Vegan Momma

Let us not seek to satisfy our thirst for freedom by drinking from the cup of bitterness and hatred.

This past Monday I was going to write something about Martin Luther King. Martin Luther King day is a recognized holiday here in the United States. However, I could not bring myself to write anything about this man. As I briefly stopped by some of my favorite spots on the blogosphere, I noticed his famous I Have A Dream speech plastered everywhere. Each time I saw it I couldn’t help but think if the poster or those who commented on how great a speech this was truly got the full meaning of what he was trying to convey. One of the many characteristics I’ve always admired about Martin Luther King was the respect he had for those who thought differently than himself. That’s something I try to incorporate into my life. It’s not always easy but knowing I want the same treatment from others I make a practice of following my own example. Martin Luther King was a compassionate man who’s views inspired to take action and turn their dreams into a reality.

I posted one of my favorite quotes by King at the beginning of this post. In real life and, online I’ve seen many fall into these categories. Alliances are drawn because of their beliefs on a wide range of issues. Sometimes the views held are inaccurate. I always believe there is a better way to deal with those who think differently than ourselves than negativity. It’s easy to agree with those who think exactly like us. That takes no effort the true test is giving respect to those who think differently than ourselves.

Think about the way you treat those who think differently than you when it comes to politics, religious, lifestyle choices, race, education, or socioeconomic status. I could list more, but I think you get the idea. Do you treat people who think differently than yourself differently or do you give them the same respect as those who think exactly like you? Perhaps we should focus on listening to one another. We should be willing to listen to views besides are own in doing so we might understand why people think differently than we. Instead of attacking each other we need to spend more time building one another up and yes respecting those who think differently than ourselves.

I don’t care what others are saying about you or the group that you are affiliated with. Lashing out at the person or group keeps the negativity going. Guess what? You might always have someone that unfairly judges you. Knowing how unfair this is modify your own behavior and treat those you come in contact with as individuals. Think about your actions and the effect it they can have on others. It’s time to break the negative cycle

Question: When judging a person or a group? Do you need to change your views?

[tags]Continuing the Dream[/tags]

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This is a question I’m asked often in the real world, and also here on Vegan Momma. I usually direct people to The Raw & The Cooked which has simple, delicious, and nutritious vegan recipes. Do you have to be vegetarian or vegan to be healthy? No, but as with any eating lifestyle you have to make healthy choices. Yes that includes vegetarians and vegans. You can be an unhealthy veggie if you make poor food choices.

Another great resource for adding more vegetables into your lifestyle can be found at Animal Writings. This website is hosted by Gary. He’s a fabulous soul and I’m truly blessed that I found his virtual home. I always enjoy reading his post through RSS feed. Gary started a series a few weeks that focuses on ways one can incorporate more vegetables into their daily lifestyle.

I put Gary in my RSS feed last week. I recognize my readers by including their posts in my sidebar for a week. Well Gary has been here for two weeks. If you’ve been a reader of Vegan Momma for any length of time you know how passionate I am about nutrition, and I felt this series was too important to eliminate it after the one week mark. How did I meet Gary? I’m not sure although I do believe I met him through Vegan Freaks. It’s been a few years since I discovered Gary’s wonderful virtual home. I truly appreciate the way he writes about animals. His approach is nonjudgmental, and I do believe it makes some people think of the ways they view other beings.

Please stop by and read his informative series. Easy Ways to Reduce Meat Consumption. Change can be overwhelming, and Gary has done a fabulous job of helping people introduce more produce into their daily lifestyle. Gary you should turn this into an ebook.

Vegans, like any other group, occasionally have inaccurate labels tossed at them. Reading Gary’s posts it’s obvious that he cares for humans and animals, and he’s not judgmental. This is something I practice also.

Gary, my apologies for not pointing to this valuable series sooner. I’ve been meaning to complete it, but something always came up. Today I made the time to complete this task.

[tags]vegans, Animal Writings, reduce meat consumption[/tags]

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It’s been a while since I’ve blogged on vegan momma and my other websites. I’ve been working on a research paper which has kept me fairly busy. I’m happy to say I completed it yesterday. I tweaked it until I was happy with what I had written, and now it’s time to start working on articles for my clients.

I’m going for a mini escape for a few hours. I’m taking Aiyana to a play gym. She’s excited while she is playing mommy will be busy writing, working, and enjoying the fact that she is so happy. They also have wifi so I’ll be able to work while she is playing.

Earlier this morning I met up with R. You know R? The one that I was trying to meet up with last week. Well we finally connected. I’m so glad we did. We didn’t do too many free weights he put me through the paces with jumping jacks, springs, push ups, squat assists. He wanted to see where I’m at. He told me he was impressed. To say I’m feeling that workout would be an understatement. Of course I’m excited that I have a workout partner that is as demanding as myself.

We’ll be meeting at a lake tomorrow. It’s a little over a mile. It should be an excellent workout. R told me to be prepared to work out for 1.5 hours and to dress warmly. We chatted after our workout and learned we have many things in common. He seems to be a very nice man not only does it look as though I have a cool hangout partner I have someone I can interact with. After our workout we finally exchanged numbers so we won’t be missing each other when it comes to actually making our fitness workouts.

What are Your Fitness Goals?

R asked me that today and I told him my desire is to compete in figure competition. He was impressed. I told him of my weak areas and what I was going to do to improve them. I also told him I wanted him to push me hard. He’s been looking for a workout partner that will challenge him also so it looks as though this is a perfect fit. I’m really excited. Although my workouts with D are great and the workout intensity is high I don’t think it will come close to the workouts R, and I will have. D and I will still work out together. He’s rapidly moving into the friend category. He constantly checks up on me through phone and email to see how I’m doing our workouts are a chance to catch up, push each other. However, R takes it to another level. I pushed him also today. I’m very competitive and am not about to back down in our exercises. When I started getting exhausted he pushed me and naturally I returned the favor. I could tell he liked that. If I have today to go by, I know I’m going to enjoy tomorrows workout. I’m actually looking forward to the occasion.

These Exercises Can Be Done at Home

The beauty of the workout today, and the one we will have tomorrow is that a lot of them can be done at home. I’m going to talk with R and see whether he is ok shooting videos of our exercises in doing so those of my readers who want to incorporate them into their workout routine will be able to do so.

Question: How is your fitness routine? Have you noticed any gains? Are there areas you could improve

[tags]exercise, fitness[/tags]

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Wow, I haven’t seen him in about a week I thought as I saw R walking towards me.

R: “What’s up Opal!” He smiles, “You’ve been avoiding me, haven’t you?”

Me: “No, I’ve been here at the gym almost every day.”

R: “Oh no you haven’t,” he said shaking his head, “I’ve been getting to the gym early so I can work out with you.” “I haven’t seen you.”

Me: Laughing, “I’ve been getting here later so I can work out with you.”

R: Leans back against the wall laughing, “Well isn’t that special?” “We’ve both been changing our workout routines just so we could work out with each other.”

Me: “Yes, and since we didn’t set a time we didn’t get anything accomplished.”

What’s that all about? Last week R and I had made plans to work out together. I think we both can bring something to our workouts. The thing is we didn’t make a plan on when we would work out. The plan was to work out together when we saw each other in the gym. Pretty silly, right? This past week could have been avoided if we had put those plans into action. R and I chatted for quite a long time. Something I rarely do at the gym. We’ll have our first workout this Tuesday evening. That’s a big leap. Why? I haven’t gone to the gym in the evening time in over a year. I’ll also be meeting up with him Thursday morning for an early morning workout.

Thought: I have numerous plans but if I don’t put them into action they won’t take me anywhere.

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What better way to spend a Saturday then running around in an indoor playground? All right doing that outside would be better but since it’s cold outdoors this is a suitable compromise.

As the weekend approaches, I tend to slow down the amount of work I do during the day and spend time hanging out with my favorite person in the entire world. Yes that would be my daughter. Friday, Aiyana and I went to a reading circle which she enjoyed immensely and today I took her to Chuck E. Cheese. She had a blast. These days I sit on the sidelines and she runs off and plays with newfound playmates, and I’m ok with that, truly I am. I’m glad she has a great time with others and makes friends so easily.

She helps the kids that are smaller than her climb onto the big slide, waiting patiently, until they are ready to move one. Once she sees, they’ve overcome their fear she plays with them and then is off immersing herself in some new experience. Since I’m sitting on the sidelines I come prepared. I usually bring along reading material although I really don’t read. I mainly watch her. Fridays - Sundays are our special days although I spend time with her daily these days are extra special and usually involves our going somewhere or doing something out of the ordinary.

Take time for those who are important in your life.

[tags]bonding[/tags]

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