Lifestyle

The Way Life Should Be

November 20, 2012 by Raul Colon

Qué Linda Está La Mañana. That’s the start of an old song from Mexico. I say that today. Almost out loud. Before the sunrise. Before the storm picks up again. Before my power outage is restored. Before the cars slosh through the wet streets.

I love the mañanas. They are so peaceful. The Way Life Should Be.

You can hear the birds chirping. The crickets creaking. And, even the train’s whistle miles away. The Way Life Should Be.

In the morning, I am closer to nature. Closer to the peace that eludes far too many of us during the day. Or evening. The Way Life Should Be.

In the mornings, I can soak in prana. Breathe the fresh air. Feel the cool breeze on my bare arms. Wiggle my toes in the sand — without burning them. Or ground my feet in the grass, and feel the dew tickle the souls of my feet. The Way Life Should Be.

Being at one with nature seems so inherent. Yet, nature is almost invisible, today, in my culture. We shut out the nature that is all around us. We destroy our forests and jungles and enclose ourselves inside concrete blocks with windows that are sealed shut. Curtains and blinds further insulate us from our natural surroundings.

People prefer to spend hours and hours in the mall, or surfing for sales electronically. Our fields are tended by mega-monopolies. Not mom and dad.

As we evolve into supra-material beings, we set aside our personal lives. And our interpersonal lives. Relationships are fleeting. Or flittering. Or twittering. We no longer stay with our flocks. Our herds are herd-less.

Our youth seek the packs to stay connected. So they join gangs. Or armies. Or navies. Or seals. They carry weapons. Our kids must pass through metal detectors to go to the classrooms.

In my state, you can vote with a gun license, but not a student ID. War and murders are headlines and story lines in the media, but you have to do a google search to learn about philosophy, love, or how to plant a garden.

In some neighborhoods, you can buy beer around the corner, but no fresh vegetables. It’s easier to join the military than get a full time job. In many big name big box stores, you can buy ammunition, but not an organic apple.

I never understood why Adam and Eve couldn’t eat the apple. Nor why Cain killed Abel. Or was it vice versa? Or am I off a generation? I never understood the bible. But I understood that it sounded like paradise. Adam and Eve … naked … surrounded by nature. In the beginning. The Way Life Should Be. Qué linda está la mañana.

Decisions in Vegan Nutrition

October 17, 2012 by Raul Colon

Many of us have the bad habits of trying to eat things that might not be as healthy as we think they are. In the perfect world everything edible, with moderation, would bring nutritional value. Reality is everything, edible by humans does not necessarily mean nutritious.

I have been vegetarian for 6+ years and at almost one year of being vegan, I can say that I can still find many ways to improve what I eat.

My enemy Sugar

Every once in a while my archenemy, Sugar, starts to battle with me and more times than I want to admit, she wins.

I have found many healthier options when it comes to cookies, but I can still eliminate those options completely.

Vegan Beer and Spirits

Every once in a while I will have a drink or two making sure it is a spirit or beer that is made in a vegan friendly way. I use the Vegan is Easy app to help me decide which ones are vegans and which ones are not. But I would be better off not having any drinks.

To learn more about Vegan friendly spirits and beer, feel free to go to Barnivore Vegan Alcohol Directory and download their iPhone app.

Organic Farmer’s Market is Very Important

For quite some time we have been visiting the local Organic Farmer’s Market and making sure we get as much fresh, organic foods while supporting our local farmers.

My biggest commitment to nutrition is tied to giving a good example for my daughter to follow. In her case at 21 months old she is still breastfed and vegetarian.

As individuals we are prone to take the less healthy route when eating. But when we think about our role as parents, our minds shift and make sure we make the best choice; not only for our daughter but for ourselves as we are the primary caregivers.

Our biggest Challenge is the Family our Dog

I also see the importance in keeping our dogs healthy and the great options of dog food that are available for them. I started thinking on how to improve the quality of lifestyle of my Labrador Juanga. What I find curious is how people would sometimes feed their dog a more strict and healthier diet than what they feed their kids and themselves. In our house it is the opposite and we might need to fix that.

Nutritious and Healthy Drinks

At our local farmer’s market, we purchase juices from Martin and Itege, our Rastafarian Vegan Friends, who are encyclopedias of nutrition. Martin and Itege have a unique way of offering vegan and even medicinal drinks that have great taste and are nutritious.

Leading by Example

As parents we need to lead by example. Seeking options for kids that are fun to eat, with a high nutritional value, and with great taste is a challenge everyone should sign up for.

I try to give my daughter the best and there is a lot more to learn. I think we have done a great job, but we still have many more years of learning and exchanging information with those who care about nutrition.

In what ways do you identify and find great tasting food options that are healthy for your family?

Plant, Grow, and Eat!

April 2, 2012 by Lucymfel

This is a guest blog post by our friend Dwight Santana. @Slayerkun on Twitter.

Lately I have discovered a passion for plants. Throughout the process I realized that I can plant, grow, and depending what seeds I purchase, eat. Mostly I have been planting flowers and other type of decorative plants, until I tried to grow some plants with actual purposefulness. I mean not to underestimate the miracle that are flowers, but they are mostly decorative, and I wanted something more with a purpose.

Plant and Grow

So on my “gardener” journey, I started experimenting with cultivating some plants that are either edible or they grow some type of produce. I planted herbs, a tomato plant , lettuce, peppers (Regular and sweet), culantro (coriander), mint, “Yerba Buena” (that stuff that looks like mint and it is use to make mojitos but its not mint), “Anis” and Albahaca blanca” (white basil.)

Sweet Peppers Bail Me Out

At first I thought it would just be cool to plant them and grow them and make it a hobby. Until one day I was cooking a potato salad and I realized I had not bought some peppers. In my frustration that I’d have to change to mashed potatoes, I remembered that my sweet pepper plant had flourished!

It had green, red, and some yellowish ones. This was perfect I thought, so I picked them, really cleaned them with some water and soap, an proceeded to use them. Let me just say they were delicious and fresh. But a different kind of fresh; a fresh you can only get from just picked produce.

The fruits of my labor

Then I realized that this hobby had turned into something else, something with an actual purpose. This plant completed my meal and it saved me from running out to the store to buy peppers. This part about not going out saved me gas, supermarket parking fee, time (important) and having to actually buy the peppers that would have costed me around $3 dollars. I thought I could be onto something. The thought that I had was not just in the monetary savings; I knew that they had grown naturally without any help of fertilizers or everything else they are used at the farms. It was easy, fun, and the space I used for them is minimal.

Where I live there’s not that much space for planting but I used pots and they are doing really well.

I also thought this might be a good resource for saving some money and if you are vegetarian it helps a lot since organic food at places like “Freshmart” are more expensive.

Here is an opportunity to actually see what you are growing and what you’re going to eat.

Some plants that can grow fast are: beans, pumpkin, corn and a variety of vegetables. And here on the island many of them have a perfect weather to grow.

I may not be vegetarian, but fruit and vegetable are a great part of my meals, so slowly I might change and start a project, where I can eat just what I plant. I’m betting I’ll be saving a lot when that happens, and the best part, I really don’t need a farm, just some time, pots, and good weather.

All Photo Credits thanks to Dwight Santana!

A year as a Vegetarian

February 20, 2012 by Lucymfel

When I decided to go vegetarian last year around this time, we had just started the Veglatino site, we were about a month in a half into parenthood, and I did not know if I would last the year or break down and pass some kidney stones. Along the way I had encouragement from my partner and our Facebook group friends.

Ask your community about what to eat

I went from cooking with faux proteins and to researching what other natural sources of protein we could by instead of the processed health foods. I read information from sites such as Real Food Tastes Good and learned about cooking without those faux proteins. I also learned that I was missing out on leafy greens and other vegetables not found in our local supermarkets. If you visit Diane’s site, you will learn alot because she is a Holistic Nutrionist with awesome recipes.

I started searching for more information about local organic farmer’s and thanks to our friends at @IsasBread. She inspired us to head out to the local organic farmer’s market and buy greens. The bread she makes is also sold at this market and her vegetarian pizza parlor called Peace n’ Loaf . When we buy bread from Stephanie every first or third Sunday in San Juan, Puerto Rico, we make sure we savor every bite.

The number one motivator

When my daughter started to eat solids last year, I researched about whole foods and baby lead weaning. I was able to move her from purees to pieces of food thanks to information on sites like WholeSome Baby Food. The site provided me with charts to print out in order to track what she ate and made me want to seek other grains, vegetables, and greens for her try as she developed last year. With the help from parent mentors such as Gabriel, Sandra, and Chenille, I was able to incorporate new foods at the appropriate times for Daniela.

Earlier this year, I came upon a movement called, WhiteOut by Dr. Allen Greene. This movement re-inforced the action we took of stopping rice cereal after it constipated Daniela when she was six months old during her first week of solids. We had given her sweet potato and rice cereal with breastmilk.

Our poor girl was crying after two days of being constipated. We researched the issue and stopped the rice cereal. We did do barley cereal and then I stopped doing that after about a month. The information that Dr. Greene provides gives new parents modern information about what you should be feeding your child as a first food and staying away from those cereals. You could say it is going back to beginning of time when the first humans had no blenders or baby cubes to put pureed food in.

Eager to learn more about food

The question you are dying to know is, Lucy did you pass any kidney stones since you stopped eating meat?

Yes, I did because I went on a grilled cheese fest for like a week. So I have cut back on cheese consumption but have not gone vegan. I don’t eat as much cheese as I did last year, but I will eat ice cream or cheese every once in a while.

I did not pay much attention to what I was eating or where my food was coming from until I had my daughter. She was one of the motivating factors to change the way I saw, bought, and prepared food. Now that she is almost fourteen months old, everything I put in my mouth she wants to try. I don’t just cook latino inspired recipes for us; we have extended our cooking recipes to span other cultures such as Thai, Indian, Italian, and Japanese.

Since Raul has been moving towards veganism, I have learned how to cook with out butter and creams. I have learned how to substitute eggs for flaxseed and chia seeds. I have to tell you that I made a Vegan Banana Birthday cake and Vegan Lemon Cupcakes for Daniela’s birthday. Our family members enjoyed the cakes with out worrying about all the sugar in a store bought or bakery made cake. I have also made a Vegan Carrot Cake that is to die for Raul’s Uncle’s birthday.

I hope to continue eating as I have been for the last year and taking it one day at a time as I explore a new outlook on food.

Happy Vegetarian Birthday to Me!

Photo by marystonecypher

Planning Your Trips along Vegetarian/Vegan Oasis

January 20, 2012 by Raul Colon

One of the main challenges I have as a vegetarian trying to go Vegan at the moment is the fact that here in Puerto Rico we have very limited options to get meals while on the road.

On most ocasions we end up taking our own snacks and meals when we have to leave our home because their is a very low probability that in many places we can find a vegan and/or vegetarian friendly meal.

3 Plus Months of Staying Away From Dairy

When I was eating Dairy products on a daily basis it made it a bit easier but now that in the last 3 months I have eaten less than 10 items that contain dairy (one of them being chocolate) it makes it very difficult for us to stop and eat at a restaurant.

Savings when you don’t eat out

In our case its an economical benefit since we save a lot of money because we hardly ever eat out. Like me I know other vegans and vegetarians tha hardly every go out to eat because sadly in Puerto Rico and even some áreas of the U.S. I have visited the vegan options available at places are limited or non-existent.

Missed Opportunities for Restaurants

Every time we decide to take our food, make our own, or even invite our guests to our home because we don’t have many or any options it is a missed opportunity for some restaurants to earn some new loyal customers and earn some cash. On many occasions we would like to eat out and try somethign new but we either have to visit the few restaurants that cater to vegetarians or cook at home.

Not only do restaurants miss out on selling a plate to the vegan and vegetarian customers they might miss an opportunity to sell a plate to the friends that would love to have a meal at a place where vegetarian and vegan friends can also eat. So if their is a party of 8 and one is vegetarian or vegan the probability that the party of 8 will go to a non vegan/vegetarian friendly is very low.

Planning

When we plan to leave our home for long periods of time we end up carrying our families meal options and preparing them ahead of time. If we identified a place to eat along the way we are headed this is a huge time saver and an opportunity for the house chef to relax and maybe take part of the day off from the kitchen.

We are planning to revamp our site to include those places where vegetarians and vegans are invited and welcomed to eat.

We will be also writing another post so restaurants understand from our perspective why vegan and vegetarians will not visit your restaurant.

Do you know of any restaurants in your area that are vegetarian and vegan friendly?

Are there any that offer hispanic and latino options? Feel free to share in the comments area.

Life adjustments, Eat Smart, and Exercise Courtesy of @DrOz

July 18, 2011 by Lucymfel

This is a guest post courtesy of Chenille Hernandez.

Dr. Mehmet Oz is a well-known heart surgeon, whose wealth of knowledge on the body and health is impeccable. So impeccable that he has his own TV show and will be taking the Oprah Winfrey’s show spot on daytime TV.

I was honored and privileged to hear him speak on June 9th at ESPN Inc. where I work. What he spoke about made so much sense and is super easy to maintain in your everyday life. They are probably big adjustments in most people’s lives, but they are easy ones. Don’t we all want to live a healthy fun filled life? Well let’s start off with some basic big life adjustments. This is my take away on what I learned and am trying to live by.

First off know that You control 70% of how well you live.

So try to maintain your blood pressure at the ideal number of 115/75- easy ways to do that is:
No cigarettes/smoking, or other body toxins
Exercise 30 min daily
Healthy diet that is easy to love
Control your stress levels

Having too much fat around the waistline does not help your health situation either. It also doesn’t help in the summer when you want to wear a bikini. Your Ideal waist size should be your height divided by 2. My suggestion would be to measure yourself and try to maintain this number.

High fiber is needed for your body in order to have great health. High Fiber slows the transit of food, which increases satiety (the condition of being full or gratified beyond the point of satisfaction). Konjac fiber is from Asia, look into it to help with your diet.

Fructose in beverages block fat messages to the brain, which in turn leads to you eating 125 Calorie more than usual. 60% of the brain is fat, so cut out your soda intake as well as all the other beverages containing tons of fructose. Drink Water People!

To help drop ghrelin (starving feeling or overeating), 30 minutes before you have a meal, eat some fruit or nuts. This will help you to not over eat. @DrOz does this every day!

Another thing important point for everyone is to take your vitamins just like your grandmother always told you!

Some important Supplements are:
-Vitamins a,b,c,d,e or a multivitamin
-Minerals, calcium, magnesium, selenium, zinc Omega 3, whole foods, aspirin (over the age of 50)
-Vitamin d3 and omega 3 fatty acids- cod liver oil
You don’t need to take every single one of these vitamins, but make sure you are having some type of intake of most of them.

Hope these little adjustments help you out!

Live well, Live Long! Be happy, and put everyone’s stress in the garbage, breath, meditate, and exercise!