When our caretaker told me about it, I had to laugh. Hilarious that after more than a decade, all this should happen when I stop eating meat. Ten years ago, my sisters and I were scheming with our mom about opening a franchise. But we moved back to the city after graduation. Got busy. Moved cities and countries. And I come back.... now Vegan-Pranic-Breatharian-Light....... to witness all these. The perfect occasion to say: *facepalm*
Who would have known? And did make me wonder, "What's the lesson behind the pun, God?"
I do hope that soon enough, these burger places turn Vegan themselves.
I often quip, "It's easier to convert Youtube videos to mp3's and mp4's......."
Well, after a year of aggressively publicly talking about it, a non-Vegan friend might prove that wrong about non-Vegans soon.
All the thoughts of burger made me crave for a burger. I haven't made one in a while. And my non-Vegan friend surprised me with a link to a DIY video after my birthday. I got excited that a non-Vegan friend took the time to search and learn all that.
I finally prepared a patty mixture for yesterday's dinner. I just wished I did not run out fruits to have a glass of ice blended drink with it.
Surprisingly, I finally quit rice this year, without even planning to. It just happened. I can't even imagine or begin to think how it all happened. And the sugar, honey, alternative sweeteners are gone, too. I started using raisins as replacements, because my body hasn't been reacting very well to sweets for more than two years now. Apparently, my body can no longer accept them.... unless I have to go for instant coffee (or the barbecue sauce I had for the patty mixture here) that happens to have sugar.
How is that even possible? No rice? No sugar? No honey? No sweeteners of any kind? I was actually considering dates and prunes as alternatives, but now I don't need any of those.
Just to explain.... What non-Vegan people don't really understand is that our body changes along with our choices. For instance, we got into a real intense discussion about nutrients and vitamins in one of my FB Breatharian groups. There's a lot of physiological processes that change when you stop eating meat. And when you make other choices, such as taking out oil, rice, and sugar, even more changes occur.
In the past five years alone, I've made huge drastic overhauls. I have not been taking any form of supplements, vitamins, or medicines unless they come as a fruit or vegetable. Seriously.
I get my natural oils from things like avocado or coconut milk. And yes, raw. Not canned. Not packaged. I get my calcium from sesame seeds. And guess what? I have never been ill. I did lose weight. And every time I make new changes, I lose weight. And it does take a considerable amount of time, dedication, energy work, holistic work before gaining weight back. But the efforts are worth it. Everyone who sees me come out of these periods of transition tell me I look more radiant despite the weight loss. If you've ever met me before 2013, I was already slim as I could be. So, it would be a big surprise to realize I still had anything to lose.
I did fall ill in December 2015. Since 2013, that was the only major health crisis I have gotten into, after getting into all these changes. HOWEVER, the reason as to why I fell ill on December 2015 was not due to my eating habits, but because of my shock over the city. I had been living in the countryside for several months. In a house surrounded by trees. With very minimal provincial traffic in the area, since it's not much of a tourist hot spot as compared to where I live now.
So, when I got to the city, I was in for a major shocker physiologically and energetically. I lost even more weight just by that experience. After last year's Vegan Month celebration, I wished I met the people of Manila Vegans in 2015, and learned of all the Vegan restos all over the city!
For the record, I love food. I am too enthusiastic about food. I love dining out. I love cuisine. I have an exquisite and distinct taste when it comes to dining. And I am not your regular eater, who gorges a mouthful of anything that can be put into the mouth and digested by their stomach.... if you know what I mean. I'm the type who can tell really good food from regular average restaurant food. I once wanted to travel the world just to know all the food the world has to offer. That's how much I love food then and even now.
It's a little different now, of course, since I prefer raw Vegan. I am working on that, but for now, I still eat processed. I am due to getting rid of processed, but there are reasons why I still keep it on my personal menu. As I have always said and always say, I pretty much work with my body. I really tune in to what it is accepting and rejecting. I don't just decide to stop eating something. Most of the times, my body is the decision-maker. If it doesn't like it, I know for sure that it's no good.
For men and women who are conscious about their body:
I have never gotten myself into this at all for the purpose of losing weight. I was and never am in a diet. If any, I have always been obsessed with gaining weight. I used to have this idea that I was just tiny for my size. But I was too busy with work that I didn't really put much thought about weight. For a number of reasons, I was never really super conscious about my body. I didn't obsess over beauty magazines.
Yes, it is true that I always loved walking and going out for brief outdoor runs. But that was never to lose weight. As I have always been transparent, all of my physical activities were about balancing my energy. And I always felt physically and energetically refreshed after a good walk. I've always been very sensitive to energy, and I was aware of the intensity of my energy. When I was working an office job, I had very minimal outlets for that. And walking huge distances was the most convenient to work out that energy.
When I got into Tai Chi, that's when other things surfaced for me, and I learned to really hone and direct my energy.
Does turning Vegan/Light-based really prove to be worth all the hassle? If you have a purpose, the process is not a hassle at all. You'll stick to it like glue, devotedly. When I look back, I have probably not been more devoted to anything at all that requires such rigorous discipline. But it happened for me like a walk in the park.
Now that I realize there are a lot of Vegan products in the city, I tell myself, "The process could have been way much easier than what I had to go through not knowing there were alternatives available." But I'm not grumpy about my process. I still learned a lot. And I can tell myself that the transition is doable, regardless of conditions. If you really want to, you can do it.
Moreover, all of the international published writers and speakers I have heard sharing their stories attest that even medical professionals support eliminating meat. There was one woman who took a medical exam as part of the procedure during her pregnancy. It was her first pregnancy. And she was a bit anxious to know the results. The doctor said it was actually exceptional. She was healthier than most people. And asked what she was doing. She started to explain she's Vegan. And he told her, "You know what, whatever you're doing, just keep doing it."
Personally, I have always loved fruits even as a kid. I was lucky my parents implemented a balanced diet, so veggies were always present. However, it was not until I was experiencing anxiety attacks that a doctor encouraged me to change my nutrition. Since I already enjoyed physical outdoor activities, a change in nutrition would be the next best thing she could prescribe. And every time I visited the doctors for any reason, I seemed to get this from them. So, vegetarian/vegan was an on and off love affair for me for a couple of years.
When I was living alone in 2013, I did enjoy my time in the kitchen. I enjoyed mastering sinigang and adobo. So, even I was surprised when I suddenly blurted out to myself, "What if I completely stop eating meat?"
So, for payoffs, if you really feel the call to make the transition, then follow your heart. Forget all the critics. Anything in this life, whatever we want to achieve, there will always be someone who has to say something.
And I digress....
Back to our burgers... here's a peek at my latest. I made my first attempt at really tasty spicy barbecue patties. Turned out real good that I can't wait for my next serving!
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| Homemade spicy barbecue burger patties |
