Vegan Pledge Day 9: pancake ass

I've got a like-hate relationship with yoga.    

I hit the mat today after more than a month off and was met with some major inflexibility (definitely need to work yoga back in my life more.) My goal was to help out my shoulder so I can get back into my regular routine on Tuesday, but I actually spent most of the time checking out yoga bodies in there.

Let me begin by saying that yoga is a great way to get yourself into shape, and it's a major component for success in my mind.  It's full of relaxation-breathing techniques-and forces you to focus on one task at a time and keep calm.  It forces you to lengthen your muscles and can help correct muscular issues.  You can certainly become psychotically flexible, and do some pretty cool shit, but alas, you can also wind up with  pancake ass. And that's what I saw in there, a lot of flat butt.

So what's my point? If you asked me 5 months ago what my idea of beauty was I'd probably point to the slender yoga girl in class.   She looks like most of the people who walked the Golden Globe red carpet last night--and said to have an "enivable figure" by People magazine. But turn that girl around, you see major pancake.  You don't see much muscle.  Sure she's skinny and can fit into an itty bitty dress (bitch!), but what's missing is that "healthy" look.

Now my way isn't the highway, but crossfit has slowly changed my personal perception of what beauty is--and trust me, that's a hard as hell habit to break.  Look at the runways:it's still full of the heroin chic look of the 90s (I still love you Kate Moss--and if that's the natural you, or anyone else, God bless ya, but you shouldn't be the norm, cause you're not).  Crossfit weirdly challenges you to focus less on weight, and more on what you see in the mirror, a.k.a pump up that butt. 

Gotta bring Veganism into this.  Being vegan challenges  me to do the same: focus on health, and not dieting.  I'm not in this to lose weight. I'm in this to eat according to my personal morals, and also to align my nutrition with my fitness goals.  When you're eating clean, I don't think there's a point to think of much else.  Virtually everything I'm consuming is a nutritional, conscious choice so that I can perpetuate my new idea of beauty--and go after muscle. But to get muscle, you need protein.

I gotta say that I'm questioning the vegan community about protein intake.    A lot of vegans laugh it off and say, " on the vegan diet, you don't need to worry about protein, you're getting enough,"  but I've tracked my protein intake:  On days when I don't consume my raw vegan protein powder, I'm short of the minimum recommended intake by vegan standards. I'm eating bunches of kale, spinach, beans, lentils, quinoa everyday.  My husband just tracked his daily average and he too is far below what he should be ingesting and his caloric intake is high enough.  We're going to have to find him a vegan protein powder as well.  Luckily,  the vegan president of the pledge group I'm a part of is athletic and she too is a vegan protein powder user.  Vindicated.

Anyway,  my idea of beauty isn't the red carpet girls: it's the girls in my crossfit class, the ones slowly taking off body fat, developing new muscle, and kicking ass. You girls are my new celebrities.  So I'm rollin out the red carpet for you and I'm putting the maple syrup away, cause ain't no pancake butt on my girls.

And speaking of pancakes, here's a recipe!
1 3/4 cup rolled oats
1/2 cup garbanzo flour
1 banana
1 tsp vanilla
2-2 1/4 cups water.

Preheat your waffle maker (if you have one. I don't, so I guess I'll never make these anyway)
Place all ingredients in blender. Blend thoroughly.
Pour mixture on waffle maker. Takes about ten minutes. If you open it too soon, it will pull apart.

Now who's got a waffle maker...Can I come for breakfast?