Monthly Archives: February 2016

Feb 20 2016

Vegan or Orthorexic?

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Unless you’ve been living under a rock, you probably know of at least one person who has either tried or adopted the vegan lifestyle.

Vegetarians do not eat meat, fish, or poultry. Vegans, in addition to being vegetarian, do not use other animal products and by-products such as eggs, dairy products, honey, leather, fur, silk, wool, cosmetics, and soaps derived from animal products. -The Vegetarian Resource Group

I think that when people choose to go vegan and their hearts are truly in the right place about it, it reflects in their behavior, decision making and outward countenance for the better.

When I went vegan between the years of 2007 and 2013, it was for the purposes of restricting. I was basically using the lifestyle as a socially acceptable excuse for my anorexia.

So for ME, Veganism did not make me kind.

Rather, it made me bitchier, more defensive and all the more inconsiderate.

That was the case for ME. I am not projecting that on the experiences of others–everyone is different.

So in examining my experience, it was yet another instance of manipulating circumstance to protect my eating disorder–even if it has to evolve in some way, or so it has been the case over the years. I am and have been, working on that.

There has been a lot of bad press lately about orthorexia & veganism, so I want to address that: 

What can happen to some individuals who adopt the Vegan Lifestyle is potentially developing the newly classified eating disorder called Orthorexia.  This is when the person becomes so focused upon healthy eating that they begin to eliminate unhealthy, impure or “bad” foods from their diet to the point that it becomes so restrictive that they become malnourished.  

The irony is that they are “so focused on being healthy” that they literally begin to sacrifice their health for the sake of it.  Before everyone starts shouting at once, please notice I said “Some” individuals and “Potentially” developing.

I want to be clear that Veganism does not cause Orthorexia.  

That would be like saying ‘Dieting causes Anorexia’ or ‘Getting the stomach flu causes Bulimia’, you see what I am saying?

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Feb 17 2016

Taking The Initiative

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Anorexia Nervosa Genetics Initiative is a global research study designed to help learn more about why some people have eating disorders and why others do not.

The University of North Carolina is recruiting 25,000 participants total, most of whom have (or have had) Anorexia Nervosa and about 8,000 individuals with no history of an eating disorder.

They are asking participants to provide some information about their medical and psychosocial history as well as to provide a blood sample. In order to participate, there are a few steps to go through.  

Since I am going through the process myself, I figured I would walk everyone through it to demonstrate how simple it is to join this study and help further Eating Disorder Research:

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Feb 14 2016

Raw, Vegan Walnut Milk!

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Today I used up the last of my creamer for coffee, so I decided to get creative with what I had on hand.  I am by no means skilled in the kitchen–I’m rather horrible actually.  I’m neglectful in following recipes and usually just go off instinct.

This sometimes results in an accidentally nice-tasting result, but, more often, the results are pretty bleak.

I’d recently used my food processor to make homemade cashew butter sweetened with dates, and that somehow turned out really good.  A day or so later, I wanted to find a savory use for my raw pumpkin seeds.  I’d already tried a *sweet* attempt with Pepitas, Brazil Nuts and Raw Honey a while ago, with fairly decent results (below).

It turns out, pumpkin seeds, coarsely blended with salt and garlic, taste amazing mixed with pasta.  I realized that I’d stumbled upon my own homemade vegan “Parmesan cheese” without actively looking for it.  Whaaat? It was so good with plain pasta and a little pepper added.  When tossed with the warm pasta, the pulverized pepitas became creamy.  It tasted like Fettuccine Alfredo, but vegan!  So, so surprisingly good.

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Feb 6 2016

Valentine’s Déjà vu

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Hi!

Below you’ll find a fun re-blog! from last year’s
 Valentine’s-themed-window-of-blogging-opportunity.

Please enjoy! And if you are a silly goose who pronounces Valentine’s Day with an “m” substituted for the “n”, you can just move along. vday 
From as far back as my memory allows, Valentine’s Day has consistently borne a great deal of significance to me.

In elementary school, I relished the activity of constructing a personalized “mailbox” that would allow classmates to “send” me cards and candy.

Then there was the shopping trip with my mother to select the box of cards that I would be sending out.  I have always had trouble making decisions, especially when presented with many choices.  This particular errand was a true testament to her patience as I painstakingly deliberated over the selections. In my childish estimation, my card selection was the utmost important decision I would make in all of February, if not the entire school year!

Which design??

Did I want The Little Mermaid or Garfield?

Wait, they have ones with yellow lab puppies! And New kids on the Block!! er… NKOTB! (yeah, cooler to say it that way!)

What did the cards say?

Did at the least one of the cards in the box communicate the precise sentiment to send (fill-in-the-blank) with whom I was currently “in love”?? Continue reading »