't as convenient for some of my local friends but worth the extra 10 minutes of drive time. 

Gardein products- In Fairfield County, CT I find that frozen section of  Wholefoods and Stop & Shop keep the best selection. Two product winners are the crispy tenders (think chicken mcnuggets) and the turkey cutlets with gravy. I use the crispy tenders with Engine 2 wraps (sold at Wholefoods) with shredded lettuce, tomato, cucumber and honey mustard dressing. It's really yummy and I haven't seen a kid not like it yet.  The turkey cutlets are pretty much larger crispy tenders. I use them instead of chicken and prepare a chicken parmesan. Actually, my husband made it last time and I handed him a can or red sauce a slices of vegan cheese and said put it together. He did a great job! You really just need to follow the directions on the back and then bake it for a little while with the red sauce and cheese. DO NOT use the gravy. I just bought them because I needed the correct size.

Beyond Meat- We like the beefy crumble for a Sunday dinner cheat day. I have used them to make a chili using a tomato base and then pour them over fries that I make in an air fryer with cheese on top. See I can be bad too :) and also as a substitute for ground beef in organic hardshell tacos. My kids and husband love the Beast Burger. I'm personally not a fan but so what. 3 out of 4 like it in our house like them. They also sell a burger that looks like ground up burger in the tofu section at Wholefoods. This one tastes too much like the real thing for me, but who knows this might be the burger that allows you to get your cholesterol in check. So it's all good.  

Field Roast- this company is one of my favorites. I love the the field burger! Although I do feel not so healthy after eating it. It's seitan based but it's kind of worth it some times. This one is also a crowd pleaser. They also make the best cheese for burgers, grilled "cheese" and chili cheese fries. It's called Chao Slices the original tastes similar to American. The other flavors are awesome too. You will find these items in the tofu refrigerated section too along with vegan mayos and lots of other fun stuff. 

 

Veganessentials.com They sell everything including harder to find specialty refrigerated grocery items! 

 

If you are looking for more inspiration check out the documentaries, What the Health and Conspiracy. There are a lot more, but I think these are the most important given our current political situation. Both of my kids loved the What the Health documentary. My youngest daughter (11) who had been a flexitarian for the past few years committed and has stayed a vegan after watching that film. :)

Did you ever wonder why humans love animals but still eat them? I just finished reading Why We Love Dogs, Eat Pigs, and Wear Cows: An introduction to Carnism and absolutely love it!

Check back soon, I will be updating often.  

1 Comment

Transitioning from a Plant Based Diet to Vegan  -My Experience Training with Sri Dharma Mittra

1 Comment

Transitioning from a Plant Based Diet to Vegan -My Experience Training with Sri Dharma Mittra

Last summer, my heart filled with excitement. I had waited 5 years to enroll in a 500 hour level yoga teacher training. The reason I had waited so long, was it never felt quite right. I had enjoyed my 200 level training at a local yoga studio in Los Angeles, California, but I knew the next time around, I would have to find a guru who truly lived a life of pure yoga.

 

During my first training, I decided to commit to a vegetarian diet for the duration of the program. While it wasn’t part of the program to eat vegetarian, I felt it would be right to honor the yogic tradition and give me the discipline I needed to see if I could commit to a vegetarian diet. 

 

As a young adult, I watched my father and mother-in-law both die from horrific cancers. In both cases they were related to lifestyle choices. I began to search for answers as I didn’t want my family and I to suffer the same demise. I read The China Study and watched as many vegan documentaries I could find.

 

When I started the first day of the 200 level training, there was eye rolling from some of the students and teachers.  A few others who were already vegetarian or vegan helped me figure it out along the way. While it seems completely bizarre now, I honestly didn’t know what to eat. 

 

After I completed the 200 hours, I decided to stay vegetarian and work on transitioning into a plant-based diet. I started to trend away from more leather but still, I was slippery. I think at the time, I was still more selfish and ultimately concerned about my own well being rather than seeing the whole picture. 

 

I continued to eat plant-based and was almost always perfect about it for the next few years. It was easy to do. I lived in Los Angeles. Supermarkets were full of wonderful plant-based options. There were vegan restaurants for any occasion popping up everywhere. My husband had joined me on the plant-based bandwagon and my daughters for the most part were vegetarian. Our friends accepted our lifestyle. All was going well. 

 

We uprooted our family in 2014 to Fairfield County area of Connecticut. We maintained a plant based diet at first but started getting sloppy. Istarted practicing yoga at an Ashtanga studio where many of the yogis were vegetarian. I found it difficult to meet new family friends and decided at that time to eat cheese. My perspective, although I completely disagree with it now, was that if we didn’t at least eat pizza, people would be too uncomfortable to invite us over. I had taken a break from teaching yoga when we moved. As I look back now, I had lost my grounding and was ignoring my inner voice. 

 

This slip from the plant based diet lasted for about a year. After 10 months of an Ashtanga yoga practice I switched back to a vinyasa style I had been practicing and teaching for the years before. As fate would have it, I ended up taking a class at a small Wilton studio called Hello Yoga.  The teacher, Molly Lehman had studied with Dharma Mittra. Her classes were wonderful! I was hooked. Very soon after that, they asked me to teach there too. 

 

As I began to teach more, I went back to the plant-based diet. I had found my yoga community and allowed my true nature to reveal itself.  The teachers at the studio and I took a field trip to NYC, to take a master class with Sri Dharma Mittra. I was blown away. This 77 year old man, kicked my ass. His class was very different from what you experience at many yoga studios these days. He had a great sense of humor and practiced the inversions in such a child like manner. The class was demanding. While physically, he was unbelievable, you could also sense his seriousness with the practice. He focussed on more than just the physical yoga poses. What I remember specifically from that particular class was the final resting pose, savasana. He led us into a 15 minute deep, meditative savasana. It was amazing. At the end of the class, he mentioned there was wonderful vegan food across the street and to go check it out.

 

About a year later, Sri Dharma Mittra was offering a Life of a Yogi Teacher Training which fulfilled the 500 hour Yoga Alliance Certification. I knew in my heart this was where I needed to be. As I applied for the training, I was so happy to see that one of his requirements to go through the program was that you had to transition to a vegetarian diet prior to your first day at the intensive. 

 

On day one of the first 8 day intensive training, he made it perfectly clear how he felt about the suffering of the animals and why he is vegan. He let everyone know that when you keep animal products, especially meats in your refrigerator, it becomes a morgue. You could see so much feeling in his eyes. I think it was at that moment, I switched my mindset from plant-based to vegan. I felt at home. I was grateful that I had found a teacher who not only was keeping the vegetarian teachings of yoga alive, he was transitioning us all to vegan. 

 

He emphasized that in order to set forth on the path of Self Realization, one must first honor the yogic ethical discipline of ahimsa. This means observing non-violence in action, thought or deed. This is why vegan is the best choice rather than vegetarian, especially in modern times with our farming commercial practices. 

 

As we neared the end of the first intensive module, we were given a diet plan to follow during the 2 month break until the next session. While we were allowed to just stick to a vegan diet which included a cheat day about once a week, what he really wanted us to do was follow the yogic diet that he designed for this portion of the training after studying with his Guru Sri Swami Kailashananda Maharaji a.k.a. Yogi Gupta, 1913-2011. 

 

The Dharma Ahimsa Diet Plan was broken down to liquid and solid food separately. While I won’t go into all the specific details, it is basically a diet which includes sprouted almonds in a specific smoothie daily each morning, along with fresh green juices,  fresh and steamed vegetables, fruits, lentils, spouted breads, whole grains, tofu, some approved oils and not too much else. There was no salt, onion, garlic, spices, caffeine, or alcohol permitted. The largest portions of food was to be eaten before 6pm. I was a bit overwhelmed. 

 

Our training materials included a CD of a recording of Yogi Gupta’s 1969 lecture in New York about Yogi Food Concepts. I listened to the CD in my car multiple times trying to understand exactly why I would make this seemingly drastic change to my diet. He spoke about how we can obtain all of the nutrients we need from food and pranayama (yogic breathing techniques).  This had been revealed to the ancient yogis through meditation and deep contemplation. The healthiest foods for consumption were live, sprouted raw nuts, beans, and lentils, raw or lightly steamed vegetables and fruits ranking next. I was impressed at how Yogi Gupta was ahead of his time. It seems like modern society and science is slowly coming to the same conclusion he revealed over 40 years ago! 

 

I adapted the diet plan. After a few weeks, my taste buds adjusted. I gained tremendous flexibility in my yoga practice as my body removed inflammation. I had more energy that I’ve every had in my life. I lost about 10 lbs. Any remaining body fat that I couldn’t seem to get rid of in past attempts was gone. 

 

After I returned to the second module of the training, we were released from the restrictive diet. We were allowed any vegan food we wished. I ended up sticking with most of his plan, while adding some different kinds of nuts along the way. I increased the amount of times I ate per day to maintain my new weight. I didn’t want to lose anymore. 

 

After another 8 amazing days with Sri Dharma Mittra, his senior mentor teachers and my lovely new student friends we were off to finish the internship part of the program in our home towns. We were given another diet to follow for the next month or two. This one was similar to the first but now included, pepper, homemade hummus, ground sprouted almonds, flax and sesame seeds. While I do use a cheat day for vegan food or caffeine, I will stick pretty close to the plan. 

 

During the training one of the mentors had expressed that Dharma makes a point to always say something about being vegan in every one of his classes. People come from all over the world to learn from this master who has taught in the city for over 50 years. He knows that sometimes he sees a new student for only one day and wants to make sure everyone has the opportunity to hear that message. 

 

You can find out where you can see Sri Dharma Mitra at his site, http://www.dharmayogacenter.com. I highly recommend that anyone interested in yoga or being vegan check him out while he’s still teaching.  

 

As for me, I will continue to teach yoga and be vegan most likely for the rest of my life. I want to help people make a meaningful connection with yoga and the vegan lifestyle. I feel very grateful to have had the opportunity to learn from this master teacher. 

 

1 Comment