Full Day, Full Log, Full Plant-Based Living: history, resources, and daily doings woven together.
About a month ago (April 8th to be exact), I started a daily theme of “Full Day, Full Log, Full Plant-Based Living” via my Jasquatch Instagram; but the text limitations and photo restrictions (ie 10 photo maximum, a post can either be horizontal or vertical, not both) of Instagram were getting vexing, I’m loathe to have FB be my primary platform, and I have this handy-dandy website, so we’re shifting the daily posts to where they should be: a realm where I can add as many resources and links as I want, and can explain why we’re doing what we’re doing. [This first one will be extra long, because I’ll be explaining what would have already been explained via the last month’s posts, to catch y’all up.]
The airing of the log and subsequent "Full Day" posts are a response to a friend who requested illumination on what we're doing/eating over here so it could help her on her own plant-based whole-food path. I share it with the rest of y'all, so folks seeking similar illumination will find a path that at least works for this family. Anyone lurking with negative energy, will see that this house is thriving in mind, health, love, and the science to explain how our diet is affecting the first three.
When the cub emerges from hibernation, he helps direct his plant-based breakfast. There’s always some manner of oats in the fridge (overnight or a big cooked batch we can pull from throughout the week), but yesterday was one of the days where he simply wanted an apple, 1 tb of peanut butter (just peanuts and salt), and a generous helping of golden flax seeds.
What did I mean by “direct”? If I haven’t artfully crafted his breakfast already, I’ll get directions like “Could you put a little peanut butter in a cup, apples all around it like a flower or a fan, and then some seeds on the peanut butter so I can dip the apples in it?”
Done and done.
When Q finishes breakfast, he moves on to school work (he has a whole preschool packet that we chug through daily) and artwork. He’s been working on a drawing a day for our dear multi-generational best friend David Barber (Q’s grandmother, Q, and I all love David with equal enthusiasm). David shares Q’s love for all things spooky, so Q’s been working on mini-comics to send along.
Yesterday’s installment was “The cover for my new comic ‘Escape of the Rathtar!”
While Q did schoolwork with Ian, I got to that point of COVID-19 quarantine where I started reorganizing cupboards. :-) Some of you impressive souls got to this weeks ago, but my energies are often focused/distracted elsewhere.
This is a good example of my level of organization: I’m the kind of person who’ll put dried goods in a jar to keep them airtight and stable (not falling over and getting cluttery like bags can), I’ll even (sometimes) remember to label them so I can remember the nutrition/cooking info, but I don’t cut in super neat lines and I’ll use simple Scotch tape.
We moved in here 3 years ago and set up the kitchen in an absolute whirl. It was scheduled to be the busiest year of our lives (multitudes of family obligations/events), and at the end of January we found out that Q had lead poisoning and we’d need to move out of our rental; we had under two months to find a house/pack/move… around weekends already booked, work and night school and for Ian, the busiest/most-stressful job of my life, and a toddler. Those last 3 repeated through that busy year on until just this last October, when I finally resigned and started working my dream job at a greenhouse. It meant significantly less money (budgets are super tight here now), but working at the greenhouse is enjoyable to the point of not even feeling like “work”, and the switch was necessary for mental/physical health.
Previous occupation: Care Manager for souls who receive services from the NY Office For People With Developmental Disabilities. I met some of the dearest souls on this planet, but the caseloads bloomed beyond proper care —which was frazzling to the nerves in its own right—; then they switched everything to a for-profit insurance model, and threw in a stumbling attempt at digitalization that was driving me toward mental collapse. Imagine managing a caseload of souls (more than there are weekdays in a month) who need you help them with myriad tasks and meet with them and their team, and that alone is a full-time job; but you’re also trying to input all your usual documents and what you’ve done every-moment-of-the-day into three different apps that crash and randomly delete entire swaths of important documents, and because everything ties back to Medicaid and proper/present documentation is imperative at all times because they can fine you or refuse to pay for services rendered —which is monumental for folks with 24/7 in-home care—, you find yourself working long into the day… only to see the documents are gone and need to be re-entered again (all of this manually and with much writing, because it was set up poorly).
The twirl of those two wallops, coupled with the heartbreak of a system that is falling apart due to lack of proper societal focus on caring-for-all, was causing me to be a mental mess (far too many crying-in-the-kitchen moments, and inability to focus on our family because I was worried about the latest soul in the hospital, in a CPS crisis, facing eviction, etc) and eventually my body went into revolt: a perpetual twitching eye, shortness-of-breath, and heart palpitations that lead to a feast of tests/bloodwork only to prove that stress was reigning havoc on my whole system. What had originated as a career choice based off compassion and a need to help others, had been transformed into billing, liabilities, and stress; so I stepped back. I was the family “breadwinner”, so this wasn’t an easy decision, but I’m lucky to have the sort of partner who 100% agrees that time is the most important resource on this earth, and quality of life is more important that squirreling away money.
In an unexpected twist, I was furloughed from the greenhouse when COVID shut down New York State schools, so here we are: finally/properly moving into this house (and using the extra time to illuminate plant-based whole-food, environmentally-kind living.)
As a multiple-times daily cook (even back when I had the busy job), I like to cut as much inefficiency from the process as possible, and the following had become vexations: dried goods located across the kitchen from the stove/oven (needing to move items back and forth each time I cook with them), bending down to get storage containers from a whirlybird that is circular (holds them awkwardly, causes them to slip and fall over), and cups in an area no one’s making drinks.
During
(that schematic on the fridge is to remind me that I need to do a light study of the garden on the next sunny day)
After
(lunch bubbling away, Q finishing schoolwork.)
While we’re working on our various tasks the family listens to either music or podcasts. We like being on the same wavelength, and will discuss/enjoy albums as much as we do delving into new learning.
Yesterday we started with some Arcade Fire and then moved on to this Exam Room Podcast: a great discussion with Dr. Joel Kahn about all the ways you can boost your heart health/whole-health (and reverse the damage caused by animal fats) through a plant-based whole-foods diet; a cookbook he’s put out with all sorts of heart-healthy recipes; and also how heart health is imperative in these COVID times because people with compromised cardiovascular systems are at the most risk.
The second half of that same Exam Room Podcast is an inspiring interview with Cindy Thompson. Cindy was a firefighter (now a health coach) who turned her whole life/health around by switching to Plant-Based Whole-Foods as a means to avoid the heart disease and cancers tied firefighters. Her father had just died of lymphoma, and knowing she was already an increased risk due to her profession, she decided to make the switch. Like me, she came from a past steeped in cheese-love (she even grew up on a dairy farm!), but she absorbed the science, changed her ways, and not only changed her own health, she got the whole fire department on board and is now out saving all sorts of other lives through health coaching. If you’re thinking “You guys must not like cheese like I do, I could never make that change” you have no idea the vast depths of our cheese love. That she/I herald this change —and are firmly committed to never ever touching it again— should be a testament to how much better you feel and how dangerous it is to have in your system. Listen to this if you’re a food junky and you think no one understands how hard it would be for you to change. This is a beautiful food-loving soul who changed her diet to equally-loved yet power-fueling foods, and is now bursting with energy and health.
Folks like these two light me right up. I love learning the science behind why we feel so much better, and hearing inspiring tales of others who figured out the same and are out saving lives and living their best life.
Plant-Based Lunch: jade green rice noodles, garlicky peas, quick-pickled radish, bell pepper, and peanut sauce.
Plant-Based Whole-Food Dessert: cacao nice cream. (Blend 2 frozen bananas, 1/2 cup easy oatmilk, 1tb cacao, dash of vanilla.)
He gets one “sweet treat” a day and they have to be a plant-based whole-food so he’s getting fiber at the same time. He’s been crushing on nice cream, which means we all get nice cream. This batch makes enough for Q, me, and Ian.
Sunny Edward Gorey.
Q loves drawing (all day, everywhere, anywhere) and he likes wearing my old sweaters because they “feel like capes”, but the style effect of those sweaters and his drawing content always makes me think of that macabre, kindred visual/spooky artist.
Tentacles. All Day. Every Day.
While Q drew (and Ian was out working on carpentry) I worked on some meal prepping, and listened (again) to this great interview with Dietician James Marin on the Switch4Good Podcast. I’ve listened to this three times now (scattered through multiple days so I could take notes) , and I could not recommend it more.
“James is a Holistic Registered Dietitian who specializes in using whole plant-foods as a form of medical nutrition therapy. James has used his knowledge of food and the environment to help hundreds of his patients prevent and reverse diseases like Type 2 Diabetes, Heart Disease, and a variety of gastrointestinal issues. His approach takes into account family, stress, nutrition habits, environment, and work life to come up with a tailored approach for each of his patients.”
This podcast goes over:
Diabetes: what is going on at the cellular level to cause it, how fats are actually what cause it (not sugar), how “pre diabetes” is still diabetes (just early onset) and how you can reverse that damage if you switch to Plant-Based Whole Foods and avoid the fats causing it. (There’s a mind-blowing part about neuropathy and how before it shows up in the feet of diabetics, it is shows up in the GI tract because your gut (enteric system) has over a 100 million nerves that are affected before you notice it in your feet!)
How your gut works, how important gut-health is to your whole health, and how it is harmed (animal products, sugar, environmental toxins), and how to heal it and live your healthiest life.
How to raise kiddos on plant-based whole-foods, and why these foods prevent cardiovascular damage, diabetes, and even the chronic gallbladder issues (also explained) within our society. (<—I know 3 people who have had theirs removed.)
How environmental toxins get into your food: what to purchase for best health, how to clean fruits/vegetables to remove toxins.
As stated, I’ve listened to this one several times now and we’ve picked up something new each time. Dietician Dahlia Marin (married to James) also has a brilliant Switch4Good podcast interview, that I previously wrote about in this resource post.
If you want to understand why we’re so energetic and purpose-driven over here, you need to give a listen to these evidence-based health-focused podcasts. They’ll light your brain and heart up with forward movement.
Yesterday was also the day that the possibility of Q not going back to school in the Fall was seared into a firm reality. We’re in a post-pandemic world now, and that thought is clanging.
Mid-Afternoon Snack: Forest Green Smoothie ( easy oatmilk, 1/2cp blueberries, 1/4 cup strawberries, 1 tb spirulina).
Makes enough for Q and me to share.
He’ll gulp this down like it is a treat, but there are no added sugars, artificial colorings, or inflammatory horrors within.
He’s consuming pure health: body-essential fiber, immune boosting beta-glucans (from the oatmilk), vibrant antioxidants (from the berries and spirulina), and BOW HOWDY is spirulina good for you!
Spirulina is considered a superfood because of its “antioxidant and inflammation-fighting properties, as well as the ability to help regulate the immune system". (<— something you want in your system any day, but especially during a pandemic.)
Grew these romaine and kale babies from seeds, harvested them for Taco Tuesday. :-)
What Plant-Based Taco Tuesday looks like in this household: everyone doing their own take.
Black bean tacos on Siete shells, and rainbow salads with kale, romaine, avocado, quick-pickled cabbage, bell pepper, black rice, and roasted corn. Ian prefers to eat most things in bowl form. :-)
Until age 3 he was a full participant in the Standard American Diet. He had failure to thrive and a feast of GI issues, so the family cut out gluten and refined foods/flours. My health changes were documented in this post: but for Q, we found significant changes in his focus, emotions (no more rollercoaster swings from happy to sad), and energy; when we cut out dairy his GI issues, sinus infections (which always turned into ear infections) and eczema disappeared; when he and his father cut out meat (for the sake of their health and the environment) it was another big blow to engrained food culture; yet the shift has left him healthier, happier, and his palate is now fully tuned to the glory of plant-based whole foods.
He’ll eat any meal we put in front of him and we’ve had to start working on teaching him to not lick the bowl/plate clean.
If you offer your kids junkfood: they’ll eat it, and it’ll burn through them without giving them the fuel they need to get through a day, and the subsequent crash will be hard for all involved. If the foods are full of animal fats, you’re setting them up for cardiovascular disease.
If you only offer them healthy, fiber-filled foods they’ll likely balk and buck at first, but eventually their tastes will change, they’ll revel in all the complex flavors, their energy will improve, their moods will brighten, and you’ll save them from a path of increased cardiovascular disease, diabetes, and stroke.
As seen, my kid isn’t complaining. :-D
We’ve been setting time aside to be active together each day (aside from all our busybody tasks during the day), and last night’s was a walk down to the athletic fields behind our school. We broke this up with bursts of cardio (running across a field, running up a hill, etc).
Ian went through the Onondaga Central system, played on these fields, and walked the halls of schools that now sit empty. When will they reopen and in what state? How different will Q’s educational experience be from ours? These thoughts and many more rattled on in the background as we absorbed that comforting sound of active feet scuffing baseball clay.
We’re grateful for what we have, grateful for the time together, and are simultaneously perpetually aware of the eerie uncertainty buzzing through these pandemic times.
Ian and Q using sticks to draw in the sand.
All tentacles. All day. All of the time. :-)
“Before we go, I need to mark Papa’s with a check mark to show that it is the best one of them all.”
A walk back through the forest, where Q kept challenging Ian to mini races.
