The 5 key rules for a good relationship

Reflecting now, I did so many things wrong in my past. Completely wrong. Don't understand me wrong, I'm only 24 now and I won't be able to tell you how life works, but I figured out what it needs to become strong in a relationship. And, I'm not only talking about a loving relationship between two people, I'll come to that, but the points apply to any relationship (friends, employer - employee, parents - children).

1. Honesty
Yes. Any relationship needs a good amount of honesty. I'm not talking about white lies (why you are five minutes late, talking to your boss about being stuck in a traffic jam when in reality you just didn't leave the house early enough; or the ultimate question of your girlfriend "Do I look fat in this dress?" - "No honey you look beautiful" - to all women here: Have you ever asked yourself why your man always thinks you're beautiful no matter what you wear? Want honest answers, ask your girlfriends, not your man. Don't bring him in that situation. lol).
I'm talking about pure honesty when it comes to the important stuff. Being able to tell the other person what you feel, what you think about a situation and what your ideas and plans in life are - this is the honesty you will need in order to build or maintain a relationship. If you messed up at work, being able to take responsibility for your action really shows how confident you are. And it shows that you are trustworthy that the other person will be able to deal with the situation in an appropriate way.
Side Note: Overreacting and being emotional mostly just happens because multiple little issues from the past days, weeks, months add up, then suddenly explode all at once - you will understand that if the overreacting person suddenly brings up things that bother him/her but have nothing to do with the current argument. Overreacting and being emotional is a sign that there was not enough honesty in the past, otherwise the situation would have been resolved when it occurred.

2. Support
We all need a shoulder to lean on sometimes. We all need support. No matter if its the dinner being made ready to eat after a long day at work, getting picked up after work, or just a simple compliment. Women need support, they need flowers and hugs. Men need support,  a nice massage for neck and shoulders after a long day or even just a compliment like "you look big" after he comes home from the gym. Being supportive shows appreciation of another. It says: "whatever your plan is, I will be there for you and do my best to help you finding success.“ Think about the last time you were supportive towards your partner, your friend, your boss, your employee, your client or any other family member.

3. Acceptance
Take someone or leave someone. But don't try to change him or her. People value acceptance. Someone trying to change us will make us feel like we are not good the way we are. No matter if its your best friend, your brother, your boss. Everyone is different and so are we. If we want to be able to express our true self, we have to accept the others.
This doesn't mean you have to keep living with your friend in a shared apartment while trying to accept the fact that he smokes in the kitchen. If you don't like smoking, you can still change the situation and move out. It also doesn't mean you have to be in a relationship with a jealous person and try to love jealousy even though you hate it. We are all changing constantly. Don't give up on your friends, partners or family members - it might be a phase only, where they do things that you don't understand or like.
However Acceptance means also accepting one's own needs, wishes and desires. If something doesn't align with your own morals or ideas - maybe it's time to move on from that relationship. If you work in a job that totally exploits you and underpays you, quit. If you live in an abusive relationship, break up. You are never stuck in any situation.

4. Conversation
Yes, this one is crucial. You need to be able to talk. To your family members, siblings, your coworkers, your partner, to strangers. Being able to hold a clean conversation exchanging different opinions is so so so important. Unfortunately we never learned "conversation" in school: How to be an active listener, how not to interrupt the other person, how to respond in a good way. Good Conversations give us energy. We learn from good conversations. We understand each other and ourselves better after having a good conversation. A good conversation is like good sex.
An Argument starts in 99% of all cases as a conversation. Person A says something, Person B says the opposite. Simple as that but that's why we have wars on this planet. But how does a conversation turn into an argument? That's when the ego takes over and loads your part of the conversation with emotions. Catch yourself in these moments and become rational. It will help both you and your partner. Arguments simply drain your energy. Rather use that energy and go to the gym. Don't waste it on a stupid argument. Even if you "win" the argument, that doesn't make you richer or a better person.

5. Commitment
Last but not least, commitment is a big thing: If you are making plans with someone, commit to them. If you work for someone, you commit being there in time and putting effort into what you are doing. If you want to travel with a friend, you work out a plan, a route to finding the perfect location where both of you will enjoy the time. If you want to be in a loving relationship with someone, you commit to both adjustments and sacrifices. In almost all situations in live, getting something makes you automatically lose something else. That is probably the biggest commitment in life. Getting a fixed partner limits you in terms of dating other people. Moving to a different country makes it hard to see your family. Breaking up with someone lets you have the freedom to do what you want to do, but you will be alone.
Understanding this will never make you think about decisions the same again. Crazy but true: You will always lose if you win something. And you will always win, even if you lose.

Begin Again

Perfectly Imperfect - begin again

„Be not the slave of your own past . . . plunge into the sublime seas, dive deep, and swim far, so you shall come back with new self-respect, with new power, and with an advanced experience that shall explain and overlook the old.“

RALPH WALDO EMERSON

No other yoga style has ever made me think about the following more than vinyasa yoga: My own capability to do certain things (and not to be able to do them). The other interesting view is: How good was I in doing something in the past, in the present and in the future? The reason for this might be that I have never „failed“ more in my yoga practice than in a vinyasa class. You either can hold crow pose, or you fall out of it. You are able to do a handstand or you are not able to. Vinyasa Yoga is all about failing, forgiving and trying again and again. There is no other yoga style like this. Everyone is able to do a wide-legged forward fold in a yin practice. But when the teacher says: „Take a few hops into an arm balance, if it’s in your practice“ - that’s when our inner voice might say things like „you can’t do this, you are too heavy“ or „don’t even try, remember, yesterday you failed“. In difficult poses, our mind gets loud and tells us stories why we are not good enough to hold specific poses. 

The beauty of Vinyasa Yoga is in facing the truth: Where am I now? What am I good in right now and what do I have to work on? Totally becoming peace with where I am right now, opens the door to begin again. From that state, I am not scared to fail, I am curious to see how things work out today (especially after failing previously) and I allow myself to play. Maybe I wont be able to do a handstand, maybe I won’t be able to do it in the next two years. However, I will only find out by trying.

In my personal practice (and as a teacher in the future) I truly believe that not only encouraging, but also reminding myself (and the students) of the following is gold: Every class is different and every attempt to finally hold a new pose is a new one. Totally blending out what happened yesterday, last week or a month ago will keep the motivation up to try that specific pose again. And failure will bring us closer to holding the pose eventually. That attitude will also manifest a new idea on life in general and how we deal with difficult situations. Instead of simply giving up, we start to face situations with more curious and playful thoughts. We stop assuming to know how situations will turn out. Instead we will accept that every moment and every situation is completely new. Getting stronger in vinyasa yoga and finally becoming able to hold more difficult poses will strengthen our body, and our believe system. Thoughts become actions and actions become habits. We will transform the „I shouldn’t even try, I will never be able to do this“ thoughts into „I give myself the chance to try. I say yes to the practice and to this challenge. I don’t take failure too seriously“ in our yoga practice and in our daily life. 

The last important part that I absolutely love about yoga practice is the fact, that failure simply can’t be taken seriously. When I am in my favorite vinyasa yoga class and we are all getting into crow pose (or trying to), my teacher always says: „And don’t have fun, ok? Fun is not allowed in this room“. Even more hilarious is when she says: „And if you fall out, you are a bad person, don’t forget that“. By saying loud what our minds try to tell us, makes it sound ridiculous and stupid. We take life, failure and perfectionism too serious. I love these little reminders of my teacher that make us become aware of these thoughts. We understand that our mind is trying to trick us into giving up by providing us with evidence why we shouldn’t begin again. Keeping a consistent vinyasa yoga practice made me understand when these stories bubble up and how to deal with my inner voice. Becoming aware of it is the first step in the right direction. Instead of giving up, I give myself the chance to try and fail and sometimes I even succeed.

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Thoughts about Protein?

I recently get this question a lot: What about the protein?

Before I started going to the gym 5 times a week and starting my „bodybuilding“ training, I never really thought of protein. And in these two years of bodybuilding training, I was already on a plant based diet, however I made experiences that I will never forget: 

1) My recovery was way better than the recovery of my non-plant-based gym buddies.

2) I was constantly thinking about protein, how to get more protein and on top of that I was tracking my calories on an app called „My Fitness Pal“ just to ensure that I eat enough calories and enough protein.

Now, over three years later, I feel so much better, not following these crazy weight lifting plans and smashing in the protein shakes, protein bars and tofu blocks (Yes, I was eating a whole silk tofu block mixed with one scoop soy vanilla protein for lunch). Out of my personal experience I can say that eating these huge amounts of protein has nothing to do with a healthy lifestyle. 

I am convinced that there is nothing like a protein deficiency existing. Nobody has ever died because there was a lack of protein. I understand that there is a huge industry behind the myth that incorporating more protein into the diet will make you gain and keep muscles easier (this one is often used for men’s protein product advertisements) or it will satisfy you longer so that you need less food throughout the day and will lose body fat (this one is used especially for women’s protein product advertisements).

In the end all we need is plants. One cup of lentils contains so much protein, even rice is full of it. Did you know that one lemon contains 16% protein? There is literally no food that contains no protein. As long as you eat enough food, you won't be suffering from a protein deficiency.

And, last but not least, people forget or often just don’t know that humans can’t use the complete protein from the food they eat. First the body has to take it apart into the single amino acids, then the body builds its own protein. So technically it would be totally fine not to eat any protein at all (which is not possible, because as I mentioned, any food contains at least a little protein) but simply eat amino acids. Amino acids are found in fruits, dark leafy greens and vegetables, in anything. That would explain why I didn’t die of a protein deficiency six years ago when I was on a raw vegan diet for one year eating mainly fruits, dark leafy greens, nuts and vegetables.

So enjoy your pumpkin soup tonight because it is full of deliciousness and protein.

Vegan Thanksgiving Dessert: Pumpkin Pie

What would Thanksgiving be without a pumpkin pie?

Nothing. This pie is made with a nice typical salty (only slightly sweet) crust and a pumpkin filling which has a great texture and is completely free of dairy and even soy!

Last year, I made the pumpkin pie with mainly pumpkin puree and silken tofu, this year I was excited to try a different variation that I found online, which was made with coconut milk. 

I dont think using soy is a bad thing, it was simply curiosity that made me try a different recipe. I used the same crust as I did in the Katy Perry Pie (see it here), but I added a little bit of sugar to the crust dough. 

For the usual pumpkin spices I used a mix of cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg and allspice.

What can I say? The cake is simply delicious! Its sweet and it makes you not even realize that its vegan.

Here I'm going to share my vegan thanksgiving pumpkin pie recipe.

Here are the ingredients for one pie:
Crust:
2 1/2 cups all purpose flour (I substituted 4 Tbsp of flour for sugar)
1 cup vegan butter (e.g. Becel)
1/2 cup ice cold water
Filling:
1 3/4 cups (1 14 oz can) pumpkin
3/4 cups coconut milk (use fat not low-fat)
1/2 cup brown sugar (I used the brand rogers, their brown sugar is made with molasses)
1/4 cup maple syrup
1/4 cup cornstarch
1 tbsp vanilla extract
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1/3 tsp allspice
1/3 tsp ginger

Instructions:
For the crust mix the flour, sugar if substitute with the butter in a big bowl, and slowly add ice cold water (sometimes I need more, sometimes less, depending on the butter I use). When the dough is sticky enough, form a ball and place it in a tupperware in the fridge for 1 hour.
Preheat the oven to 350° F (180°C). 
Roll out the dough until its big enough to cover your pie plate (9 inch). Carefully lift the rolled-out dough into the pie plate and shape the crust, maybe create a decorative frame with a fork.
Combine all ingredients for the filling in a high speed blender (if you don't have one mix them in a big bowl well). Pour the filling into the pie plate and bake for one hour. When you remove it, the pumpkin filling might not be completely hard, let it cool down and if possible let it sit in the fridge for at least 4 hours until set. Preparing the pie on the day before and letting it sit in the fridge over night will intensify the spices and flavors.

One Breath, One Movement.

"One Breath, One Movement" - is probably what sums up the past two weeks the best.

But let me sum it up chronologically. This is almost a celebration for me, because on September 21, 2016 my Yoga Experience started, so it's my one year celebration now!

After completing the Yin Yoga Training with Bernie Clark this past summer, I saw the positive effects of finding depth in a pose and holding for time. (Read the full article here.) It opened my eyes, how important it is to stretch out and put specific stress on bones and ligaments, so they don't get weak over the years. I understood that because we have so much 'Yang' Energy in our lives already, so pressing the 'Pause' button sometimes makes us even stronger. 

I saw how good it is for me to get consistent in my yin practice. If I am writing, texting, producing, working on ideas for 23 hours a day (ok, maybe only 15 hours, because I sleep 8 hours), I should really invest one hour of mindfulness a day. Meditation really improves concentration and memory, and yin on the mat is gold. Actually it's still a struggle to roll out the mat and finally do the practice, because yin can actually be really painful (the ones of you who do yin regularly know that the best feeling is coming out of a pose). 

However, there is a reason why I was so drawn to Vinyasa Flows in the last months. I love moving on my mat and building up the fire that mirrors my life. 

Vinyasa is a raise in energy, a short warm-up with Sun Salutations, followed by a couple or three flows depending on how long the class is, and a cool down. Every inhalation and exhalation is paired with a movement, sweating is normal and working to a peak pose is normal. These peaks can be known hatha asanas, they can also be more advanced with options to play. For example the switch from Koundinyasana 2 to Koundinyasana 1 was a great experience for me. I finally understood what the Mula Banda is and how light your upper body can feel.

And the ones that are close to me know it, I went through all emotions in these two weeks (don't ask) haha -

but let me share the things that I actually learned:
- To be successful in anything you need two things: Motivation & Inspiration.
Motivation: Is what you do to prepare, to make everything as easy as possible. If you want to lose weight, this would mean for example writing down what you eat every day to have an overview. If you want to start establishing a running routine, it would mean to prepare everything the night before, for example placing the running outfit, the garmin and the shoes, so getting up in the next morning and running is as easy as possible.
Inspiration: Well. If you don't have inspiration, your motivation will not bring you to your goal. Inspiration is the why? Why do you want to lose weight? Why do you want to run? Just looking good on a certain event will not be enough inspiration, trust me. It's similar to just running for a special half marathon. It won't be enough. You need to see the bigger picture, of being healthy, having a good time traveling to a race with your friends, or using running as a meditation.

- Fear comes up when you struggle with a pose on your mat (for example arm balances) or in life with a challenging situation. If we stop breathing deep and start judging ourselves because of the fear, the emotion becomes quite stressful and sends lots of unhealthy stress hormones out (Cortisol). 
How do we deal with fear, how do we avoid fear? Well, to be honest, there is imo no solution on avoiding fear. It will always be part of your life. Dealing with it is easy when we accept that fear (especially fear of failure) is a part of our existence. It simply is there, not being judged into something good or bad, its just what it is. As soon as it is nothing that you try to avoid, your fear automatically loses the power to control your life. 

Also, one little personal thing: Doing yoga at 7 am in the morning is great, it's just not for me, haha. Seems like I enjoy a slow start into the day with a lovely cup of tea more than moving a lot on the mat, for the next little while, I will switch back to my evening routine.

However, I'm really grateful for the experience, I learned a lot and I made some great connections, especially with people like Alyssa, Camilla or Helen, to name only a few of them.

Vegan Vanilla Chocolate Layered Birthdaycake

This is a birthday cake, that is not only made easy but it also tastes so delicious. It is better than any present and it will be the cake on the table, no mater how many other non vegan cakes are there. Let me give you the recipe.

I got that recipe on a blog online, however the cake had to be soy free, so I changed some ingredients. In the end, the whole thing is now even easier to make.

Here we go:

Ingredients for the cake:
2 1/4 cups (360 ml) almond vanilla milk
3 teaspoons apple cider vinegar
1 1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons (230 grams) granulated sugar
1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons (110 ml) canola oil
1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract
3 cups (250 grams) unbleached all-purpose flour
4 1/2 tablespoons cornstarch
1 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 cup cocoa powder
3/4 teaspoon salt

Ingredients for the frosting:
1 cup cocoa butter
3 cups powdered sugar
3 Strawberries
1/4 cup cocoa powder
1/4 cup almond vanilla milk

Instructions:
- preheat the oven to 350 degrees °F
- grease 3 x 6" or 8" inch cake pans
- in a large bowl mix the almond vanilla milk with the apple cider vinegar. Let it activate for 5 Minutes.
- add the oil and vanilla extract.
- in a separate bowl mix flour, sugar, baking soda, baking powder, salt and cornstarch. Sift the dry ingredients into the big bowl peu a peu while using an electric hand mixer.
- divide the cake batter evenly into three pans (leave 1/3 in the bowl and mix it again with the cocoa powder)
- bake for 22 - 25 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.
- let the cake cool down completely.

- For the frosting, blend strawberries in a blender with almond milk, mix liquid cocoa butter with strawberry - milk paste and powdered sugar. If it's too liquid, add more powdered sugar, if its too dry, add more almond milk.
You can decide if you want to use cocoa powder for a chocolate frosting or strawberries for a pink frosting. I made 1/3 pink frosting and 2/3 chocolate frosting.

Vegan Dog Cookies

If you feed your dog vegan dog food, you might have a hard time with dog treats. The ones you find in pet shops are not vegan at all, they contain meat and all sorts of slaughterhouse waste (I checked some ingredient lists that even said bonemeal or liver).

Time to make your own dog treats/dog cookies. Its easy and cheap!

You simply need flour, baking soda, peanut butter, oats and carrots. I'll add the recipe down below.

Some people say, dogs shouldn't have peanut butter. I use unsalted peanut butter, and my dog goes crazy when I have one of those dog cookies in my hand. I mean, I am not a vet, but that little dog treat made of simple ingredients can't be unhealthier than what is mixed into regular dog food (gelatin, artificial flavors, thickeners, ...).

As I said, our dog gets a vegan dog food, the brand is Natural Balance. I add a link if you are interested. In my opinion, dogs can digest everything, and I'm sure that they get all the nutrients from that vegan formula - that we usually feed with rice and veggies. In fact, her breath smells way better since she is on the vegan formula, than when she was fed the non vegan dog food with turkey and beef. Just logically I would not feed a cow to my dog, because she wouldn't be able to hunt and kill a cow. I think the cow would be able to protect herself and kill the dog if she had to.

In my opinion, a cat can't be fed vegan (just as a side note) - some people do it and they say it works. Thankfully I don't need to think about that.

Also, as the dog is still hunting rats every once in a while, I wouldn't call her a "vegan" dog. She is plantbased, everything else is up to her. If she catches a rat, she can eat the rat. But most of the time she doesn't even want to eat the rat after catching it.

Here the recipe, try it out, no matter if you have a vegan dog or not. It's a simple and delicious cheap homemade snack that helps you get your dog's attention during a walk or a hike. 

Ingredients:
1 cup flour
1/4 cup oat flour (simply blend oats until they are flour-like)
1/2 tsp baking powder
pinch salt
1/3 cup peanut butter unsalted
1/2 cup grated carrots

Instructions:
Preheat the oven to 350°F. Prepare a cooking sheet with parchment paper.
Simply mix everything together in a big bowl. It needs to become a slightly sticky dough and hold together. If it doesn't hold together, add a little bit more peanut butter (or water) and it its too sticky, add a little bit flour or oat flour.
Form little bits your hands and place them on the cooking sheet. Depending on the size of your dog they can be smaller or bigger.
Bake for 10 minutes (depending how small they are, they will be cooked faster). If the bottom of the cookies gets brownish, they are done.
Let them cool down completely before giving them to your doggie.

The Vegan Volcano

I posted something similar on my german blog and ever since, I have the urge to repost it on my english blog. This is about the "Vegan Volcano". 

Disclaimer: Ok, sit down, or hold onto something, because this is the fu**ing truth, and yes, I am going to use swear words. If you can't handle the truth or if you can't stand the use of swearwords, please don't read this. 

My background: Just recently, I celebrated my 8th year of being a vegan (Vegans call this veganiversary, mine is on August 21, 2017). And to be honest from the very beginning until now, I had ups and downs being a vegan. Here are different stages that I went through in these past eight years: At first, I was the "Super-Vegan" that couldn't be more vegan. Vegan as fuck. I wanted my friends and my family to become vegan too, I tried to veganize them. I wanted to save the whole world. Then there were times where I was the vegan:"as long as I am vegan, I am doing enough - I don't care what anybody else eats and supports." It went that far, that I turned meat on a bbq for my friends while they were standing beside me. I couldn't care less, the only thing I was looking at, was my own plate. 

I know deep down (especially since I am in this yoga thing where everyone talks about peace and love and ahimsa and shanti shanti shanti) that everyone thinks for himself/herself. And no - I don't want to force anyone to live his/her life like i live my life. Why? Because I myself made that decision free and without anyone talking me into it. Nobody attacked me or pointed a gun to my face and said: "Go vegan or else I am going to kill you." Deep down, I know that you can not force anyone to do anything. They have to want to do it. 

Trust me, if I can say one thing for sure, this is it: I have never physically or psychologically felt better than after making the change to a vegan diet. The health benefits alone are simply amazing: My skin was smoother, my digestion is easy, my mind is clear. As far as I can tell, I feel like I am mentally stable. I don't get upset easily, I am smiling more than being in a bad mood or stressed. You know, it just feels good, not to rely on animals when it comes to filling my fridge. Not to use animals for the taste and the satisfaction. Really, even my physical activities and my energy level improved, ever since being vegan I was active, I trained for triathlons, I ran, I cycled, I hiked, I did yoga. And after eight years, I don't have a lack or protein, b12 or died because of an iron deficiency. My teeth are good, my hair, my nails. 
I am thankful for not leaving a big ecological footprint: Are you aware of how much water is used to produce one fucking hamburger? 660 gallons btw. Are you aware of how much wheat and oats a cow gets before she is big enough for the slaughterhouse? Its 100 pounds per day! Do you know that there are still 4 children dying every minute because they have no access to food?
I am so thankful that I made the connection and living a life while harming the environment and the planet as less as possible. Just by not taking away the egg from the chicken, the milk from the cow and the fish from the ocean. 

One story, just because I was vegan when I was still in high school. We had some sort of religious education and I still remember sitting in the class room thinking to myself: "What the fuck am I doing here - I am fucking wasting my time." These stories that we've read in that old and dusty book called bible just didn't make any sense to me at all. Why should I pray? Hope for the good? Going to church every sunday and repeating the same stupid words and hoping for a better world, but not changing a single thing?! Do you understand this? 
This is a question for anyone that still believes in christianity, or islam or buddhism, or any other religion: Do you think god/buddha/allah/[whatever you call your god] would be proud of us, sitting there and praying but not doing anything for a positive change in the world? 
Seriously I never had respect for these people; wasting there precious time praying and kneeling down and hoping but not doing anything actively. In fact, where I grew up, people used to go to a restaurant and have meat or fish after church. What the fuck?

Long story short: In the last eight years, going vegan was the best decision I ever made in my life. I never regretted it. Never. Its a win win. For everyone. The planet, the animals, my health, for everyone. 

And yes, there's my ego that just wants to yell the message and tell everyone how awesome they will feel and how good it is. My ego just wants to make everyone go vegan. But I am who I am and I am not you. So if you are not vegan and if you are not planning on becoming a vegan, that's something that I will accept. I see the world from my perspective. For you, not being a vegan might make more sense. I have to accept this.

And then there are these moments where my vegan volcano just explodes. Like, when I am at a coffee shop and I order a matcha latte with soy milk (which in most coffee shops is more expensive than a regular cow's milk matcha - even though it should really be cheaper, because the process to produce soy milk is far easier than raising, feeding and milking a cow, making it pregnant and giving it medications, ...); well my matcha latte arrived on my table, it looked beautiful and it had a nice milk foam, but later - as I am talking to the barista, she tells me that there is milk powder blended in the matcha powder. Hello?! This is crazy - in my opinion (please tell me if I'm wrong) I should be told while ordering, that there is milk powder in the matcha blend, especially when I ask for a milk alternative (soy milk). What about all these people with a dairy intolerance? It's fucking 2017 and we are not in the middle age anymore. And if someone wants to tell me now, that not every coffee shop knows about the existence of veganism - no. They offered vegan cookies and advertised them with a vegan tag.

It's fucking stupid and these situations make me angry. It seems like us vegans always have to be nice to everyone and respect their decisions to still consume animals but vise versa nobody really seems to respect our decision. 

Think of this: If someone lights up a cigarette beside me, nobody would roll his eyes because I walk away so I don't have to inhale the stinky cigarette smell. If someone sits down beside me and starts eating a donair and I walk away because I am disgusted, everyone calls me a "militant vegan". What the fuck?

But vegans are a little group of hippies that want to save the world. We have to be quiet. Peaceful. Never mention that we are vegan. We are not allowed to talk about slaughterhouses and animal abuse at the table because that is not polite. It makes Omnivores' (Omnivore is someone that still consumes all sorts of animal products) food taste shit. "Please don't tell me this, I don't wanna hear it!"

One day I was wearing my sea shepherd hoodie and some guy came over and said: "Did you know that the first ever sea shepherd boat sank right at the start or their mission to Japan?" He laughed in my face. I looked at him, and asked him if he thinks that this is funny. When the titanic sank, nobody was laughing. He explained, that just another "peace organization" of a little group of hippies that tried to change something, failed. I simply said, that he can enjoy these facts as long as there is still fish in the ocean. Well, again I was the stupid vegan girl that can't laugh about a joke. Why so serious?

Another stupid question that I got asked a lot in the past is: "Is it ok for you if I sit here by you and eat my sandwich with bacon and cheese?" No, I don't fucking force myself to be vegan everyday, I am not a victim. I don't cry myself into sleep because just another sad day passed. Imagine me sitting down at the same table with meat eaters and asking them: "Hey guys, is it ok for you if I sit down here while eating my vegan burrito or do you emotionally feel attacked by that?"

Just a quick message to everyone that still consumes animal products: Please please please inform yourself. Get the facts about how many animals die, and how many resources they use. What it does to the world, what it does to the health. Inform yourself. It's so easy to laugh. When you laugh, you feel stronger and that helps you. But instead of joking about it, think about this: If you want to have kids, then please leave them a planet where they have a good life. Where they don't have to fight for food or water. And please show a little bit respect for the ones amongst your friends or family that live a vegan lifestyle. They have heard all the stupid jokes about vegans and veganism already. It's nothing new, and it's just funny for you. Most vegans don't fucking care what other people think about them. 

And for me personally: I don't care what you eat. I care about your diet as much as I care about your sport activities, the car you drive or how you wear your hair. I don't have to care about you later. I don't have to pay for your chairlift when your arteries are stuffed and your liver is done because of detoxing all the shit. There is only one reason why I still fight for more people eating a vegan diet: The world. Scientists found out that the only way this world will make it into the next couple centuries is by changing the lifestyle. Do it for yourself and your body and health. Do it for future generations. Do it to save resources or do it for the animals. 

And yes, this might be a little rant but I needed that. And I can do it. This is my blog and I know my readers. They don't take it personal. If you took anything personal, I apologize. I just can't be the peaceful yogi all the time that says namaste and shanti to everything. You know - if someone attacks a little kid on the street, I fucking do something against it. I just hate injustice and I will never be tired fighting for it. 

Like bananablondie said in her video (please watch this, I am so with her in every aspect): You know, if you don't wanna be vegan. Don't be vegan. I will still love you. But you should at least have to good sense, to be slightly embarrassed about it. 

Glutenfree guilt free Streusel Oat Bars

Here's a recipe that you should definitely keep in mind next time you are craving something unhealthy sweet and naughty. Why? These incredible oat bars are vegan, gluten-free and low in fat. They are made with natural ingredients only and no white sugar is used. Give them a try, you won't even take a lot of time. They are done in less than 40 minutes and you probably have all the ingredients at home!

I used blackberries for the topping, because I'm lucky to live in a neighborhood full of blackberry bushes and it's the season right now to pick them. But of course, you can substitute with any other sort of berry, like raspberry, strawberry, cherry, - you can even use the frozen berry mix from the supermarket. 

The crust is incredible, the use of oats makes me think of fresh granola, I just love the smell in the kitchen after opining the oven. I'll definitely make them again sometime around christmas and add cinnamon to the crust. That will be amazing.

I don't want to talk about how amazing this recipe is for too long. Simply try it and convince yourself.

Here is this simple and quick recipe:

Ingredients: 
4 cups of oats (doesn't matter if you use quick oats or big whole oats / you can substitute 1 cup with coconut flour or almond flour. That will make it amazing)
1/2 cup almond butter
1 tbsp coconut oil
1/2 tsp salt
1/3 cup maple syrup (alternatively use xylitol sugar and dissolve it in 1/3 cup water)
12 oz blackberries (or any other berry)

Instructions: 
1. Preheat the oven to 320 °F (180° C). Prepare a regular pan with parchment paper.
2. Process oats in a vitamix or a food processor until you have flour. 
3. Combine oat flour in a bowl with salt, and coconut/almond flour if you substitute.
4. Add the coconut oil, almond butter and maple syrup to the bowl. Use hands or a spoon to combine until the mixture comes together.
5. Set aside 1/3 of the mixture for the topping. Use 2/3 of the mixture to distribute in the parchment lined pan (1/2 inch thick crust works well in my opinion). Pick crust a few times with a fork. 
6. Bake crust for 10 minutes.
7. Add blackberries to food processor or vitamix and just pulse a couple times. Its nice to keep a "berry texture".
8. Remove crust from oven and add the berries evenly on the crust. Crumble the reserved oat mix as "Streusel" on top. Bake for another 15 minutes. 
9. Remove from oven, let it cool or enjoy them warm with some vanilla ice-cream.

Plastic reduction tips

I wanted to write this blogpost for a long time. I don’t think a lot of people are aware of this topic: Plastic. I feel like, every time I start to discuss it with someone, most people just roll with their eyes. They think: Let’s focus on what is actually important, plastic is not on their list.  

I don’t want to sound negative in this post, however I think it is relevant to talk it out. 

The fact is: I try to avoid plastic as much as possible. I’m far away from being a perfect example. My toothbrush is made of plastic. And some foods I buy are wrapped in plastic. My shampoo comes in a plastic bottle.

Still, I find myself turning around in the supermarket in slow motion – and I feel like an alien.

The fact, that almost everything is wrapped in plastic is shocking. And if there are loose oranges or avocadoes in the supermarket, people still go and get plastic bags to transport them. I don’t understand this behaviour. I really don’t. Especially when it comes to something like oranges and avocados, fruits and vegetables that we peel before we eat; there is not even a hygienical benefit to putting it into a plastic bag! Why is a cucumber wrapped in a condom? Why? 

It makes me wonder, there must be a big marketing going on behind the scenes. Maybe people think that their fruits and vegetables are “brand-new” if it comes wrapped in plastic. Maybe they like it because they think that nobody has ever touched it before they after unwrapping it. Which is not true. Someone does the picking, the assorting (finding the moldy and bad veggies), someone does the quality management. Lots of people can have their fingers on your cucumber, before it gets wrapped in its condom.

Maybe its just that soft, straight, see-through shiny feeling that we like between our fingers. It makes us think that we buy is a high-quality product. Wrapped for us. Like a birthday present. 

Whenever my boyfriend and me go shopping together, I have a really good time. We have fun, only picking the fruits and vegetables that you can buy loose without any plastic. We almost always find everything we need, or else we simply substitute things (like picking sweet potatoes instead of a plastic bag full of normal potatoes). These exchanges don’t harm our creations, our meals. In fact, sometimes it even tastes better. We like the change and we like the feeling of not supporting the plastic industry. We transport our veggies and fruits loose in our own textile shopping bags that we like to reuse. Here in Canada, they use the concept of “un-packed self-service fill up stations” where you can bring your own container and fill up your customized amount of products, like nuts, seeds, noodles, rice, herbs and spices, oats, wheat, anything. I love that concept. No plastic garbage is created, unless you rip off a new plastic bag to fill it up (which is totally against the beautiful concept).

When we arrive at the cash register, we see lots of people with lots of single plastic bags. One for the tomatoes, one for the bell pepper, some people even stuff them with products, that are already wrapped in plastic! It’s unbelievable. 

If you think I am overexaggerating then read this collection of facts: 

• On average, a plastic bag is used for 11 minutes.
• An average European causes more than 100 kilograms of plastic, every year.
• In the oceans there are over 100 million tons of plastic swimming right now. Of course, sea life is affected by this. Fish, and all other sea animals struggle and die out because of this. Birds that catch fish are affected too. Scientists found plastic in seagulls and sea eagles
   for example.
• Once plastic is produced, it wont disappear. Actually, it takes 500 years till plastic rottenes.
• One tube of toothpaste may contain up to 10% of microplastic. 
• Plastic often contains a softener, bisphenol A. Its scientifically proven to cause cancer, asthma and infertility. 
• Only 11 out of 100000 substances, that are used for the production of plastic in the last decade, have been analysed.
• The plastic industry in Europe only makes over 500 billion Euros every year. I didn’t quite find the number for north America and Asia but it must be at least equal.

Isn’t that shocking? What kind of world did we create for our children and grand-children? 

If you want to improve your plastic consumption (and at the same time save some $$$); here are some of my tips:

• Recycling: You can re-use all plastic bags that you have at home right now. If they are dirty, wash and dry them. Use them, as long as possible, now that you have them. 
• Prepare for your shopping trips: Set aside some textile shopping bags and some of the smaller plastic bags that you already have at home and take them with you when you go shopping. 
• If you go shopping unprepared (or you forgot your bags at home) here is a lifesaver: Just grab a cardboard box (you often find those at the fresh veggies or fruits), it should help you carry your groceries to the car. Bonus: while heavy plastic bags often rip, these boxes hold way more weight!
• Collect your organic garbage in a separate bin. Order garbage bags online that are made of corn starch, they will just disappear with your vegetable and fruit garbage.
• This one is for all women: Use a mooncup/lady cup/menstrual cup instead of tampons. Ok, its made of silicon but it will last a long time and you save so much plastic garbage by simply not buying tampons anymore.
  For all mamas: Use textile diapers for your baby. These diapers are made to reuse. You can put them in the laundry. This is also a lot cheaper.
• Topic: Toothbrush/Toothpaste: I use a toothpaste that is made out of natural ingredients only, it comes in a little glass jar and it whitenes the teeth. Also there is the option of purchasing a toothbrush that is 100% recyclable, its made with wood/bamboo, check it out here. Its not a lot pricier, and you get a good quality.
• Getting fresh veggies and fruit: Check online if you find a local market in your area. You will not only get good quality from local farms, but also support the local vegetable farmers. Also its nice to eat “with the season” and adapt a little bit to what is available right now. Sometimes you get good deals on these markets as well. 
• Water bottles: If you want to avoid buying water bottles, consider getting one nice metal water bottle, that you can refill. I cant drink tap water where I live (it just doesn’t taste good to me) so I got 2 15 litre bottles that I fill up, either in the supermarket on a fill-up station or in the nature by the creek (we found a natural quarry nearby).
• Replace takeaway articles with re-use articles: Use a metal bottle instead of plastic bottle, bring your own coffee cup to starbucks instead taking a plastic cup. Cheap, There are even straws made of glass or metal that you can put in the dish washer. Get one good razer instead of single-use razers. By the way, here is a trick to use razorblades longer than just for a week (up to a month): Simply use an old pair of jeans to sharpen it: With slight pressure, move the razorblade in opposite shaving direction over the jeansfabric. 
• Have a backpack or shopping bags with you when you go to get new shoes, clothes or books. The cashier almost automatically puts them into a plastic bag. 
• Check your clothes and avoid (unless its sportswear) polyester. Polyester is plastic. Use tencil, cotton or linen instead.

Please share this with your friends and your family. It is really important that we all do steps in the right direction now. 

*The links added just serve as inspiration. There are no affiliates attached, I don't get anything if you make a purchase.