Don’t Be SAD!
Yesterday I ate:
– Big slice of blueberry breakfast polenta (heated in the microwave) and a chocolate milkshake (1 frozen banana, 1 cup unsweetened chocolate Almond Breeze, 1 tbsp each wheat germ and ground flax, 1/2 tbsp peanut butter, sprinkle of cinnamon). I made the milkshake the night before and by the morning it was the consistency of pudding! So I ate it with a spoon. I prefer it as a drink, though, so I won’t be making it in advance again.
– 2 raisin scones, 1 pluot, and a couple carrots
– Spaghetti squash with marinara sauce (I had this for lunch and later for dinner, too)
– 1/2 cherry pie Larabar, an apple, and a small handful of spicy crunchy chickpeas (I don’t think I baked them for long enough; they weren’t very crunchy. I also forgot the oil. And didn’t have some of the spices so I used some different ones. In short, my recipe really isn’t much like the one I’ve linked to, and maybe that’s why mine didn’t taste very good)
– 3 almond butter balls. I changed the recipe from last time. This time I used 1/4 oats, 1/4 cup homemade granola, 2 1/2 tbsp almond butter, 1 1/2 tbsp agave, 1 tbsp sesame seeds, 1/2 tbsp wheat germ, 1/2 tbsp ground flax, and 2 tbsp flour. Then I dusted each ball with cinnamon. They’re delicious!
A Kitchen Exchange
Yesterday as I was making the almond butter balls, I told my sister how I think that I would really enjoy going to a cooking school. Two minutes later I dropped the bowl with the batter off the table so that some of the batter spilled onto the floor, and then as I was bending down to pick it up, I clumsily managed to knock another (sticky) dish onto the floor. My immediate despaired response to this was “I shouldn’t be allowed in the kitchen anymore!”
She wasn’t very sympathetic. Instead she reminded me that Julia Child once dropped an entire roast chicken on the ground. Then I reminded her that I once dropped an entire roast pumpkin on the ground. That cheered me up.
The Vegan Food Pyramid
There are a number of “new” food group guidelines floating around the Internet, including a few vegan food pyramids, such as this one that I found:
I like the way it’s set up. It seems fairly reasonable. But I doubt that it’s a good indication of how most vegans really eat (or, if you add in dairy/meat products, how omnivores eat).
Veg Source has a great article showing the stats of what we’re actually eating. Don’t be afraid; click on over! It’s colourful with pretty graphics.
Not sure you want to check out Veg Source and face the facts of what (North) Americans are eating? No problem. I’ll share with you a highlight:
The average American
consumes the following caloric breakdown:
Fruit: about 3%
Veggies: about 8%
Meat: about 17%
Grains: about 20%
Dairy: about 52% of daily calories!*
This is a good example of SAD, or the Standard American Diet. I’m going to go out on a limb here and guess that about half the fruit is in juice form, over half the veggies are in French fry form, half the meat is fried or heavily processed, three quarters of the grains are stripped of nutrients, and three quarters of the dairy is cheese. That’s all guesswork on my part, but if we’re serious about it… really. What do we really eat?
I am by no means saying that dairy is the devil. Veg Source clearly is not a dairy fan, but I really enjoy dairy. That being said, I find it interesting that we’re consuming so much in the way of dairy products. Do we really need that much cheese? (Um… okay, don’t answer that question).
The Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine has their own veganized variation on the food groups. Theirs includes: three+ servings of fruit, 2+ servings of legumes, 5+ servings of whole grains, and 4+ servings of vegetables. I think a really important aspect about these vegan food pyramids and food groups are that there’s a real need for variety. Once dairy and meat is eliminated, it might at first seem that the choices are really limited, but there are plenty of options to choose from!
Even when we do include dairy and meat in our diets, we often fall back on the same-old recipes. We need to eat a variety of food if we want to have a balance of nutrients (so sayeth the one who can’t go a day without large quantities of almond butter…). We’re creatures of habit; when we find something we like, we tend to stick with it.
One of my main goals of the Vegan Challenge is to eat as wide a variety of food as possible, and also to eat as much real food as possible. I could easily eat chips and tofu and sweetened soy beverages all day long, and sure they might be vegan, but it’s not healthy at all! And a huge part of this challenge is to see just how healthy one can be on a diet like this.
I think I’m already learning my answer: depending on how you do it- how much research, time, and effort you put in- veganism is much like just about any other diet. If we’re vegans, vegetarians, omnivores, or practically carnivores, we can be as healthy or unhealthy as we want to be. And that’s something worth thinking about.
*I did a little extra fact-checking on this information and found that other reputable sources such as the USDA say the same thing:
– The average American eats about 194 pounds of meat each year;
– The average American eats about 143 pounds of potatoes each year;
– And just for my own amusement, I learned that the average American eats 68 quarts of popcorn a year! I think I eat twice that.
Great post! I so agree; variety in our diets is so important.
Right now, I don’t feel that I can eliminate meat and dairy from my diet (things are difficult as it is and one more change is just too much). However, I have found that by focusing on truly eating lots of raw food earlier in the day, I naturally eat a lot less meat and dairy. I have always eaten lots of salads & veggies, but by eating them exclusively for a meal, I realize that I didn’t used to eat as many veggies as I thought… I don’t need to add “stuff” such as cheese, eggs and croutons, to my salad. For me, these additions are okay once in a while, but not for every meal.
I love reading about your challenge! 🙂
I had no idea that Americans ate SO MUCH dairy! Crazy. I guess I forgot. But it does make sense if I think about my friends and what they eat. I wonder how much dairy the Swiss eat. It is in everything here! Culinary school is fun. I would DEFINITELY reccomend taking even a few classes at a community college or something.
The dairy part got me too, Sagan. Wow! And now I wonder where I fall on that curve (I love milk, cheese, ice cream…). Hmmm…maybe it’s time to cut back a bit…
No worries, Sagan, I’m a klutz in the kitchen also. It doesn’t keep me from cooking, but it does provide some great stories! Did I tell you about the time I microwaved my salad?!!! I guess that was due more to absentmindedness (and hunger) rather than klutziness, but I am still a force to be reckoned with in the kitchen…lol!
I never knew there was a vegan food pyramid. Very cool. I think you would be hard pressed to find anyone who ate strictly by nutritional guidelines, vegans and non-vegans alike.
Unfortunately, I know I’m probably contributing to the too much dairy category. Oh, for the love of cheese! I certainly hope its not over 50% of my caloric intake. I’m gonna need to take a look into this…there is always room for dietary improvement.
for me it is all about listening to my body and eating what makes it run most smoooothly and not grow sluggish or depressed.
For me that DOES tend to be low dairy but *whispers* high in the fish arena 🙂
haha, I eat popcorn everyday! However, it’s homemade air popped popcorn, with just a bit of oil and salt, just how I like it!
Sorry about the spill. I can be clumsy in the kitchen too, but I think everyone has their clumbsy kitchen days!
Thanks for the stats about what America eats. I may use those in a seminar I present. They are very interesting and people would learn a lot from that info.
I’m a fan of dairy. But I keep it to parts of meals (milk in cereal, yogurt in a smoothie).
What does the rest of the world eat?
I have a co-worker who is a vegan and overweight. She has yogurts, chai tea lattes, and potato chips all the time. Since meeting her, I realized that not all vegetarians are slim and healthy. But it looks like you are doing a good job with the challenge Sagan. Keep it up!
Andrea- I think there’s a good point to that. It’s not really necessary to add them in to EVERYTHING.
Lia- ooh I want to come join your cooking school.
Lance- yummy!
RickyRae- you’re KIDDING. Microwaving a salad? Hehe. That’s skilled.
MizFit- I love fish. So tasty. Reason number 73 why I want to move to Spain.
Gina- homemade popcorn is the BEST.
Tricia- I wonder…
Asithi- damn those health halos 🙂
Ain’t you glad you are not an American? (Don’t correct me here, it’s in the name usA)
Don’t go picking on us too much or we will close Florida to Canadians, lol!
I wonder who eats more popcorn, you or I??
I would struggle in America! I don’t eat popcorn at all, and I rarely eat meat, dairy, or grains.
As for variety, in the last four months I’ve tried about 4 new recipes per week… and the testing out of recipes is still ongoing. We are eating an incredible variety of foods, prepared in a myriad of ways.
I love my food!
I tried vegan in college for a while, now I’m an omnivore. I don’t like meat, like fruit way too much, grains not enough, enough veggies, but need to cook them more. I am trying to eat less cheese, with good success, replacing with beans or tofu. And of course, popcorn. This time of year, I eat a lot of sweet corn, which I can count as grain, and I’m going to find some recipe that looks good for quinoa.
Holy crap – the average person is getting over half their daily cals from DAIRY? I like my dairy but that seems crazy. It def. seems like no matter which diet you choose – vegan, vegetarian, paleo – anything is better than SAD!
Hmmm, I’m not sure I buy those statistics completely. I would’ve thought refined grains and fats would’ve been the culprits.
But never popcorn. 🙂
Dr. J- popcorn eating contest!!! (And I know, Canada is JUST as bad :)).
Hanlie- me too!
Julie- you don’t like grains very much? Really? Wow. I’m obsessive with my grains.
Charlotte- apparently so! And I agree, SAD is awfully dismal. In more ways than one (har har).
Cammy- even if the stats aren’t COMPLETELY correct, I think there’s still a decent point that there’s often hidden ingredients in the food we eat- and a good point over all that we eat way too much crap!
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