Vegetarian Workouts

Juicing is great to do before or after a work out. No… I’m not talking about the kind that Jose Canseco did. I’m talking about fruit and vegetable juicing. They provide energy, and are cheap and easy to make.


If you’re looking to recharge your batteries after a long hard workout, try this:

8 oz Carrot Juice
1 clove Garlic, juiced
1 tsp Ginseng Powder

Juice the carrots and garlic and stir in the ginseng powder or granules. Ginseng is available at health and oriental food stores. Use organic carrots for the best tasting juice.

Carrot juice is a great source of beta-carotene, the famous antioxidant that protects against the damaging effects of exercise and increases oxygen in the blood, tissues and brain. Ginseng is known for providing strength and energy. Garlic, among its many other benefits, increases stamina.

Or maybe you’re looking for some stamina and endurance before you hit the gym, try this one:


1 Cup Apple Juice
1 Banana
2 Tbsp Oat, Rice or Wheat Bran
1 Tbsp Spirulina, Chlorela or Blue-Green Algae
8 -- 12 Almonds
To Taste Pure Water

Blend the banana and the bran in the juice until smooth. Add the spirulina or other algae powder. For best digestion, almonds should be softened by pre-soaking them for several hours. If you like a crunchy, chewy drink, add the almonds at the end and just chop or blend them briefly.

Banana and spirulina are good sources of potassium and important for the conversion of glucose to glycogen for energy. Magnesium (from bran, almonds and spirulina) is important for the storage and release of glycogen. Almonds are also a high energy food.

Try them and see if you can tell the difference. Cheers!

Just In Time For Summer

With the summer months approaching, there are some vegetarian Bed & Breakfasts' that will be great to try while on vacation!

Tucked into the Green Mountain National Forest of Vermont, the Sweet Onion Inn, run by Kathy and Ron Heatley. It has six private guest rooms and a tasty vegan breakfast and dinner service guaranteed to melt your cares away as soon as you set your suitcases down. For breakfast, savor French toast drenched in organic Vermont maple syrup, tempeh sausage, and miso gravy over biscuits with hash browns, or sweet onion scrambled tofu with sweet potato rounds and corn bread. After a day of hiking and swimming in the White River, you'll be hungry for dinner too.

The White Pig B&B at Briar Creek Farm in Schuyler, Virginia, is a perfect weekend retreat for those who want a comfortable place off the beaten path. Innkeeper Dina Brigish left a successful career in the fashion industry to enroll at the Natural Gourmet Cookery School in Manhattan. She continues to wow others and show them how delicious and satisfying vegan cuisine can be. Briar Creek Farm is also home to rescued pigs, dogs, and cats. The food is amazing. Breakfast includes homemade waffles, chocolate-chip pancakes, and frittatas.

Chez Philippe is a new Bed & Breakfast located less than a 10-minute walk from the Papineau Metro station, and from there, it’s just a few stops away from downtown Montréal. Chez Philippe has newly decorated rooms and a large terrace where guests can relax in the summer and offers full home-cooked vegan breakfasts that even nonvegan guests rave about.

If none of these are anywhere you plan on going, don't worry! Just click here for more information on other Bed & Breakfasts' across the nation.

Vegetarian Strip Club?

Sure, being a vegetarian is the new hip and trendy thing to do, but can it be used to sell sex?

A Portland, Oregon strip club owner recently tried.

The Casa Diablo Gentlemen's Club featured pleather wearing dancers and a soy-based menu. Johnny Diablo, owner of the club, is a long-time vegan, and many of his dancers were vegetarians themselves.

The club is up for sale, maybe customers just don't care that much if their exotic dancers live for animal rights. But this isn't the first time, and it won't be the last, that vegans and sexuality combine.

Sex is often used to sell the lifestyle, like the many PETA ads I've posted here, which feature naked celebrity campaigns. It's creating some chaos in the vegetarian/vegan world, where many are complaining that women's rights are being trampled on, just to support animals.

Personally, I don't see the problem. Sex sells, and it's marketing is used for everything. But I'm curious if any of you have beef with it? Get it..."beef" with it? :)

Do you eat meat twice a day?

Everywhere you turn, you hear how bad red meat is for you, but now studies show that ANY meat can be bad.

According to the American Heart Association, adults who are healthy but eat meat twice a day, increase their metabolic syndrome by 25 percent!

Metabolic syndrome is a combination of cardiovascular disease and diabetes risk factors including larger waist size, high blood pressure, high triglycerides, low levels of high-density lipoprotein (HDL or "good") cholesterol and high fasting glucose levels.

It's not surprising that most of the U.S. eats the typical Western-diet, which relys heavily on refined grains (white), processed meat, fried foods, red meat, eggs and soda, and light on fruits, vegetables and whole grain products.

The good news is metabolic syndrome is entirely preventable, by eating healthy. Instead of eating meat, try using some soy alternatives. And remember, nothing tastes as good as treating your body well :)

New Reasons to Eat Your Fruits & Veggies

We have all heard blueberries refered to as a "Superfood," but a new study shows there may be more to deeply colorful fruits and veggies than we thought.

According to ScienceDaily.com, new studies show ingredients in purple foods, such as berries, grapes, and blue corn may prevent obesity.

The natural pigment, called anthocyanin, was found to prevent obesity in mice who were fed a high fat diet. The mice in the study also developed healthy disease fighting signs in their blood.

Thankfully, we are in berry season, and I just picked up a bunch of strawberries, three containers for $5 dollars! And you can even grow your own, many places sell either the seeds or the plant itself, whatever you do, make sure to get you daily dose :)

Local Schools Incorporating Soy

This month Broward County Public Schools will finally be giving meatless options in their cafeteria's. Why now? It is in response to a growing demand among students.

We can't get students to do their homework, take their ipods out of their ears, or put down their cell phones but they have taken a stance and made their voices heard. The new option is only available at three local schools but if they test well, others will surely pick up on the vegetarian trend.

A recent study also found that the Broward County School District was a role model for schools across the nation, as it scored 85 out of 100 points for the nutritional value of its lunch program.

According to the Annual School Lunch Report, "Numerous scientific studies have concluded that vegan diets—those built from whole grains, vegetables, fruits, and beans/legumes—satisfy hungry children and offer the most weight-controlling and disease-fighting protection of any dietary pattern."

These positive changes in children's eating habits now can have a dramatic effect on their future and I'm glad to see plant-based diets making their way into the classrooms.

Need Free Help

We all need help transitioning into something new, something better and now there is a free E-book available to talk people through becoming a vegetarian.

At The Veggie Way, it takes you chapter by chapter to ease you into making the vegetarian transition. There is also a forum to discuss issues with others who may be encountering similar experiences.

I wish I knew about this site when I decieded to turn veg. It can be a difficult time, when you feel like no one else understands or supports your new diet.