I''m going Vegan! (Hidden parts might be TMI)

[Loves Vintage]

Oh, I just remembered, I have a tofu cookbook at home. Tofu only. All tofu recipes. I am sure there''s some specific descriptions of the different forms of tofu in there, if you''d like, I can add more info here. Oh, and soft tofu (or silken as it''s sometimes called, I think) can also be used to make smoothies, so maybe that will help you as a milk replacement.

Oh, and soy milk. You should try that too!

 

[luckystar112]

Dragonfly, I am definitely considering going at least lacto-vegetarian in the near future. But I''m taking it one day at a time. It''s weird because I don''t miss meat that much, but I def miss milk and other dairy products. It''s very hard to find items with no eggs or milk in it!

Monarch, Thanks.

I will definitely ask for your advice if I make the switch to vegetarian! I''m doing this all sorts of backwards, aren''t I? lol!

LV: Thanks for the info. I would definitely love to hear more about Tofu! I know my brand is some sort of Asian type. I took your advice and got the meatballs last night, they were divine! I also bought some soy milk, but I''m still getting used to it. One thing I noticed about the meatballs after the fact was that they contained egg whites.

Oh well!
Another thing I figured out: Imitation cheese, not so bad. Imitation deli meat, disgusting!!!!!!

I love love love my veggie burgers though. I get the bruschetta flavor by Boca.

Strm: Way to freak me out. Thanks.

Amanda, I am so so sorry that your poor sister has to go through what I''m going through. Has she had a flare up yet? Those are the WORST.

Has she planned her surgery yet? I have more information below that might be beneficial to her, if she''s not completely sold on surgery. Here is a link that pretty much goes along with what I''m saying below, but the whole site is just a treasure chest of knowledge and support.
http://www.pilonidal.org/treatments/conservative.htm


For the update to my little problem, highlight!

*I found another alternative to surgery that I think I am going to try. Since I now know for sure that this is a pilonidal cyst I spent some time searching pilonidal.org and reading up on the extreme wealth of information that they offer. That site is enough to scare the living crap out of you (bad surgery stories, gruesome pictures) or give you hope (successful surgery stories, surgeon recommendations, alternative treatments, etc).
I have learned that a pilonidal cyst isn''t even really a cyst...as in, it has no sac. It''s an abscess. It can be a caused by a plethora of different things, but what it comes down to is that the pores on your tailbone are different from the pores on the rest of your skin. They stretch with sitting/standing, and if you have bad posture (which I do) it can cause them to stretch further. If something gets lodged in one of those pores (and it can be anything...a piece of lint, your hair, sweat, dirt, soap, whatever) then it will enlarge and allow the bacteria on your skin to enter, eventually resulting in an abscess forming. When this pore or hair follicle enlarges, it''s called a "pit". They are located on your midline (crack

) whereas the abscess forms above it, out of the way. The abscess it what hurts, obviously.
So basically these "pits" are just a gateway to the abscess, and bacteria can roam freely in and out. A lot of people are born with these pits already developed, too. On the pilonidal website, I saw that there is a procedure that can be done called the "pit removal procedure". The pits are excised, the abscess completely cleaned out, and you''re allowed to heal. No pits=no gateway=no abscess. The success rate is 80% and it can be done with local anesthesia. There is only one problem, and that is that only 25% of surgeons are familiar with the procedure. But this website has a list of surgeons who ARE familiar, and lucky for me there is one in Houston. I''m going to give him a call tomorrow.

The website kind of breaks it down like this:
With surgery they will be removing a good amount of tissue, and depending on how big the abscess was you could be looking at literally inches excised from your butt. I''ve seen the pictures, they are GHASTLY. Once you have the surgery you can''t go back, so why not try the pit removal procedure first and go from there?
They point out that not too long ago women with breast cancer were getting a complete mastectomy when they could have had a lumpectomy.

So, I am excited to try this procedure first. I will hope and pray that it goes well. Wish me luck! Since reading this today I finally have some hope.
It''s a really embarrassing problem to have. They used to think it only happened to men. In fact, it used to be called "the jeep rider''s disease" because it happened to a lot of men in the army, and they thought it was from driving on rough terrain. But apparently as more women have entered the workforce it has affected them as well. It''s also embarrassing because when you first learn about it you feel like you''re dirty or something. Not a pretty area to have a problem in. I know that I''ve personally loved showing my rear to five complete strangers. lol *

Ok, I know that was long but my DH is asleep and I can''t call my mother this late. I just wanted to tell someone, and well, I think so of you are interested, right? Bueller? l

 

[monarch64]

Luckystar, feel free to hit me up for suggestions on going veg whenever you like. I had to laugh at your "all sorts of backwards" comment--you''re funny! Please don''t feel bad about yourself re. the health issue...everyone has some embarassing thing about themselves. I hope your issue gets resolved without surgery. Oh, and fyi, I went vegetarian for health reasons as well...to be specific, my dad was diagnosed with colorectal cancer (you think YOUR issue is embarrassing, try having your rectum removed, ha ha) and while researching what I or my brother could do to prevent getting it I read that animal protein sits in your digestive tract waaaaay longer and can contribute to problems. I decided a few months later to try not eating meat for a week and 3.5 years later I have not gone back.

 

[ChinaCat]

Lucky-

First of all, the invisible ink paragraph was super cool! I don''t think your problem is too embarrassing, and thank you for sharing. It easily could happen to any of us, and now we would know what it was.

As for the vegan thing- I am NOT vegan. But I read that stupid book "Skinny Bitch"- and it affected me. It''s a really obnoxious book, but a lot of what it said stuck with me. Mostly what Monarch said about animal protein and the digestive track. Plus the descriptions of the poulty and cows was so vivid and disgusting, I coudn''t eat meat or chicken for a month.

BUT the dairy part is a lot harder for me to swallow. Ha! Sorry for the pun. The book actually recommended to remove things slowly, going all-out vegan in one day would be impossible to stick with. So what I did is I tried to eat vegetation as much as possible. So I''d say 75% of the time, vegetarian. And I felt so much better, didn''t get that too full feeling, didn''t feel as tired. I actually did lose about 5 pounds, but it obviously depends on what you eat.

I also live in Houston and while at first it was hard- I work downtown and it''s all BBQ, hamburgers, just basically unhealthy meat options- there are a TON of Indian, Vietnamese, Middle Eastern, etc restaurants.

Now I am pregnant, so I still try to eat vegetarian when I can, but really, it doesn''t quite work when preggo. Not to say that you can''t, but the first 3 months I ate anything that didn''t make me feel sick, which wasn''t a lot. There is a Skinny Bitch for preggos, btw, but let''s just say I threw it across the room when it told me I couldn''t have cheese or ice cream. No way.

Point is, I would try to slowly do the vegetarian, and then the vegan thing. A friend of mine drinks rice milk- you could try that?

Good luck!!!!!!!

 

[monarch64]

ChinaCat: I keep meaning to read "Skinny Bitch" but based upon your review I don''t think I will!

I think i''ve resisted going vegan for some time now mainly due to the fact that I love dairy (I don''t drink milk but I heart cheese). I would have to give up PIZZA, and that just won''t fly with me at this point. Maybe someday...

 

[luckystar112]

Date: 2/5/2009 4:44:44 PM
Author: monarch64
ChinaCat: I keep meaning to read ''Skinny Bitch'' but based upon your review I don''t think I will!

I think i''ve resisted going vegan for some time now mainly due to the fact that I love dairy (I don''t drink milk but I heart cheese). I would have to give up PIZZA, and that just won''t fly with me at this point. Maybe someday...

Okay, you''re making me hungry.

Seriously, I can''t believe I''ve made it this long! What is it...., day 5 or 6? I''m high-fiving myself!

I think if I go back to milk I will definitely do organic again. One day I bought organic milk just for the heck of it and realized that the expiration date was WAY further away than "regular" milk. So I googled why on the internet and was brought to a site that explained all of the "extras" in regular milk including *blood and puss* and it COMPLETELY grossed me out so that I only drank organic for months. Then it just got too expensive so I started drinking regular milk again, always with that website in the back of my mind. But now I certaintly think it''s worth the extra cost.

China, does Skinny Bitch go over the slaughtering of the animals? That would probably upset me to no end. That''s what pretty much did it for me--knowing that I could never harm an animal to feed myself. It''s so easy to forget where they came from when you just see the meat in it''s pretty packaging. But that doesn''t mean that I don''t crave it. Grocery shopping the other day.......man, the smell of the deli counter was ammmmazzzzzing. That where all the roasted chickens are located too. Drool. I just got my stuff and got out of there!

I emailed the surgeon I met with the other day to find out if he is familiar with the procedure I am looking at. Just waiting to hear back! I''m sure he''s busy. I''ll give him till Monday and then call the doctor that I know is familiar with it.

 

[ChinaCat]

Monarch- It''s kind of a funny read, once you get used to the tone. But you already are veggie, so unless you really need some reasons to go vegan, I''d skip it. I am with you, I cannot give up cheese or PIZZA. And the book tries to convince you that they are evil. Not buying it.

Lucky- That is interesting to know about organic milk! I always wondered why it lasted much longer. The Skinny Bitch book is kind of like that- gives you lots of disgusting reasons to give up all of the stuff. As to slaughtering- yes, it goes into detail and it''s not pretty. What bothered me as much (if not more) was how these animals are treated and kept and (at least according to the book) are just filthy and live in filthy living conditions that you just do NOT want to put in your mouth. The weird thing is that eventually I could eat meat again, but it took me way longer to eat chicken, which made no sense to me. Another friend who read the book said the same thing. I work with a guy who actually has a degree in animal science and worked on a farm and he said that if you saw the treatment/slaughter of both cows and chickens, you would be much more grossed out by the poultry.

The reasoning behind the dairy just didn''t really convince me. I do try to find local and organic brands.

Lucky- 5 days already? Wow, that''s impressive. Hope you get the news from the new doctor that you are looking for.

 

[Loves Vintage]

Date: 2/5/2009 2:47:41 AM
Author: luckystar112

LV: Thanks for the info. I would definitely love to hear more about Tofu! I know my brand is some sort of Asian type. I took your advice and got the meatballs last night, they were divine! I also bought some soy milk, but I''m still getting used to it. One thing I noticed about the meatballs after the fact was that they contained egg whites.

Oh well!
Another thing I figured out: Imitation cheese, not so bad. Imitation deli meat, disgusting!!!!!!

I love love love my veggie burgers though. I get the bruschetta flavor by Boca.

Lucky - I am so sorry about the Nate''s meatballs. On the Wegman''s site, they say they are vegetarian and vegan. Maybe they have a vegan variety?

I will write more about Tofu this weekend. Haven''t had a chance to yet.

What type of fake deli meat did you try? Yves carries a fake pepperoni and fake salami, both of which are good, but I don''t think I would like the fake chicken, turkey, etc.

 

[AmberGretchen]

A quick note about tofu - it totally depends what kind you get, but one tasty thing to do is to coat it in something crispy (vegan breadcrumbs) - you''ll need to dip in something like soymilk first to get it to stick, but then I''d mix vegan breadcrumbs and vegan parmesan cheese, and bake until golden brown - super tasty and easy, and they make good leftovers that can go in the toaster oven quickly and easily.

You''ll need firm tofu for the recipe above, and also if you want to stir-fry it. Soft tofu works really well for blending into sauces and dips - adds creaminess and body to both

 

[Itgirl76]

I must be pretty dense as it took me a bit to find out the "White Parts"

Good luck with your medical problem. As far as your diet goes I am lacto-ovo which means I eat dairy.
As far as milk goes you may want to try soy milk or rice milk....I drink rice milk- soy is a little much for me...and Rice milk is VEGAN!!! I think it has the consistency of skim milk.
I tried going vegan that lasted for 1 day so I am so glad you are at 5. Woo Hoo!

Good luck...

 

[luckystar112]

I actually had to postpone being vegan.

I feel like a bit of a failure, but basically what happened is I started feeling weird during my course of antibiotics. I later found out that this particular antibiotic should only be given in cases of extreme infection, and so I freaked out a little bit. What I had was hardly an extreme infection--no idea why the doctor put me on it. Perhaps because that was the second time I'd been back there? I've been ingesting yogurt like crazy trying to build back up my normal flora.
Still haven't had any real meat yet, but we'll see. I am still trying to eat healthy. I don't want being vegan to do more harm than good, so I think I might try for lacto vegetarian.

I meet with another surgeon tomorrow to find out about an alternative to surgery. Wish me luck!


P.S.

 

[AmberGretchen]

luckystar - you shouldn''t feel like a failure, you need to take care of your health first and foremost - its not about proving anything to anybody.

That said, I am personally a huge fan of my lacto-vegetarian diet - its worked for me for 21 (almost 22) years so far, and I eat lots of low-fat and non-fat dairy as a protein source. I think its so much more about eating consciously and for nutritional benefit 90% of the time than it is about a particular diet - you will feel so much better for having taken care of your body, whatever combination of meats, dairy, and vegan foods you end up deciding to go with.

 

[Savvymon]

Hey Luckystar ,

Ouch poor you, it sounds nasty! Good luck avoiding surgery!!

Here are a couple of sites about diet you may want to look at...
www.westonaprice.org
This is link is information about all things Soy, http://www.westonaprice.org/soy/index.html
And another informative site is www.nourishedmagazine.com.au

Vegan isn't actually the healthiest way to eat due to a lack of certain nutrients that can only be found in animal products such a Vitamin B12 and Vitamin A (Beta-carotene is what's found in vegetables and is the pre-courser to A).

There are ways to be a healthy Omnivore or Lacto-ovo vegetarian. Vegans often have trouble with healing wounds due to plant protein not being as easily utilized by the body.

Of course this is my 0.02cents. (Though a very well researched 0.02cents at that.)

http://www.westonaprice.org/soy/index.htmlhttp://www.westonaprice.org http://www.nourishedmagazine.com.au

 

[Savvymon]

Why oh why can''t I get links to work?????

sorry threadjack over

 

[natalina]

ChinaCat- your review of Skinny Bitch is too funny! I also read it, because I was interested in eating better. I am a HUGE animal lover and have always felt like a hypocrit because I ate meat, and that book gave me just the little push I needed to give it up. Man oh man, I was bawling like a baby through the chapter that describes the slaughterhouses. The book is WAY extreme for me though. Seems like you would have to have a personal chef to really stick to everything they talk about. And I love dairy WAY too much. Although I did switch to organic dairy.

Luckystar- Last time I had meat (anything besides fish) was almost a year ago. I have fish once in a great while, but other than that no meat at all. It was really easy at first, but I think it''s because it was summer and fruit/veggies were what sounded good at that time of year- although I do remember initially being hungry all the time, too. Bacon and really great chicken wings still push me to the edge, but I''ve been able to resist so far. I''m 10 weeks pregnant right now, so we''ll see how well I can keep it up. I can''t say that I feel drastically ''healthier'', but I do feel better about my impact on the animal kingdom

. Next up- eliminating leather from my wardrobe- oh, but how I love great shoes and bags... oof, this is gonna be tough

! I hope the new treatment you found works for you so that you are able to avoid surgery!

 

[partgypsy]

Hey Luckystar I feel for you! I hear you about loving dairy and so forth. Get yourself some rice dream (rice milk) it will make a big difference in your comfort since you will be able to use that like milk, eat cereal, etc.
Though I haven''t done it in ages I decided to do Lent this year. Lent Greek Orthodox style is essentially vegan (no meat, fish, dairy, eggs). The first 2 days I literally felt ill, though it did get better after I got rice dream milk. I''ve ended up doing a modified lent with half vegan and half vegetarian (allowing myself dairy/egg products). The more vegan I was eating the worse I felt, probably lost about 5 pounds the first week and felt hungry all the time, though using alot of oil, munching on nuts, etc. Ironically (considering people who eliminate dairy for digestive reasons) my stomach has been touchier since changing my diet. I also think I will be eating healthier after this is done, since I will be eating just what I need to satisfy myself rather than keep on eating substitutes to satisfy hunger that doesn''t quite go away. Anyways it has been a learning experience. I''m glad I did it because it shows me it is possible to eat much much less of animal products than one might think. On the other hand while there are some people who can thrive on the vegan diet I realize I''m not one of them.

 

[bebe]

I saw this recipe and plan on making it next week. It does have an egg in it though.

Roasted Pepper Quinoa Burger with Red Pepper Hummus
Yield: 5 patties

2 Red Bell Pepper (1/2 reserved for the hummus)
2 Poblano Pepper
1/2 can ground chickpeas
1 cup cooked Quinoa (I used red quinoa)
1/2 onion, small dice
1 garlic clove, crushed and roughly chopped
1 handful Alfalfa Sprouts
1/3 cup - 1/2 cup Japanese Panko
1 Egg
Salt, Pepper, Paprika



1. Roast the peppers until nice and charred. Place the pepper in a ziplock bag for at least 5 minutes, this will make taking the charred skin off much easier.
2. Clean the charred skin off the peppers and remove the stem and seeds.
3. Cut one of the red peppers in half and reserve half of one for later use. Puree the peppers and and chickpeas until smooth. Let cool if warm.
4. In a large bowl combine the pepper mixture, diced onion, garlic, alfalfa sprouts, eggs and season to taste. Add the panko until the mixture is easy to work with and patties can be formed.
5. Spray a baking sheet with PAM and bake each patty for 10 minutes on each side.

Red Pepper Hummus
1/2 can chick peas
1/2 roasted red bell pepper
1 garlic clove
1 TBS lemon juice
handful parsley
Pinch Salt, Pepper, Cayenne
EVOO
Blend all together until smooth. I add EVOO at the end to make it the desired consistency.

 

[happydreams]

Soy protiens - tofu, tempeh, the other Boca burger types.
I eat a lot of beans...chillis (can make chipoltle-esque burritos with it), and I LOVE chinese vegetarian restaurants.
Their stir fried fake meats with veggies are to die for.

One word of caution - I''m a semi-vegetarian as well and I thought going Vegetarian would solve my weight issues.
Not the case! You still need to be cautious with your food intake. How easy is it to get a Vegan brownie and down 5 or put
a pound of cheese on your sandwiches? You tend to eat differently but it doesn''t mean you will automatically lose al ot of weight.
you still need to work at it. I''m just saying from my own experience.