If you ask me what my favorite snack is, I would have to say my own home-made energy bar. The first time I ever ate an energy bar was when an American friend gave me one as a gift. Back then I wasn’t into fitness so I had zero knowledge about those things, and in China we simply don’t have such products. The one he gave me was a small 100g chunk, looking like a hard pressed mass of ingredients, and very dense. On the package there was a picture of a guy climbing rocks. So you know it’s not a common relaxation time snack, but something to eat when you need fuel but don’t have much time.

I definitely need these bars now as I exercise more so I decided to make my own as I can’t afford to buy imported ones. The only disadvantage is that you have to freeze them and eat them quickly, otherwise if you leave it on the counter for too long, it’s going to be mushy. :( I would have to experiment to find ways to make a drier version. But for now, I really enjoy my fresh energy bar.

 

I have heard quite a few people saying that they love meat but they also love animals. For those, I think switching to a plant-based diet is quite a big challenge than those who are already eating a lot of vegetables with their meals. For instance, before I turned vegetarian, I wasn’t a big meat eater; I did enjoy a few meat dishes my mom used to make, but not to the extent that I couldn’t live without them. So it was easier for me to become a vegetarian. Though I understand for someone who really, really enjoys those meat dishes, it is really asking a lot of them to give it up.

My best advice for those people is to start by trying meat alternatives. Soy protein or wheat-gluten have very chewy textures, and can resemble some cooked meats pretty well. Of course it’s not exactly the same, but at least it could be an easier transition. When it’s well prepared with familiar flavors, people are happy to eat it, without questioning too much whether it’s real meat or not.

So I came up with a veganized traditional meat dish. For someone from a meat-eating background, perhaps the second they saw this dish they would think of a meat and potato dish. It’s such a hearty, fulfilling and warm meal, perfect for a chilly winter evening. I finished a big plate with some black and brown rice. :D

 

When people decide to switch to a vegan diet, they always worry about not getting enough protein. This is primarily because we have been educated from a young age that animal proteins are the only source of protein we can get; people don’t even realize that most plants also contain protein.

The good thing about animal protein (if we ignore the animals suffering and dying) is that it’s complete, so you don’t need to take amino acids from various other foods. The bad thing is that animal protein is laden with fat, cholesterol, residues of hormones and a concentration of pesticides and antibiotics, and all these bad characteristics overwrite the good ones. It also contributes to acidifying of our body, which results in calcium leaking from our bones in an attempt to balance the body’s Ph value. An acidic environment is believed to be one of the causes of cancers. Another reason for avioding excess protein is it makes our kidneys overwork to process it.

On a lighter note, while most plants don’t have a complete protein profile, by eating various foods your body automatically takes bits from each resource to satisfy its needs. And the good news is that you don’t have to eat them all in one meal. Your body is clever enough to do its own job by combining them. Not to mention, there are certainly some foods available with complete protein, such as soybeans and quinoa. Of course, you don’t have to eat them every day, like I said, just try to combine various plant foods, your body will do its job. ;-) Here is a dish that contains tofu and its more “meaty” counterparts for the new, wannabe vegans to try.

Before I went 100% vegan from vegetarian, I ate eggs occassionally. Scrambled eggs is a simple dish that I used to make. My favorite version was scrambled eggs with tomatoes, I never got tired of eating that. I stopped eating eggs after I learnt that they contained too much cholestrol, which is harmful for our bodies. Another important reason is that I don’t want to contribute to the suffering of laying hens. People ask me, hens are not killed for laying eggs, what’s wrong with it? Well the problem is, they will be killed eventually as long as they’re forced to work for human beings. And before they’re killed many of them are painfully debeaked, crammed into dark and crowded cages and, perhaps, never see a beam of sunshine before they are dragged out to be killed. As long as I eat eggs, I am a part of the cycle, and I don’t feel comfortable about that.

Luckily, I don’t miss the egg dishes I used to enjoy. I just found other ways to cook food. For instance, instead of the scrambled eggs, I eat scrambled tofu. Full of protein and equally tasty, with a bit tumeric to color it yellow so it is visually appealing (or should I say nostalgic ;) ) this dish is definitely worth trying for your Sunday breakfast, or brunch.

 

The first time I read about edamame was in Nava Atlas’ cookbook. She introduced it as “fresh young soybeans”. In my experience soybeans were always yellow, dried, and often made into tofu. In Chinese cuisine soybeans are seldom cooked as a dish, except deep fried as a side decoration to noodle dishes or braised as an appetizer to accompany drinking. I was very curious so I Googled the picture and to my surprise these edemade look just like 毛豆(literally hairy beans) available in Chinese markets since I was young. It’s often cooked as peas with other vegetables, or boiled and braised in sauce and eaten as a snack. I have been eating them since I was young, I never connected these “hairy beans” with soybeans until now, hahaha!

Even though I eat a lot of raw food, I still haven’t gotten used to eating everything raw. For edamame I like to steam them slightly, and use them in soups or salads. Its fresh and tender green looks good alongside tomatoes, and it’s much easier to eat and digest than soybeans. If you have never eaten edamame before, try this salad as an introduction. ;-)

 

Earlier I mentioned that I joined the WHS Challenge. If you have been following my progress, you probably know that I didn’t reach my goal after three months. However, I have continued my exercises and tried to find out why I didn’t improve.

After a discussion with my friend Lukas, I realized it was probably because I didn’t do the right exercises. When I said I must train harder, he told me I should train smarter. That being said, I have to tell you that my goal is not to lose weight, but to gain weight by replacing my skinny fat with tight, lean toned muscles.

I changed my exercise routine and started to add body weight exercises, along with my street dance and Pilates. I also added two 1kg dumbbells in my dance routine, and a pair of heavy 10 lbs dumbbells in my weight lifting training. I am not trying to gain bulk; my goal is to achieve a lean body like dancer’s, so I followed the advice of taking lighter weights with more repetition. I have been doing this for over a week, alternating cardio with weight and strength training, and I have finally started to see a little improvement; I have some muscle on my arms and my belly-fat is decreasing. I really look forward to my transformation in a few months.

Besides protein shakes, I also made this delicious and fresh energy bar. As I exercise in the early morning, sometimes I felt a bit hungry but I have no time to make breakfast so this energy bar usually comes to my rescue. I also eat it as a snack between the meals. It doesn’t taste like commercial snack bars, but I know it’s good stuff I am puttimg inside. ;-) If you’re working on your fitness, it is definitely worth some time to make these and freeze them so you will have a convenient fuel for the week!

 

I highly recommend the book Willpower by Roy F. Baumeister and John Tierney. It contains many psychological experiments scientifically proving the existence of willpower and how it affects us. The good news is that willpower is like a muscle, it can be strengthened through training; the bad news is, perhaps, the training is not easy to maintain, and that’s why most people fail. But without doubt, if you train yourself for smaller things, your willpower is going to be stronger, and you will find it easier in other aspects. I think this is what is meant by discipline leading to great character; a concept that was mentioned in the Bible, but I never understood it fully until now.

I have definitely felt the benefits over the past two weeks. I resolved to get up at 6:00 am every day and do a work out, and I did. At the very beginning it was a struggle to get up as I felt so sleepy. But after a few days, I found myself getting tired earlier in the evening so I go to bed earlier, and in the morning, I wake up right before the alarm clock beeps. It is amazing!

One of the things mentioned in the book is dieting. Actually short-term dieting doesn’t really work, and people have to use a lot of willpower to resist temptations when they’re on diet, and once they break the rule, it is easy for them to go on a binge and destroy all the effort they’ve put in previously. The correct way, is to target your craving and feed your body nutritional foods instead of stimulating foods. Stimulants are short-lived; however nutrition will provide you with a steady and long-term power fuel. And nutrition comes from the right kind of food, be it fresh, whole, or plant-based food, as organic as possible. The best way would be to gradually change your eating habits, by adding more and more healthy food into your diet, until you don’t need to remind yourself what to eat and what not to eat. Just like when people ask me, how I resist the delicious fried chicken drumsticks? My answer is: “They’re not food to me, I won’t eat it as I won’t eat plastic.” So, why don’t you start with small things, like adding this simple salad to your diet, as small changes will become big changes later. ;)

 

The fall is finally here and pomegranates are freshly available in the fruit stores. In China, we’re taught to suck the juices out of the seeds then spit the stones out. The same with watermelon, and sunflower seeds with shells, the common Chinese snack, and grapes. I just think it’s so gross to spit all the time that is why I always hated eating fish when I was young, because you are supposed to figure out all the tiny little needle-like bones hidden in the fish with your tongue and spit them out. I often ended up swallowing the bones and they gave me an awful hard time by sticking to my throat. >.<

Nowadays we know that seeds contain valuable nutrition, and they’re antioxidants so we should actually eat them. The only thing is that you need to chew them more, and you might not be able to break them all down. This is where the blender comes to your rescue. When I blend the pomegranate, I find it less dreadful to eat, haha. By the way, I also found those fresh dates, they’re not as sweet as medjool, but they’re equally fresh and tasty. I either eat them raw or blend them into smoothies, both are palate pleasing to me. :D

A while ago I read a story from my friend Jackie’s blog. She was very young and one rainy day, she encountered a very young chick. It was shivering in the chilly rain. She took the baby chick home, tried to warm it and fed it, but it wouldn’t eat anything, it just trembled. My friend’s mom told her she couldn’t have it at home, there was no space, plus there was nobody to take care of it. So my friend had to take it to the nearest hen she could find, but the hen refused to accept the baby chicken. In the end, my friend had to take the baby chicken back home and try to help it. But her efforts were in vein, and she had to watch it die.

After many years she still remembers this incident. Even though she is not a vegetarian, this prompts her to ponder the meaning of life and its fairness. She said this becomes the scream of the lamb in her heart, I think you know what she means, if you have seen the movie The Silence of the Lambs.

Today I am gonna work out a dish from the Chinese dining table that usually features lamb. For people who love animals but also love meat, this is an excellent compromise. It’s chewy and tasty, and not a drop of blood is shed. Maybe there will always be the scream of the lambs as long as human beings exist. But as more and more of us hear it, the world will become a better place. I hope I am not the only one dreaming. ;-)

 

The first time I ever tasted okras was when I was traveling in Vietnam. I think I might have been in Nha Trang, a small sea side city, and I was wandering around the city on my bike. The advantage of having a bike is that you can visit places other tourists wouldn’t go to; the disadvantage of visiting such places is that there might be no English language service. Previously in another town I had already encountered some problems. I was hungry and went to a small restaurant by the road side. I point to the “I am a vegetarian” sentence in my copy of the Lonely Planet, but the owner couldn’t read. I tried to pronounce it but she ended up giving me a bowl of rice noodles with a piece of each kind of meat she had in her store! Oh la la!

Remembering this, I decided to select my own vegetables and ask them to cook them for me. So this time, I looked to see what they had there when I spotted this strange thing that I was curious to try. They cooked the okra for me with a little garlic and it was delicious!

I had always wanted to eat it again, but I seldom saw okras in Chinese markets, until the other day when I spotted fresh ones available. Compared to other vegetables it’s a bit pricey, but I bought some anyway. It only took me a few minutes to make sautéed crispy okras.