baby lettuce

welcome! this is my food diary/journal as i transition into a plant-based diet. let's learn together!

[babylettuce]

update

sooooooooooo

this is whats up:: 

i ordered 1 day of vegan food and the recipes were delicious. however they lacked like, full on protein sources so i was constantly eating. it was delicious though. 

after all this time ive realized its easier for me to literally order this 100$ weekly meal service than to make the grand effort of cooking. it makes me sad but i feel like ordering these meals helps me understand and open my mind up to new ideas and it teaches me that it is possible to eat plant based consistently.

so yeah thats whats up! in the end it’ll help me soar on my own, but in the meantime it’ll be good to have that service. 

[babylettuce]

update

so ive kind of slacked off, which immediately is a statement that makes me a little sad but i'm still on the right track.

honestly, paying other people isn't a bad idea. paying a coach that WILL actually get you to your goal isn't bad at all, it gets you there faster bc that person has gone through it.

so ive been considering like- different things. ive been considering paying 4 a vegan fitness coach. or a vegan 1 week meal plan (its nearly 100$ for 5 days of food) to like finally follow something constant for one week and see how i feel and etc.

i tend to desire self-sufficiency? like i always want to "do things myself" or learn how to do them myself which IS GOOD but i've spent so much time unstructured and wobbly that i need a person to help me get grounded (and it's so much easier that way).

like obv the point is that one day i can do these things myself (cook for myself, exercise and see progress for myself, etc) but starting out with an 'igniter' isn't bad

[actuallygrimes]

how to make music for (almost) free (u should prob buy a mic/ interface and u might appreciate some instruments)

and i guess you’ll need a computer… so that might be expensive.  BUT if ur reading this you probably have one :)

so yeah, ppl always ask me to make a tumblr tutorial on how to make music, so here it is

first off, the best program (in my opinion) is ableton live.  however, garageband is perfectly acceptable and i made visions on garageband.  its kind of the same thing but simpler.  

when u open it, it will look like this: 

if you hit tab, it will turn into this window (which is how I usually work because I like seeing the tracks horizontally): 

its pretty strait-forward.  the audio track is where you record audio, such as ur voice through a microphone or a guitar or smthn.  

You record audio by clicking the black dot in the audio channel as well as the black dot beside the yellow OVR thing in the upper left.  you will want to record audio with headphones on, so that you can hear any other things you may have recorded in order to keep time, stay in key etc. without getting the sound of the backing track into ur recording.   

there is also a metronome which is the two dots beside the 4/4 thing (which is ur time signature).  if u click on the metronome button a click will play at whatever BPM (beats per minute) that ur track is set at. the default bpm is 120, but u can make it whatever u want.  

note on bpm:

most pop songs are about 128.  the current max martin-y pop is around 135 (beauty and a beat for example).  but u can make great dance music at like 116.  the slower the tempo, the more percussive stuff u have to play with.  

So, microphones:

If you can’t afford a cheap microphone there is a built-in microphone in ur computer that works fine, depending what u want to do.  For the best recording, you probably want to record using a condensor mic and a pre amp, but these things are expensive.  I only just started using these things a month ago, so its probably fine not to use them if u aren’t trying to sound like taylor swift (who does sound amazing, but that record was probably very expensive to make).

you will probably use a dynamic microphone - which is also easy to use live, so its a good purchase.  I would suggest an SM58 or SM58 beta.  they are cheap and nearly indestructible.  

You will also need an XLR cable to attach the mic to an interface.  an interface is what you use to record audio and send it to your computer.  It will attach to your computer via USB.  

I recorded visions on an interface like this : 

you can get one of these on craigslist for probably about 50 - 200 dollars, depending on ur city.  

ok so - you install this and open ableton - insert the male end of ur XLR cable to the mic in on the interface, and the female end into your microphone.  

if you click command+comma, this will open:

 as you can see the buffer size is at 2048.  This is the quality of playback.  If you lower this, you will find it is easier to record.  I bring this down to 90 to record vocals and stuff and then when im mixing all the tracks together after I’ve recorded them I bring it back up to 2048 so i can hear what I’ve done at full quality.  

The audio input device is where you select your interface as the input device if you have one, but just leave it if you’re using the built in microphone.  You can send your sound out of monitors that you can attach to your interface but this is unnecessary.  if you’re starting out i would just use the headphone jack for headphones or computer speakers or whatever.

*** Also FYI - the best headphones that you can get cheaply are the audio technica ATHM50s.  they’re like 128 bucks or smthn and they’re super nice.  also i know this all seems expensive, but i really feel like if you’re gonna spend money on anything, the emotional rewards of making music are totally worth it.  if you think about other things you do recreationally its probably more expensive than this.   

ok so ya.  thats how you record audio.  if you click control+T you make a new audio track and u can just record as many of these as u want.  midi is a different story but ill get into that later.   

oh, also - In the upper left corner you will see a folder called audio effects.  if you click on this you’ll see reverb, delay, chorus etc.  You can just play with these to figure out what they do, thats prob the best way to learn.  

so ya! thats how to record audio.  Once you have the basics u can just start googling how to do things on ableton and teach urself.  

if anything is unclear let me know and ill update. also if u want to know how to do particular things i can try to go into it but im not super expert at this stuff cuz i figure it out as i go along.  

[babylettuce]

im just 😔 like i really DO want to follow a plant based diet. I DO. but i also dont want to be so religious and excessive about it. i dont want to think about "~being vegan~" or be the "iS tHis VegAn" "ThaTs nOt VeGan" person.

i don't want to smudge something GOOD (plant-based lifestyle) with something BAD (obsession, identity problems, meat-phobia, etc).

want to know something that made me FREE? I ATE MEAT ONCE. I ATE MEAT AGAIN ONE DAY. AND GUESS WHAT I LEARNED? It's just.........................food............ it made me less scared of eating meat, it made me less avoidant and terrified of it. its just.....food...........it made me more mature.

"Oh My gOD yOURe eAtiNG an ANimal!" omg.. so what. stop pretending thats like the most alien weirdest shit ever. our brains recognize cooked meat as food. no matter how much you convince yourself that its wrong, to ur brain, its simply food.

OF COURSE i agree that it isnt the healthiest but yeah. what im saying is, u can go plant based and still be...free and yourself and not owned by this label.

[babylettuce]

update

so i've learned a lot.... i've learned that the less i care and think about things, the easier and better they are?

for example, i don't want to keep track over what i eat. let me explain myself... at first i do want to plan and like, maybe ONE DAY see what 130g of plant protein looks like. but then after that one day of planning, do things naturally and understand that i've prepared and already know how much food and how often is necessary.

it's like, film!! there are three stages, preproduction, production and post-production. pre-production is the longest because it involves PLANNING. detailed planning. that's what i mean with the one day of tracking, plus all the months i've spent reading nutrition books and seeing documentaries, that have all prepared me for this moment.

then comes PRODUCTION which is, when you naturally let everything settle and the knowledge to come to you naturally because you've prepared for months for it. this has happened to me-- when i had to film a video for an assignment, i naturally knew what to do (how to position my subjects, what shots to choose) because i'd seen it and read about it so many times during class, that everything just "clicked." that's how i expect things to click.

then POST, which is when you make fixes and edit and "perfect" your work.

there are many stages to what we want to build. i have miles to go before i sleep, like robert frost once said.

for example, i want to learn about kimchi, fermenting foods, sprouting beans, butterfly pea and other colorful flowers, SOY, etc.

i want my plates to be colorful, nutritious, nourishing, satisfying, PROTEIN-PACKED!

soooooo yes. little by little my diet will improve and become more "whole." so yes!!!

[babylettuce]

plant-based won’t do everything for you.

i saw the most depressing, demoralizing post on reddit that went along the lines of: “i’ve been vegan for x years and haven’t lost weight or had more energy or achieved anything”

and it’s like.

if you don’t work FOR it it won’t work for you!!!!!!!!!

if you don’t pursue weight loss and continue to eat the same (or more) calories, well, you’re not going to lose weight. it’s not about the diet per se. 

it’s about you, what you do and don’t do. 

it DOES work and help your health, if you follow it RESPONSIBLY. If you eat a variety of foods, supplement appropriately (B12, D, and DHA/EPA), and maintain a high amount of protein everyday.

If you don’t work, you won’t see the gainz, regardless of what type of diet you decide to follow.

Lift your head up and NEVER pass blame for your shortcomings on impersonal things. YOU have responsibility over what happens in your life. 

[babylettuce]

the vegan community is excessive.

don’t get me wrong-- i appreciate the ‘movement.’ i appreciate the concern for the well-being of animals, for the pursuit of good health and nutritious food choices. but i feel like the word ‘vegan’ is a dirty word for me personally, because of how persecutory and restrictive some vegans are, and how they make it such a huge part of their identity in a way that it becomes unhealthy.

i don’t want to associate with the word vegan, i’d rather not even think about that word. i would only use it for my own convenience if i’m presented with a situation where i can *actually* eat plant-based, whether at the supermarket, at a plaza, at a restaurant. i wouldn’t say “hey, so like im not vegan but do you have anything plant based?” because that would be tedious. i would simply prefer convenience and ask “is there anything vegan?” even if outside of that situation, i don’t want anything to do with that word.

yes-- i really don’t. i don’t want people to be checking in on what i eat or don’t eat. that’s my business. i don’t want a community that pressures me and attacks me. i don’t want everything in my life to be about whether i’m vegan or not.

i do want to eat a mostly plant based diet because that’s a goal that i personally have for my health and for my family’s health. but i make the rules.

for example, in my beginning stages, i want to eat fish from time to time. i don’t want to rely on it, but i also don’t want to restrict myself from it. in the end, my goal is to also let it go, but i want to do that in my own terms and without others’ opinions weighing me down.

TL;DR: I seek to follow a mostly plant-based diet with exceptions in special occasions (birthday cakes, out for ice cream, out for dinner [veggie/fish options]) without excessive restrictions, and the possibility to enjoy fish when the time is appropriate).

(if i can make dairy free ice cream, amazing succulent birthday cakes that outperform dairy/egg cakes, then fine, we won’t have a necessity for that either.) 

[babylettuce]

Hello!

I've decided to create this blog to share my transition into a plant-based diet. I've always had an interest in nutrition, but for a long time, I had no idea where to start. I had many traditional beliefs ingrained in me, like "I need meat to build muscle."

It's funny because I used to RESENT plant-based diets. I thought it was a fad, a trend and nothing more. I thought people followed vegan diets with underhanded desires to simply lose some pounds. I had no idea that it was actually a great, healthy, sustainable diet.

People's perception around plant-based diets is clouded by fanatics and excessive moralists. They turn people away. I try to be quiet and gentle about my desire to go plant-based. I don't bring it up -- I prefer to lead by example, to share my experience, and you'll decide what to eat. I am NOT against you eating meat-- you are completely free to do so. You are free to make the choices that will impact your life.

I simply didn't want to lazily continue eating the same way-- after realizing the effects that my dietary choices had on my health. Once you know the information, it's difficult to just turn a blind eye.

I also love cows and animals. If I don't have the necessity to slaughter them, why should I?

I have to admit-- my feelings change when it comes to fish. Especially because of my religious beliefs. In the Bible, people fished, and fishing is a metaphor and a symbol of prosperity. I don't view their pain the same way I view the pain of a terrestrial animal. 

Fish come from WATER. They are a blessing. But it's honestly okay if I didn't want to eat fish either. We live by faith.

It will be one of the last things I give up. I love fish, but I embrace the fact that I don't have to eat them if I don't want to.

Anyway, whoever you are, welcome to these food diaries! Let's learn from each other.