Going beyond transition

Category Archives: vegan stuff

vegan rants and raves and recipes

Rumors of My Demise are Greatly Exaggarated

Posted on by Posted in fitness, Life, transition, vegan stuff .

Life have been extremely busy of late. From about the end of July to now I’ve been doing 60-80 hour weeks. My paycheck loves it but I’m starting to wear a bit. I knew it was going to be like this and it will likely continue to the end of the year. In a lot of ways, this is great! It means I’ll be happily employed for a while yet (and to be honest, I don’t expect that to change but with the economy as it’s going, anything is possible). In other news K got a job (finally!) in her field. After nearly a year and half (with over 1,000 applications and only 2 interviews) she got a call back for a temp position in the VA. I suspect that she’ll be there longer than the 2-3 months they initially said it would be (they keep giving her more cases) so that’s good. Even better, she’s really happy about all that.

On a lark yesterday, we went to the Open House that the place next door was showing. It was perfect! 3 bedroom (or rather 1 bedroom, 2 offices or 1 bedroom, 1 office and maybe 1 nursery?), had a nice backyard (for the puglettes), a 2nd floor large balcony, granite counter tops, new appliances and a center aisle kitchen workspace. The biggest downside was lack of A/C. And that’s a deal breaker in L.A. Although where we live is actually very temperate there can be weeks where it gets regularly above 100F. The other downside was price: $600K. We could do it but I’m hesitant until the green card is done. And once we’re confident that K’s job is perm, I think we’ll look into it. I don’t know that $600K is achievable. I’ve always thought that $250-300K would be more appropriate but who knows? With rates so low it may be a good time for us to lock into a long term mortgage. One of my long term dreams was to have a house. Not for financial reasons but for permanence and to settle down.

Needless to say, the house next door definitely fit into what we were dreaming of as a house. It would need a little work (and some major heavy duty cleaning! I could tell where they tried to hide it) but it’s something that could easily be done. More importantly, is that we’d be able to stay in a community that we like and we could get to know more of it.
In other news, apparently the Health Insurance company is claiming that my surgery isn’t coverable (even though their own policy says that it can). I think they deliberately make it hard to obtain coverage. So to help me with this I enabled help from CKlife.org to get through the red tape of health insurance. I think one of the biggest challenges in the US (that I’ve faced) is the overwhelming amount of red tape that everything has, from taxes to health care. The fact that, as an intelligent adult, I need help to navigate all this crap is incredible. I suppose that is how one keeps a large population at work — by tracking things via paperwork (and it’s mostly paperwork; it’s surprising how many do not have good online account systems). But I still find it all frustrating. I am still recovering to a degree and have decided to postpone my planned trip from Vancouver, B.C. to Los Angeles next year to the year after. So it’s now a goal of 2013 rather than 2012.

That should give me enough time to get back into shape (other than round) and get back to fully vegan. I’ve been gradually moving back to it. Watching and reading about the whys reminded me why I so much did it in the past. Sometimes we need that before we can get back to where we were. At this point, I’ve gotten to about 95% vegan with some vegetarian meals here and there (I’m trying to empty the fridge of stuff without having to toss it). I was also considering a gym membership with maybe a trainer (it’s a UFC gym) but perhaps what I need is just the trainer bit. I don’t think I need a gym since my body is weight enough and if I do the exercises right, I can use that. I just need to figure out where in my schedule I should put this. It may be a matter of scheduling 30-60 min a day just so I can have that time to do exercise. I am, at least, walking the dogs early in the morning before work starts. I may need to get up a little earlier to do the weight stuff and then do the dog walk afterwards. Hrmm…

The Start of a New Year…. Finally.

Posted on by Posted in Daily life, fitness, LGBTQ, Life, Novel writing, transition, Traveling/Work, vegan stuff .

I can honestly say that I’m tired of rain. Heck, at times, it’s been colder in Los Angeles (and wetter!) than in Toronto or other northern cities. Whether the cause is Global Warming or not, isn’t that important. What is important is that the weather patterns are a-changin’. K and I went to Montreal for the festive holidays and ended up staying an extra 3 days thanks to the blizzard that hit the Northeast. It’s interesting how all the Canadian airports had no issue with the storm (even though they handle these kinds of storms regularly) but the big 3 in question — JFK, LaGuardia and Newark — completely fell apart.

I’m thankful that we were staying with family and they had room for us for the extra days but I did feel bad about imposing on them for this extra time. I know that it impacts on the daily routine and sometimes that can be trying. It was still a fun visit, nonetheless. I introduced K to poutine (if you’ve never had this, it is an experience: basically, it’s french fries, cheese curds and gravy). We also indulged in some New Brunswick lobster (tastes very different from Maine or elsewhere). This trip was our last omnivore meal. We’ve reached a point where we want to return back to a vegan diet and primarily one that is a raw vegan diet. I don’t know if we’ll be able to do 100% raw vegan (and, if I could, it’d do 3-4 green smoothies a day) but I’m going to aim for at least 50% if not higher.

I haven’t been back on my bike since we got all the rain and I had all that travel but after my trip this week to San Jose, I should be able to start some cycling for a couple of weeks. One of the things I still have to do is coordinate with a hotel gym when I travel or walk where possible. Given that my next 3 trips will be San Jose, Austin (TX) and Orlando I think walking may be in my future.

So, given that it’s the start of the new year, I suppose I should put up some resolutions. I was going to compare them to last year’s but it appears I didn’t really post any. I suspect that was because I knew things would be somewhat in flux with the move and the visa really being the biggest concerns. Ok.. so here goes.

1. Return back to a vegan lifestyle. I truly can’t take meat or processed foods any more. There still is a part of me that wants to be pescaterian (damned Acadian genes!) but I’m going to avoid that as much as possible. As I said above, I want it to be primarily raw vegan (ideally up to 80%) where possible. I have found that my body is having a harder and harder time with processed foods in general. I’m also cutting out all soda, diet or otherwise. If it ain’t water or whiskey, it’s gonna be a tea.

2. Cycling 3-6 times a week. This will depend on how much on the road I am but if I get what I asked for (once a month) then I should be fine. In addition to this I want to ensure that I do 25 pushups a day and 50 situps (no necessarily all at once but in a series of reps). This would be the basic exercise for every day and should help build some of my core muscles.

3. Do a full completion of the P90X program. I have the DVDs and the space. I just need to do the damned things. I know a lot of trans guys who have done this and they say it’s the best at building up muscle, especially pre-surgery.

4. When not doing P90X or cycling, go for a run. I actually had enjoyed running with my FiveFingers and want to get back to doing that again. I think it’d be a nice alternating exercise to the cycling for me to do as a way to lose weight.

5. Do two centuries to San Diego and back. Nothing gets me on my bike more than having a goal. A century (100 miles in a single day) to San Diego would be a good way to gauge how I’m doing.  Doing it twice — once in May (?) and once in August (?) — would be a good way to gauge how my fitness levels are doing. It can also allow me to explore the area more.

6. Get my driver’s license. At 40, I’m weird in that I’ve never gotten it. And I’ll be honest in that the Los Angeles freeways scare the crap out of me. The average speed is about 80-100 mph (well into the 130-150kph range). I don’t know if I’ll ever use the freeways themselves but there are a lot of secondary freeways I could use. I’m aiming to see if I can get this by my 41st birthday or around there.

7. Walk the pups once a day when I’m at home. This will be particularly helpful for Jan to April since K will be working at her dad’s (an accountant) and that’s prime tax season. It’ll also help me get a little more exercise and keep them from being too wild. I particularly want this to be a 45-60 min venture. Pugs don’t need a lot of exercise but it does help keep these two from fighting with each other (they do this dominance thing a bit and the walks reduce that a lot).

8. Read a book a week and write at least once a day. I “hermitized” during 2010. I withdrew a lot because too much was going on and things are settling down quite a bit now into more of a routine. There is still a part of me that aspires to be a fiction writer. I used to want to write sci fi and part of me still does but given how much mystery I read I may lean that way. Or just combine them. I missed out on the 2010 NaWriMo but want to participate this year. I also have an intention of writing a technical book. I’ve been asked a few times to do a couple and there is one that is pending that I need to work on an outline with a colleague and get that started. I also need to be more diligent on my blogs and that is something I should be doing.

9. Get top surgery (at least) but perhaps a hysto as well. I’m thinking I may try to do this before the GOP repeal it (although I just read today how they are going start off the new session with that). I’m hopeful that my insurance provider will still keep the standard they are (as long as it’s consider a medical necessity by a doctor, they will cover it). I’m finding that my GID has been worsening in regards to physical appearance. Although I pass 100% of the time, I’m very self-conscious of certain things. And I’d like to have the top surgery before I do my big trip in 2012.

10. The actual weight loss goal — lose 60lbs by end of 2011. This means dropping from the 240lbs I had in 2009 (at 5’1″, it’s 50% body fat) to about 180lbs. I’ve been steady between 220-230 the last month or so. That is good but I need to continue to get that needle to drop more. My ultimate goal would be 150-160lbs. Although BMI and others say that still overweight, for my body type (stocky/compact) it’d be too much.

All of these are doable for this year. And now that I’ve written them out, I’ve basically made myself accountable to myself to complete them. In addition to all this, I will be migrating this blog (along with the others) to a new internet provider. I recently got an account to have my sites hosted on a virtual server. This will allow me to install and configure things the way I want it. When I get back from San Jose I will begin that process and post up a new link to the new address (it’ll be an IP to start with until the domain gets resolved to the new address).

Bring on 2011!

iPhone, Weight Loss and other things that make me smile..

Posted on by Posted in Daily life, Finances, fitness, Gratitude, Life, transition, Traveling/Work, vegan stuff .

Oh wow. I’ve been bad again about keeping things up to date, eh? Lots of good things have happened in the last little while so may be time for an update.

Yes, yes. I did succumb to the hype and got an iPhone 4. And to be honest, I love it. I still haven’t had the same issues that I keep reading about. My signal has been pretty good to begin with and I did get a bumper (which has been recently refunded thanks to Apple). I had been waiting, for what seemed like forever, for Otter Box to release their Defender series case. That arrive today and my iPhone is now snuggled into a decent case to protect against my clumsiness. Thankfully, it’s not as nearly as big as my Blackberry Otter Box case nor as heavy. The multitasking OS is awesome now and far more helpful. I’ve become more of an app addict and have found more apps that are useful for me.

And speaking of apps, I started using C25K (Couch-to-5K). I’ve been using this in the last couple of weeks to increase my weight loss. I had lost 10lbs but had plateaued. With my online teaching and the heat index, I hadn’t been leaving the apartment that much. This program has been helpful at pushing my body to burn more calories. Every other day I run/walk (5 min warmup, 30 min run and 5 min cool down) towards eventually running a 5k (this is a 9 week program). Once I do that, I’ll probably get the “Ease into 10K” (10 week program) or “Bridge to 10K” (6 week program). Thus far, I’ve lost an additional 4lbs (see chart below).

Get your own graph at skinnyr

While I still qualify as “morbidly obese”, I’m making progress. I’ve dropped 3+ points on the BMI scale and if I continue at this rate (about 7-8lbs per month, I might break 200 by the end of the year. This would be good for a variety of reasons: better health, top surgery options, better self-opinion of myself. I’ve never been happy with myself when I can barely fit into seats on airplanes and this will help me deal with that better. I’ve lost about 2-3 inches off the waist as well so that’s good.

And I might be flying more (not necessarily more often but rather I may be doing fewer online classes). I’ve gotten a new role in the company. While I’m still an instructor, I’ve also picked up the role of tech lead. This will mean I’ll be doing more specialized classes and a lot of research (which I enjoy and should allow me a more flexible schedule). I’m still waiting to see what happens with the visa (should be hearing on that in September sometime). Although I cannot leave the US until that time is up, I may have to so I can get a new passport. I finally got my birth certificate changed and have sent off for a new SIN number. With the birth certificate and SIN, I could finally get a new passport with my new name.

I don’t think I could ever envision I could be this happy with my life.

Life is good, indeed.

Yes, I’m here… somewhere… for now.

Posted on by Posted in fitness, Life, transition, Traveling/Work, vegan stuff .

I’ve been far more remiss at posting blog entries this year than last. I think it’s because my life has become rather mundane although it’s been starting to ramp up a bit. This year has started off great and seems to be continuing (and potentially gaining speed) to be great. I’ve been hearing rumblings of a new work visa that will keep me here, potentially on a very longer term. I recently got a promotion (yay!) and a little pay bump (double yay!). That, along with a strong desire to finally skewer the remaining bits of debt that I have, have resulted in less stress and a more positive outlook on life. Things will get quiet here soon as K heads to L.A. next week and Bobcat and I stay here — for now. I’ve been trying to avoid buying things and actually have been contemplating selling certain things on Craigslist starting next week.

I have some concerns for the move, particularly how long it will be before Bob and I can go out to L.A. The very last date will be the end of August but I’m hoping for before then (end of June or July). The other concern is Bobcat herself. She ain’t no spring chicken any more. At 16, she’s cranky, whiny and a bit senile. She wasn’t happy about the flight from Toronto to NYC and a flight to L.A. will not be fun either.  If she comes onto the flight with me, she’ll be non-stop meow and worse than a baby crying. But I feel guilty about putting her in cargo. Ya, I know. I baby her far too much but she is my little furrkid.

My transition, such as it is, continues happily. I’m becoming a bear, I think. **ROFL** Hair loss is not an issue for me. I am contemplating moving up surgery to sometime this fall once I’m in L.A. A few of my fellow transmen recommend a specific doctor there and say that he does wonders, even for larger guys. I think once I’m in L.A. and have settled on a new doctor/health care environment, I’ll make a consultation appointment with this doctor to see about how much and how long before I could have the surgery. I have to admit being tired of binders and the constricted feel of it all. And I’d really like to not have to bike long distance with a binder (I’ve done it before but I don’t think I want to continue to do it).

One of the things that I will have to do is return back to a vegan lifestyle, more than like a raw vegan (or at least 80% raw vegan). I want to see if I can completely eliminate all processed food items (save for almond milk and cereal grains) from my diet. Not only will it help me lose the necessary weight for surgery but will generally help extend my life. K and I have become huge fans of The Biggest Loser. (ok. I’ll admit it. Jillian is hot!) These people are incredibly awe-inspiring. I would love to have a trainer again and be able to work out at a gym again but I’m afraid to. Most gyms have strict policies about locker room usage. Being in L.A., especially if the gym is within walking distance, will open up more workout opportunities but I think I’d rather be able to do so with shirt off or with a muscle shirt.

So that’s life in a nutshell at this point.

Another year, another decade.

Posted on by Posted in fitness, Life, vegan stuff .

Wow.

I just realized it’s been over a month since my last post.

Bad, Linus. Bad, bad, bad.

Although, I suppose it’s good. Work has been busy and I was on the road a bit (pictures to be added to my flickr account later). I was in California for two weeks (one week for work and one week for the holidays). It was good and the more I visit there the more I look forward to moving there — especially to escape the cold weather we have here. I have to admit to starting to get anxious about the move. I really do want to unload some of the larger items I have (anyone want any computer books and a 3 year old — but in good condition — Dell computer?). Some books I want to keep while others I do need to unload (anyone want to give a home to a bunch of Calvin&Hobbes, Baby Blues, Cathy and similar “comic strip” books? Just pay shipping). Given that a lot of the books I can get now I can add to my Kindle app on my iTouch, I don’t need as many physical books. I definitely want to lighten my load and overall human footprint.

I hate giving up books as I know the value of knowledge and I know how much I spent (it probably could have paid for my top surgery at this point) but reality is that I’ll need to lighten this load before we move. Some things will not be parted with (both bikes, cigar collection and comic book collection, 2 computer desks) but other things will go (clothing will be a big one as well since there is a lot I don’t wear any more or is too small). I still have stuff in Ontario that I never moved down because we just didn’t have the space. If we get a house at some point, I’ll move it down then (antique bed and indoor bicycle trainer amongst other things).

So that’s priority #1 for this year. Getting ready for another large move.

Have I mentioned how much I hate moving? I have a spent a lifetime on the move and there really was only once where I stayed in one place — that was in Toronto for nearly 9 years. I have to admit it was a nice apartment and the street was good but sometimes you do have to move on. Hopefully, one day, I can finally settle to one place — ideally a house I own — and not move again until its to the ground.

My next priority is losing weight and staying active. For January until April 1 I’ll be teaching almost exclusively online. While it’s nice that I get to stay home for that time, it kinda sucks because my office chair has been slowly melding to mah butt. And mah butt flowth over. So, time to get rid of the butts (big butts and little buts) and be more active. I have begun using my iPod more and more to do home exercises. And have been watching my intake of food in general (less in and more out == more weight loss).

I’ve been a bit better about working out before class starts, doing a simple routine of weights (mostly upper body) and some yoga (about 10 min worth). It’s not much but it is a start. I’ve incorporated an iPod app that is working me towards 100 pushups and another that is working me towards 200 situps — all in “good form”. The situps are not much of a problem but the pushups are a challenge. I’ve had to do modified pushups for now. My upper body strength sucks in the worst way.

Add to that a reduction in food intake and I should lose some weight and tone up a bit. I want to hold off on a full out cardio regime until we’re settled in Los Angeles. Then I want to take advantage of the many bike paths there. One thing I noticed far more in L.A., compared to NYC, is the amount of bicycle riding. Now part of keeping me on track is to be upfront and open about how I’m doing. So.. I’ll be posting a chart as to the weight loss over the next few months in various posts. I haven’t decided yet whether to add it as a side widget.

Yes, yes.. I’m still here.

Posted on by Posted in Daily life, Gratitude, Life, transition, Traveling/Work, vegan stuff .

I’ve been lazy and busy at the same time for the last little while. I sometimes go through a non-desire to write and the most recent time period was it. I’ll admit to being a little bit of a WoW addict of late. (Yes, that is the first step to healing). But it is a cheap escape for me and the puzzles do exercise the mind in many ways. I think I’ve gotten a little bored with work. The excitement is down and I think I’m getting a little worried about the visa situation. I’m still waiting to hear. I think if it does fail, I’ll head to BC (Vancouver) and ride out the year there. It’d suck but, one does what ya have to do.

I have gotten a little bit excited about a new site that I’m helping out on: ButchFemmePlanet. Coming in at the ground level, it’s re-energinzed my non-work related geek to poke at vBulletin more and to do a little work on VeganBodybuilding site (I’m the admin there too). I have to say that BFP definitely feels like a breath of fresh air and has a good community feel about it. The community feeling is important to me. It adds to that sense of belonging and purpose that we often want in life beyond our partners. Anyways, it’s refueled my desire to re-learn PHP, go more advanced and get beyond that. I’ll be investigating into some things I could do to improve the blog a bit but we’ll see.

The NaNoWriMo failed for me this year. It was that whole bored/lazy thing. I dunno why but the idea I had at first fizzled. I used to have such a creative mind but now, not so much. It’s made me wonder if some of that is the T. My emotions and how I display them have certainly changed. I find I cannot cry any more (things that would have me sniffling barely get a whimper). It’s a very hard thing to come to grips with. It doesn’t mean that I don’t feel for them, it’s just that I cannot show it like I used to.

Yesterday was Thanksgiving. This has never been a huge holiday for me largely because we never visited family and associated meaning with the holiday. When I learned the true history of Thanksgiving, that it wasn’t as “Rockwellian” as we’d believe, it lost it’s importance to me even more. It’s shocking how everyone here talks about how it’s for family and such — and then I see a lot of the grocery stores open (albeit with shortened hours). It is a commercialized holiday to the Nth degree and that really does suck. For us, we didn’t celebrate Thanksgiving but rather our 3rd year together. We first started dating on Thanksgiving in 2006 (although online) and it’s been an amazing 3 years. Certainly we’ve had bumps and bruises along the way but I have found that we’ve gotten closer and love each other more now than before. It’s an awesome feeling. I made a pure vegan dinner — tofurky, vegan dumplings, potatos, onions, carrots, gravy and a vegan wish bone — that we thoroughly enjoyed. And then we watched Bruno. That has to be the weirdest movie I’ve ever seen. I’m surprised that it made it to theaters and that lawsuits of one sort or another didn’t prevent it from airing. There were some parts that were just downright funny and others that surprised me that the audience didn’t kill him.

Anyways, online blog buddy DolphynGyrl wanted to know what 5 things we’re thankful for this holiday season so here are mine:

1. I am thankful that I finally found my path in life, even if it took a few years.

2. I am thankful that I have a job I love (yes, I do still love my job)

3. I am thankful for good health of friends and family

4. I am thankful that Bobcat is still around, cranky as ever.

5. I am thankful for K being in my life. Without her, life would be lonely and very plain.

Cake recipe, plans, dreams and 40th (good grief!)

Posted on by Posted in Daily life, Finances, Life, recipes, vegan stuff .

funny-pictures-cat-is-canadianI doing some prep work for an upcoming class and feeling rather confident about it. But still worried. No matter how much you prepare there are always little things that you miss here and there. It had been a while since I had been at my trans support group so going last night was good. The atmosphere had changed a bit in some ways but the good heart and support that the group aims to provide was still there. I worry about not being able to find that in Los Angeles when we move there next year.

And I must say I am rather excited about it. The idea of a new adventure is sometimes enough to jump start things. I’m still hopeful that I might get surgery before then but hard to say. So in the meantime, I’m contemplating options that would allow me to pay off all/most debt, cover surgery or both. And I think I might have an option. If I can’t get surgery covered before leaving NYC, then I’ll put this other plan in motion and sometime late next year (end of 2010) or beginning 2011 I’ll look into that option.

And recently, I feel like I’ve been waking up again emotionally and spiritually. Not sure what it is. Perhaps it’s finding a new zest for life elsewhere and a new adventure. We’ll see. I’m still working on the fight against the red tape of the Ontario government and that’s still no easy task but I’m hopeful that I may have found what they needed. I should have remembered that whatever you figure it will take for something to complete, double the time you expect it to finish. Maybe I can have my IDs in my new name before my 40th in the spring.

Oh ya. And speaking of my 40th, I had wanted a party (and I still do) but I know fiscally it may be impossible to get everyone together for my 40th since a lot of friends and family are north of the border. Perhaps I should do something like a 2-4 for the 44th or something like that. I think the reality is may need to wait until we’re settled in L.A. or do something else. Not sure yet. It’s been so long since I’ve celebrated any birthday as a party I’ve forgotten what’s involved with the whole process. In some ways, I’d almost want to wait until I get my dream house but that’s a few years down the road. For those curious, my dream house would be a decent sized house (3-5 bedrooms) on 1-2 acres with neighbours that are about a 2-4 min walk away. A small community ideally (weird for a city boy, I’m sure), living off the grid (weirder for a geek) but with internet (the geek demands it) and a garden that is nearly self-sustaining (reality is we’d probably need a lot of variety of things so west coast living can help supplement some of this — maybe I could barter IT expertise for various fruits and veggies). I still want to be debt free (the credit cards and loans gone) and just have a house and car to worry about. Oh ya. That driver’s license thing.

I can honestly say that I’m tired of the noise of leaf blowers, the yelling in the street, the honking, etc. I crave the quiet of the leaves rustling, the sound of birds, the awe of a starry night sky. It’s the romantic in me but also the little boy that grew up often at a cottage in a small town on the St. Lawrence where big bonfires, roasted marshmallows and lots of friends with bellowing laughter ensued. Or visiting a cousin where she grew up and lived in the same place all her life, where she knew where home was. Home is where your heart is but sometimes it’s also where peace is; batteries can be recharged and meditation can happen without competition.

More things for the bucket list. On the plus, I have realized that I’ve paid a small chunk off of one credit card and if I continue at this rate, this one should be paid off sooner than later. I’m still working on the others and still believe I can do this.

And for those who asked, here’s the link to the recipe I used for the Vegan Red Velvet Cake. By the way, it’s all gone. I may make another or something else for our Vegan thansgiving and our 3rd anniversary together.

Getting financially and physically fit

Posted on by Posted in transgender, transition, Traveling/Work, vegan stuff .

One of the nice side effects of teaching at home is that I tend to not spend as much financially. I just can’t go out to the store and buy things. I just don’t see the “things” out there. But one down side is that I tend to become a bit of a home body and my body tends to become a specific shape (round). I remember when I used to bike to and from work a few years ago. I was able to keep my weight down without being super skinny. I actually liked being “stocky” and was ok with being a few pounds overweight (for my height I’m supposed to be about 110-125 lbs — I really am big boned and find I look best around 140-150) but didn’t want to be obese. A side effect of traveling is the food that often ends up being eaten, even if a vegan (e.g., fries and the like). I’ve been a horrible vegan and have done a few slips over the last few months.

I don’t know why (perhaps it’s the T kicking in more) but my cravings for salt have gone to huge cravings for dead things. While it’s been mostly fish (I suspect due to heritage and early childhood experiences) I’m afraid of a slippery slope effect. I need to get back on track. My schedule for Oct/Nov/Dec has too much of a mixture for me to focus long enough on getting back into shape. But starting January I’ll be home, if my schedule sticks, for 3 months (except for one week in Toronto) starting usually at 9am CST (that’s 10am for me) with an occasional 8am CST start (9am for me). I figured if I could find a gym close enough that was open early enough it might be an option for me to go early in the morning (say 5-6am to beat the business rush). I know enough about fitness and training that I should be able to do this on my own — it’s just will power and consistency. Because I will have 3 months where I could get into a rhythm and turn it from an occasional thing into a more permanent activity and habit this could prove well at helping me lose some weight before we move out west. It would also help for when I get ready to have surgery (weight loss for larger sized FTMs is often a pre-requisite).

Now, while I have great idears reality may slap me in the face. I found one gym that is 24 hours M-F and has early hours on Sat/Sun. The one challenge will be, of course, the change rooms. It’ll be winter so I can’t really just dress in gym clothes, work out and leave. Most gyms I know won’t allow people to keep their bags/jackets near them when they work out and lockers are often inside the change room area. I doubt that this gym will be “trans friendly” but who knows. I may luck out. I just have this feeling that I won’t be able to use it in the winter or I will have to come dress in my gear and have minimal ID/cash on me. I’m still trying to figure out how best I could do this. Have any other trans individuals dealt with this?

Vegan Recipe: Vegan Spicy Comfort Hashbrowns

Posted on by Posted in recipes, vegan stuff .

Ok. I admit it. I’m lazy sometimes. But even in my most laziest mode, I do think I can come up with some neat recipes. Here’s one that K loves with the vegan mayo or a bit of ketchup or both.

A little too much mayo but still, oh-so-good.

A little too much mayo but still, oh-so-good.

2 medium onions, diced

1-2 cloves of garlic, minced

2 Mexican Chipotle Field Roast Sausages, sliced (you can order them from Vegan Store)

1-2 red bell peppers, diced (optional)

1 bag of Cavendish Farms Hash Browns

1-2 tablespoons of vegetable/olive oil

salt and pepper to taste (optional)

In a large wok or pan, heat the oil. Sautee the onion and garlic until the onion is translucent (about 2-5 min, depending on your stove). Add the red peppers and stir fry about 3-5 minutes. Add the sausage and cook covered about 5-7 min, stirring occasionally. Finally, add the hash browns. Cook covered, stirring occasionally. This will take the longest, especially if the hash browns were frozen. Ensure that the mixture is well mixed (the hash browns will absorb some of the chipotle flavour and colour so don’t be surprised if they appear a tinge red). Add more a touch more oil if the hash browns are burning too quickly. Cook covered, stirring regularly. Add salt and pepper if you want. This will take between 15-30 minutes depending if the hash browns are frozen or not.

Once all of it is cooked, serve in bowls or on a plate with a side salad. Should feed about 6-8 servings (depending on the size of your “serving” 😉 )

Enjoy.

Vegan Recipes: Spicy Black Bean Soup and Vegan Chicken Soup

Posted on by Posted in recipes, vegan stuff .

I thought, since I’m at home this week, I’d make most of the dinners. I am, however, a rather lazy cook and often look for things that are simple, easy and will last a while (or so I hope). So crockpot/slow cooker recipes as well as large stew/soup recipes are favourites of mine. It also helps stretch that ever shrinking dollar. K and I had been talking about what soups she likes and she does sorta like Amy’s Black Bean but said that often they lack a “omph” as far as flavour/spicyness goes. So I thought why not make a nice spicy black bean soup for her? The internet happens to be my favourite recipe book ever. And in my searches I found this simple recipe: Black Bean Vegetable Soup. I pretty much stuck to the recipe with two exceptions:

  1. I used a slow cooker at the end rather than a soup pot. I stuck it on low and let it simmer away for a couple of hours. The apartment smelled great!
  2. I add in some cajun spices my aunt gave me over the holidays. Lots of ’em!

It wasn’t enough to cure K’s cold but was good enough for her to have two huge bowls of it. The recipe technically feeds 8 but I think K ate enough for 4! (I also had two small bowls myself along with some bread and vegan mayo I made). K’s cold, however, got worse over night and she canceled a date with a dear friend to stay at home in bed. Of course, everyone knows what the fix is for that: chicken soup. But since we’re vegan, that’s a definite no-no so I searched for some nice vegan “chicken” soups. And found this one on About.com. Again, I stuck with the recipe as is but made a few minor changes:

The local grocery stores have “vegetable soup kits” in their produce aisle. I got one that cost me about $3.25 and had all the basics needed for soup: turnip, leek, onion, celery, fresh basil, fresh parsley, carrots, parsnip. I used that to replace some of the ingredients listed. I added a couple of potatos.

  • Used pre-minced garlic and added a couple of large slices of ginger
  • Used Whitewave StirFry Seitan Strips and coated them with salt and pepper (next time will marinate over night in No Chicken Broth)
  • Used 8 cups of No Chicken Broth
  • Used 2 cups of vegan vegetable sea salt and herb bouillon
  • Add a couple of sprigs of fresh thyme to the parsley/basil bundle
  • ground in the fresh pepper and added in about another 1-2 tsp of black pepper
  • added sea salt
  • added cajun spice (about 1-2 teaspoons)
  • used 2 tbsps sunflower oil (didn’t have any olive oil on hand)
  • let it simmer for two hours and served with saltines (salted kind)
  • added 2 cups of water after removing the bundle

This is comfort food. It’s not about diets and losing weight. And it definitely seemed to help K a bit.