They say people in your life are seasons…

And anything that happens is for a reason. Thanks, Kanye.  I’m pretty sure College Dropout, Graduation, and 808s & Heartbreaks have all carried me through some of my biggest struggles in the past few years.  Kanye, Jay-Z, Wayne… Lyrical Geniuses. For all you Kanye haters out there, i challenge you to listen to his first cd and tell me you are not smiling by the end of it.  I’ll cook ya’ll dinner or something, if i am wrong that is… ;)

Anyway, if you are wondering: why the title?  Well, my life has taken an odd turn these past couple days which was pretty unexpected but i am actually okay with it.  It involved a close friend who was pretty upset with what choices i have made for my future (moving back home to Colorado once i graduate).  I wish i could say all is good and solved now, but i don’t plan on changing any of my plans or my mind so i don’t know how this is going to end.  But i will stop boring you guys with my excuses for being M.I.A. for the past couple days and man up!  As much as possible that is…  I like to think of myself as a pretty manly dude, who still sleeps with a penguin named Hanz.  I know what your thinking; and yes, he is German.

Okay, so i sleep with two stuffed animals.  It’s not like i even notice they are there anymore though, its not like i cuddle with them… Haha, funny story though.  Hanz was actually an impulse buy when i was in Germany to run a Marathon.  I needed a pillow for the airplane ride home, and i love penguins, so i obviously couldn’t pass it up.  Barney (the undistinguishable bear) on the other hand was given to me when i was fresh out the womb, and i have never gone to bed without him a couple feet away any night of my life.  Camping trips, numerous countries, several continents, sleepovers, girlfriends houses (shhh, he stays in my bag).  He has become good luck and is a constant for me in my life.  Come on, i know you guys all have something like this so don’t even laugh ;)   I felt that needed to be shared for the sole purpose of making up for my lack of posts the past couple of days!  Besides, if i hadn’t eaten his nose and chewed on his eyes when i was younger, i would have passed him along to this little cutie.

That would be my cousin Lil, cute huh?

Oh well, on to what my day was like today after i pushed through three exams this week.  Produce time…

This is the closest thing we have to a farmer’s market around here.  This store provides some of the best produce in Southwestern Ontario!  That is, when i don’t feel like making the trek to Michigan for food.  :)  Otherwise i hit up Sobeys which is similar to a King Soopers or Albertsons.  Sobeys in particular brings back some memories of high school and warm weather, scavenging for food fresh out the water.

Yeah, we were idiots who took pics in supermarkets with our shirts off… I like to think i have matured since… a bit.

Back with a nice little running post and maybe some gourmet meals tomorrow :)  Deane, Out!

H to the Izzo…

Does anyone else ever listen to music on their way to work/school in the morning, hear a song you haven’t heard in a long time and get it STUCK IN YOUR HEAD FOR THE REST OF THE FRIGGIN’ DAY?  That is pretty much how my day began today… For all my Jay-Z fans out there, maybe i am the only one who knows every single lyric to every single one of his albums but once i hear me some Jay it is extremely hard to concentrate on anything else the rest of the day.  Side note:  Singing to myself, unfortunately for others,  is not a trait i am familiar with, so whoever else is around is usually awarded with a performance.  Moving on to something a little more interesting/controversial…
Considering I intend on this site being a fitness/nutrition based outlet for me to voice my opinions on all the “new fad diets”, interesting new exercise myths, new vegan restaurants/food, i plan on stirring up the pot every once in awhile and throwing some of my views out to all of you for you to do with what you wish!  One of my greatest pleasures in life is receiving feedback from any and every one that feels they have enough knowledge about a given topic to form an intelligent response.  I never disregard anyones opinions or thoughts unless i feel that they truly have no business speaking on the matter or have not spent the time to educate themselves.  Otherwise i find discovering and exploring everyone else’s perception exciting, and thought provoking!  Now that I have my disclaimer out of the way…
There was a question that came up in my morning class regarding the choice everyone possesses of whether or not they wish to eat animal meat or other byproducts.  This stemmed from a debate on the ethical treatment of farmed animals where i gladly provided my firm opinions while somehow transitioning to the concept of vegan/vegetarianism without even trying!  Pretty smooth, huh?  I certainly thought so, until i heard one girl speak up in a slightly shrill manner directing all of her attention and energy in my direction.  “So does that mean your going to force your children to become vegans as well?”   Uh oh… I knew this was not going to end well.  Although i like to consider myself a kind person who grew up in a family with many values and morals; I was simply never blessed with the ability to convey my thoughts in any other way then harshly once verbally provoked.  That is right children, sh!t was going down.  After ten minutes of explaining to Lindsey Lohan why i don’t believe my children will ever need to be “forced” into a non-violent diet rather how i would “reinforce” the theory that meat simply makes you stupid, and how she was a prime example.  Now i know what your thinking… That was pretty rude, right?  Well, you have to understand two things about here;  This comment was made after providing a fully detailed, and knowledgeable explanation for my life choices that did not verge on defensive what-so-ever but left room for debate.  And debate she would, calling me out in front of all of my class, accusing me of personally tearing apart values that children should develop on there own.  I had no words left to say to her knowing that she no longer deserved to be present in this debate with her under-developed views on family politics, vegetarianism, and probably reading in general.  At this time the professor decided he should probably intervene before she lunged over the aisle and beat me to death with her oversized sunglasses, he raised the question to both her and I of what our thoughts were on grain fed, cage free animals?  “I try to eat them whenever i can, i feel better knowing that they were happy” she giggled.  After the laughter in the class died down, it was time for my input.  Uh oh again… Attempting for this answer to be a simple and short alternative to my last outburst i responded with “I think it’s fantastic that these animals were fed decently, supposedly never given antibiotics, and lived in (bigger) cages, but that all goes to hell once we butcher them for their meat”.  Now notice how i grouped myself as a human and held myself accountable as well as the rest of my class for these spontaneous acts of violence we commit to feed our overly-carnivorous population.  Apparently it didn’t help when i turned my attention back toward Lohan’s direction and added “So you are totally fine with eating dead animals, so long as those animals were happy vegetarians before being murdered?”  Ya, my hopes of keeping a low profile in that class went down the drain pretty quickly after that.  Anyways, the question at hand, how will you go about parenting your child/children as a vegetarian?  What happens if your partner doesn’t agree with your particular views?  Have you ever had to deal with this issue, and if so; was it difficult?
Let me finish off with some delicious granola i baked up for myself in between workouts last night… Hope you all have a wonderful day :)

In Ze Bowl-
1/4 Cup Pumpkin Seeds
1/4 Cup Pecans
1/4 Cup Raisins
1/8 Cup Chia Seeds
2 TBS. Flax Seeds
1/2 Cup Wheat Bran
1 Cup Puffed Millet
2 Cup Oats
1/2 Cup Unsweetened Applesauce
1/2 Cup Unsweetened Soy Yogurt

Shaken well, spread out over a tinfoil lined baking sheet…

Bake for 20 minutes at 385 degrees! And… Instant Healthy Snackage.

And the brand of Chia Seeds I use:

Deane, Out.