My positive and negative report...

Dear Clients, Friends and Family,

When you have some time, sit down and watch this clip on the keys to living long and healthy. There are some great tips!

http://www.ted.com/talks/dan_buettner_how_to_live_to_be_100.html

I also wanted to share some of the resources that many of you have sent to me throughout this Vegan challenge.

http://www.vegcooking.com/

http://www.doctoroz.com/challenge/go-vegan

http://www.oprah.com/food/Tal-Ronnens-Vegetarian-Recipes

http://www.vibrantvegan.com/

One of our clients also suggested a great book 'The Vegan Table' by Colleen Patrick-Goudreau.

My suggestion would be to create a folder in your inbox titled "Vegan Info" and store this info there for when you may need it.

My personal journey has been interesting.

Positives: Still feeling great despite the diet restrictions. My energy or ability to workout at the intensity I like hasn't been affected. Haven't been sick (knock on wood). And I have been introduced to foods that I really, really like and had it not been for this Vegan challenge, I probably would have never tried these items.

Negatives: Despite the diet restrictions, I've only lost 3 pounds. Just goes to show you, weight loss at the end of the day falls back to calories in vs calories out. And regardless of what you're eating, if you're not burning more than you're eating, you won't lose weight. I burn a lot but I also eat a lot. If I were doing a more strict vegan diet - ie a lot more fruits and veggies and less processed foods - it would be harder to consume a lot of calories and therefore, weight loss would happen more naturally. The difference for me is I have substituted high calorie cheese products with high calorie cheese substitute products - ie Tofu cheese, Soy Sour Cream etc...Fortunately, I only want to lose a few pounds so that's not my primary motivation for trying out this Vegan challenge.

At the very least, my hope is that I've been able to share some ideas that will help each of you strive for your personal best and live your life to the fullest!

Yours in health and fitness,

Sherri McMillan

Here are lots of great recipes for you...

Dear clients, friends and family.

Still going strong on the Vegan Challenge...

I have received so many Vegan recipes from all of you and I was thinking that the most efficient way to share that information would be to post these recipes to our Website in our Client Zone. We post various articles on a number of different topics relating to exercise, health, fitness and nutrition. One of the sections is for recipes. You'll find all kinds of ideas for eating healthy in this section - whether you're trying the Vegan challenge or not. It's a great resource for you so be sure to check it out. Remember Knowledge + Action = RESULTS!

http://www.nwpersonaltraining.com/subs/client_zone/articles_faqs.php

I haven't been sharing my daily nutrition lately because I was recognizing that my daily food intake doesn't vary much day to day. But that's just me - I wouldn't necessarily recommend that for everyone. I just keep things in the kitchen pretty simple and consistent. My daily logs weren't providing any additional information that could help you so I decided to cut back the daily reports so I don't overload you.

I did try something new, super easy and yummy today for lunch. So I took a Whole Wheat burrito shell and spread some SoyNut Butter on it and then cut up a banana over top and rolled it up. Loved it and I bet your kids would love it too!

Listen to this interesting workout experiment I tried. Wednesday nights I've been doing Hot Yoga. I weighed myself before the Yoga class and then again after the Yoga class. Guess how many pounds I lost in a 90 minute Yoga class - 3 lbs! Can you believe it?! That's a lot of weight. But it's all water weight and you'll put it right back on again but isn't that fascinating. I do like the heat - but I'm one who is often cold so the heat feels really good to my body. Hot Yoga is definitely not for everyone - people getting dizzy and almost passing out all around me - and that my friends is not healthy!

Stay healthy and happy,

Sherri McMillan

What does our Registered Dietitian eat?

Dear Clients, Family and Friends,

I wasn't able to blog all weekend...just too busy. After this month, I'll probably drop back to blogging just twice per week. I think that's realistic for me and easier for you to digest too. I attended a Blogging Seminar and they challenged us to blog everyday as the best way to Blog. But for me, I think that's just a little too much. So if I miss, always know it's not because I'm not thinking about you all...

The only really interesting thing about my nutrition plan this weekend was I had 2 glasses of wine on Friday night and 1 glass of wine on Saturday night - still Vegan ;). I'm a light-weight when it comes to alcohol generally anyways, but I noticed I didn't feel so hot the next mornings. I was thinking that perhaps because I've been eating so clean that my body really responded more negatively than usual. It just goes to show you that once you change your nutrition, your body doesn't like it very much if you expose it to junk, toxins or unhealthy choices!

We thought it would be helpful for you to view a daily Vegan meal plan from someone who knows what they're talking about when it comes to nutrition - our Registered Dietitian Alizon Ozgur. Let's see what she's been eating on this Vegan challenge.

Breakfast: quinoa bagel w/ Earth Balance spread, handful of walnuts, pineapple chunks and an orange, coffee w/ vanilla soy creamer

Snack: SO delicious chocolate yogurt (made with coconut milk) - this company is from Eugene

Lunch: Vegetable soup (homemade), banana, iced tea

Snack: Vegan trail mix cookie, Orange

Dinner: Oregon Harvest veggie patty (Chez Gourmet brand from Lake Oswego) edamame salad (Whole Foods) Sourdough baguette

Evening snack: Popcorn (air popped)

Alison was actually featured in the Columbian newspaper today discussing good general nutrition. Check it out below. She is also doing a talk on Turning Back the Clock THIS WEDNESDAY at our Vancouver studio from 7:00-8:30. You can reserve your spot by calling 360.574.7292.

http://www.columbian.com/news/2010/jan/18/working-fat-into-fitness-dietician-offers-advice/

Here's my Nutrition plan today:

Breakfast: Organic granola cereal, organic banana, strawberries, organic rice milk

Lunch; Spinach salad with balsamic, Veggie sandwich on WW bread (avocado,spinach, tomatoes, cucumbers)

Snack: Apple

Dinner: Veggies and Hummus, Quinoa pasta with melted Tofu cheese. Side note - Quinoa pasta is my new best friend. Loved it. It tasted like normal pasta, was gluten free and is an excellent source of a complete protein (contains all 9 essential amino acids). You can buy it in the natural or gluten-free section in your grocery store.

Snack: Organic granola cereal, banana, strawberries, Soy yogurt

Exercise: 1 hour Muscle and Cardio

Yours in health and fitness,

Sherri McMillan

The world has turned upside down - the Vegan writes an Anti-Vegan report!

Hey everyone.

My Inbox is flooded with comments, ideas and tips from all of you. Thank you so much for your insight and I will be sure to share as appropriate! It's so cool that we're all just trying to help each live our best lives! There are so many emails though, I don't know if I'll be able to get it all in before the month is over - but I will try!

Now, you are not going to believe this...Ted, our in-house Vegan, has written an anti-vegan report. Here it is:

Vegan or not Vegan - the argument can go on and on and I am sure it will.

Many scholars and doctors believe one thing, many believe the other and will argue it to their graves.

Just to show how easy it is I will argue against myself.

Arguments against Veganism by Ted
1. Vitamin B12 is necessary and can not be found in plant foods.
2. Historically there has never been a Strict Vegan society.
3. Saturated fat has been given a bad name. Inuit and Native populations have been shown to live very healthy lives on diets rich in saturated fats.
4. There is a symbiotic relationship between man and domesticated farm animals. We feed them, they provide food for plants and become food themselves.
5. There are very healthy nutrients found in meat and dairy when the animals are treated correctly
6. Dr. Weston Prices studies which took place between 1920-1930 showed that populations drinking whole, raw milk and milk products were essentially healthier than their counterparts.
7. If people suffer from conditions such as anemia, a vegan diet lacks iron and may not be ideal.

I think the real attack should not be on Vegan or Not Vegan. It should be on the Standard American Diet AKA S.A.D

Can a Vegan diet be healthy? I believe so. Can a non-Vegan diet be healthy - I also believe so. If you are a Vegan eating processed food, I do not believe that is a better option than a non-vegan eating whole foods, and vice versa.

We all just need to pay attention to what goes into our bodies and how it is not only effecting our health but the health of our planet. Because ultimately they will cross paths.

Ted, well said! Thank you for taking the time to share!

Okay, team, here was my meal plan for the day:

Breakfast: Organic orange, WW bagel with Soy-nut butter and jam

Lunch: Organic, non-dairy Tomoto soup, Toby's Tofu Sandwich, Veggies and Hummus

Dinner: Big Salad - Romaine Lettuce, Peppers, Cucumbers, Tofu Shredded Cheese, Red Tortilla chips smashed up to give it some crunchiness. Megan, are you happy?! Megan is one of my clients who suggested that I needed to eat more greens and salads. When does the client get to tell the trainer how to eat?! ;)

Snack: Tofu ice cream sandwich

Exercise: 35 minute run, 3:34 1000 meter row (Kara, read it and weep!)

Seize the day, not the couch!

xoxo
Sherri McMillan

Read till you get to my rant...

Hey Team.

Tonight's Blog will get the Anti-Vegans going...notice I'm alternating back and forth between Pro and Anti-Vegan sentiments. Gotta keep it fair! :)

Pro-Vegan Input from Ted Schatz:

While I do respect the point of view of anti-Vegans, there are as many holes in their theories as Swiss cheese. HA - pun intended!

1. Junk food is Junk food -Vegan or not.
2. The small percentage of Vegans and Vegetarians could not possibly have a significant negative environmental impact. The majority of soy grown is not for human consumption at all. IT IS TO FEED LIVESTOCK.
3. Primal Diet. If you are eating a Primal Diet, you would not eat cooked food. Where do you draw the line in history that states this is a Primal diet and this is not? Along the same lines, depending on the line in history, Primal man did not drink milk of other animals and current anthropological studies show that Primal man did not consume large amounts of meat. Yes some, but out of necessity not health.
4. There are plenty of Naturopaths that argue a Vegan diet is healthy.
5. There are plenty of current studies showing that a Vegan diet is healthy when done correctly.
6. The studies most quoted by Anti-Vegans are the Weston Price foundation studies. The original study was done by a Dentist around 1911. There is so much more current research out there.
7. Yes small amounts of meat can be part of a healthy diet. But, there is not a single legit study showing a meat based diet is healthier than a plant based diet.
8. If you kill an animal humanely you still kill something and if it is not necessary, then why?

Thanks for the insight Ted! Remember everyone, all of this is to get us thinking and talking and researching...and most importantly considering what we put into our bodies.

Here's my Food Intake for the Day:

Breakfast: Organic Granola and Almond Cereal & Banana. Plus Bagel with Soynut Butter and Strawberry Jam.

Lunch: Organic Tortilla chips, Organic Black Beans, Tofu Shredded Cheese, Cut up Peppers

Snack: Soy Chocolate Pudding - my new favorite treat

Dinner: Veggies & Hummus, Sandwich (I tried that Toby's Tofu Spread which wasn't too bad and kinda reminded me of Egg Salad), Olives

Snack: Tofu Chocolate Fudgcile

It looks like I had a big sweet tooth today huh?!

Exercise: 55 minute run this morning with a girlfriend. Then tonight I drove across the city to take my 90 minute Hot Yoga class and I was 3 minutes late and they wouldn't let me in. Man, that gets me going! I'm so the opposite in my classes. Hey, if someone makes the effort to get there and they're late - I don't care how late - I want to welcome them and help them feel great about their effort and the fact that something is better than nothing! So instead of doing 87 minutes of Yoga, I got none. That just doesn't make any sense to me. So what if it's a little disruptive to the class if I'm late. Part of the practice of Yoga is your ability to stay focused no matter what distractions, obstacles, pressures, stressors etc come your way. If someone quickly slips into your Yoga class and it really bugs you, man, life is going to be really hard! Okay, I'm ranting...Breathe Sherri Breathe. Maybe this was a lesson for me to learn to just let it go and to go with the flow.

Gotta go to bed! Sleep is critical to health!

Yours in health and fitness,

Sherri McMillan

Mess-up #2 - Hey, no one is perfect!

One week down, 3 to go to determine whether this will be a longer, more life-time commitment.

I've had a few comments regarding my caloric intake and suggesting it might be a little low. Well, put it this way, after one week, I've lost 3 pounds so I'm definitely in a deficit. A healthy, long-term weight loss approach is about 1-2 pounds per week so I'm close. One of the ways I gauge appropriate intake is how I feel. And so far I feel great and definitely have the energy for my workouts which is the most important thing for me. Probably where I'm lacking most is my lunches. I'm still trying to figure out what to bring for lunch. Typically I used to eat out most lunches so trying to figure out what to bring from home besides veggies, chips and hummus has been interesting. I'm sure as the month progresses, things will change and I'll get into more of a routine.

Eating out is the most difficult part of a Vegan challenge. In fact, I found out I messed up again. The BOCA Burger that I ate at Red Robin's yesterday that I was so proud of, well, I was informed that it's not a Vegan burger. I even asked and they told me it was Vegan but it's got some cheese in it. Well, here I am showing again how easy it is to screw up and a true example that no one is perfect! In fact, one of our trainers Derrick who is probably the strictest Vegan that I know told me he was eating this one food for a while and then found out it had eggs in it.

If I were to project where this will all finish for me, my guess is, since I'm more like an 80/20 girl, my diet will probably end up being strict Vegan 80% of the time and then living it up the other 20% of the time. We'll see...

My Nutrition for the day:

Breakfast: 1 cup of Organic Granola and Almond cereal + Organic Banana

Snack: Pear

Lunch: Veggies (carrots, broccoli, cauliflower, celery) + Tortilla Chips + Hummus

Dinner: 2 Burritos: Whole Wheat shell, Organic Refried Beans, Tofu Shredded Cheese, Tofu Sour Cream and Peppers

Yours in health and fitness,

Sherri McMillan

ps. Remember if you are local, we are going snowshoeing this Sunday. It's going to be a blast and we'd love to get to know you all better.

http://www.nwpersonaltraining.com/subs/events/event_details.php?event_id=98

Here is Today's Meal Plan

Dear clients, friends and family.

My intent for the next 30 days is to share my Meal plan and provide tips that will help you look and feel your absolute best. Feel free to follow along with the Vegan challenge or just take the tips that best appeal to you.

Day 1 of the Vegan Challenge was a success. It wasn't as hard as I thought it was going to be. Here's the meal plan for the day.

8:00am: Organic Granola & Almond Cereal with strawberries, organic banana & Organic Rice Milk

10:30am: Organic pear

2:00pm: For lunch, I brought one of those single size vegetable trays with the veggies already cut and washed. There were carrots, celery, broccoli, and cauliflower. The hardest part of the day was not dipping my veggies in the Ranch dip but it wasn't too bad. I ate the veggies with a Rice cake and some Tortilla chips.

5:30pm: I am so impressed with this part of my day. For those of you who know me well, you know I don't cook. Well, the dinner I made tonight was pretty awesome. I almost wanted to take a photo and send to you all because I was so pleased with myself. I started with some Organic Red Tortilla Chips, then placed some Organic Black Beans over top. Then I melted some Tofu Shredded cheese over top - seriously, I could not tell the difference between this and regular cheese. Then I added some cut up orange peppers and organic tomatoes. Totally delicious - and quick and easy which is critical for me.

6:30pm: Soy Chocolate pudding. Oh my goodness - this was a highlight of the day. I can't believe how yummy this chocolate pudding was. Completely satisfied any craving for something sweet!

Exercise - 1 hour Muscle and Cardio

On a side note, I did a Guest appearance on KOIN Local 6 today discussing how to stick to your health and fitness plan long enough to experience great results. There may be some tips in here to really help you as you launch into your New Years Fitness program.


http://www.koinlocal6.com/content/keepitlocal/default.aspx

Yours in health and fitness,

Sherri McMillan

The Vegan Challenge Begins - Here are some tips.

Dear clients, friends and family,

Today is the official start day of the Vegan challenge - a chance to flush our system and eat really clean and fresh for a whole month.

Here are some guidelines, courtesy of Derrick deLay, one of our trainers and the author of www.VibrantVegan.com, to make vegan/vegetarian month easier for you. Please feel free to forward this to anyone you think might benefit from a diet rich in fruits, veggies and whole grains.

1. Focus on being Vegan one day at a time.
2. Plan, Prepare and Pack your food so you don't fall back into old habits
3. Instead of looking at this month as giving up something (like cheese), look at it as an opportunity to try new foods.
4. Do your best to eat whole foods. Fake meats and cheeses and overly processed foods are OK every now and then, but the bulk of your diet should be whole foods. (Note, I didn't follow this guideline. If I was going to have even a remote chance of succeeding at this challenge, I needed some cheese substitutes. So I purchased some Tofu cream cheese, Tofu sour cream, Tofu Shredded Cheese and some soy-based Yogurt. I made Burritos last night with the Tofu shredded cheese and seriously couldn't tell the difference and my kids ate them up like crazy!)

Here's a shopping list to help you.

Grains
Rolled oats
Loaf of bread (Whole-grain)
Brown rice
Quinoa
Whole wheat pasta

Milk - Try Soy, rice, almond, or plant-milk of choice

Beans
Black, Pinto & Garbanzo beans (canned or dried)
Dried green lentils

Fruits
Bananas
Apples
Berries (fresh or frozen)
Raisins

Vegetables
Broccoli (fresh or frozen)
Spinach (fresh or frozen)
Lettuce
Carrots
Cucumbers
Canned tomatoes
Marinara sauce

Did you know that going vegan for this month reduces your impact on the environment as much as taking your car off the road for 1160 miles! That is the equivalent of not driving your car for the entire month!

Last but not least - remember exercise and moving your body has to part of any health and wellness program. I don't care how healthy you eat - if you're not moving your body, you're not as healthy as you could be!

Every night (okay, I won't promise every night), I will blog what I ate for the day to give you ideas. Together, we can do this! It will be interesting to see how our bodies respond.

Yours in health and fitness,

Sherri McMillan

ps. Our 10 week Fat Loss program would be a very nice compliment to this challenge. You can get more details at http://www.nwpersonaltraining.com/subs/events/event_details.php?event_id=105