My 4th of July Weekend

Consisted of over-indulgence after over-indulgence (aka lots of tortilla chips and beer). I traveled down to San Diego and made my way back up to Los Angeles over the weekend - with numerous stops in Orange County. I saw my friend Kina Grannis play at the Kaleidoscope. She is truly breathtaking to see live and I highly recommend you check out her music here.

As for my food choices, I strayed from my vegan habits at the show Saturday night. There was a make-your-own frozen yogurt shop with my favorite flavors (chocolate and peanut butter) so I "split" a cup with my boyfriend. Needless to say, I woke up in the middle of the night feeling awful and am still feeling nasty, two whole days later. I hadn't eaten dairy in about three weeks, so that was a dumb idea. It's good to know how dairy makes me feel now (as I may have lost the majority of my lactase enzymes over my dairy-free week) so I can avoid it at all costs without thinking, "eh...maybe it won't make me feel bad".

I got harassed at my family BBQ by my sister's boyfriend for being a veg (he's a 5 star chef), but other than that everybody was supportive (or not un-supportive). My Dad had read my blog and bought me vegan veggie burgers (made by Yves and really tasty) for me to enjoy while everyone else chomped down on ground beef. Isn't that sweet (the thoughtful Dad, not the chomping on ground beef part).

I picked up some sub-lingual B-12 and some milk thistle (for liver health), as well. It's good to know I'm getting my supplements sorted out. Trying to stay as pure and natural today as possible - apples, oatmeal, hummus, salad, etc. to avoid any further complications. And, I took a bunch of pictures with my Holga over the weekend so I'll post those soon!

Back in LalaLand

I'm back from my trip to Florida, which means less eating out, which makes it easier for me to stay true to my vegan/veg life. It's hard going out to italian and ordering "eggplant parmigiana with no cheese" without looking like a psycho. I really do notice a big difference in my digestion since I stopped eating dairy, though. I did have a few bites of cheese over the week but stayed away from dairy overall, and I feel a lot lighter. I somehow always knew my stomach didn't agree with my milk addiction, albeit organic, and taking the step to cut it out as much as possible has proved positive. Not for weight loss, but health reasons. I re-read today in Skinny Bitch that by the age of four years old, humans lose 90-95% of their lactase enzymes (the ones necessary to digest lactose in dairy) in their stomachs. Which means we are supposed to consume milk as a baby, but the enzymes then die off for a reason - we aren't supposed to eat dairy anymore!

Anywho - let me know what u think.