Time to Vote

In 1972, I voted for the first time. I was among the first group of American citizens allowed to vote at age 18 (before that, one had to be 21--- laws were changed in part due to the heavy draft of 18, 19 and 20 year olds who could be tapped to serve and die in VietNam but were not permitted to vote). I was actually 17, but was permitted to vote in November since my 18th birthday was in December that same year.

I remember how proud I was to vote and how excitedly I did my research on the candidates and issues at hand, how prepared I felt to go into the booth and exercise my right, a right my grandmother did not have until her mid 20's.

Much has happened since those days and I've become cynical about a great many things, politics among them, as many of my social media contacts are painfully aware.

But, I usually had hope that we were moving forward, at least in some areas, chief among them women's rights, human rights.

I wept when, here in the U.S., we elected our first African-American to the highest office, even though I disagreed with him on some of his environmental policies.

I wept too at the thought that we might elect our first woman president and I might live to see it, even though I disagreed with her on a few of her ideologies and past decisions.

I was stunned, shocked and dismayed when I saw the results of the 2016 election and the turbulence that has followed since as we have entered the age of the Twitter-in-Chief and are continuously bombarded with outlandish statements, each one more offensive than the last and fear-mongering which incites violence, hatred and heightened anxiety.

Now, as we approach the November 2018 mid-term elections, I fear we are at an important crossroad....one where almost our very basic freedoms and rights and even the defining qualities of what it means to be human are on the line.

I have many international contacts on my social media accounts and I watch their reactions to the ridiculous circus our Executive Branch has become....I have no answers for them.

I have to limit my exposure to the whirlwind of hate-speak and clear racist/sexist sentiments being spouted for fear of ending up in a constant state of unshakable nausea.

I have heard statements uttered that have rendered me speechless and cut me to the bone, and left me wondering what world there will be for my beautiful grand-daughter.

But I have hope.

These mid-term elections have already set records for early voting...33 million is a number I have heard.

Over 120 women are running for seats in the House.

We could have a Muslim-American woman, a Palestinian-American woman, a Native-American woman and even a brash 29 year old woman bringing their diverse and fresh ideas to the 'old boys' club'.

America's diversity and willingness to embrace the out-liers has ALWAYS been our strength. The efforts to make everyone the same and keep out anyone different, to 'purify' has always failed....in genetics it is disastrous to 'breed for recessive traits'.  We NEED diversity to thrive even on a biological level.

With the challenges ahead of us, we need all of our ideas, our diverse cultures and above all, CLEAR-HEADED thinking, to flourish in these times, and by flourish, I don't mean continuing to line the pockets of those at the top standing on the backs of those at the bottom. America does not need to be the next pyramid scheme.

Wouldn't it be amazing if the youth of today and the WOMEN of today and the Hispanics, the African-Americans, the Independents, all joined together in a spirit of unity and took this country back?

"Imagine all the people living life in peace". ~John Lennon.
Wouldn't it be amazing?

I will vote Tuesday.  I will exercise my right and hopefully a message is sent to Washington.  Enough.  The time for change is now.

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Since very early this year I have been on a nutritional quest and have been researching up a storm in an attempt to tweak my predominately whole-food plant-based diet and ensure I'm getting all the nutrients I need as I age into my 60's, and (hopefully) beyond.

I'm using a variety of sources, evidence-based advice, nutritionists, and my personal experience to guide me.  I hope to summarize my findings thus far as I begin to pick up writing again here on the blog.

Peace,
Sue, voting in Ohio

 

A Tale of Two Weddings

July was the month of weddings for us.  We had two to attend; one for the son of life-long friends and the other for our niece.

The first wedding was very traditional, and I have grown accustomed to these affairs not being very 'vegan friendly'.  I plan to eat a late lunch on the day of the event, and pack a snack to have in the car after the event.  Usually there is SOMEthing I can snack on though, some plain lettuce or a plain potato, but this event was strictly non-vegan.  Every single potential food source had been made unhealthy and inedible by me.

I had hopes when a large salad bowl was passed around to dig in the bottom of it and by-pass the thick helpings of sliced cheddar cheese, but the cheese covered practically every piece of lettuce.  I found one of the wait staff and pulled her aside to ask if there was possibly a bag of lettuce without the cheese in the kitchen somewhere, but she quickly (and not very politely) dismissed me with a curt "no".

I surveyed the buffet line and was excited to see a large vat of green beans, but then quickly saw that the beans were covered in bacon and glistened with some kind of oil.

So, I spent the evening awkwardly at my table while those around me ate a 5 course meal and I had my empty plate and my iced tea.

It was really an interesting experience though, as I noted the LACK of upset I had at the event.  I truly don't expect others to cater to me, but had thought possibly our society had evolved a bit and that maybe there would be something for those not wishing to ingest animal products, some fresh fruit or fresh veggies.  Still, even with the mild awkwardness of not eating, I enjoyed myself, centered my attention on the happy newlyweds, enjoyed conversation with people I had not seen in a long time and realized that this is the price of standing for what I believe in, for being true to my commitment to my health, my body and my ideals, and it truly is who I am.  Somehow that was far more filling than anything I could have put on my plate.

Fast forward a short 2 weeks later and we found ourselves at a 2-day wedding affair for our niece, who was marrying a man from India.  The two had decided to combine cultures and had set out to try to interlace as much of the Indian culture and traditions as they could into their ceremonies.  We had an entire dinner and celebration the night before the wedding, with family and close friends.  I was excited to find a huge bowl of salad WITH NO CHEESE!  I was set for the evening.  (There was Indian food available, but I wasn't sure of ingredients and really was fine with a huge salad, so didn't bother anyone to inquire about ingredients).  It was a great experience and there was loud Indian music that was very entertaining and off the beaten path of my musical tastes.  I loved being exposed to a bit of a different culture.

The next evening was the main event which was beautiful and fascinating in so many ways.  I again went into it with no expectations for food, but did notice as the buffet was being set up a small card with a "V" on it close to one of the heated containers of food.

When our table was called up to go through the line, I approached one of the servers behind the table and asked her if the "V" was for vegetarian or vegan.  She said that the "V" is vegetarian and that the vegan dishes are labeled 'vegan'.

VEGAN DISHES?????

I tried to control myself, but asked, you mean there are vegan dishes?  She gave me a quizzical look and said, 'well, of course!'

She proceeded to take me down through the containers of food and pointed out the first vegan dish...I looked further down to see FIVE vegan selections!  And actually, there were six because there was a bowl of plain spinach available.





(Pic of my plate at the wedding)








Now I suppose the vast selection of vegan foods was mainly because of the Indian cuisine influence, but I still am choosing to believe that times are changing and here in the west we are beginning to break free of the unhealthy traditions that have contributed in no small measure to the growing health crisis of this country.  And this change can't come soon enough!

Sue in Ohio

Tools - It's All About the Apps, the Apps, the Apps.

I recently moved past my 8th year of being vegan.  Yeah!  I continue to work to achieve maximum health and wish to age well via a whole food plant-based diet, and with this goal in mind,  I make education on current applicable research and emerging tools a priority.

I haven't jumped into the Fit-Bit craze as I view it as just-one-more-thing I would have to remember to wear and already feel encumbered by my smart phone (why do they keep getting bigger?!?!?), but I did, nonetheless, want to track my daily steps having recently embarked on a 'ramp-up' of my exercise routine. 

Enter a nifty (does anyone say 'nifty' anymore?  Probably not.)  little app:
Pedometer Step Counter.

There are many step counting apps out there and I've used a couple of others that worked well but here are the things I am liking currently about this app: 

Accuracy.  It seems more accurate to my steps than other apps I've used. 
Goal-Setting Ease.  It's very simple to change the goal you have and it even suggests a new goal if I meet my goal early.
Works with my Phone.  My phone is almost always in my pocket anyway, so no extra device is needed.
Informative Chart.  There is a nice chart/report that I can view that easily will give me distance info, time, etc. which I find helpful for motivation.
Cuteness.  While this isn't really a big factor for me, I do like the bright pink feet icon that makes it easy to turn on in the morning (something I sometimes forget to do) and there are cute little celebratory images that pop up when I hit my goal or set a new record.

The only 'down' side I have found thus far is that I do have to remember to turn it on or off (can save battery by pausing it, but then have to remember to un-pause it), but to complain about that seems just silly.  It's a nice little app, is free and accomplishes its purpose.



Cronometer.
For at least a year or more I've been wanting to track my nutrient intake.  I don't want to just have the macros, i.e. fats, carbs, protein, I want the MICROs.  There are several nutrients that I need to focus on as I age that correlate directly to bone health, avoidance of sarcopenia (muscle loss with aging) and since we have it beat into our heads that we need to watch protein, I want this stat to arm myself on my annual visit to my (non-plant-based) physician, and the cronometer app reports not only protein, but breaks it out by amino acid.  Cool.

Like most apps, cronometer.com has a free version and a premium one.  I am getting all I need with their free version.  I can put in my foods individually and can also upload brands or specific items by photographing the QR code (you know, that square code that looks like a maze from a kids' puzzle book).  It can be a bit time-consuming, especially when first starting out, but it is very user friendly, doesn't have a lot of quirks and I now discipline myself into tracking my food at least 4 days a week. Having to put in each individual item can be a bit of a hassle, but it is worthwhile and can uncover some nutritional deficiencies, and confer a potential added benefit of being really accountable for what is eaten in a day, both in terms of not over-eating and in working to get enough of the nutrients we really do need.

I haven't used the cronometer app for weight-loss but since calories consumed is shown prominently, I do glance at that, and have actually lost some weight. (I think that is more a factor of me working to really clean up my diet, avoid all processed foods and work to get some key cruciferous foods in daily---see future blog post coming soon).

I also like that I can manually change the nutrient target values (don't assume that the pre-set ones are right for you!), raising or lowering them to tailor what my needs are (or what the latest research is showing).  Here is a screen shot from a day this week:

Stitcher.com  I listen to at least one, usually more, podcasts per day and have found Stitcher to be a mostly reliable app.  (I occasionally find it slow to update one or two of my favorite podcasts, but it seems to be the same podcasts so that could be a problem with the way they are formatted or uploaded).
I like that I can go forward or backward in 30 second increments to avoid some ads, (sorry Rich Roll!  I do listen occasionally to the ads!), or to get a repeat on a particularly compelling piece of information. 
I am amazed at the number of plant-based pod-casts that are available now and the number of really good self-improvement ones as well.  I'll do a future blog post with my favorites, but here are two newer podcasts I am really enjoying:

PlantProof.  Plant proof is put out by Simon Hill and he's set up a nice web-site you can find here:  https://plantproof.com/  What I really like about Simon (besides his lovely accent) is that he works to have EVIDENCE-BASED information on his podcast.  There are far too many conflicting ideas these days and it is easy to get lost in the myriad of 'experts' that are spewing often self-serving information.  I also like the way Simon summarizes and highlights the key points as the pod-cast is going on, which helps me retain the information.  Check out episode 17 for a very indepth discussion of gut health as Simon interview Dr. William Bulsiewicz.

Vegains.  It is impossible not to smile as I listen to Ferdinand Beck's cheery voice.  I find his German accent as charming as I do his infectious personality.  He has an active youtube channel as well.   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tC_Cn4fuD9s   I like the inspiration to do some weight-training I get from Vegains and his partner has a nice food-oriented youtube channel as well....https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SCUvP2ta-PU  Scorpion Mind.

(Just in case someone reading this has not ever listened to Rich Roll's podcast, I need to mention it here.  By far my favorite podcast of any type, Rich goes the distance ---pun intended---and continues to put up a quality product with highly relevant guests and topics.  I've been listening since he started and his evolution is fascinating and inspiring.  www.richroll.com.  Read Finding Ultra if you haven't read his story.)

Hope this helps.  To your health!

Sue in Ohio