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Saturday, March 24, 2012

On the Road again - Trip to Santa Monica

We recently spent a few days in Santa Monica. Prior to the trip I sought out restaurants with vegan options. There were many! They even had a few 'vegan only' places. I had to try one of those. For the road trip down we prepared a couple of veggie sandwiches and packed an ice chest. We included fresh fruit and some hummus with pita chips. This prevented us from having to hit the fast food chains on highway 5.

The first night, after picking our son up in LA, we met up with my cousin, Jake, who lives in Santa Monica. He brought us to the Library Ale House. This is a pub/restaurant. I ordered a veggie burger with sweet potato fries. It came with a whole grain bun, avocado, onions, tomato, lettuce, lots of Dijon. It was quite satisfying especially with a pint of golden ale.

Jake then buzzed us over to Hotel Casa del Mar for a night cap. You talk about swanky, WOW! It was quite lovely indeed. My dessert that evening was:


·         A nice glass of buttery Chardonnay
·         Time with my loved ones
·         Live jazz in the lounge    
·         A wonderful ocean view through lighted palm trees with the Santa Monica Ferris wheel in the distance.
Now that beats a slice of chocolate cake any day! :)




The next morning the hotel we stayed at offered, like many do, a continental breakfast where I could get whole wheat toast with peanut butter and fresh fruit.   In the past I would have been all over the bagel and cream cheese and the pastries! We also had brought down in our cooler a small soy milk creamer to use in coffee which worked out very well as the hotel only had dairy cream.

It was a beautiful 80 degree day on the Santa Monica Pier with lots of beach goers.  We stopped off for lunch at an outdoor cafe in the Promenade where I ordered a large spinach salad and an ice tea.   I had plenty of carbs the day before so my body was screaming for greens!

Later that evening we decided to try the vegan restaurant, Golden Mean. Now I hadn't been into eating meatless meat, but this restaurant was all about that, so I tried the chicken and cheese tacos. I'm sure it was made with soy and natural flavorings to make it taste and texture like chicken and cheese and to my surprise, it really did. It was very good. It came with a side of seaweed salad (I'm not quite feeling that yet. It looked like translucent worms)   :-/




There is another restaurant, Real Food Daily, that we will have to try on our next trip down.

I only wish vegan would become more main stream. These modest establishments do not offer wine or any 'non healthy' options. They are purists. All you can order for a beverage is organic tea. Now that is all fine and good, but I'd like to see a 'Mostly Plant Based' restaurant. In fact that is what I'd call it. It would be for those that aren't going to wig out if a veggie burger shared the same grill as the turkey burger. That does not bother me. AND you would be able to order a glass of wine, for goodness sake! What enjoyment do us vegans have if we can't order a glass of wine! I'm on vacation! The more I think about it, a 'real' vegan, would not consider me a vegan. Oh well, I'm a 96% vegan, and sticking with it!

For the trip home we stopped off at a Whole Foods. If you have access to one of those, you are good to go! We ordered some veggie sandwiches for the road, packed our cooler, and off we went!

We had a great time on the trip. We got to visit our youngest son and see where he lives in L.A. I shopped at Bloomingdales the first time ever and bought a sun hat. We saw an amazing concert (my son performed in) and got to visit with family. The food is only a small part of the adventure and I'm starting to get the hang of making vegan work on the road.

Saturday, March 17, 2012

The 5 Month Checkup

  

It has now been over 6 months as a vegan and I'm hanging in there.  Last month I had another cholesterol test. The local pharmacy offers health screenings every few months and I decided to pay the $38 dollars for another full cholesterol test (HDL, LDL, triglycerides)   I had been so looking forward to this one as I was certain my total cholesterol would have considerably dropped.  The previous test  I had dropped 27 points in my total cholesterol to under 200 for the first time in years and that was  after only being on the vegan diet  6 weeks! 

BUT! after 5 months a vegan,  I INCREASED my total cholesterol (TC) by 4 points!  Bummer!  On the bright side, this was mostly due to my good cholesterol (HDL) increasing.  This actually reduced  my TC/HDL ratio to 3.29  which is well within an optimum range.  Even though I was satisfied with the results, I was disappointed and surprised the overall total didn't drop more.  I am now up to 204.   Side note:  I also took a glucose reading and that was 78 - normal level.  Not that I have had problems in the past, but just want to keep track since I have been upping my carb intake.         

With that said,  This month I'm going to focus on dropping a few more pounds by cutting back on some of the pasta/nuts and TRY to introduce exercise a few times a week (now that's the tough one!)  but I'm determined to see my stats improve and I would like to see my energy increase.  Energy is one area that I have not seen benefits yet.  I had low energy before the diet and still not much energy.  The exercise should help.    I feel like I am doing a science experience on myself, but it is empowering.

Successes To date:  Keep in mind not only did I cut out dairy and meat, but also most white flour processed foods, replaced with whole grains.

1- Dropped total cholesterol 23 points & ratio in optimum healthy range 3.29 
2- Haven't popped a TUMs in 6 months. No heartburn!
3- Never have the irritable bowels or stomach aches that I used to get frequently.
4- My hands and feet are not cold like they ALWAYS used to be. I think my circulation must be improving.
5- Dropped 7 lbs.
6- I rarely get those sugar low feelings.   I guess you call that hypoglycemic.       

Have I had any adverse side effects to a vegan diet? 

Well, there hasn't really been any adverse side effects.  Other than being a little gassy.   Okay, VERY gassy! :-/  Yes, you will naturally be more gassy as you introduce more fiber and nutrient-rich foods in your diet. Sometimes I hear my stomach singing out loud while it is trying to digest all that goodness. Embarrassing as that may seem, it is a heathy symptom!   As my sister would say , "TMI" -Too Much Information. (I hope none of my friends read this)    

 Initially I may have had withdrawals from chocolate. That was tough to give up.  Now, I can honestly say I don't even crave or think about desserts. If one is staring me in the face, I may choose to take a bite as part of my 4% non-vegan allowance, but I can take it or leave it.

Also in the first few weeks as a vegan I did experience some headaches, and I rarely had got headaches prior to that.  Maybe it was a detox period, but it passed.  

No turning back now!! :)