Things I am digging right now!

(Hiking in Giant City Park, souther Illinois)

Official Team Green Pro Gear

I have been blessed to the extreme.  Official Team Green gave me a shout and asked me to be part of an absolutely incredible team.  "Team Green is here to enhance the quality of life on this planet by advocating a plant based (vegan) lifestyle.  We believe plant based living is best for the environment, human health and all of this planet's Earthlings.  Team Green smashes the outdated myths and stereotypes of vegans being nonathletic and unhealthy.  We swim, cycle, run, workout and live a life of compassion and vibrant health and we want to show you, by positive example, how to do it too!"  Obviously, this message is 100% in line with my life philosophy.  This family welcomed me in with open arms and I will proudly be supporting them as an Official Ambassador.  To help spread our message, you will often see me wearing OTG gear.  Tshirts, running tees, triathlon and cycling kits, and even sleeves!  Get the best athletic gear on the market! Support the cause with all this incredible gear. Head over to the Official Team Green website and get you some of this....now!!

Mail-Ordered Organic Dates

With my new obsession, I have needed to find trustworthy date suppliers. I was referred to the Bautista Family by some people online and let me tell you... Amazing :-) I have Gotten myself yet another box from them after the first order, and plan to get more from them. Easily ordered them from their website and they ship right to your door super fast.   Super soft and gooey, it's like caramel that grows on trees. The family gives you the freshest, organic dates available. I have gotten their 3lbs Royal Treatment, which is 3 pounds of mixed wet dates (Medjool, Khadrawy, Halawi, Honey, Deglet Noor, and Zahidi). I also, then, tried multiple other sites for dates including; MedjoolDates.com, Oasis Date Gardens, The Date People, and Phoenix Foraged Dates.  If you are needing some great dates, go to these websites and order now before they are gone.  

Mitscoots Socks

"Sock Story:  While volunteering along the streets of Austin, Texas Circa 2008, we discovered that right after food and water, there was not greater request among the less fortunate than for a clean pair of socks.  So, For every pair purchased, we give an equal quality pair of socks to someone in need and take pride in employing those less fortunate to get each and every pair of our socks packaged up and ready to go."  These are the best socks ever---stellar designs and super comfy!  I also love that I contributed 10 pairs of socks to the homeless of America. 

                Three of my 10 pairs ;-)                                          

4 Sample Sizes, Minus Cedarwood+Juniper..My Fave!

Schmidt's Deodorants

I have been searching for natural/vegan deodorants for a while and none that I have used have worked well for me. Either the smell was off, or it did not last through the day; until I tried Schmidt's.  Schmidt's Natural Deodorant offers 5 different all-natural, cruelty-free (vegan approved!), and long-lasting deodorants. The lovely people at @schmidtsdeo hooked me up with some samples so I could try the other scents. After great debate, the trial is over. I have came to the my conclusions --1st Cedarwood+Juniper 2nd Lavender-Sage 3rd Ylang-Ylang+Calendula 4th Bergamot+Lime 5th Unscented I want to give a huge thank you to Schmidt's for allowing me the honor of reviewing each of their products.  I was unsure initially about not applying roll-on style, but quickly learned a good technique for applying the deo cream; now I like it even more than the stick. 
Each one of these was very long lasting (even after a dirty/sweaty race!!) Long days usually result in smelly armpits, but these did an outstanding job of preventing any bad odor. I am now a firm believer in this company and highly recommend Schmidt's Deodorant for everyone. The scents are great for both guys and girls (yes, even the Lavender!). The Unscented surprised me the most. I work as a nurse and this deodorant is perfect for the hospital. It keeps me from having odor, but does not have a strong fragrance that may trigger respiratory problems. Perfect! I hope that others will give these a shot; I know that once you do, you won't go back.

Bulldog Skincare for Men

This line of products is, without a doubt, my absolute favorite skin care line. Bulldog created this natural, cruelty free line to be "Man's Best Friend" and let me tell you it really is. After only a week of use and I could tell a real difference in my skin. I encourage every guy to give this brand a shot. Order off their website, they even have bundles so you can try them all! 

Any of you triathletes/nurses have issues with dry skin? Chlorine always dries me out and washing my hands at work (Registered Nurse) makes my hands leathery. I need to fix the dryness, but hate the way lotions leave me oily feeling.  However, Bulldog Moisturizer works wonders on skin; keeps me feeling smooth, but not at all greasy. Love it try this one out if you have the same issues 

The Dirt Mouthcare

Just brushed my teeth with dirt and my teeth have never felt cleaner!!  The Dirt graciously gave mean this replacement for the chemical laden crap I was using before. Check them out online and get yourself some of this tasty, dirt. Great flavor. Completely natural. No chemicals or artificials. 

"Did you know the glycerin in modern toothpaste can coat your teeth and prevent the natural process of re-mineralization that keeps your teeth strong and white? The Dirt is made to support your natural re-mineralization process and get your teeth back to their strong, sparkly selves.  It has a sweet spiced orange flavor that will leave your mouth feeling clean and spicy!"

Wednesday Words to Live By

You are unique and magnificent human being. Of all the billions of people on the planet, there is not another You, and your very existence is vital to the functioning of our universe, because you are one part of the whole Universe. All that you see, and all that there is, could not exist without you! --Rhonda Byrne

Beatitude

The Redheaded Triathlete 

Beatitude

Giant City State Park- Southern Illinois

beatitude

 noun

"a feeling or state of well-being and contentment  <not from earthly riches but from the milk of human kindness comes true beatitude>"

http://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/beatitude?show=0&t=1417804594

This, for now, will be my new sign-off ;-) Love it

Beatitude

The Redheaded Triathlete

Low-Fat Raw Vegan ThanksLiving ;-)

This year I am celebrating my very first Raw Vegan Thanksgiving.  My Thanksgiving table with be full of beautiful, living plants. No dead things (hence ThanksLiving).

I have seen a lot of Raw Vegan holiday recipes, but most are extremely high fat (lots of nuts/seeds/oils). I advocate for a Low Fat/High Carbohydrate diet, so these recipes will definitely not do. Finally, I stumbled upon Double Organic's ThanksLiving recipes and I knew I had to make them! TuRAWkey, Mashed Potatoes, Gravy, Cranberry Sauce, Cornbread, and Pumpkin Pie...all RAW!!! 

               This was the most food prep I have done in SO long!! But it was worth it ;-)

Complete ThanksLiving Meal

Delish!

                                                    Let's Get unCOOKIN!!

TuRAWkey "Meat"

TuRAWkey NeatBalls and Cutlets before dehydration

TuRAWkey NeatBalls

Time to take out the TuRAWkey Cutlets

Pulled the TuRAWkey Cutlets and Chunky Cornbread Out of Dehydrator

                                         For full recipes, visit Double Organic !

Raw Chunky Cornbread before dehydration

Raw Chunky Cornbread before dehydration

Raw Chunky Cornbread (a little spicy!)

Beautiful Salad 

Finished Raw Mashed "Potatoes" and Gravy

Raw Mashed "Potatoes" (cauliflower)

Raw Gravy

Raw Crust (Mulberries, Raisins)

Raw Crust (Mulberries, Raisins)

Raw Pumpkin Pies

Raw Pumpkin Pies

Raw Cranberry Sauce (Bag of Cranberries, Dates, an Orange)

If you are do not know what a Low Fat Raw Vegan Diet is, check out The Raw Advantage, Naturally Ashley, The Fruitarian, Food n Sport (801010 book), Double Organic, Fruit Powered, and the many more blissful individuals whom have incredible blogs and explain the specifics, science, fundamentals, and benefits of the Frugivore life ;-)

Carpe Diem

"Spatio brevi spem longam reseces. dum loquimur, fugerit invida aetas: carpe diem, quam minimum credula postero."

-Scale back your long hopes to a short period. While we speak, envious time will have {already} fled: seize the day, trusting as little as possible in the next day.-

We are not promised another day.  We cannot live in the past nor live in the future.  Our past and our future are our present.  Be present in mind, body, and spirit.  Be conscious of life.  Live to your fullest.  Hold absolutely nothing back.

Carpe Diem

The Redheaded Triathlete

Official Team Green Ambassadors

Our new ambassador's page is up and running on the site. Head over to Official Team Green and look at all the incredible athletes. I am so proud to be a part of such an amazing and inspirational group of individuals. Full of paradigm busting athletes, showing the world that we can excel in our sport without the need of animal products. All vegan athletes; plant powered and proud of it! ‪

Go Check Us Out!!!

http://www.officialteamgreen.com

#‎OTG‬ ‪#‎OfficialTeamGreen‬ ‪#‎vegan‬ ‪#‎athlete‬ ‪#‎triathletes‬‪#‎bodybuilders‬ ‪#‎swimmers‬ ‪#‎runners‬ ‪#‎dancers‬ ‪#‎yogis‬ ‪#‎skaters‬ ‪#‎hockey‬‪#‎wrestlers‬ ‪#‎boxers‬ ‪#‎MMA‬ ‪#‎soccer‬ ‪#‎compassionate‬ ‪#‎competitors‬

Losing Control Through Perfection

This one took me a long-time to post and I am still slightly afraid to reveal it.  However, this was such a monumental point in my life and I believe that without telling it, I am hiding a part of myself.  I always want to be 100% honest with everyone, so here it goes...

Diets 

Standard American Diet

Low-Fat, Low-Carb, High-Protein

Flexitarian

Vegan

Raw Till 4

Low-Fat Raw Vegan

      There are so many "diets" in our society it is baffling.  I have to admit, I went through them all in my life.  Coming out of high-school, I was over-weight (230lbs) as a result of my habits.  I was the friend who would finish off the rest of those fries and drink the rest of your shake (I took pride in not wasting food).  I was also the friend that could drink you under the table.  A case of beer every other night (sometimes each night) was pretty much standard for me.  We would get together, drink a ton, and then go and eat a horseshoe at Kitten's (kitten's was the 24hr diner we went to; horseshoes were a huge, greasy beef patty on-top of a thick slice of butter-toasted white bread with a huge pile of french fries, slathered in cheese-sauce and then drizzled with ketchup).  As you can see, I had NO problem consuming mass quantities of calories (or so I thought).  I came to realize the problem when I tried running with my mom one evening.  I couldn't make it 3 blocks without feeling like I would pass out.  Shamefully, I walked back home and took a look in the mirror.  I finally realized what I had done to myself.  

(Senior Year Basketball)

       During my high-school years, I was always extremely active.  Though still eating the Standard American Diet, I stayed pretty fit (hovering around 190-200lbs).  Hours doing sprints down the court followed by hours in the weigh-room had kept me from showing the detrimental effects of my dietary habits.  We always told ourselves that we needed to eat a ton to keep up with our sports.  Shortly after high-school the over-eating and drinking finally started to creep up on me.  I quickly went from 190 to 230lbs :-(

(Summer after Senior Year)

      Once I finally realized this terrible change, I knew that I needed to do something about it.  What do young guys do to get "in-shape"?  We look towards lifting of course.  I started going to the gym each day with a couple of my buddies.  After several weeks I only saw a very small change.  Hitting the weights hard, I expected to see big muscles gains and also fat loss.  This, unfortunately, was not the case.  Any muscle gains I got were hidden under my layers of fat.  Numbers on the scale did not change.  Needless to say, I was not happy.  I failed to look at my diet until this point.  Maybe I should cut calories?  That way I could lose fat, right?  I decided then to cut out cheeseburgers for good.  

(Autumn after Senior Year)

Apparently this was not enough, though.  Then I stopped fast-food/fried-foods all together.  I slowly started to see weight-loss, which made me so happy! Finally I was doing something that is showing results.  I continued to lift weights, and started to incorporate some cardio work.  Treadmills and spinning were not the most fun thing in the world (to say the least) but if you want to lose weight, you have to torture yourself with tons of cardio, right?  

       I hit a plateau while doing this and was consistently weighing around 190 again.  This was great progress, but I wanted more.  I continued my workout plan, but stayed at 190lbs.  I needed to do something.  What worked in the past?  Cutting out more calories seemed to work, so lets try that out again.  I stopped eating excess carbs, cut out meat except for poultry, and focused on getting mostly protein.  "This is how those ripped body-builders eat"  I then also cut back on my drinking.  It was at this point that I made a huge dive in my weight.  "Great, I am finally getting skinny!"  With a surge of happiness, I looked at what else I could do to make progress.  How about cutting out all animal products and stopping drinking all together.  This seemed like a great idea.  All the information I read stated that a vegan diet is the healthiest way to eat.  I made the final decision after a vacation to New Orleans.  My final non-vegan meal was a dozen raw oysters on July 23, 2013.  

(Before I realized the issue-skinny/orange lips)

     "Now I will be super healthy!"  I made one HUGE mistake, though, that took me a very long time to realize.  I was eating a ton of vegetables, which was awesome, but had already stopped eating most carbohydrates.  Now that I took out meat and alcohol, my calorie count tanked.  I dropped down to a tiny 130lbs... I was pale, irritable, and had lost all of my muscle.  My hands, lips, and armpits were bright-orange.  My breath smelled like acetone.  I was becoming a social recluse.  Worst of all, I thought that I was healthy.  I looked at old photos and thought, "look how much weight I have lost.  I did great"  

      I thought that I was much healthier that before, and was in complete denial of my problem.  Thankfully, I have extremely loving people in my life that forced me to recognize my problem.  I had gotten so obsessed with the scale that I blocked out all other health indicators.  I was fixated on being skinny and having the absolute perfect diet.  I would only eat organic raw vegetables.  The rare occasions that I would go out with my family, it would be a huge ordeal ordering food.  I would get super-stressed out at the restaurants and even chose against eating many of the times because "this place doesn't have anything for me to eat".  I was extremely stressed when going out and was causing my family unneeded stress so I usually chose not to go out with them.  My loving mother sat me down one evening and finally got me to realize and admit my problem.  I was anorexic/orthorexic. 

 

(I still thought I looked "healthy"---I was wrong)

I was such a perfectionist/control-freak that it was hard to change my ways.  It is hard for me to understand how a person that needs to have control over everything allowed themselves to lose absolute control.  I was in such control over my diet that I lost complete control over my health.

       I made strives for the better, but easily fell back into the orthorexic mindset.  I began to add in some more carbohydrates.  Eating beans and rice became a staple.  I was still fixated on sugars and fat though.  It took me a very long time to start eating some fats, but eventually started to eat nuts, seeds, and avocados.  Changing my eating from all vegetables to a whole-food/plant-based vegan diet helped me out tremendously.  I began to gain more energy and finally started looking healthier.  Athletics became a part of my life again, and I was finally finding joy in something.  Joy... I hadn't felt joy in such a long time.  Thanks to my mom I am finally feeling joy :-)

      

     It has been many months since my realization and I continue to make changes in my life for the better.  I am now a much more loving and compassionate individual than ever before.  

     Unfortunately anorexia/orthorexia dominated my life for so long that the habits are engrained deeply into my brain.  I believe I will deal with this disorder for the rest of my life.  

                                                                Forever in recovery

The Redheaded Triathlete

#diet #weightloss #orthorexia #anorexia #recovery