My Gulay Story!

I never ate my veggies when I was a kid, except for potatoes, carrots, peas, and corn!

I got encouraged to develop my tolerance for them through well-meaning friends and relatives throughout high school and college.

Family Diet

A few years ago, my brother had to take a special kind of medication that would increase his cholesterol as a side effect. His high cholesterol level prompted my dad check his, and it turned out that it was even higher! We resolved as a family to abstain from meat for a month to encourage my brother and dad to get their cholesterol down.

I can’t remember the time frames exactly, but I believe, that for the first week, I took out beef because I didn’t really care for it anyway. Sebo, hello? Shortly thereafter, I took out pork. Then maybe around the fourth week I took out chicken.

Unsuccessful Return to Meat

Sure enough, everyone’s cholesterol went down and we were all ready to go back to eating meat. My uncle’s birthday fell on the same date as our resumption to our carnivorous ways. Everyone was really excited because his handa (the food served during his birthday extravaganza) had the works – palabok, chicharon, chicken, pork, beef! I  remember eating with gusto, like a prisoner released from the plants-and-water penitentiary!

Oh my gulay. I felt so weak and sick that night. I couldn’t eat meat anymore! That began my vegetarianism for good.  I survived without meat for a month! I was so sure I could do it for life.

Going Vegan (Test-phase 2009)

This year, I am abstaining from eggs and dairy to see what happens. I’ve had recurring acne while living in the US, where I’ve been drinking milk like water. I’ve read a study on adolescent males who drink milk and those who don’t, and noted the correlation between drinking milk and acne.  It’s been 3 months. So far so good.

The Best Pieces of Advice I’ve Gotten

The best advice I’ve received was not to rest on my laurels  – vegetarian people could still become obese. The second best advice was to check the nutrients I was getting. I didn’t feel the need for vitamins before, which took a disastrous effect on my skin and nails.  I take them now and I see and feel the results. I can’t reiterate enough the need for Vitamin B12, which is lacking in a completely vegetarian diet.

Go Local!

I want  to encourage you out there to learn to cook your own veggie dishes. One of my guy friends thinks he can’t go veg because he believes  it is more expensive. My response to that is: It could be, but it doesn’t have to be. Sure, it’ll drain your pocket if you keep ordering vegetarian food and eating out at vegetarian restaurants. It’s definitely more economical  if you are willing to cook the dishes yourself and go local.  Readers based in the Philippines  can attest that  most of the vegetarian recipe books out there are written and published in the US and therefore use many ingredients not locally available, or available but pricey.  I would recommend getting a copy of Nona Lema’s Gulay (I got mine as a Christmas gift, but I believe it’s available at Powerbooks). If you’re from another non-US country, I would recommend buying your local veggies and adapting your culture’s recipes to vegetarianism.

Cook From Scratch Whenever You Can

An authentic vegetarian diet will help you feel loads better, but I can’t stress enough that it is no guarantee you’ll stay slim.  In some countries, like the US, you’ll be tempted to buy all sorts of processed veggie food (veggie bacon, burgers, etc)  since they are available everywhere! I can say that it is definitely a blessing to have less of that in the Philippines (oops, Healthy Options just opened in Greenbelt), so that one is forced to cook from scratch.   To the extent possible, (read: if I have loads of time), I cook in batches,  eat a portion, then freeze the rest, so that for the days I don’t have time to cook, I can easily reheat the food. There’s confidence that I’m getting as much  nutrition out of the food and not just artificial additives.

Exercise and Rest

Don’t neglect exercise and be sure to get plenty of rest! I recommend that you see the FIRM video 20 Questions About Fitness. It made leave my sedentary ways forever! Do you have a fun sport that challenges you?  I personally love badminton and running, but you definitely know yourself better and can choose the best regimen according to your fitness goals!  30 minutes a day is the recommended time allotment. Some new studies question this (saying it is not enough), but it’s great goal to go for, and one can always increase the duration or intensity of a workout to suit personal needs. Check with your doctor if you have never been active prior to starting your exercise plan before you start anything too strenuous.

Go Gulay!