Makeup: The many faces

Hi guys. Yesterday I had a conversation with a guy, and we talked about girls and their makeup.
He said something which I feel like us ladies hear alot from guys, but still resist to believe in. He said that girls don't need to wear makeup, that it's silly and the whole concept is just due to unobtainable ideals set from the world of celebrities.
All I could say was: "a huh, yes.. Why are you telling me all these things I already know?".
To this he replied: "so why do you do it?". - Ah yes, we could spent hours, days, weeks, months, years discussing why women feel the need to wear makeup, or on the other hand why the choose not to.

However, that is not what this post is about. This post is about the next bit I uttered in that conversation.
I understand far too well that wearing too much makeup can be too much and very unattractive, but I see nothing wrong or twisted about a little mascara, some blush and lipbalm to help nature along. My conversational partner on the other hand thought that it was just as bad as going all out - it's a principle I guess.

So we cut a deal. To prove my point, I was to take a picture of myself first thing in the morning. Fresh out of bed, hair all over the place, oily skin and absolutely no makeup. Then I'd proceed to go through some of the different faces of makeup, and this is the result.

Excuse the giant picture, but it's a big comparison. I realized that the lighting in picture one is slightly different than the others, but I can't control the morning sun ;)

I think I'll leave this picture for effect and say no more. Which do you prefer?

 - Elk

Dating a Vegan

Hi guys.
A couple of days ago, I had a conversation with someone about dating a Vegan.
He said dating a Vegan would be a nuisance because "you wouldn't be able to take them anywhere". So, besides taking you Vegan significant other to a vegetarian, vegan or a raw food place these are my thoughts.
You can take a Vegan anywhere! They're trained to spot out and navigate through the jungle of the omnivorous world.

Here is a little story. After the last exam in the last semester, me and two others went out to a café for a celebratory "exams are over" brunch. At the café, they did not have a single thing that didn't contain meat or other animal products. Not even the salads. I figured,  if I was going to pay ridiculous prices for fancy café food, I didn't want to cop out and have a chicken salad - not chicken please. So I ordered a beef filet burger, no beef filet please. I have NEVER seen a waitress so confused in my life, it was actually ridiculously funny. So the waitress looked at me with her big round "what the heck are you talking about" look and said "so you just want the bread?". Dear lady, no I do not, I would like the beef filet burger, without the beef but with all the other stuff. If was so so so good! Definitely a dish I'm going to attempt to re-create at home.

None the less, my point was. If someone has lactose intolerance, or is allergic to a certain food they order it without it, why is that different from a Vegan ordering a beef filet burger without the beef?

Of course, this is not the only thing people take into account when thinking about dating a Vegan. Personally, I wouldn't be having second thoughts about dating someone who ate in a certain way, but I think the whole "dating a Vegan" thing is being wound up to being an issue because people have prejudices about Vegans, and honestly - when you decide to become a Vegan you are taking a pretty big stand of a number of political and idealistic matters.

Point of the story: please don't be discouraged to date a Vegan just because they're Vegan. Gosh I mean, if only Vegans could date Vegans I would probably never find anyone since I haven't met any Vegans IRL - in my LIFE!

 - Elk

...

Sometimes, someone is going to break your heart.

Eating with omnivores

Hi guys, today I want to talk a little about living with, or eating with omnivores, carnivores, non-vegans, whatever you like to call them.

I haven't got much to say on this subject other than, good lord sometimes it's hard! Eating with non-vegans once in a while, like sharing a meal at a dinner, or going to a café for lunch isn't really that hard, most of the time you'll get questions etc, but other than that it's fine. The trouble arises when it comes to family.

My father is a diabetic (type 2), he's overweight, has constant migraines, terrible teeth and arthritis. This is only the health problems that I know of, there are always little things that we don't consider health problems until we change something and it goes away. Evidently, he doesn't know everything I know about veganism and why I chose to eat like this, but he's been very accepting, although challenging at times. He's biggest issue with my diet, as it has always been is: size. I can eat an immense amount of food, less has never been more to me. On a high-carb low-fat vegan diet, restriction is a no-no, and one of the reasons that I chose this way of eating is because I know that I simply can't restrict, I'll only end up binging!

For my dad however, the mantra of trying to restrict what you eat and how much of what is so deep set in him, that he has great trouble with me eating larger amounts of food, even though he himself is obese and diabetic... If you've ever seen some of Freelee the Banana Girl's videos, you know how much she eats, and I eat nowhere near as much as she does, I simply can't. So in my vegan world, I eat very reasonable amounts of food! Yes I eat more than someone who is an omnivore and calorie restricts, I eat exactly what I feel that my body needs, and it's taken me a long time on this vegan-lifestyle to learn the balance I need between fruit, veg and cooked-carbs. Therefore it really just winds me up when my dad try to play "how much are you allowed to eat"-God. Obviously neither he or my mother did a very good job of teaching me how to eat properly and thus we all suffer from obesity and health related sicknesses.

*sigh*, the trouble of being you parents child is that no matter how old you grow, I'm nearly 20, you're always they're child somehow, and it's hard for them to relinquish control. Thank goodness that I have my own apartment, my own kitchen and my own food! I'm only here for the summer.

Today my dad asked me, after denying me one last potato which I then snatched myself, "how many potatoes how you had?", after him having chomped down a tiny bit of salad, a couple of potatoes, large splotches of butter, feta cheese and steak. I answered "I don't say anything about your food, you don't say anything about my food". I love my dad, he's the smartest person I know and I am eternally grateful that he's my dad, but sometimes he just grinds my gears ;)

 - Elk

Favorite Vegan Tips

Hello guys, I though I'd gather up some of my favorite vegan tips from around the internet. The first one is the picture above - not exactly a tip, but some information I find very good to know!

#1) Rebuild yourself! When I started this vegan journey (2 months ago) I thought alot about that my body would gradually be rebuild, and that I had to give it time to being replaced with fruits and veggies. All the cells in your body dies, and will be replaced gradually, so quite literally you are what you eat. Do YOU want to be a burger on legs?

#2) Part of you! Following up on your body literally being build from what you eat, if you're about to eat something bad, ask yourself "do I want this to be a part of me?". I'm guessing that too many times the answer will be no, and no matter if you choose to eat it or not, let alone thinking about it I think is a good exercise.

#3) Keep it simple! This was the tip that actually got me started in the first place. I was quite scared, you're going from a diet where you have a big repertoire of recipes to rely on when you come home late after a long day and just need something quick to cook. When you're changing your diet radically, you don't have that repertoire to rely on, therefore - KEEP IT SIMPLE. In the beginning what I ate was, fruits and veggies for breakfast and lunch, mainly fruit, in their whole form or in a smoothie. For dinner I'd pick one of my top 3 cooked carbs, potatoes, rice and pasta, and dress it up from there. Super. Simple. Guys!

#4) Carb up! Have your got an uncontrollable hankering for a BigMac, cake, pork chops? It's simple, you're not carbed up! Your body tells the brain that it needs food, unfortunately it doesn't specify, so you'll feel most inclined to go for the most stimulating and convenient food, not usually fruits and veggies.

#5) Embrace those crappy days! Seriously, if you're having a crappy day, embrace it! But not by allowing yourself to eat whatever. I like to say that I have an angry, or a sad vegan inside of me. That way I try to separate my crappy mood from the rational part of me. Therefore I focus on nurturing and comforting myself and making that angry or sad vegan inside of me happier.

#6) Every cell in your body runs on sugar! Don't be afraid of sugar, if you've had biology you know that every cell in your body runs on sugar, so give it some prime fruit-fuel!

#7) Find out what works for you! I've had many doubts whether to eat wheat or not, wheat pasta and bread. Then I realized, if it works for me to have some break with hummus and tomatoes in the afternoon, then that's what I'll do. Try out different things, and see what makes you feel the best and what keeps you nice and satisfied, then make your own rules!

#8) Find someone who inspires you! The internet if wonderful, and it's full of people to inspire you and motivate you. Whether you likes blogs, vlogs, forums or something completely different I'm certain that you can find inspiration out there. Personally, FreeleeTheBananaGirl and DurianRider, on YouTube, are my vegan-heroes! I find going online for help and motivation very important to me, because I don't know a single vegan, not even a vegetarian.

#9) If you're hungry, eat! Your body is telling you that it's hungry, and if you're eating a good clean vegan diet you can eat all you want. If you let yourself go hungry, and especially if your in a food-toxic enviroment, for instance a supermarket or otherwise surrounded by alot of unhealthy convenient foods, it'll be harder to resist!

#10) Do not restrict your calories!  By restricting your calories you're teaching your body to be a energy-storerer rather than an energy-user. Also, a calorie is not a calorie, contrary to popular belief, the proof is in the banana-pudding, look at raw-foodists, fruitarians and long term high-carb low-fat vegans - they eat masses of calories each day and THEY'RE LEAN!

Hope you liked some of my tips, some of them are really quite repetitive but they underline an important point.

 - Elk

Little things that make me a HAPPY VEGAN

Hi guys! Today is my 51st day as a vegan, and I'm looooovin' it!
I know it would have been more of a "milestone" if I posted this yesterday on my 50th day, but yesterday was an awful day so I'm doing it today.
This post is just going to be an assorted collection of pictures of things that make me a happy vegan.

Pure little juice-box size smoothies for a buck.

Delicious smoothie, cherry juice (from thawing frozen cherries) and banana.

100% plant soy-chocolate milk - better than the "real" thing!

An amazing vegetarian supermarket in Malmö, Sweden. Unfortunately I do not live there. :(

Delicious soy-"meat", red curry, coconut, veggie rice dish. Scrummy! Even my omnivore friend was very impressed.

Friggin' veggie wraps at McDonald's! *probably only vegetarian* None existent in Denmark!
So happy I didn't have to ask for: "a chicken salda without chicken, without cheese and without dressing please".

Freelee The Banana Girl's "Datorade". Tried it for the first time today, because I now have a blender!

So here's a couple of remarks about my veganism. 1) I live in Denmark, vegan "meats", "cheeses" and other special products for vegan DO NOT EXIST! However we do have soy milk, rice milk etc. and soy-ice-cream, but that's pretty much all. 2) Some of these foods, processed fake meats, McDonald's veggie wraps and soy-chocolate-milk aren't foods I eat often, I aim to eat raw 'till 4, whole foods, fruits, veggies and starches. 3) FREELEE THE BANANA GIRL IS MY GURU!

P.s. I will do a more in-depth post about this vegan thing that I've begun ;)

 - Elk

High Carb Vegan, What I Eat in a Day #1

Hi guys, I thought I'd do a "what I eat in a day" post, now that I've posted about this vegan eating ;)

 Breakfast, yum yum, leftover banana/strawberry smoothie made with soy-milk. Oh and water.

Lunchy time, an orange, a pear, to smaller tomatoes, some cucumber and some radishes.

 Snack times! Popcorn, now I know that lots of high carb, low fat vegans out there probably is like noooooo. But I checked the salt and oil content, and I didn't think it was bad at all. Besides I didn't feel so bad because they were like fancy organic popcorn, and the only three ingredients were corn, salt and oil.

                                              

 More snack, vegan homemade bananabread with some jam. I try not to eat too much jam, because I like to avoid the added sugar, but it was Saturday so I think of it as a treat :)

 A little pre-dinner orange.

 Dinner round one, sweet potato oven baked fries with vegan ketchup.

Dinner round two, regular potato oven fries with pepper, oregano and ketchup.

I know it seems like I ate a lot of food, and I did! But if you know anything about this vegan way of eating, you must know that there is NO CALORIE RESTRICTION! And in fact it's best if you eat 2,500+ calories a day. Basically, if you're hungry, you eat. This suits me absolutely fine, I love to eat and haven't ever counted calories.

Tomorrow is my 2 week mark eating this way, sooooo exciting! Hope you liked this post, if not, too bad 'cause I'm making more :D
 - Elk