Gym issues

Leaving the gym recently, I started telling Mike about all of the issues I have with not only our new gym, but with many people who go there.

I should say that I am one of the most positive people I know, and that I have always tried to write positive blog posts. After my most recent gym visit I just had to vent.

I love being back in the gym and working out. I feel better physically and mentally.

But come on!

Please put the weights away. There is no one following you around the gym cleaning up after you. It's just common courtesy.

With limited equipment, if you do not want to share or let someone work in, please purchase your own equipment and stay home.

For goodness sake, don't unload with your "bro" in the sauna about what a bitch your girlfriend, wife or one night stand is. I honestly don't think anyone cares to hear it.

Yes, you are a gym god. You have the best body ever, in the whole world. So what.

Would it kill you to be kind to other folks in the gym?

For all of you who go to the gym, do your thing without disrespecting others or maybe even being nice to someone, thank you.

Not all of us know everything there is to know. Not all of us are there to look good. I want to be as fit as possible, and going to the gym makes that a lot easier for me.

Thanks so much for reading.

Today is World Vegan Day

Lucy, who lives at Rooterville animal sanctuary.

We have our own day.

Having a blog that includes veganism, I get to interact with folks about veganism every day. Sometimes positive, sometimes negative.

I still get surprised when someone attacks my veganism, which is ultimately a very personal decision for me, one made because I did not want to be part of cruelty and torture that happens so to appease taste buds.

In January I will celebrate 20 years of being 100% vegan which means for 20 years I have consumed no meat, dairy, eggs, honey or any other by-product from animals. Yes, this also means that my belts and dress shoes are not leather and my ties to not contain silk.

As every human my age and up knows, life goes by very fast. It's difficult to grasp that I have been vegan that long. Although I became vegan for animal cruelty issues, the benefits of being vegan as I get older include being healthier. At 47 I ran my first half marathon. Looking forward to my third next May at age 50.

I know many who read my blog are not vegan. I hope I am able to provide here information (see all of the links) and life experience (read the posts) that show how easy being vegan is and how it is available to anyone. Myths around veganism and protein and cost are just those, myths. The benefits around being vegan, to you, the environment and to the animals, are endless.

So happy World Vegan Day.

One in five children

This is one of those posts that will typically not get a lot of reads. When I write about topics like poverty, hunger or HIV/AIDS, many tend to skip the post.

I will keep this post short.

The federal government released poverty numbers this past week.

One in five children in California live in poverty.

One is six children in the US live in poverty.

No matter why you read my blog or why you connect with me personally or with The Gay Vegans, I ask you to please consider these numbers.

So much wealth. So much privilege. Yet so many live in poverty.

As activists, we can take action. We can also build bridges with activist communities whose main mission is not ours, and become stronger. We can find connections with our work to poverty, to hunger and to class. In the Los Angeles area, where we live, it is not difficult to see hard-core class distinction.

If you would like more information on poverty in the US, please click here.

Thank you for reading.

Living your dream

Our move to the Los Angeles area is realizing a dream we have had for years to live in southern California. I want to live there to be closer to the beach, where I can surf, kayak and just relax while reading a good book. The weather, food, diversity and awesome farmers markets are a bonus.

I look forward to so much. Yes, there are down sides. For instance, I constantly hear horror stories about the traffic and just getting from A to B. We will definitely have to get used to all that. But for us our dream will be coming true.

Life is short. I say many times that I was 28 and then one day I woke up and I was 49. Just like that.

Life is such a gift. Every day is precious, and not guaranteed.

Live your dream.

Take that cooking class.

Ask that man or woman on a date.

Organize that protest.

Take that trip.

Don't wait for tomorrow.

You are totally worth it!

Thanks for reading!

The darkness subsides

I have many times told a story about when I was in the Navy. I spent many hours on ships standing on an outside part looking out to the vast ocean. I remember looking at the beauty and feeling peaceful.

Then I would start to think. And within several minutes my peace had been turned upside down. By me.

These days I tell another story, which has a lot to do with that. The story is that I can be doing awesome, feeling really good, loving life. Then let me sit and start thinking and boy does that change.

I am amazed sometimes at how quickly I can get absorbed by darkness. Sometimes it takes me by surprise. Most times the reality of my life is that all is really well. I actually have to think of negative things or think of fears or mistakes or people I am having issues with to feel in that dark place.

I know what to do and what not to do to stay out of the darkness.

Tell my husband. Call a friend. Pray and/or meditate. Stop my mental masturbation. Help someone. Get out of myself. Write a gratitude list.

And sometimes I just allow myself to be in that dark place. I try to be the most positive person I can. I try to let go, to live and let live, and to love. Doing this 100% of the time is just not possible for me.

The days of shaming myself for getting into a dark place are over. I actually honor the darkness, or I guess a better way to say what I am feeling about that is to say that I acknowledge it but do not live in it. Like a heard in a meeting once "yea though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death I don't have to set up camp there"!

For me the darkness does indeed subside. My dark moments are much less than they were growing up and into my twenties. My family and inner circle have a lot to do with that. Being loved and being able to love certainly helps.

I wanted to share this blog post because I know others get into darkness at times. Social media is filled with happy people. People who are always fine. I wanted to remind folks that even though life is really awesome, sometimes the darkness comes.

And it's OK.

Thanks for reading.

I ran a 5K!

Last weekend I ran into a couple of friends of mine who told me about a 5K race they were running the following day.

I got super excited. I am training for my next half marathon and thought this would be perfect. So I decided to join them.

Fantastic decision!

I arrived to the race and it was 17 degrees out! It was 19 degrees when the race began.

I finished with a time of 34:30. I felt amazing.

At 49 I feel like I am healthier than I have ever been.

I decided to write about this race to hopefully inspire those who want to get healthier. It's possible. At any age. Being vegan and living a live that includes exercise, whichever form, is awesome.

And remember, two years ago I wasn't even a runner. Since then I have run two half marathons.

I try to get to our gym twice a week. I also try to go heavy on fruits and veggies and focus on whole foods. Don't get me wrong, we eat our fair share of processed foods. Have you tried the new Gardein meatloaf! But I must say that over the past several years Mike and I have definitely been eating more fruits and veggies.

I physically feel incredible and I think being vegan and exercising have a lot to do with that!

Thanks for reading!

What's in our fridge!

One of the many things I love about this blog is that every week I get to meet people who have decided to go vegan. It's wonderful being in touch with them and being able to support them and be a resource for them.

One of things that I have realized that seems to be common with people going vegan is that they are not used to buying a lot of vegetables. When I tell them what we typically buy they tend to be a little surprised.

So I decided to write this post and let you know what we typically have in our fridge. You will notice some items that tend to be considered healthy. I definitely do not consider myself an expert in nutrition but I do have links to nutrition experts on the main page.

Here we go:

Rice milk
Orange juice
Dates
Brocolli
Cauliflower
Kale
Swiss Chard
Spinach
Pears
Apples
Red peppers
Celery
Blackberries
Blueberries
Tofurky slices
Daiya shredded cheese
Vtopian cheese
Some vegan empanadas from Maria Empanada
Earth balance spread and sticks
Tofu
Treeline cheese
Tortillas
Veganaise
Braggs

We also have a lot of the compliments, too many to list.

I hope this is helpful to those of you who are new to being vegan, or even those who are looking for new food ideas. We really try to eat more fruits and veggies and less processed foods. We don't always succeed, but I definitely think we are on the right track.

Thanks for reading!

Make someone's day today!

I am celebrating my 49th birthday today!

I am honestly filled with an intense amount of love and gratitude.

I am thinking of so many who played a huge part in helping me become the man I am who are no longer here physically.

I am thinking of all of those who rock my life who are here. Those who love me, teach me, hold me dear, and support me.

I am thinking of the world I live in and the commitment I make daily to make it a safer, more loving place for all living beings.

Will you help me celebrate my 49th birthday today by making someone's day?

It doesn't matter how. And I don't need to leave a list of suggestions. You know what you can do. And I'm sure by the time you read this post you will have thought of several people whose day you could make.

Thank you!

And thanks for reading.

Why are The Gay Vegans following me?

I wanted to title this post "Why on earth are The Gay Vegans following me?" but that was a bit long of a title, especially for twitter.

I love building community. And I do a lot of that online. Our blog has accounts on Google+, Instagram, Tumblr, Facebook and Twitter. I use each one for different purposes, and I never blindly connect them all so the same post goes to all of them. I do use them to spread my blog posts, but I also use them to meet folks I'd like to know and to build community with folks who might not normally be in community with gay vegans.

Being 48 and wanting to be as healthy as possible, I like connecting with others who work out and are into fitness. When I see someone who says that they are vegan are into fitness too, I like to connect with them.

That doesn't always go over well. So I want to clear the air if you will.

If I connect with you through social media it is because that something you are doing either inspires me, I want more of it in my life, or it's something I want to learn more about.

It doesn't mean I am hitting on you for goodness sake! Or that I want to offend you in any way!

There are a bunch of folks out there who inspire me. They may be totally out about being a follower of Christ, or vegan, or raw, and I make the attempt to connect.

They are not always thrilled. Recently on twitter, a vegan guy wrote how he couldn't believe The Gay Vegans would connect with him. After all, he's Christian, and far right. We exchanged some tweets and after I saw other tweets where he wrote to others saying that he was just going to have fun with us I disconnected.

Seriously?

He is a vegan athlete, including being a runner, and of course I would want to be connected with him.
But I get it. There are just always going to be folks who for whatever reason do not want to be connected with gays and/or vegans.

Another guy, on Instagram, deleted my comment on a photo of his saying that he was inspiring me.

So...

If The Gay Vegans connect with you on any of the social media listed above and you do not want to be connected with us, please just tell me. I will disconnect and all will be well in the world. I honestly only wanted to build relationship and let you know that something you are doing inspires me or teaches me.

I hope this clears the air.

Thanks for reading.

The "healtheir" gay vegans

REMINDER: I am not a registered dietitian. When I write about health I am writing about my own personal experiences which include success and non-successes.  For great vegan nutrition information please check out some of the blogs linked on our blog.

Mike and I went for a run yesterday. We are both in training. This year we did our first half marathon, as part of the Colfax Marathon here in Denver. Now we are training again, Mike for his first marathon and me for my second half marathon. My goal is to finish in 2:30, which would be 25 minutes faster than this year. We have until May of next year and are super excited.

Yesterday's run was wonderful for me. I train at Sloan's Lake which is a Denver city park about 1 1/2 miles from our house. It's beautiful. The path around the lake is just over 2.5 miles. Yesterday's run was the fastest pace I have done since I was a teen, at just under a 10 minute mile. Whew, what  a blast!

At 47, I am more and more grateful for the health benefits of being vegan. I became vegan as a way to do the least harm as I could while on this earth, which for me means not partaking in the cruelty that is inherent in eating meat, dairy, eggs, etc. This has been a 17-year journey for me.

Knowing that Pepsi and potato chips are vegan, it is not automatic that being vegan means being healthy. I know all about that. In my recent past I have really tried to pay more attention to what goes in my body and how I take care of myself.

I drink lots of water throughout the day. Most days I start with a smoothie filled with kale, Swiss chard, berries of some sort, coconut water and usually some vegan protein mix. Currently using a hemp protein, and also use the Vega proteins which are delish. I definitely make an effort to get as many serving of fruits and veggies throughout the day as possible.

I smile when I see our shopping cart these days. We still have some processed foods, but the majority of our cart is filled with organic veggies and fruit, both fresh and frozen.

My body definitely feels the difference when I focus on eating as healthy as possible.

With the healthier food choices, I also exercise a lot. The running is wonderful. Not only does it help me health wise and feeling better physically, it also helps with my self-esteem. I also try to get to the gym twice a week for swimming and lifting.

I feel better physically than I ever have. It's wonderful. Many, many thanks to so many of you who inspire me daily.

And thank you for reading!

VeganMofo Day 13: Review of Immaculate Baking Company's products

Reviewing Immaculate Baking Company's baked goods is the topic of my post for Day 13 of Vegan Mofo, a month of vegan food blog posts. Since I am not a food blogger, most of my posts for Vegan Mofo will not be recipes, rather experiences I have with vegan food and sharing people, places and things that have brought me and continue to bring me amazing vegan food.

Mike and I were shopping one day with our friends Spencer and Amy one day and Spencer tossed a tube of cinnamon rolls into his cart. I was thinking that they could not possibly be vegan, and he told me that of course they were.

You all know that Mike makes the best cinnamon rolls ever. I have posted his recipe twice. Nothing honestly beats them.

These come close.

There are many times that I would love a cinnamon roll but Mike doesn't have time to make them from scratch.  Enter Immaculate Baking Company's pre-made, all ready to be baked in your oven cinnamon rolls!

They only take about 18 minutes to bakes, you dab on the frosting that comes with the package, and you have five super-delish vegan cinnamon rolls.

Try not eating all of them at the same time!

Immaculate Baking Company also makes different flavors of scones, and we have tried the blueberry scones. They are delish as well and the package makes eight.

They also make cookies and pie crust. We have yet to try those (or see those in our markets).

When you don't have the time to make delicious breakfast creations, turn to these. You will not be disappointed!

Thank you for reading!

VeganMofo Day 10: Eat your veggies!

 
Eat your veggies! is my post for Day 10 of Vegan Mofo, a month of vegan food blog posts. Since I am not a food blogger, most of my posts for Vegan Mofo will not be recipes, rather experiences I have with vegan food and sharing people, places and things that have brought me and continue to bring me amazing vegan food.

NOTE: I realize that a post titled "Eat your veggies!" won't get a lot of reads. I still wanted to write it.

I remember those frozen packages of peas and carrots growing up. We had them a lot. And frozen corn. There were years that we had a garden and I remember being excited about my mom serving veggies from the garden.

I don't think I was one of those kids who didn't like his veggies. As much as I love sweets, I love veggies even more these days.

Mike has this incredible garden in our back yard. This year he is growing kale, Swiss chard, butternut squash, potatoes, cheery tomatoes, zucchini and squash. I love all of them.

Kale, who have thought?! I love kale. I have written about it several times. Whether in a smoothie or as a side dish sauteed with garlic, I could eat kale every day. Same with peas, Swiss Chard, spinach and, wow, this could be a long list.

Then there are those veggies that I am just learning about, like the purple bell peppers below. Yes. Purple.

I had never seen purple bell peppers before. I have this same experience at new farmer's markets, especially when Mike and I travel. Being vegan means we will never, ever be bored with food. There are just too many options.

I digress. So eating my veggies is not just something I do because I like them. It's so important, as a vegan, to make sure my body gets everything I need. Nutritionists say anywhere from four to eight servings a day. That may not seem easy but it is.

And adding veggies to any meal, or using them as the main dish, is awesome! Every vegan cookbook has a dozen recipes for dishes like this, and each of them bring a variety of flavors, textures and colors to your plate.

So go for it. And if there is a veggie that you just love, more than any other veggie, let me know!

Thank you for reading!