CQ and possible pictures...

Here are some pictures of me at WLC, my running shirt is WAY too big. There's me, kicking butt at the obstacle course. And Below, there's myslef shaking hands with the USAREUR CSM, CSM Davenport. I recieved me award probably 10 seconds after the picture was taken, so you can't see it.

Today is the day of long hours and extreme boredom. That’s right, I have CQ today. CQ is Charge of Quarters; I am at the company, ensuring that the building is safe, the occupants are safe and under control (the barracks above the company) and I answer the phone when it rings. It’s not exciting, it’s not even fun most of the time, and our company is so small it’s not uncommon to have CQ 3 times a month.

I know that I promised to take pictures of everything I ate, but I forgot my camera. So, if Kenny doesn’t bring it, we’re out of luck. Because I’m on CQ I will probably update this entry multiple times a day, and the wording will just get worse and worse because I’ll be getting more and more tired. In case I forgot to state this, CQ is 24 hours long. Sounds like fun, doesn’t it? It’s a necessary evil in the Army, and things DO happen that CQ is there to respond for. So, I am here.

I got up at 6:45 (ish) so I could be nice and clean for this long day. Plus, it’s a Monday, and traffic is really iffy on weekdays. I showered, did my hair (it’s perfect!) and drove over here. I got a “Vegan” croissant from the commissary yesterday for my breakfast today. I say “Vegan” because it’s been an hour since I’ve eaten it and I’m starting to get bloated. Why would I call it vegan you might be asking? Well, the commissary lists all of the ingredients in the bakery items; I didn’t see any dairy products, and the allergy info only listed wheat and soy. I beg to differ! Or do I? This hour’s topic is going to be on processed foods, and their impact on our bodies.

I love food, especially fresh REAL food. When I eat a fresh, some might say macrobiotic, diet filled with mostly raw delicious foods, eaten as they were meant to be, I feel amazing. I don’t feel slow, weighed down, or constantly groggy. When I eat vegan, but with junk food and any food I can find, I don’t feel my worst, but I do feel not-just-right. I feel slightly sluggish, like my blood is just more gross, and I don’t have as much energy. I know, I know, eating vegan is supposed to make you feel better, and it does, it really does! But, when I start to eat whatever vegan item I can find, like candy, chips, and who knows what else, I just feel semi-crappy. Not eat-an-entire-pizza-with-real-cheese kind of crappy, but semi-crappy.

So, why do I eat these chips with jarred beans? Why not just make my own? I know how, and I’ve done it before. We all know the answer to this, it’s convenience; the single most powerful word in today’s food industry. This word alone has created entire genres of food, restaurants, and even the way our culture in America is shaped. From a young age we decide for ourselves, usually with lots of influence from our family and friends however, what our fate will be. Personally, I was the 8 year old forced to go to McDonalds and got the earful for ordering the $6 salad instead of the $1 cheeseburger. (I love you mom, if you read this blog…) But, it isn’t my mom’s fault for the insane prices on some iceberg lettuce in a cup (does anybody else remember the salads you shook at mcdonalds?). This is when I have to relate back to our culture. It’s this hole we’ve created for those that tried to break free from the chains of conformity into what should have been the norm from the beginning.

I got really side tracked. What I’m going to bring this down to are two points: 1. We have created a culture where convenience guides our food choices, vegan or not. The chips are cheaper than the apples, but have no nutritional value to speak of. 2. Due to this gap of nutrition vs. price, the foods some people can afford or more easily attain are making us feel like crap, and are destroying us from the inside out. Throughout the day, I will try and find some interesting, related articles.

Peace out Vegheads!!

This Week in reviews: Graduation, sushi, and farmer's markets

I haven't posted since thursday (was it thursday?) and so I thought I'd give the world my update for this fabulous weekend. I came back on Friday after the graduation. It was a lot of standing, but I got to shake a lot of hands, so that's good! We got some food before we left, I had a nutrition bar so I didn't get anything else. But that didn't matter because I slept in the car the whole way back.

For dinner on Friday I went out with my guy for some sushi. I had a fabulous vegan meal with miso soup (no tuna in it, this place is super vegetarian friendly.) some seaweed salad, some edemame, and then cucumber rolls, pumpkin rolls, and then a tofu, carrot, avocado, and green bean sashimi rolls (I hope that's the right one.) They have me an egg one, but Kenny ate that one for me. We got some gelatto for dessert; there's this little italian place that has strawberry gelato (without milk) so i always get that!!!

Sunday was super exciting. We went and got brunch, were I had the most amazing cup of coffee and a fruit cup. (Heidelberg isn't the most Vegan friendly city.) Then we drove to the Farmer's Market in Mannheim. Unfortunately, we spent at least 30 minutes trying to find a parkings spot. Next week, we're taking the train and our bikes. Much more time and fuel efficient. I got some white radishes or carrots, some huge radishes, amazing tomatoes, some not-so-great plums (too early maybe) and an amazing leek. There was a lot of produce, but I'd need some stuff that could make it while I shopped... so no fresh lettuce or anything. Then, I had MORE veggie sushi for lunch. For dinner, I had some fries, and went to bed early.

Today, I had some cereal with almond breeze faux milk, my favorite for cereal, with some strawberries in it. Then, I did some laundry and had a veggie wrap from the commissary. For dinner, I had some vegan mac and cheese and some beens and greens. Tomorrow's CQ, so I'll take pictures of my food.

Peace out veg-heads

WLC Graduation!!

So, for my Thursday-Random-Post, I'll be talking about how excited I am for tomorrow.

Tomorrow is the day. The day I stand on stage for an hour to get recognized for the last 17 days. I even get to stand in the "awardees" formation, because I won the Iron Warrior Challenge for my company (female title, obviously.) Unfortunately, my guy won't be able to make it, which I'm kind of bummed about. But, he's missing out on an exciting graduation AND his own reserved seat. Oh well, he has to work.

I also wanted to post an update on the meals here. First of all, I've finally learned how to judge whether or not to stand in line for food. If the food looks good, it's probably garbage lacking in both nutrients and flavor. If it looks weird, bland, or just plain odd, it probably tastes amazing, and it's got an even higher chance of being vegan. Who would have thought?

Last night's dinner was a satisfying "Pasta Primavera." I've also learned that the naming convention is pretty much wrong. It wasn't a pasta primavera that i've ever had, but it still tasted really good. (And it looked like somebody puked up pasta with tomato sauce. Gross.) It was loaded with vegetables, and the sauce actually had some spices in there! I was so happy, I almost got seconds. (They ran out, aparantly it's catching on to eat vegetarian... or that was all that was left.)

Back to graduation, I'm expecting it to be long, boring, and a lot of standing, but I'm still excited about it because
1)I can go home!!! A hot 1000000000 minute shower, my bed, my food, my computer.... the little things in life that make everything more enjoyable.
2) I'm going to have a fancy dinner Friday night with my guy. The place that we're going to goes for about 100 Euro a person. That's about $130 a person. Wow. But, I've been here for an entire pay period, so my bank account is saying: GO FOR THE REALLY NICE EXPENSIVE RESTURAUNT THAT SOUNDS LIKE IT WILL HAVE A VEGAN OPTION!!! So, I'm complying.
3) Some of these people are starting to get on my nerves. However, because of past experiences, I'm trying to keep my cool as long as possible, so if I ever meet up with these guys again, it'll be all "Oh i haven't seen you since ____" "I missed you!" And the best one "Hey, can you do me a favor?" So, once again, keep my cool.
4) I want to eat something other than overcooked pasta for dinner every night. Selfish? No. Neccessary? Still no. Something I'm looking forward to (like eating fresh fruits and vegetables...) YES!

Well, that's it for Thursday.
Peace out-Veg Heads!

How the Army is Making Itself more Fat

I know that this title might be like a handful of other titles for newspapers out there. (oh, what? you don't read the newspapers on post?) But, I have a point to make in this, so bear with me.

I have recently shared with a guy at WLC about why I'm vegan, and why I think it's a good idea for others to be vegan or vegetarian. And you know what? He agreed to try it! Not only am I super excited at every meal now, but I'm super depressed at the same time. Since he's agreed to give it a try, the food for vegetarians has seemed to go down a very steep hill; some might call it a cliff. We had a "pitta pizza" for dinner. It was some grilled veggies inside of a pita, covered in cheese. By the time our group got to the food, both of ours were hard as a rock. Not the best start. For breakfast, it's breakfast. The only change was he tried what I do, and got at least 2 things of fresh fruit. Oh, and skip the bacon. No problems, right? For lunch, we were playing the super fun role of the bad guys (OPFOR... I cant remember the accronym right now.) and so we had MREs. (Meals Ready to Eat.) They generally suck. I grabbed my mandotory one, but i packed food to hold me to dinner. He grabbed some fruit, like I suggested, but also ate the "Veggie Burger with BBQ Sauce." It's not the worst one, especially hot. But, once everybody else noticed it, the jokes started. I don't mind the jokes, and he seems pretty fine with it (thank goodness). But, why? Why make fun of somebody for their food choices?

This ties back into my argument about the Army being more on the heavier side than desired (like most of America.) Vegetarians are continually offered foods high in fat, sometimes higher in fat than the 10 oz steak in the next tray over, that are hard as a rock, flavorless, and usually look weird. Why WOULD people want to try this lifestyle? And vegan? Forget it. I'm eating so many bananas and so much peanut butter right now, it isn't even funny. How hard is it to just have healthy food, fruits and vegetables, beans and whole grains, that taste good? Maybe we dont' want something covered in a cup of cheese. But, that's what we're offered. So, even with the argument that a vegetarian/vegan lifestyle is healthier in the normal world, the Army has made it almost impossible to make that rule survive it's DFACs.

I hope tonight's meal is better, but we'll find out. For now, I'm going to try and remain as positive as possible for him, so he won't see my frustration. On a side note, he told his girlfriend, and she said that she'll try it too! I'm so happy about this, I almost don't care that there's like 4 foods in my diet right now. Almost.

Keep it real Veg-Heads.

Reflecting on Veganism in the Military

Well Good Morning! (If you're in Germany, like me.) I just finished the last written test for WLC, and I'm excited! All that I have left to do is some map reading tests (that aren't actually graded) and not "die" too many times in the field exercise. Wish me luck!

I didn't post yesturday because the internet went down in all of the classrooms. As I said, Sunday's will be my reflection days, and I did do some reflecting which I'll try to post about now.

The first one, I want a dog. I want an animal in my life so bad, it's not even funny. I'm the person voulunteering to watch other people's pets when they have to go somewhere, and I always offer to walk/hold/feed/pet/LOVE every animal I get the chance to, it's almost a little creepy. So, I've been looking at dog pound in the Maryland area, to get a feel for requirements, fees, and what dogs they tend to have. It will be interesting to see them all in real life, and I haven't decided on which pound/shelter to go to yet. It's really sad that there are so many animals without homes. My guy wants to get a certain breed of dog, and they are gorgeous dogs, but I still feel like adopting a dog, not buying one. I'm having a hard time convincing him because he's adopted a few dogs (and I have too) in his life that were rotten dogs. No, not the "pet me at all times I'm spoiled" kind of rotten; the "i'm going to destroy everything I can get my hands on until i die" kind of rotten. He doesn't want to go through that, and I understand. Are there any suggestions on picking out the right kind of dog?

I also reflected on how UN-Vegan friendly the army is. It's amazing. I had a decent breakfast this morning, but I had a crappy dinner last night, and I went out to eat for lunch so it doesn't matter. (The only reason I had a good breakfast was because I ate like 2 bananas, and a few Tbsps of Peanut Butter.) But, one of the Sergeants that helped get the vegetarian meals, (thank you) decided to eat one. Even this non-vegetarian noticed how fatenning the vegetarian meals are... I thought it was funny, because that's what I've been saying. But, even with the cadre noticing, and myself constantly reminding the cooks, I went to dinner last night to find cheesey-creamy-vegetble-less-protein-deficient pasta. Enjoy.

After all this reflecting, I think I'm going to start educating more people in the military about vegetarian/veganism and the health benefits, hoping that it will help future military vegans, and any other person out there.

PS The Airforce is much more vegan friendly. My AIT (Advanced Individual Training) was on an Airfroce Base, so I got that privelege for 9 months.

Peace out Veg-heads!!

Goals and other great things...

Hello everybody!! So, here's another *exciting* post while at WLC!! This blog entry's topic is going to be on my plans for this blog. My goals, what routines I'd like to start, and so forth.

Let's first talk about my goals. I'd like to start becoming more avid of a blogger. This is an obvious one for anybody who reads back into my blog further. I want to become more consistant, keeping up with my travels (there aren't a lot, but there are some amazing ones.) and include the different aspects that the Army puts into play for me.

Now, my routine goals. I'd like to post every Sunday with a sort of "Goals and Plans for the Week" / "What I've learned this week." Sundays are my days for reflection, and I'm becoming more all around Vegan, so I think that reflecting on how it's effecting myself, and people around me is a neat idea. Also, if I have any fun plans coming up, and so forth.
On Tuesday's, I think I'll start posting about Army related things; this could mean anything from the ridicule I get, to the food I was offered (vegan sausage at the brunch?? Awesome!) These may not be the most consistant, but I really think that some of it should be shared. It shows that not everybody in the army is a meat head that eats bacon, bacon, and more bacon.
Thursdays can be my Random blogging day. Gym Rants (see previous posts), fun new clothes, and who knows. It's the day to just write if I have the time.
Saturdays I'm planning to take pictures of everything I eat, just to show that there IS vegan food in Heidelberg. Maybe not a lot, but there is.

If this becomes too much, I'll scale back, but I'm going to give it my best shot, so wish me luck!!

As for today, I had my new version of a sunny-side up egg. Instead of a chicken's ovulation on my plate, i had a little bowl with applesauce, then two peach halves (cut side down) in the apple sauce. I sprinkled some raisins, some cinnimon, and some walnut chunks on top. I only call them my "Vegan Sunny-Side Up Eggs" because of the way the peaches happened to land when I plopped them in the apple sauce. It's really delicious (I cut up the peaches) and it's got the walnuts for some healthy fats and protein. I'd prefer some pumpkins seeds next time, but only because I put pumpkin seeds in just about everything. I also ate a banana with some peanut butter. YUM!!!

For lunch, they had a vegan pasta with a tomato sauce (it wasn't that bad for once) with a TON of brocolli, bell peppers, onion, and squash pieces. I was quite the happy camper. Well, between that, and the fresh green beans, not canned, I couldn't have gotten much of a better lunch from an Army DFAC.

I haven't had dinner yet, but I hope that it ends just as well as my day had began. I know that I had mentioned last time that I was eating eggs. After I wrote that, I realized that if there is still food being offered to me that I can eat, there's no reason to eat the eggs. So, I am back to full time vegan! (Hence the fake eggs for breakfast.) I hope the vegan community will forgive me (and if they don't, whatever.)

Peace out Veg-heads

Vegan at WLC

So, I've been MIA recently due to an army thing. Is anybody suprised? Not me. And if you are, I would suggest getting over it as soon as possible. I'm currently at WLC --Warrior Leadership Course. It's an 18 day course teaching me how to be a better leader. It's got obstacle courses, weapons training, loads of tests, and hundreds of people at once. However, my class is generally fun, with mostly amazing class mates.

On the vegan front, I'm also happy to say that I've made strides for those who follow in my footsteps. For breakfast, it's a normal breakfast for me: some fruit, a coffee (we get like 4 hours of sleep at night... oh well), and some toast with peanut butter and some banana slices. At the DFAC (Dining Facility for those non-military folks.) they were only serving a vegetarian meal at lunch, not for dinner. And, much to my dissmay, 3/4 of the time, it was some white pasta with some vegetables, potato, and covered in a cream sauce of sorts. I can't eat that, even if i'm just plain ol vegetarian because the cream will mess up with my stomach. THEN, for dinner, there wasn't even an option. So for the first few nights, I'd be eating potato, boiled vegetables, and an iceberg lettuce salad. Awesome, right? No.

We had a "how is it going so far? any input?" session (also known as an AAR, after action review.) I had nothing bad to say.... oh, wait, except for the food. First thing they said: "You're a vegetarian?" My answer was, "Actually, I'm a vegan, but i'll eat some eggs in the field (due to the physical exertion, and we weren't allowed to bring protein powder.) Two days later, they started serving vegetrian meals for both lunch and dinner. I was thinking: WIN! Then, i get to dinner, and it's a pasta (bowties are the only noodles the army seems to buy) covered in a cream sauce. Not even any vegetables. So, i *politley* bring up that every single time there's a vegetarian meal, it's in the red. **The army's DFACs categorize their food by Green, Yellow, and Red; obviously, you want mostly greens.** So, now, after it's been only about 3 more days, I go to dinner, and i'm happy to see a noodle dish (i'll get over it.) with a ton of veggies, black beans mixed in, and a tomato sauce. AND they didn't pre-sprinkle any cheese on there for me!!!!

Other than that, my routine has been like this: At breakfast, i always grab a banana and throw it in my pocket. I eat this for a snack before lunch. At lunch, grab another banana (my potassium is most likely low, so i'm doubling up!) or an apple, and i make sure to get a peanut butter serving as well (approx. 2 Tbsp, so perfect!!!) Then, at dinner, I grap another banana, or an apple, depending on what they have. Why for after dinner? Well, we eat at 5. Every day. I normally eat dinner at like 9, so that's a huge difference. Somewhere around 8 or 9, i start to get hungry, and start munching on a ton of candy. Kristin+Candy+extremely tired=walking zombie...now with a gun! So, i eat the fruit with some peanut butter and some cashews I have hidden in my backpack in my room.

Eating a vegan diet might seem like a huge project, especially in the army. And, you know what, it is. But, i love projects, and I love the idea of a challenge. I don't want any of my readers to think that a project/challenge is a bad thing. Why do people like going to the gym? They are challenging themselves. College is a challenge, along with a lot of fun. I'll try to keep some of this updated a little better, but we'll see if that happens.

What I've learned this last week: (Vegan wise) Peanut butter stores amazing // Bananas are less obvious in my cargo pockets than apples // Cashews taste great with anything sweet in the same bite (bananas, chocolate) // and finally: if you ask for something while remaining calm and rational, you might be suprised what people will do. I had somebody grab me a to-go container full of fresh grapes.

Peace out fellow Veg-heads