Friday Night ER Trip

My second first queen. Allow me to introduce: Miss Samantha

She gets shy around camera's.

She's one cold-blooded woman!

My weekend was to see my first ever action on the velodrome. I was pumped to say the least as I'm looking to get into track cycling this year and for the next many years to come. I went and got the bike tuned up and began changing the pedals off the road bike to the track bike. And like the dumbass I am..my hand slipped and got caught in the sprocket. In short, I sliced a piece of my thumb off to the point where tendon was exposed. Safe to say, I was shocked and frightened. Frightened at the site of my own blood and stunned at what happened. I quickly tell my dad and mom, Ms. Denise heads on down and we take a trip to the ER. Apparently, I'm not the only one that's made this mistake. 1.5 hours and FOUR stitches later, I was done and out at 7:30pm. To make it all better, we got vegan burritos from Whole Foods. Oh thank heaven for those. :-)

This was the first weekend I spent off the bike and it sucked a big one. On the other hand I watched black swan which was DISTURBING to say the least. Currenty, I'm typing with one hand and this hunt+peck thing is getting annoying. However, some good questions were brought up with respect to soy and my views on tofu which I'd like to answer.

Do I eat soy products? Yes.

How often? On Weekends mainly. This is NOT a staple food for me.

What about tofu? Again, on weekends mainly.

What do you think about it? I'm a simple guy that believes in stuff coming from nature as intended. Can I go out to the farm and pull a block of tofu off the vine? Nope. For that reason, I don't eat it as often as some people do. Do I think it's good for you? Yes and no [more on that later]. As a substitute for meat and all things cruel, yes, it does the trick. The obsession with protein is way overblown but I won't get into that right here.

Tofu and soy products are fine foods when TRANSITIONING to a vegan diet in my opinion. Soy hot dogs and tofu scrambles are great but should be enjoyed on weekends. Weekdays I stick to staple foods that can be found in nature. For example, I can go out and get cashews or avocados if I wanted. Catch my drift?

Some things about soy products to consider...

1) Tofu has iron AND copper in addition to being a quality source of amino acids [protein].

2) 4 ounces of tofu = 9.2 grams of protein. Not shabby.

3) Tofu contains Omega-3 fats in them. [good fat].

4) Tofu and soy are a very very common allergenic in people.

5) Like many vegan things with soy, oxalates are present which can cause health problems if TOO MUCH is consumed and in the bloodstream. Exercise moderation and you'll be home-free.

6) Soy can give you hips. FALSE. There is no 'feminizing' effect of soy. You don't see Japanese men walking around with coke-bottle-figures do you?

Trust me, these are false and numerous PhD-whizbang-gizmo-scientists have proven such. True, soy does contain estrogen in the form of isoflavones. However, NO EVIDENCE EXISTS WHERE MEN HAVE EATEN MODERATE AMOUNTS OF SOY PROTEIN EXPERIENCED FEMININE-EFFECTS.

So there. My stance: I like tofu scramble just like my next [vegan] guy but it's a treat for me at the end of the week. Stick to whole fruits, veggies and grains and you'll do fine eating the occassional soy-dog without fear of growing moobs [not a typo!].