Cheating and Facing Facts

Hello everyone and welcome back to Project Health!

Today's post is going to be a little different-- instead of recipes or tips, I actually wanted to give an update about how my vegan lifestyle is going. To start, I should put out the disclaimer that this lifestyle is not easy. As I'm sure most of you know. I got to this journey in my life because I went to my doctor with an issue and my partner and I came out with an answer. I often think back to that day. Maybe I'm being a little dramatic... but this was no joke. It was sad, scary, and horrible. I remember sitting on the cold table, waiting for the doctor to figure out what was wrong with me. Results showed there was no lump in my breast and this news came with relief. As soon as my mind stopped rushing with thoughts of the C word... Cancer... a new fear became present--- if it's not breast cancer, then what the hell is wrong with me? After many more appointments, my doctor finally stated the most scary statement of all... "I don't know what's wrong." My heart dropped... I remember thinking, "How hard can this be to figure out?" and of course, "What's going to happen to me?"
There were no more test that could be preformed, there were no more results that could show sunlight. They really didn't know... and neither did I.

"No soy, nothing that contains hormones, like meat, dairy, or anything that comes from an animal for that matter." My response to this was of course true to form, "What am I suppose to eat?!" And then the doctor said the most strange word of all; "Vegan". The only true answer the doctors could come up with.... Vegan lifestyle.

After I got dressed and left the Cancer Center, I felt lost. What was a girl like me doing at a Cancer Center. I felt so lost in fact, I couldn't even find my car. I began looking around at the mostly full parking lot and wondering what all these people were here for... and if maybe someone had my same problem. Then maybe I wouldn't be alone.

I battle with myself every single day about my diet. Wondering if it really makes a difference. Wondering if that one slice of cake will really cause me harm.
Back in October, my partner and I traveled to Arkansas to get married. On this trip, I put my cake theory to the test. At first I didn't feel any different. But I can honestly say, sitting here at my computer today, I know the doctors were right. I have been stabled with a vegan lifestyle and I just have to come to terms with that.
The more I cheat my diet, the worse I feel, the more damage I am doing to my body. So, here's to no more cheating! Vegans of the world, Take me away!!

New Year, New You | Tips and Tricks

Hello everyone and welcome back to Project Health! I hope you all have had an amazing Christmas with your family and friends! Of course, what comes after Christmas? New Year's... and everyone knows what that means-- those New Year's resolutions! Many people center their resolutions around weight-loss, healthy living, and fitness-- I challenge you to do the same!

                                                                                                                                                       

Tips and tricks to make it happen:

• Doing a fun and FREE challenge! FullyRawKristina is hosting a Fully Raw Challenge and it is not only easy but it is also free! Here is the link to sign up and get more info: http://www.fullyraw.com/21-day-challenge/
• Avoid eating fast food! It may be easy and it may be fast BUT it is also a fast way to pack on the pounds. Making yourself something at home will save you money and you control what ingredients are added to your meal. -TRICK- Prepare your lunch the night before to save yourself time and canceling out any chance of having to run the fast food route for lunch.
• Do work outs you actually enjoy! If you hate running, get in your cardio by doing something you may actually enjoy. Bike riding and even yoga are great, easy ways to get the heart rate going (and you can do these things outside of a gym)
• Have a buddy! Working out and eating clean is just easier when you have someone doing it with you. Someone you can share your struggles with and compare notes. You get the point-- partner's are good! 
• Keep your coffee skinny! I am a huge coffee drinker and after going vegan, I learned lots of info about what was actually in my fancy high priced coffee. Although they taste amazing, my body was feeling horrible after. Making copy- cat recipes at home will save you calories and money. But, I have a TRICK for you if you are like me and still love your Starbucks brewed cup! -TRICK- In the mornings before you leave, grab a small cup of your creamer (make it even better and use vegan creamer) and take that to Starbucks with you... and ice if you want something iced. Ask for one shot or maybe two of just espresso (which if you do not know, just a shot is super cheap, YAY). And like magic, you have made your own iced coffee without actually having to do much! Sometimes I like to add my own flavorings to my creamer as well for an added kick of fancy.
• Drink less-- This one is not fun but it's true. Alcohol is not the best for your body, skin, and can be packed with calories. -TRICK- The brand SkinnyGirl has super yummy drinks and less calories. So, if you are going to drink, make it skinny! 

            Thank you everyone for reading and I hope you all have a great and safe New Year!

Vegan Egg Nog recipe | Healthy and Low Cal

                                              Vegan Egg Nog | Healthy and Low Cal

                           Today on Project Health, we are making a vegan egg nog! Nothing says holidays like a nice glass of egg nog, Right? If you are an egg nog lover, which I am assuming you are since you are looking at this recipe (duh), then you may be familiar with the not so appealing calories that go along with this beloved treat. The average egg nog contains about 223 calories for just one cup! And also filled with bad fats.

This recipe is not only less calories, but it actually contains those good fats that you know, are naturally good for us.

 It's extremely easy to make and only a few ingredients are needed.

Here what you need: 

2 ¼  cups almond milk or any nut milk you wish 

1/2 cup raw cashew butter

1/3  cup maple syrup or agave nectar (I used agave nectar)

1 tsp nutmeg

1 tsp cinnamon

Pinch of ground clove (less than 1/8 tsp)

So, now here is the hard part, you put everything into the blender and blend. Yes.

For a little added fun, add 2 tbsp bourbon or dark rum—extra kick is always fun!

I hope you all enjoy this little holiday classic! 

Thank you for reading! 

Vegan White Chocolate Recipe

                               Hello everyone and welcome back to Project Health! 

Yesterday's yummy recipe was vegan gingerbread cookies. If you missed it, you can check it out... just below today's post. 

               BUT TODAY..... *Drum Roll* We are making Vegan White Chocolate!!!

                    PICTURE OF THE FINISHED PRODUCT. I KNOW... I CAN'T EITHER.

It's super easy to make; Let's get to it!

         

Here's what you need:

½ cup melted cocoa butter

½  tsp vanilla extract

½ cup powdered sugar

¼ cup raw cashew butter

pinch of salt

2 tsp coconut milk powder

To begin, you want to melt the cacao butter in a double boiler until liquefied. Once your cocoa butter is nice and liquid ready, pour your melted cocoa butter into your blender. At this point, you might be thinking that it's a good idea to stick your finger into the cocoa butter and give it a try-- but don't-- it taste like poison. Seriously. It's not yet "chocolate sweet". Add all the other yummy ingredients and get to blending. Once everything is nice and well blended, evenly pour onto a parchment paper lined baking pan, and place in the freezer for  1 hour. When you take your white chocolate out, you will know when it's ready if it's hard as a rock.  Break into serve-able pieces or hell, eat the whole thing! 

ENJOY!!!!

Vegan GingerBread Man (or woman) Cookie Recipe

                                   Hello everyone and welcome back to Project Health! 
The holidays are here and one of my favorite treats to eat around this time of year would have to be gingerbread cookies. So, naturally I was determined to find a vegan way to make this little gem of a treat! 

Let's get to baking!

Here's what you need: 

3 cups flour

1 1/2 tsp baking powder

3/4 tsp baking soda

1/4 tsp salt

1 tbsp ground ginger

1 13/4 tsp ground cinnamon

1/8 tsp nutmeg

1/8 tsp ground cloves

6 tbsp Coconut oil 

3/4 cup brown sugar

1 eggs worth of egg- replacer

1/2 cup molasses

2 tsp vanilla

Begin by mixing together the flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, and spices. Mix together until there are zero clumps.

 Beat together the coconut oil, brown sugar, and egg-replacer until well mixed. Then you want to add the molasses and vanilla and of course, get back to mixing!

Slowly, (1 cup at a time) add your dry ingredients until well combined. You May have to get your hands dirty on this one.  Divide dough into three equal parts and form into balls (I used me hands) Wrap in plastic wrap and allow to sit at room temperature for 2 hours.              (the longest two hours of my life!!!!!)

It's been 2 hours... let's bake these bad boys (or girls)

Preheat your oven to 375 degrees and line a cookie pan with parchment paper -- skip on the "PAM" and save yourself from some extra fat.

Lightly dust the area you are going to use to turn the dough into little people (hehehe). If the dough is sticky, dust your rolling pin with extra flour. Roll out your dough until it is 1/4 inch thick.

I used cookie cutters to make my shapes but if you are super awesome and can do without... well then, damn. 

Bake your cookies for 7 minutes if you like soft cookies and 10 minutes if you prefer harder, crunchier cookies.  Remove cookies from oven and allow to cool.

Once cooled decorate with royal icing, or dust or stencil with powdered sugar

ENJOY!!!!!!

Healthy Thanksgiving That Does Not Suck!

Hello everyone and welcome back to Project Health! 
Where the hell have I been, you ask? And where the hell is that Vegan Pumpkin Spice Latte recipe? Well, the recipe is coming! I have been trying, trying, trying, to get together a nice little video for the VPSL (Vegan Pumpkin Spice Latte) grand release. With Thanksgiving madness this week... I'm thinking a little VPSL may be the treat everyone needs! 
As to where I have been and what's been going on.... well... let's just say, I have been reaching high and low to find myself! Through my lifestyle change journey, I kind of forgot to check in on myself and ask, "how are you doing?". My body and mind have been going through many changes during this journey and that can be a little frightening to someone that did not see it coming. I thought I would be able to walk into this lifestyle and breeze right along. It's really never that simple. Let's just say my mind had a freak out.
BUT on the plus side, I have found myself and found my focus. So let's do this! 

THANKSGIVING VEGAN STYLE. LET'S GET THIS GOING! 
Yes, it can be done. Many people "cheat" on holidays like Thanksgiving and Christmas because they wonder, "what will I eat?". It can be done, folks. Health is just right around the corner and sitting on your Thanksgiving plate. 
I'm not going to lie... I was kind of wondering the same thing-- then I turned to my resources.... better known as Youtube. 


Fully Raw Kristina from Youtube has posted a wonderful video with Thanksgiving ideas that are healthy, vegan and or course.... easy to make. Kristina is a Raw Vegan, so her recipes mirror her lifestyle. Naturally, she is fabulous and I love her energy. 

I also really enjoy watching Sarah Fit's videos on Youtube. She is not vegan but does often post vegan topic videos. Like, Fully Raw Kristina, Sarah Fit has posted a Thanksgiving tips video on how to have a healthy Thanksgiving that doesn't suck (really, it's in the title!!)

I hope you guys have found these videos helpful in some small way. 

Have a wonderful Thanksgiving and a safe Black Friday. 

Let the eating and shopping begin! 

Thank you everyone for reading! 

Vegan Story

Hello everyone and welcome back to Project Health!

Today's post is going to be a little different.... a week (or a little longer) ago, I shared my story with "What a Vegetarians Eat" blogger, Taylor. My story has been posted to her blog (cool, right?!). You can check out the article riiiight here: http://whatvegetarianseat.com/vegan-story-annie-carson/

If you have been following me from the beginning (like a whole month, hehe) you may know about my Youtube channel I have created to play along with my blog, Project Health. If you haven't already checked it out, I will have a link below. Please subscribe to be notified when videos have been posted.  https://www.youtube.com/user/anniedoesyoga/feed

Today's post was just a little (baby little) post with a few updates. I will be posting an awesome vegan pumpkin spice latte recipe this week. It is super yummy and great for those of us that find it impossible to live without our Starbucks holiday espresso. This a  perfect copycat recipe without the harmful ingredients and all the horrible calories. I hope you guys will check it out and try it yourself!

Thank you everyone for reading.

Creamy Dark Chocolate Pudding | Vegan

Hello everyone and welcome back to Project Health! Today, we are going to be making my super yummy, dark chocolate pudding! (And P.S.) It's vegan! 

So here's what you need:

2 Large ripe avocado, peeled and pitted 

1/2 Cup cacao powder 

1/3 Cup unsweetened vanilla almond milk

2 Tsp. All natural vanilla extract (Does not have to be all natural; just what I like to use)

1/4 Agave Nectar (or honey if you are not vegan) 

Dash of cinnamon

3 Drops of all natural liquid sweetener (of course, any sweetener will do)  

Pinch of sea salt*

Blender 

This is super easy to make! Here's how:

Basically, you want to take all your ingredients and throw them into the blender. 

Start blending and watch as this heavenly treat is formed. 

Blend until smooth..... AND EAT! 

Mine was a little extra dark for my taste, so I added more sweetener to make it less bitter. 

* The sea salt is important to this recipe. It majorly cuts bitterness and some magical way gives you gold! I tried mine without sea salt and it was very very very very very, did I  say very? Very, bitter.

11 Pounds Down & Pass the Coffee

Hello everyone and welcome back to Project Health. 

Saturday, September 27th made 3 weeks as a healthy green eater. 

The highs thus far: I've lost a total of 11 pounds in 3 weeks

The lows thus far: I miss Starbucks.

My plan was to not give up meat, but I actually do not have the desire to eat it anymore. Vegan I have become and I am loving it. I miss my Starbucks... badly. I've switched to organic coffee and Starbucks just doesn't have one. If I want coffee shop espresso, I have to go to Whole Foods and order from their coffee shop--- and let me tell you, it's not Starbucks.

The past 3 weeks have gone by super quickly and I have never felt better. It's crazy to think I have been eating clean for 3 whole weeks!

Some super super exciting news! I'm going Youtube! Yes, that's right. I'm going to be featuring yoga workout videos, cooking videos, vlogs, and much more. My channel is now live (search: Annie Carson) and we have an intro video up as of now. More videos to come! 

Yay for Youtube!  Below is a picture of our logo! 

Lastnight, I made vegan dark chocolate creamy pudding! Yes! Yummy! YES! The recipe for this to die for treat will be up Wednesday! 

Thank you everyone for reading! 

Vegan Peanut Butter Chocolate Ice Cream

Hello everyone and welcome back to Project Health.

Today I am sharing with you my Vegan Peanut Butter Chocolate Ice Cream!

Want to eat a whole bowl full of ice cream and not feel guilty afterwards? I know I do! This creamy, smooth, rich, ice cream will fix any sweet cravings you have.

Here's what you need:

3 frozen bananas 

2 tbsp PB2 chocolate 

1/4 cup unsweetened vanilla almond milk (optional) 

Blender or food processor 

EASY, EASY, EASY, YUMMY!

Let's make it:

First, you want to take your 3 frozen bananas and throw them into the blender.

My blender of choice is the Ninja Storm (Love it), but of course any high power blender or food processor will work.

Once your bananas are in the blender, you will then take 2 large tbsp of PB2 Chocolate and toss this yummy powder into the blender. 

I like to then add a splash of almond milk... it's a little easier on my blender. If you opt out on the almond milk, your end result will have the true texture of ice cream. If you opt for the almond milk, you will have something that looks like your ice cream has started to melt.

Either way, you have ice cream! It taste just like so yummy and you would never know the difference if you hadn't made it yourself!

*TIP* Bananas must be frozen or you'll end up with something that looks like a smoothie!

If you did not want to add PB2, you could always replace it with peanut butter and cocoa powder. BUT, for the sake of keeping it vegan and low calorie, I go for PB2.

ENJOY!

Mango Banana Smoothie Recipe

This is my Mango Banana Smoothie

It is light but creamy

Filling but refreshing

I hope you enjoy!

Here's what you need:

2 Ripe Bananas 

1 Mango

1/2 cup unsweetened vanilla almond milk

Ice (only if bananas are not frozen)

Blender 

Yes, it's really that simple!

Let's make this treat!

First you want to take 2 ripe bananas and toss them into the blender.

(I like to freeze my bananas before hand so they serve as the ice)

Once your bananas are in the blender, you then want to add 1 mango.

(I slice mine in cubes, but it doesn't matter, as long as it makes it into the blender)

After our yummy fruits are in, we will then add 1/2 cup of unsweetened vanilla almond milk. The almond milk is what makes this smoothie so delicious. You can eye ball the amount of liquid you would like in your smoothie-- play around with the consistency, you can always add more!

If you haven't frozen any of your fruit, you will now want to add ice to the mixture.

1, 2, 3, blend! 

It's really that easy and this smoothie is super yummy!

You can not go wrong with this amazing treat!

I hope you all enjoy!

Thank you for reading!

Week one, Friends, and Golf

Hello and welcome back to Project Health! 

Saturday made one full week of my new lifestyle, and what a week it was! I have lost five pounds since starting and I have never felt better. Everything I read said I would be feeling ten times better in just a week... and I have to say, I wasn't sure that was going to be me. Thankfully, they were right and I do feel better. Of course, I have a long journey ahead of me, but at least I'm enjoying the ride, right?! 

I have been trying to think of any issues I ran into this past week but I really can not think of any (Yay!) I few nights, I did find myself craving sweets... just going mad for them! I would have a few pieces of organic chocolate and my craving would calm down a bit. I was also finding, around dinner time I would be so hungry....  feeling sick, hungry. Once this happened a few nights in a row, I started looking at what I was eating during the day and how I could keep myself from wanting to go crazy at night. As it turned out, I wasn't eating enough for lunch. So, in return, my body was freaking out by dinner time. I felt like this past week was a learning experience for myself and my body... learning what foods worked for me and what foods kept me energized throughout the day. 

I haven't been missing any foods from my "old lifestyle", I think they only thing I have been truly missing is coffee. I have organic coffee from Whole Foods, but it's just not the same. Nothing about it taste like normal coffee. I'm still determined to find one out there! And I will... I will find one that fills the whole in my heart now that normal coffee is gone. (tears)

Saturday was a very happy day! I was thrilled to have made it through the week and I wanted nothing more than to work harder! Kelsey I were invited by two of our friends for a little golf and dinner. This is when my Saturday got a little scary. Having dinner at a friends house. Crap! Naturally, I could not eat anything that was on the dinner menu. But, instead of feeling bad for myself, we called our friends and told them the truth. The honest truth that I needed to bring my own food. And so that's just what I did. I was a little nervous that watching Kelsey and our friends eat yummy, tasty, lasagna would drive me right into a wall. To prepare for this, I brought tons of yummy food. And I have to say, I never once felt like I was missing in action. 

Oh, and golf really isn't one of my many talents. I came in last. Boo! 

Thank you everyone for reading 

Market Shopping and Fresh Eating

Hello everyone and good morning! 

Baton Rouge Farmers Market 

If you read my first blog post, then you know Saturday was my first day going clean and also the day we went to the stores to find all the healthy (vegan, organic) foods. My first day was pretty easy... and I blame most of that on the fact we spent the day running around. So, I had no time to sit and think "what can I eat next." I never felt hungry throughout the day and I found myself starting to crave fresh foods by the end of the day. I went to bed that night filling full and motivated for the next days ahead. Shopping was... a little crazy. We started about bright and early with the hopes of catching a local farmers market in downtown baton rouge. It was a hot sunny morning and the farmers market was in full swing by the time we arrived. We found a few fresh items and headed to our next stop.... Trader Joe's. Now, shopping on a Saturday is crazy--- just crazy. If you can look past the busy parking lots, long check out lines, and the fighting over the last container of hummus, you can actually find lots of nice sales on this not so friendly market day. I was a little nervous about what foods I would find that I could actually eat. But, to my surprise, Trader Joe's had the hook up. We left with six dinners, six breakfasts, five lunches, a few snacks, and a bundle of sunflowers all for $50. Whole Foods was not so lovely on the wallet but we did find a few lunch items and a few snack items. I love the bulk section in Whole Foods! It was my best friend for all the little things like: mango slices, rolled oats, cereal and spices (all organic, of course).  Our last stop was to Target. Surprisingly Target offered lots of vegan friendly foods. Unfortunately for me, most of those items contained soy (the little devil). We did find the rest of my lunches, dinners, and cotton candy grapes (yes! Fresh grapes that taste like cotton candy!!) We also found meatless, soy-less chicken patties; My favorite score from Target. And of course, from each market we were picking up fresh fruits and veggies left and right. Over all, it was a wonderful shopping trip. Our game plan was to only purchase what foods I would need for two weeks at a time. So, every two weeks we will jump into our shopping mission once more. I made a little check list to ensure that we were not over spending (our little way to stay on budget). This check list was a huge help and I highly recommend doing this if you are needing/wanting to stay within a budget.  

Kelsey buying pears

I already spoke a little about how eating went on day one. So now on to Sunday (day two) and this morning (day three). Day two was a nice day. Kelsey had work so it was the real challenge day. She has been so wonderful with keeping me motivated and "looking on the bright side" that I was a little worried I would go crazy being in the house all alone with food. The animals kept me straight. Anytime I would open the fridge or look into the pantry, their little eyes would scream, "Don't do it, mom! Don't do it! We will judge you!" Even with the fur babies horrible looks, I actually wasn't looking to "cheat". Something about this is different... it's like my mind and body came together to say "you have to do this, so get over it." And funny enough, I actually do trust my body now. Just after one day of eating clean, I felt better than I had felt in a year. Maybe there really is something to this lifestyle. This feeling of "I feel so alive and well" kept me calm all day long. After a wonderful and filling lunch, the fur babies and I caught up on Desperate Housewives and cuddled the afternoon away. Dinner was perfect and again, like day one, I went to bed full and ready to take on my Monday. 
Monday is.... going. It's a Monday at work... like really? Those are as terrible as soy. Sipping on some newly purchased organic pumpkin tea that my darling prepared for me... I guess it isn't all that bad (Smiling). Breakfast this morning was a delicious vegan British muffin with a little agave nectar drizzled on top with a side of red raspberries. Yum, Yum, Yum! The vegan British muffins were purchased from Trader Joe's and I highly recommend them. 
So far, things are smooth sailing and I could not be more thankful for that.

Thank you everyone for reading. 

Welcome

Hello everyone and welcome to my blog! My name is Annie Carson and this is Project Health.

Clean eating is the mission. Being a healthier, happier person is the goal.

After dealing with a few medical issues it has come to my attention (and my doctor's) that it is time to make a lifestyle change with the things I am putting into my body. That means... getting a little green (more like a lot!!), searching for the word "organic" on every single label, and working towards--- shall I dare say it--- the Vegan/Vegetarian ways of the world. I will first like to put out there that no matter what, I will still eat meat! I'm a meat eating kind of girl! Buuuuut, I will make sure to choose something organic.

Let's talk a little about the diet I have had for the last... well, since I was able to pick my foods for myself... years. Sweets, let's start there! I have the biggest sweet tooth and it never stops with one small little piece... it's more like, stuff my face with every piece of sweetness I can find. The problem I have to now watch out for is soy. Soy is found in many sweets along with many other terrible ingredients (I've been doing my research). Vanillin is an ingredient that can be found in many chocolates which is an "evil" little devil that should be avoided if possible. So, as we see, sweets and I are having to break up. It will be heart breaking and I may even cry a bit (or tons!). Of course, my previous diet hasn't just been lived wonderfully through sweets, I've also had tons of other crap living in my body. I'm basically just a junk food type of person. Which is why this mission may kill me *cue the dramatic music*

Start Date of Mission: Saturday, September 6th
Location of Foods: Whole Foods, Trader Joe's, and Target
Partner in Crime: Kelsey

This Saturday, my darling (read "about me" section for the goods) and I will be hitting a few of the local stores that are known for carrying organic, vegan friendly foods. We will be stocking up the pantry and fridge for items for the "new me" ( yeah... maybe to soon to call it the "new me"... Whatever). It will be a bittersweet trip to the markets. It's the start of a new beginning and the goodbye of old habits. Habits are hard to break and sometimes sad to watch them leave. Although, it will be for a better life.

So, here we go!

I hope you will enjoy my blog and find my journey somewhat entertaining.

Annie.