Nuba and Kits Beach

Yesterday I did my second Health History for school, which is basically a practice session where you have the client fill out a form about their health history, and you get to know them through reading through it. I love learning about other people and what they eat, so it's been fun trying them out. I was a bit nervous at first(meeting people over skype for the first time is a bit strange!), but I'm slowly getting the hang of it I think.

After spending most of yesterday inside working on some retouching and skypeing, I decided I needed to head outdoors to make the most of the beautiful weather! I've been reading Steve Jobs' bio(he's such an intriguing man). He was definitely eccentric and could be hard to work with, but he had no shame about it and was a complete visionary. I love a quote from him, referring to when someone asked him if he did market research when he was making the Mac, and he said: 'Did Alexander Graham Bell do market research when he invented the telephone?'. He knew how to make what people needed even before they needed it. So inspiring! So I took that to Kits Beach and soaked up some sun and sea. I really miss living by the ocean, the lake in Toronto is great but there's just something about being surrounded by mountains and trees here, and the air is so much cleaner.

Afterwards I had a dinner date with Alex and Michelle, and I suggested Nuba since they have a ton of variety for vegans and omnis alike. It's a really cute Lebanese chain of restaurants in Vancouver, and this was the first time I'd been there for dinner. Their lunch menu has some really awesome pita wraps, so I was excited to see what the dinner menu was like. I ordered the Vegan Meswhi(they mark all their vegan dishes, so it made life a lot easier!), which was veggie shishkabobs coating in Za'atar seasoning piled on top of hummus and tabbouleh. It didn't disappoint!! The free pita bread that came with it wasn't bad either. Their hummus is some of the best I've had, creamy and tangy with just the right consistency.  I think I prefer the lunch menu though, as it's a bit more affordable!

I really love when a restaurant makes it easy for vegans and omni's to enjoy a meal together without either one compromising or going hungry. I love trying to veg restaurants(obviously), but it can be a bit awkward feeling like I'm coercing my dining partners into something they don't really eat. While I think omni's could definitely be a bit more open to trying new dining experiences, sometimes you just want to keep it simple! Nuba does a perfect job of straddling the divide between these two, in an extremely delicious way, and I love them for it.

Here's their website if you want to take a peek:www.nuba.ca/. It's a definite must try if you're ever in Vancouver!

Dining out seems to always serve as a reminder of how far I've come in recovery, since most of my life whenever I ate out I would stick to salads with nothing on them. I still adore salads, and I still like getting dressing on the side because I like to control the amount that goes on, but now it's in terms of taste preference, rather than fear that a little olive oil will make me a blimp. It's much more relaxing now, and since I rarely eat out I don't mind indulging a little when I do. It's more of a treat, and it's all part of trying to learn balance in eating which I've never seemed to possess. Guilty thoughts occasionally creep in, but I've gotten much better at controlling them, and not letting them get the best of me. Same with the exercise balance, if I don't feel like working out everyday, I let myself rest. When my muscles are sore, I let them have a break. It's so much more relaxing than feeling like I need to punish my body everyday, and always feel guilty about it.

Kale Salad

A few days ago my friend Dina and I were hanging out at her place, and the power happened to go out. So for dinner we made a kale salad, and to be honest I had forgotten how such simple ingredients can have such great results. Kale, cucumbers, tomatos, and onions, when tossed together with olive oil and Apple Cider vinegar lead to amazing results! Kale can be one of those vegetables that doesn't look the most enticing to eat raw, but massaging it in dressing for a couple minutes helps break it down so it's a bit easier to chew.

Kale's absolutely one of my favorite vegetables. It's a nutritional superstar, unusually high in fiber, and the bulk helps fill you up for few calories. It's a fantastic source of beta-carotene, has loads of antioxidants, and can help battle cancer and heart disease. It's also a great vegan source of absorbable calcium, and contains vitamin C, folic acid, B6, manganese, and potassium.

This recipe is super flexible and you can add whatever veggies you have or want. Lemon or lime juice is a good sub for the vinegar if you prefer, and you can try playing around with different types of oils for a different taste(Macadamia nut oil and lime juice is one of my favorite combinations).

Kale Salad

2 cups (packed) kale, chopped into smaller pieces
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
1 tsp steak seasoning
pepper to taste

Tomatoes
Cucumber
Mushrooms
Onion

Put the kale into a large bowl, then drizzle in olive oil, ACV, salt and pepper. Massage for about 5 minutes(or until kale wilts).

Toss with tomatoes, cucumber, and any additional veggies you like!

Gluten Free Vegan Pizza

An issue I hear a lot from people who are interested in vegetarian and vegan food, is that they don't know what to make. They think it's time consuming, involves complicated ingredients, or is just plain difficult. While some of it can be, a large majority of it is simple, and can be even easier to make with a few ready to use products. While processed food is generally something I avoid, by reading labels you can figure out which products are similar to something you might make at home. I usually try to avoid additives, preservatives, food dyes and colourings, and artificial sweeteners. Whole Foods or Natural Health stores can make it easier to find these products, and they're becoming more readily available in conventional food stores as well.

This pizza only cost me about $13 to make, and it makes 2 12in pizzas! You don't need to use gluten free dough, and ready to use pizza dough is available in most grocery stores. Using a pita also works if you want to make individual pizzas. My oven is currently broken, so I made this in a toaster oven which worked surprisingly well! I topped it with mushrooms and broccoli, as well as Pepperjack Daiya cheese(my favorite vegan cheese), and some dried basil.

Vegan Gluten Free Pizza

Bob's Red Mill Pizza Dough Mix
Canned Organic Tomato Sauce
Daiya Cheese
Chopped veggies

Prepare pizza dough according to directions on bag.

Roll into 2 rounds, and sprinkle each with 1/4 cup cheese. Cover with tomato sauce, then add veggies on top. Sprinkle on more cheese, and bake at 450 for 20-25 minutes.

Rest Days

When working out I find taking rest days the hardest. My body will say it wants it, but my head still says that I need to work out, I'll somehow gain 10 lbs if I don't work out for a day, or all my hard work will disappear overnight. It's a way of thinking that's been ingrained in my head for ages(strange how some behaviours stick with you). Rationally, logically, I know this isn't possible. I know you need rest days. Overworking your muscles can destroy them just as well as sitting around doing nothing.

Brenden Brazier is an amazing vegan Ironman Athlete, and also the founder of Vega(an amazing line of vegan protein powders and supplements). He mentioned at one point in his career, when he was training 35-40 hours a week,  that he started gaining fat. Not muscle, fat. Weird, yes? He discovered it was because his adrenal glands were burnt out(as much as working out is good for you, it's also a stress on the body). Your body needs adequate nutrition and time to recover and rebuild itself. Deplete it too much and it starts to turn on itself.

I've been working out pretty hard for the past couple months, and while I was noticing strength gains for a bit, I wasn't really noticing change in body fat composition and it was frustrating. I evaluated my diet, and I know I'm not really overeating(about 1400-1800 cals daily). I work out in the morning and sometimes at night as well, if I feel like it. Frustrated with my lack of progress, I decided to take a break. Not a day or two, but a full on week. I felt like I needed it to hopefully allow my body to recover. I walked around lots, but for the most part left the gym and running alone.

Since I'm back in Vancouver for a couple weeks I decided to leave the heavy lifting alone for a bit, and just focus on cardio. I've been doing mainly HIIT exercises, and a random Aquafit class with my mom :) It felt great to give my body a break. I was sore pretty much all the time the last little while, which I liked, but it was starting to get exhausting. I feel like it's good to give your body a break now and then, you're not a robot. The workouts I'm doing now, I feel like I'm able to do them better, since I have the strength and I'm not just wobbling around with sore legs and arms from my last workouts!

Anyone have any similar experiences?

First Day of School!

Yesterday was my first day of school at IIN, and it still feels a bit surreal. If you had told me a year ago that I'd be going back to school, I probably would have laughed at you. Yet here I am, and so far so good. There was a couple videos to watch on my iPad, and we were told to set our intentions for the year. We were also give an assignment to write down what we saw as our goals for the next year, 2 years, 5 years, etc. I usually think about goals in my head, but this is the first time I've really put them down on paper. Just last year I made a huge life change(quitting my job to pursue photography and moving to Toronto), and here I am again leaping headfirst into something unknown. It kind of feels like it clicks though, one of those 'aha!' moments where you realize what you're supposed to be doing and it feels incredibly right.

Ever since my friend Steph brought me to a screening of Food Inc of June 2008, my life changed. Sitting in that chair in the theater, I learned things I had never known, never even considered. Even at the times I knew it was a life changing moment. I could never go back to just eating the way I did before, it became such a shift in consciousness. I became a vegan August of that year, and I never thought it would lead me down the path it has!

Yet again, I have no clue how the future is going to pan out. It kind of feels like last year all over again! Just diving headfirst into something I love, it's a feeling I don't think I'll ever get tired of. I'm excited to be able to help make a difference in peoples lives, and in the world in general.  It's a time when the world needs it. So many people are needlessly sick and tired, and the government is utterly useless at providing the proper information that gives facts, not some weird ambiguous nod at the truth while it's funded by the very industries that hurt us the most.

Mango Sangria

Summer always makes me want sangria. There's not really a lot better than sitting somewhere hot with a nice glass of wine and other goodies. Typically sangria's made with pop and other things that'd I'd rather not drink, so I changed the recipe a bit and came up with this. It's also usually made with red or rosé, but I decided to try white. Sangria's also best when left to chill in the fridge a bit, and bonus points if you have the forethought to think to freeze juice into ice cubes so it doesn't get watered down. I used strawberries and mangos in mine, but any kind of berry or fruit would be good, really.

Orange juice is typically what you would use, but I decided to blend mango with some water and use that instead.

Mango Sangria

1 bottle white wine
1 mango
1 packet stevia
1/2 cup water
2 cups sparkling water
1 lemon, sliced
2 cups strawberries

Blend the mango and stevia with water until smooth. Mix the rest of the ingredients in a pitcher and let chill in the fridge.

Mango Coconut Bites

I can't stop with coconut lately. Or granola bars for that matter. These were intended to be granola bars, but I figured I should give them a break and made these into smaller bite sized treats. Then dipped them in chocolate, because that was the obvious choice!

Dipping them in chocolate proved a bit difficult since I don't have any toothpicks, and so I tried using a fork but kept dropping them into the chocolate and not being able to retrieve them. I ended up just drizzling the rest of them with chocolate and sprinkling some more coconut on top!

These are best when stored in the freezer, it gives them a nice chewy texture which slows you down so you enjoy them a little longer. That works in theory, but I'm pretty sure I was swallowing them whole. You could make them into bars as well if you'd rather go that route.

Mango Coconut Bites


1/4 cup almonds
1/2 cup puffed quinoa
1/4 cup buckwheat groats
1/4 cup rolled oats
1/4 cup shredded coconut
1 cup dates
1/4 cup fresh mango
1 tablespoon coconut oil
1 tsp vanilla
pinch of salt

Grind the almonds to a powder in blender, then mix with puffed quinoa, buckwheat, oats, and coconut in a bowl. In the blender blend the dates, mango, coconut oil, vanilla, and salt until smooth. Mix into dry mixture in bowl, then roll spoonfuls into balls. Place in freezer to set and store.

If dipping in chocolate let set in freezer for about an hour, then melt some chocolate in a bowl and dip bites in to cover. Or drizzle on top and top with coconut!

The dates are sometimes easier to blend if you soak them in water for 10 minutes before.