Almond Flour Pizza Crust

Crust:
2 cups Almond Flour
1 cup Arrow Root
1/2 tsp Baking Soda
1/2 tsp Himalyian Sea Salt
tbsp Italian Seasoning
3 eggs
1/2 cup Almond Milk

Heat oven to 425 degrees.
Blend all ingredients together. Use either stoneware or rectangle baking pan. Grease the pan. Place mix on the pan and spread out on the pan. Bake for 10-12 minutes. Remove from oven and place your topping on the pizza. My favorite is Greek Style. Spinach, tomatoes, olives, feta with either tomato sauce or basalmic vineger. Cook again for 10-15 minutes.

Try using pesto instead of tomato sauce. Load the pizza with all that left over zucchini from the garden.

Not Quite Vegan Yet

It has now been a month on this vegetarian journey. It is not as hard as I thought it was going to be. I thought I would miss my daily chicken, especially buffalo chicken, but no. I use to eat grilled chicken for snack or lunch everyday and I don't miss it. I have absolutely no cravings for meat, even eggs. Occasionally I eat eggs but I don't crave them anymore. I would normally eat 4 egg whites with plenty of vegetables with salsa on top. Now I eat just the vegetables in a stir-fry or oatmeal with protein powder or sweet rice bread. Those are pretty much my staples for breakfast.

I am enjoying the new vegetarian foods that we are consuming. The tastes are explosive. I am feeling more energetic and am less bloated. I feel really great. I still get tired in the afternoon and need my pick-me-up. However, yesterday I didn't need it. For breakfast I had a smoothie with bee pollen. I think that gave me the extra energy to get through a busy day at work and teach boot camp at night. I am going to try to do more smoothies for breakfast or snack.

So far the only problem I have run into with this diet is the amount of carbohydrates that I am consuming. Before I was eating protein at every meal. Now my protein level has gone done but the carbohydrates have increased. I have not gained weight but haven't lost any either. Everything I read about vegan bodybuilding said that I should have 80% carbs, 10% protein, and 10% fat. It is the fat and the carbohydrates that can cause the weight gain. The carbohydrates open the cells to allow the protein or fat to go into the cells. So why would you want to put fat in your cells? We want protein to full those muscle cells to become stronger. However, the carbohydrates are extremely important to a body builder. They help to put on the bulk. What I need to figure out is how to lose weight on the diet? How do I eat healthy food that is not laden with carbohydrates? I know I need to change my thought process on this but I am so tuned into protein and less carbs which makes it hard change. And I can only eat so much vegetables.

We have been making vegetarian pizzas by using almond flour for the crust. Then we load up on vegetables. It is so good but it has many carbs. Scott had burritos last week and vege lasagna. Last night he made vege burgers with all the trimmings. I am lucky that he is an excellent cook and loves to cook. When I cook, we have a salad.

We have not been able to give up diary yet. I am sure that is helping to keep the weight on. Diary is high in fat even though we are using fat free or low fat cheese. But to be vegan and healthier, I need to eliminate it altogether. I usually only have cheese at dinner. Cheese is going to be the hardest to give up because it makes everything taste better. We have been trying to switch to goat cheese instead of cow cheese. Our body has the enzymes to break down goats cheese but not cow. And watching the videos about what they do to cows to get them to produce more milk is barbaric. I can't believe what the US allows to happen to these farm animals. Every time I think of eating chicken, I picture that video in my head. I don't think I can ever go back to meat again. If those farm houses had windows, everyone would be vegetarian.

Eating meat or diary causes your body to become more acidic. This acidity causes the calcium to be leached out of the teeth and bones to try to neutralize the acid. Why does the diary companies promote drinking milk but we still have a high rate of osteoporosis in this country? Why is our country so over weight? You do the research and decide for yourself.

Starting Vegetarian

My husband has been doing a lot of research lately on veganism. He is reading the China Study which explains why we should be vegan. It talks about how casein, an animal protein, and aflotoxin in peanuts can cause cancer when eaten in combination. The meat products and diary activates the aflotoxin and makes it dangerous for our health. Since reading about this, we have been watching videos, like Food Matters and Veganism. These movies show how animals are treated. I will not go into it here because it is too awful to talk about.

Since reading the book 1 month ago, we started going vegetarian. We haven't made it vegan yet, but we are working on it. We still occasionally eat eggs for breakfast and diary with meals. I am trying to eliminate diary but that is proving very hard. I am feeling great staying away from meat. I thought I would miss it, but I don't. I use to feel extremely full and bloated when I ate meat and wheat. Sometimes I looked like I was pregnant. It was such an uncomfortable experience that I had to do something.

There are many varieties of food to chose from. The hardest part is finding snacks and dinner food that isn't full off carbohydrates. Since I always at low carbs, I am struggling with what to eat. I can only eat so many salads. I think I have "saladed" myself out for a while. I have been eating oatmeal with protein powder in morning. Lunch has been a salad, or vege sandwich, snack is nuts, cacao, and gogi berries, then dinner is soy and vegetables with diary. (Shepard's pie, hot dog and beans, vege lasagna with no noodles) Scott is a great cook but we need to start eating healthier.

I am researching what vegans eat on a daily basis so I can get an idea about the direction to go. It is easy being an unhealthy vegetarian, but I want to be healthy and continue to build muscle. I have taken some time off on working out except for the occasional run. Last week I started hitting it hard again. I love the feel of sore muscles. I am looking forward to sculpting my body again and leaning out. This time I intend to continue this way of life and not go crazy after competition. I am not training for a figure competition, just for myself. I do have the Spartan race this Sunday, the Seacoast Road Series, a duathalon, and 3 half marathons this year. My goal is to run twice a week and bike once as well as lift 3 times per week. I should be able to lose weight properly while nourishing my body with plant protein.