Soylent Day 4.

So far so good! Myself and male carnivorous coworkers have managed to stay on the Soylent wagon.  One more day to go! We are gonna nuts at our first solid food dinner tomorrow night!

Soylent really does seem to fulfill basic nourishment needs.  We are satisfied but still sometimes crave the saltiness and crunchiness of solid meals. My craving is for something potato-y or onion ring-y that can be dipped in ketchup.  

Since we don't really "eat lunch" anymore, we've been doing some entertaining activities during lunchtime. So far we've gone bowling, played foosball and today we are going to Big Al's, a massive aquarium emporium.  

My true test of resistance was yesterday. There was an office dinner at the Italian restaurant next door and I managed to sit and socialize and NOT eat or drink!  I was glad I didn't because I had an Ashtanga class afterwards. 

I also got "Mugged" yesterday - a new office Christmas ritual that just popped up this year.  You receive a mug filled with goodies from an anonymous gifter, put up a sign on your cubicle and then find another victim to anonymously mug :) 

And I miraculously haven't touched any of the dark chocolates in my mug! 

Pretty Good Start.

Yoga practice, check.

Soylent for breakfast, check. 

All before 730AM! Not bad :)

Soylent is much better cold.. I'm not sure why it tastes so bad warm! It's pretty subtle though, especially when cold. I caved and added some Nesquick flavour. 

A Painful Piece of News at Lunchtime.

Photo: Toronto Star

Anita Krajnc may go to jail for 10 years because she gave water to terrified dehydrated pigs on their way to the slaughterhouse.  Kudos to you Anita for being so damn brave and compassionate.  In her own words:

Peering in, I was met face to face with sad and terrified pigs, each one eerily similar to the dog standing by my side. The sight was haunting. I knew I had to act.

People may laugh at me for caring about pigs, but the more I think about it, the more I ask myself what makes them different from our beloved dogs?  The more I see and hear about the horrors that humans inflict in the name of "because it tastes good," the more I know for sure that I will never go back to eating meat.  To me, it just doesn't make sense ... aside from moral/ethical reasons, it can make you fat and sick and it harms the planet.  AND less people go hungry if we grew plants for food instead of breeding animals and killing them.     

But I'm sick of having to respond to "Oh! I could never do that!  I could never give up [insert animal product here]."

So now when people ask how I manage to look younger/take care of my skin/have so much energy, I just smile.  

Although ... maybe it's because I'm delving deeper into my thirties - I feel like I am "coming into my own" and finally getting to know what affects me deeply and what I won't back down from.  The big 3-0 was a thrill once I hit it, because I noticed I started to not care so much about what others thought.  I used to have the rep of being "too nice" but now I know there are things I will not succumb to just to be nice.  One is eating meat and another one is putting up with the irritating combination of ignorance and rudeness.  The latter I put up with way too much when I was younger - including racist white "friends."  Ugh.  I am also much more ferociously protective of my family and culture.  Maybe because my parents are getting older and also I realize how much they actually sacrificed for my sister and I, especially now that I am working.  I cannot imagine what it was like for my parents, leaving everything behind for a foreign country, just so their kids could get better chances.  If my parents get insulted, then best believe I'm doubly insulted.

So yeah, I'm changing.  

It can be challenging.  I'm with someone who I met when I was in my twenties and I don't know where this will take us.  I ate meat in my twenties.  I went through a long dancer phase during which I went vegetarian for a couple of years.  Now it's veganism and yoga (which I have a feeling are two things that voraciously feed off each other).  I feel I've definitely morphed a lot more than he has.  So far he's been pretty understanding.  But if conflict comes about, who's being unfair?  The one who changed or the one who stayed the same?  

The majority of my family and friends eat meat and it can be a tricky to deal with.  I used to be fairly nonchalant about it (heard this one a lot: "oh, you're such a cool non-preachy vegan!") but now when I see pieces of carcass my stomach does turn.  How to resolve this, I'm still unsure.  Run away to some magical predominantly vegan city where I am finally not a lonely unicorn?  I'm not gonna lie, I do daydream about it once in a while.  I mean c'mon I'm in the land of Alberta beef!  Le sigh.    

Okay time to walk the little munchkin before it gets too late (and sketchy).  

Still a Garcia.

Just because you get hitched doesnt mean you have to change too much.  Sure, there are new grown up things to deal with like changing my benefits (wha-at? I actually have to look at the spouse section now?) and thank you cards ... but I'm still a workaholic and I still enjoy throwing myself into random hobbies and trying to balance and heal my body.

In the span of a few days I went from this 

To this 

And now a bunch of late nights like this

(Beautifully bizarre and intricate desktop wallpaper = art by Robert Steven Connett.)

This weekend will be my first real weekend in a while!  I've already taken Hachi to the dog park and then I'm going to hit up a barre class.  My current physical elixir consists of Ashtanga yoga and barre (dance is leaking slowly back into my life) with a touch of Iyengar yoga.  

In December I am excited to try 5 days of Soylent with my coworker friends.  Soylent was invented by an engineer who was tired of the time it takes to meal prep and find food in general.  This liquid supposed to be quite nutrionally complete and it's vegan!    I still can't quite believe that my carnivorous guy friends at work initiated this.  The workaholic side of me is excited about the 2-3 hours that will be freed up in each day since I won't have to meal prep or eat out anymore.  Or even grocery shop.  

I have noticed that since I've started Ashtanga, my appetite is different.  I no longer get too "hangry" even when I'm hungry.  From reading the blogs and discussion boards, it sounds like the Soylent converts rave about similar things I experienced when I went vegan:

-tons of energy

-feeling "lighter and cleaner"

-consistent mental clarity and a stable generally happy mood

-less digestive issues

-don't need as much sleep, but when sleep arrives, it is solid and deep

If Soylent improves these even further for me than I'm not sure I'll know what to do with myself!

Mind Farts

-is it weird that i have a strange mini-satisfaction that the world is paying attention to Trudeau's looks? it's like society is saying "Ha! See? Gender equality! We judge *both* men and women superficially!"

-i realized how ferociously proud i am of my parents and my immigrant culture when my mother sang for me at the wedding and when my father surprised me with a beautiful and eloquent speech at the reception (coming from an introvert who hates attention, i know it took a lot for him to go up there - and he rocked it).  and they were so graceful and wonderful with the guests on both sides.  this has caused me to cling to my last name even more 

-felt so very loved and appreciated when we opened the wedding gifts.  our family and friends were extremely generous (even ones who couldn't make it to the wedding).  thank you cards are definitely in order!

-met a bunch of my new extended family at the wedding and also at a recent funeral. it's true - reunions happen mainly during weddings and funerals.  R.I.P. Uncle Jim.  you were a very intelligent yet simple and modest man

Wanted: Some Compassion.

Rawwrr.  Animal Safari Stagette was a success.  No real animals were harmed during this bachelorette party.  Just humans (a bit of abdominal soreness due to the trampoline portion in the daytime).  I am one lucky lady to have beautiful inside-out people that poured so much love and planning into this :)

Edmonton's second Diner En Blanc was also a success.  I liked it even more than the first one!  Churchill Square was invaded by a lot of elegance dressed in white.  If I go next year, I am definitely buying a white dolly to cart stuff around in.  We did potluck style this year which was a fantastic idea, because the food was so much better this time around.  My group happened to have some fantastic cooks who came up with a lot of vegan-friendly dishes (I did an easy chana masala with brown rice).  

Vegan frickin heaven.  

Yeah, September's been busy!

I've missed a couple of deadlines at work because I'm not working as much overtime, but I am trying to have more of a life these days.  I was mortified to return a measly total of two library books - one unfinished - after TWO renewals.  That's a big shame for someone who likes to inhale books.  Definitely a sign of not making enough time to stop and smell the roses (in this case smell the lovely musty books).

There are more important things in the world happening right now anyway ... like the refugee crisis and the election.  I came across the picture of Aylan Kurdi's body washed up on the beach.  I didn't mean to - I am torn about the media displaying dead bodies because of the loss of dignity. In this case though, at least it spurred a movement to help.  I see things like this and it just boggles my mind that people have no inclination to help.  I overheard a conversation in my office between two guys and they were very vocal about rejecting the thought of helping the Syrian refugees, dismissing them as an inconvenience.  I had to walk away or else I might have made fun of them leading their cold little isolated lives, worrying about nothing but themselves.  Go ahead and enjoy your nice warm homes and your savings and first world problems like wanting even bigger raises and wanting to pay lower taxes.  At least you have salaries and homes, mofos.

These are smart guys, but the lack of empathy bothers me.  I keep noticing it!  Many things seem to boil down to a lack of empathy in this world.  So much brilliant science and tech but we are still in the dark ages of empathy.  Maybe the engineering world is just like that and I should know better.  Maybe it's the veganism ... maybe it's me getting older ... maybe it's even the yoga.  I think a big part of it is identifying with immigrants/refugees.  Do people actually think these desperate souls *wanted* to be uprooted from their homes and lives?  Why else would a loving parent put his or her child on a flimsy boat in dangerous waters?  Because there is nothing left to lose.  It might be more challenging to open our doors to foreigners, but that's what this country was built on.  Challenge and opportunity come hand in hand.  

It's not just the lack of compassion for those suffering and in despair.  I find even a lack of empathy in simple everyday things.  A smart experienced engineer will end up being a pain in the ass to work because he is caught up in his own questioning of any way other than his own. To the point where things don't get done efficiently because he just can't seem to see the big picture and cooperate with the rest of the team.  Or even communicate properly.  Sure, he can elaborate for hours about his own designs but just has zero capability to listen to anyone else.  Quite painful.  Also one of the contributors to my missed deadlines.

Dude how self-absorbed can you be?  JUST PUT YOURSELF IN OTHER PEOPLE'S SHOES SO YOU CAN PICTURE THE PROJECT GETTING EXECUTED PROPERLY AND ON TIME.  No one really cares about your million and one other ways of doing the same thing.  

Rant over.  Ha! My silly little first world problem.  A good number of my coworkers are actually reasonable and some are even good listeners, especially the younger ones (maybe they're not so set in their ways).  

I may be a decent listener but I sure am terrible at going to bed.  Fail.  

Because Vegan.

Oy.  Sore.  I'm getting back into kettlebell training again and trying to see if it will mesh well with yoga.  So far so good!

This morning I saw something on my Instagram feed that pretty much sums up how I feel about eating animals.  For me at first, plant-based eating was about not wanting to get food poisoning from chicken ever again.  I evolved from pescatarian to vegetarian and just naturally on my own stopped craving eggs and dairy.   I kept reading about veganism and learning from vocal prominent vegans and there was no turning back. 

Anyway, this is what I saw this morning:

To those (men especially) who worry about losing muscle mass and becoming "wimpy,"  I've been seeing just the contrary as I explore more and more about veganism. My Instagram feed displays male calisthenics experts and bodybuilders of every race who are vegan and look absolutely amazing on the daily. 

Even John Robbins - the guy who came up with the above quote - looks fantastic in his mid 60's.   He turned away from his role as heir to the Baskin-Robbins ice cream empire to become an author and animal rights and nutrition activist :)

I like this path :)

Ok, I just had to get that out of my system - back to the grind! 

Strong Ankles and Good Beats :)

I just saw Straight Outta Compton :) It was grrrreat! (c) Tony the Tiger.  I just want to keep bobbing my head.  Acting was awesome and I loved learning about the story behind NWA. I didn't listen to NWA too much - I was still a kid and the lyrics were pretty hard.  After watching their story, now I know *why* the lyrics were so violent and angry. The timing is pretty perfect - these days, police-on-black-people violence in America is horrifying.

Although I didn't listen to NWA much, I did love Dre and Snoop and Pac when I was in high school/university, so there were mega flashbacks for me during the movie :) I'll have to add some of these beats to the wedding playlist! 

Speaking of which, I had bachelorette party número uno in Vegas. It was pretty much all I wanted and more :) A grand total of 16 Canadian females and good amounts of wild and crazy.  I still swear the hotels and clubs pump extra oxygen into the air. I was running on maybe four hours of sleep a night and still couldn't get sleepy.  Once I got into the shuttle to go back to the airport though, BAM!!! Asleep.

Annnd lucky me - I get to have a second one in town! A harem of amazing friends is organizing one for me because most of them couldn't make the Vegas one :)  Number two will be at the end of this month.  

Other than wedding stuff, I've been working a lot (definitely considering myself fortunate to be busy at work right now with the current low oil prices) and getting more and more into yoga. I even ended my gym membership! I went to my wedding dress fitting and the dress was actually too big - I was shocked.  When I bought it, it was borderline tight and I was sure I would have to get the dress loosened (especially after all the good food and booze in Vegas).  

And this past Friday I was able to reach around my back and grab my toes for Arda Baddha Paschimottanasana for the first time - left and right side! My face is still far from my shin and my bent knee is still far from the ground, but that reach around flexibility is definitely progress :)

I love that yoga is just you vs. yourself. You push yourself but on your own terms. On your own time. Got a mat? Got a little space? An hour to spare? You're good to go!  Plus the culture of compassion is vegan-friendly and Angel-friendly. 

Mind Farts

-I fell, no "slid" down a waterfall in the Okanagan for the first time in my life. Without panicking.  Was totally Zen. Thanks yoga.  My maids of honour were so confused at my peaceful and happy expression. Like I was on a waterslide and not a slippery mossy waterfall 

-I was working overtime this weekend and laughing to myself while streaming Trevor Noah.. His accents are fantastic and so are his wit and intelligence :) Good pick, Daily Show!

-I learned the hard way not to eat less than three hours before Ashtanga class. Those twists really *are* made for digestion and I ended up having to run away to the washroom for a bit - whoops

-My ankle survived a long weekend in heels in Vegas! This is such a good sign and I'm so relieved :) I kind of want to thank yoga for this too. But it could also be time and rest (I haven't salsa danced in almost a year)