Posts by eventuallyparallel

My favorite vegetarian cookbooks are The Vegetarian Epicure, Vegan Planet, The Best of Lord Krishna's Kitchen, and The Vegan Gourmet. There are thousands of free recipes available online at http://www.vegweb.com/. Vegweb also has a massive directory of links to related organizations and companies, a section containing articles from a variety of authors, and a pretty articulate statement of their philosophical foundations in doing what they do. 

I haven't read The Skinny Bitch, but I have been a vegetarian for 13+ years. I was a vegan for a few years in there as well.

I, personally, did not become a vegetarian for health reasons, but it has become a more central concern over the past couple of years. There is little question in the medical community about the health benefits of a well-balanced vegetarian diet. It's important to watch nutrition whatever your diet, though - maintaining a healthful vegan diet particularly takes a pretty good understanding of nutrition. Most vegans who tell you otherwise haven't been practicing very long. I suggest that you start by looking at the American Heart Association (http://www.americanheart.org/presenter.jhtml? identifier=4777) and Mayo Clinic (http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/vegetarian-d iet/HQ01596) webpages on the subject. The Vegetarian Society (http://www.vegsoc.org/info/health1.html) and American Dietetic Association (http://www.eatright.org/ada/files/VegetarianP ositionFINAL.pdf) offer fuller analyses, if you are interested.

If your primary worry is with chemicals... well, we're all pretty screwed. A friend of mine, an environmental scientist, hasn't eaten fish in a decade and won't in the foreseeable future, because she says she hopes to have children one day. She does eat other animal products, including meats, but she has identified cumulative heavy metal and chemical retention in fish flesh as particularly dangerous to fetal development.

In a related note, my understanding of things suggests that our water supply is the most immediate health concern diet-wise, and bottled water is not the answer. I really recommend the film Flow if you're interested in knowing more about the risks, realities, and politics of water: http://www.flowthefilm.com/

In terms of general theoretical/critical books you might be interested in after finishing Skinny Bitch, I suggest: In Defense of Food: An Eater's Manifesto, by Michael Pollen; The Sexual Politics of Meat, by Carol J. Abrams; and perhaps some Peter Singer (though I don't agree with much of what he says, he's definitely an influential thinker). The writing of Derrick Jensen, particularly Language Older Than Words and The Culture of Make Believe, continues to have big impact on my perspective - though Jensen does not directly address vegetarianism and is not a vegetarian himself, he talks a great deal about cultural norms, exploitation and economics.

Hope this helps.

Yes, but many quiches are also excellent served at room temperature the next day as a lunch food. With a fresh salad (spinach and strawberry?), it can make a great summer meal.

I hate that feeling! It used to happen to me all the time. A bunch of different things could be going on, but with me it came down to two: diet and depression.

With diet, if you're diabetic, these factors might be different for you and you should definitely talk to your doctor before making major changes, but I find that 1) high calorie, 2) simple carb and 3) fat-heavy meals tend to do this to me.

I changed my diet to greatly reduce simple carbs (except for fruit) and fats, and I eat five small meals a day with lots of protein and veggies instead of three large ones. I almost never feel tired after eating anymore. I also like to drink green tea, which has a little bit of caffeine (much less than coffee) in it and will give you a small boost that won't make you crash later.

With depression, I actually found that my physical and emotional well-being were deeply connected. I spent many of my teenage years on antidepressants that never really seemed to work. When I started making changes for my physical health - eating better, exercising more, and keeping a regular sleep schedule - my moods really stabilized a lot.

Something else that helps with food grogginess is taking a walk to the park (if there's one near you) at breakfast or lunchtime and eating there. The walk there and back will help keep you from getting sleepy, you'll have the treat of the meal outdoors, and it'll leave you feeling surprisingly energized.

For the nighttime, one of my favorite social customs is that of the Italian passeggiata - a slow evening stroll following dinner, usually about an hour. In small towns especially, it's a significant social event (people even dress for it, like an old school promenade!), but it has the added benefit of getting you moving after a meal. It's a great habit to get into, and it both exercises and wears you out a little before bedtime.

Yes! I did this.

I cut out all grains, potatoes, and refined sugar from my diet at the end of May. I don't eat a lot of processed foods, so I didn't have to go label crazy. It was definitely difficult at first, but I feel so much better and don't even get cravings for it anymore.

Once in a while, I might make a social exception, but for the most part, it's pretty easy to maintain. Substitute extra helpings of vegetables and fruit in every meal where those nutrient-poor simple carbs used to appear, and supplement the lost calories with extra protein and healthy fats.

Some of the things I eat:

• massive amounts of leafy, green vegetables
• wraps with lettuce instead of flour or corn tortillas
• bed of roasted vegetables or spinach instead of rice
• sauteed mushrooms instead of potatoes
• crispy oven baked eggplant slices instead of potato chips
• ripe strawberries and yogurt instead of cereal
• thick slices of juicy cantaloupe or cottage cheese with pineapple (never thought I'd like it, but I love it) instead of ice cream and other desserts
• Crystal Light instead of soda (yeah, I'm one of those)

I made the change in my own diet, because I am trying to lose weight, but I actually like eating this way better - I never feel bloated after I eat and never have to deal with sugar crashes. I get all of the fiber and carbs I need from fruits and vegetables. I even get to eat larger portions, while I'm losing weight, because of the calorie disparity between the food groups. What's not to like?

I don't know what the strawberry sour candies you mentioned are, but you can look up Haribo sweets at: http://caloriecount.about.com/haribo-nutritio n-m555

When I can't find this info, I just google +["food name"] +"calories" and add the data myself.

I've been wondering about MSG, too, and I'm glad you started this conversation. I wrote a journal post about it a while ago, hoping to get a response, but there hasn't been any as of yet.

The research I did really worried me. I won't copy and paste my entry here, because it's long, but if you cared to read it, I would be interested to know what you think.

Anyway, I went ahead and eliminated any foods with MSG (and its colleagues) from my diet as an experiment. I was quite concerned about the additive, because of the link I saw in my binge behaviors. It's been almost three weeks now. I feel better. Regular food tastes better to me. I rarely feel bad after eating, and I am less compelled to binge. It is very noticeable.

I only have my personal experience to go on, because there is not scientific agreement about the ingredient's effects. There is a lively discussion and great deal of study, however, which suggests that others have had similar experiences.

If you are losing weight gradually, the friends and family who see you everyday probably won't notice at first. Don't get discouraged - even if they aren't sure what's different, they will notice as you become more confident, healthier, and comfortable in your own body.

People you see only occasionally are more likely to have a 'wow' response. When I was in college, I weighed almost 210 at one point. While studying abroad for six months, I lost the first 30 pounds I needed to reach a healthy BMI. No one there seemed to notice, and I started to feel like, "why am I even bothering?"

When I came back to campus, very few people commented, but suddenly I was being asked out a lot more and invited to many more parties. Acquaintances became friends. Suddenly, I felt included in a way I had always wanted. I was still far from a healthy weight, but the social effect was very noticeable. I'm sure that my appearance factored into all of this, and fat-phobia is definitely real - but I was also a lot more fun to be around, because I wasn't so self-conscious and ill at ease in my own skin.

And that's what people seemed to notice the most - it was like I had came out of hiding. I was told, "you always seemed so wrapped up in your own world before" and "you just seemed inapproachable." I think people unconsciously respond to the signals you send out about who you are and how you present yourself. If you feel feel good about yourself, they're more likely to respond in kind, and that feels much better than someone simply making a remark about your weight reduction.

There's a thread full of suggestions here:http://caloriecount.about.com/need-something- sweet-gt47-289