Vegan Bars and Candy

Awhile ago i  was excited, sitting in our car waiting for my vegan bars and candy. My aunt sent me vegan bars and candies, she's from Canada. When i received the package containing the bars i opened it with haste. These are the candies and bars:

So, it's my first time to eat other bars to tell you the truth i only eat Clif Bars. Clif bars are energy bars packed full of protein.  There are other bars which are suitable for vegans like the Luna Bar. I just wanted to show these pictures in my blog. :) Advance Happy Halloween

Multiplayer blog

So, my blog as you can see are made up of articles. I thought that i should probably post some pictures of vegan food as well. I don't want this blog to be a food blog completely but i also love the idea of writing about animal rights and other vegan things too, not only  food so it would be a multiplayer blog.

I just want to post more blog entries because i find that i don't really put much effort writing in this blog but i will try my best to make this blog a wonerful one.

:) -- Go Vegan!

November is vegan month!!!

I'm pretty excited about November being the vegan month because i will also celebrate my first vegan anniversary.:) So, i'm really looking forward to it.

Today, i went to this Vegetarian restaurant called Daily Veggie Cafe... they have vegan food too. It's my second time there. My first time to dine there was during "Hug A Vegetarian Day" and i was with my parents. My parents also had vegetarian and vegan food so i was happy that they loved the food.

I will post some pictures of the restaurant here after my quarterly exams.

Getting back to my post,

November is vegan month and check out the reasons why you should go vegan :

http://www.veganmonth.com/whyvegan.html
( just copy and paste this on your address bar)

Stay happy!

Supplements ... anyone ?

[ Note: I don't own any images posted here.
They have their rightful owners]

There came a time when i needed to take supplements. Supplements are needed, now that you're a vegan and i am too. Supplements help supply enough vitamins and minerals that are needed by the body. A vitamin B12 supplement is important because we can't get enough B12 from plant sources alone.

Where can i get B12 when i'm not taking supplements ?

* Cereals that are fortified
* Soy products that are fortified like :  meat substitutes (veggie meat)
                                                          Fortified soy milk
Iron is also necessary to take but i don't take iron supplements. I just eat foods high in vitamin c like orange and kiwi so that iron can be absorbed easily. Iron is needed so that the oxygen can be carried along the bloodstream.
So where else can i get iron?
* green leafy veggies
*whole grains
*nuts

Calcium is another nutrient that is needed so that our bones get healthy and strong. Calcium is also needed for strong teeth.
Where else can i get my calcium ?
* nuts like almonds
*soymilk
* green leafy veggies

Iodine is also needed. Iodine helps in thyroid functions.
Where can i get iodine other than iodine supplements ?
* iodized salt
* kelp

Vitamin D is obtained with sunlight. If you don't always get adequate amount of sunlight then a vitamin D supplement is necessary.

Protein supplements are also necessary to take but i don't take protein supplements at all. I can get protein from:

* nuts and seeds
*grains
*beans
*soy foods

So there is also another type of nutrient called fatty acids but i don't know much about it. I will research more on it. I don't take fatty acid supplements and i feel fine. I only take B12 supplements and iron supplements actually. I can get otehr nutrients and vitamins from the foods that i usually eat everyday. I needed to take supplements because the doctor told that i should. He prescribed a B12 supplement and an iron supplement for me.

One doctor, i'm not telling who he or she is told me that i'm too young to be vegan. I didn't listen to her at all. I just walked away and said to myself "I can do this, that's your opinion and i can't stop now." I never really found myself stopping i just continued with my vegan journey. I still took my supplements so i assume that i'm perfectly fine.

Lesson for me:
Take the right supplements, follow my heart, save animals and be a happy vegan.

                                                         

The Benefits of going vegan

People ask me why am i vegan and i told them i do this for ethical reasons and people also ask me what happened to me when i started being vegan. Well, i answered their questions. I tried to tell people that veganism is good for the mind, body and also for the soul.

They didn't want to try veganism because they think it's very hard but when you get into a deep conversation and when the person is interested in what your topic is, which is veganism then you must tell them the benefits.

Some people when they hear the benefits of a specific thing or diet, they would try it.

So when i went vegan there are a lot of things i noticed within myself and how i deal with people and animals. These are the benefits of veganism ( from my point of view)

#6 You're pretty light
I feel as if i can move around easily. I can go from the kitchen up to my room, from my room to the garden and from the garden to my friend's house. I actually never get tired that easily. I have a lot of energy.

#5 Cooking Mama
Ever since i was younger i hated cooking. Whenever i went in the kitchen i would always get shooed away by my nanny or my mom. I was never allowed to cook anyway. I was banned from the kitchen. Now, i'm vegan i learned how to cook meals. My mom allowed me to use the kitchen for baking and cooking my own food. I bought a vegan cookbook called "Super Market Vegan" it helped me be an independent person. Even though i already have the cookbook, i still love our very own Filipino dishes. I tried veganizing Filipino food like Adobo and Lumpia.

#4Snoring-- not!
I stopped snoring when i went vegan. My mom told me that it was because i exercised a lot in the morning during summer and my mom told me that i lost the excess fats. That's nice because my dad and i used to have a snoring orchestra during the night but after i went vegan my dad was the only one controlling the orchestra.

#3 Smoother skin
Because i don't eat too much greasy food after i went vegan my skin became smoother and i had less pimples. I only have 1 pimple right now. I don't use lotion that much because i usually am in a hurry to go to school and i don't have time to put on lotion so even though i don't put on lotion my skin stays smooth.

#2 Weight loss
I lost my extra weight.

#1 Helping a lot of animals
I went vegan for ethical reasons. The number 1 benefit of being vegan is that you help animals. That's what matters to me. I've been vegan for 9 months and it's truly a nice thing to know that you're a part of a vegan revolution going on and that you're making a difference in the lives of animals.

My classmate told me that there are more meat eaters than vegans. Why are you still doing this ?
I told her that i wanted to make a difference and yes there are a lot of meat eaters than vegans but it's better to start now than later.

Vegan for the animals!

Favorite Vegan Foods/Drinks in Restaurants

I've compiled a few of my favorite vegan drinks and food from restaurants here in the Philippines and i wanted to share it so here it is:

#1 Starbucks -- Soy Latte






















#2 Piazza Pazzo --- Sorbet















#3 Green's Cafe --- Vegan Chocolate Cake















That's it for now :) i need to find more photos.

Uh... dissection ?

So as much as vegans don't like it even i don't there must be a specific time in our lives when we are faced with this situation. I just turned vegan last year and now when i'm feeling good about my veganism here comes Biology making me feel worse during my second year high school.

I replied in a vegan forum which was about dissection. We were discussing how to avoid dissecting any kind of animal. Of course, there are alternatives... but what if there aren't and you were there during the dissection? Bah!

There must be some other way right?

1) Go and talk to your teacher

If she/ he doesn't permit you to do any other project other than dissection then ... it's a hard situation. It's either you get a score or you get zero in biology. Try asking the Principal for Student Affairs and tell him/ her that you're a vegan and that if there are any other alternatives rather than doing dissection.

2) Give them fliers

There are some sites where you can get fliers that are against dissection. There's PETA. I love PETA!

When you've got your alternatives then you're good to go.

Staying vegan and how to do it

So being a vegan is easy but sometimes we are in the verge of swerving to another direction because we stumble along the way. We are faced with situations like we need to go to a party and when we arrive there, there's no vegan food. We need to be ready for these situations, when the time comes. So here are the top 6 tips in how to stay vegan :)

1) Keep in mind, the reason why you are vegan:
Are you vegan for ethical reasons, for your health or for a healthier creulty-free lifestyle? With your reasons in mind, you won't be swerving from veganism to non- vegan. I'm sure that it will help you to stay vegan because you wouldn't be a vegan without your own reason, right?

2) Learn how to cook your own meals and read labels:
As a vegan, you need to be in control of what you consume or eat. It would be very helpful if you know how to cook your own vegan meals. There are a lot of vegan videos in youtube that teaches vegan recipes, a lot of blogs that have vegan recipes, sites that have vegan recipes and a lot of vegan cookbooks. I suggest you buy "Supermarket Vegan" which has been a very helpful companion to me in the kitchen.

So, when going grocery shopping we need to read labels of the products we want to buy... is there milk in this biscuit? or are there eggs in this pastry? It becomes a second nature for vegans to read labels, trust me.

3) Find vegan friends :)
I started being vegan without vegan friends, so i joined vegan communities and searched for a vegan/ vegetarian penpal. You would be happy because there are people who actually understand you and support you because they also experienced the situations you've been through. They can also give you advice on how they handled such hard situations.

4) Read a lot more and educate yourself.
There are a lot of times when vegans are questioned about their lifestyle and there are times when we need to defend it. In order to handle situations like these we need to stay educated and read more on vegan articles, animal rights articles and other articles that can support you.

5) Be polite
I sit at the lunch table with my friends who are not vegans and i don't force them to try veganism if they don't want to. If you're in a restaurant and you're curious if they used chicken broth in what you're going to order, just ask. If there is something that went wrong in what they served don't make a fuss over it, just tell them what seems to be the problem and what they need to do to make your meal suitable for you. Being polite would be a plus because people will like vegans and they will try it for themselves. ( maybe)

6) Just be happy and stay healthy
Plan your diet and you will stay healthy. Make sure you get the right nutrients and vitamins suitable for your age. Be happy that you're a vegan and that you're making a change no matter what they tell you, it's your choice.

First Vegan entry

Hello to my fellow vegans out there. This is my first vegan blog entry and i will try to make all of my posts count especially for Filipino vegans. I'm only a vegan for 8 months and is still going strong. I have a youtube account as well. I will try to make all of my entries interesting and nice. So, i hope you like the next blog entries i will post. :)