TheMelvins.org or Our vegan lifestyle & other stuff

The Melvins.org or Our vegan lifestyle & other stuff

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  • Our Vegan Lifestyle
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  • The Weight of the Nation
  • Interesting Blogs

    • Our Vegan Lifestyle

    In September 2011 we watched the Forks over Knives DVD and something clicked in (at least) my head. It's all about better nutrition (whole foods plant based diet) and somehow makes complete sense to me at this time in my life. You can stream the movie on NetFlix.

    We also bought The Engine 2 Diet, a 28 day plan that was written by one of the firefighters from the Austin Texas firehouse that all changed their diet and boosted their health. You can also stream their Kitchen Rescue guide at NetFlix.

    We’d been struggling with the whole highly processed, factory farmed, antibiotic stuffed & pesticide/preservative ridden toxicity of the US food supply and wondering what to do other than buy organic whenever possible. Then while watching Forks over Knives and seeing the science of what animal & dairy protein does to our bodies:

    The feature film Forks Over Knives examines the profound claim that most, if not all, of the degenerative diseases that afflict us can be controlled, or even reversed, by rejecting animal-based and processed foods.

    We decided the answer was to go Vegan!

    The information is all based on ‘The China Study‘ which is a landmark book on nutrition that came out in 2005 and I believe explains everything you need to know about the subject.

    Good news after only 6 wks or so, I had lost 15 lbs and my cholesterol #s dropped significantly (I've now lost 30 lbs mostly diet alone and maintained the weight loss since):

    The books I have been reading say that the surgeons they talk to have never seen a patient have a heart attack with a total cholesterol below 150.

    We're loving the switch and don't feel deprived at all and finally feel like we're seriously looking after ourselves.

    I've ticked up my exercise regimen after a year on the diet because my body says it needs it and it's also telling me to eat less and I believe my metabolism is starting to increase which started to slow for me at the age of 25, so it all seems to be a big positive feedback loop.

    Engineering Beer Bash – December 1st 2000

    CD & Vinyl Mixes

    Melbourne & New Zealand Trip

    Spent 3 weeks in Melbourne & New Zealand (North & South Island) in 2013. See photos here.

    Thursday Sept 18th: Departed SFO for Auckland then onto Melbourne.

    Friday Sept 20th: Arrived Melbourne (via Auckland). Stayed at the Mantra on Russell with Marjorie (my Dad’s cousin). Walked to Federation Square, Southbank & ate at Shakahari.

    Saturday Sept 21st: Met up with Karl (Marjorie’s nephew), Stars & Henry Melvin at the fantastic Melbourne Museum, after a picnic in Carlton Gardens (got great salads at Sumo Salad) and ate dinner at the excellent Yong Green Food together.

    Sunday 9/22nd: Vegan cupcakes at Mister Nice Guy’s Bake Shop with Karl, Stars & Henry Melvin. Picked up some vegan nibbles for lunch at the Queen Victoria market (artichokes, tabbouleh, mushrooms & sun-dried tomatoes) as well as Shepard’s pie & Mushroom and Tofu pie at TOFWD in Degraves Lane. Watched ‘The Graduate’ with Jerry Hall at HMT and then had dinner at Pomodoro Pizza Restaurant on Lonsdale St.

    Monday Sept 23rd: Flew to Auckland and arrived mid-afternoon (2 hours ahead of Australia), picked up rental and drove to Lupton Lodge in Whangarei (2.5 hours drive north of Auckland) arrived at 7ish. Met Andy & Karen from Matamata at dinner and had a great vegan meal made by Andy the proprietor & chef.

    Tuesday Sept 24th: A tropical storm was starting to hit the north of the north island, but we still managed to hit some beaches along the Tutukara coast (and got very wet) before getting lunch in Whangarei and then heading to Hamilton (1.5 hours south of Auckland) to stay at the Novotel Tainui Hamilton. Had a great dinner at the hotel restaurant.

    Wednesday Sept 25th: Great brekkie at hotel and then a great morning visiting Hobbiton near Matamata. Lunch at Brew in Thames then drove the west coast of Coromandel stopping at Otama beach and Opito bay.Stayed at Admiralty Lodge Motel in Whitianga. Indian for dinner at Sangam.

    Thursday Sept 26th: Made own brekkie and visited Cook’s beach & Hahei beach, hiked to Cathedral Cove and dropped by Hot Water Beach, but it was high tide so the hot water spring just under the sand was covered. Got a quick lunch at Waihi and headed to the Trinity Wharf hotel in Tauranga. Got upgraded to a spa room and ordered room service for dinner.

    Friday Sept 27th: Woke up for a great sunrise, made our own brekkie and headed to Papamoa beach on way to Rotorua. Hit the Polynesian Spa and had lunch at the Fat Dog Cafe for lunch and visited the geothermal wonderland at Wai-O-Tapo. Headed to Waitomo Caves Guest Lodge and had dinner at the fantastic HuHu Cafe.

    Saturday Sept 28th: Had a great brekkie at the lodge and checked out the Waitomo Glowworm Caves & Ruakuri Cave. Had lunch at Waitomo Caves and drove to Wanganui (a 4 hour drive) in the rain and stayed at the Rutland Arms Inn. Had a great dinner at the hotel.

    Sunday Sept 29th: Daylight Savings Time started today in NZ. Had a great breakfast at the Inn and drove to Wellington and visited the amazing free Te Papa museum. Stayed at the Amora Hotel.

    Monday Sept 30th: Pouring, got soaked to the skin walking along the waterfront and up to the botanic gardens, visited cable car museum, saw tulips at the Founder’s gate and lunch at Monsoon Poon.

    Tuesday October 1st: 25th (Silver) Wedding Anniversary
    Took early Bluebridge ferry from Wellington to Picton by ferry (3.5 hours). Drove a total of 1,813 kms (1,126 miles) on the North Island. Had lunch at the Harvey’s winery in Blenheim and did some wine tasting at the Te Mania / Richmond Plains winery in Richmond and then stayed at SouthHaven in South Street Nelson for 3 nights). Bought groceries at the Organic Green Grocers and made bean chilli.

    Wednesday October 2nd: Nice day, made our own brekkie, walked around town, including Cathedral & Queen’s Gardens and had lunch at The Vic Mac’s Brewbar and dinner at Stefano’s pizza.

    Thursday October 3rd: Pouring, made our own brekkie and drove to Tanaka and visited Pohara beach, the Abel Tasman memorial at Ligur bay and hiked Wainui Falls. Had lunch at the Wholesome Cafe in Tanaka. Visited Kaiketiketi beach in the Abel Tasman National Park.

    Friday October 4th: Drove to Christchurch (6 hours) and had lunch at Hammer Springs on the way. Stayed at the Heritage, since it was an old government building and had been retrofitted for earthquakes several times in the past it was one of the few undamaged buildings in the city centre from the 2010 & 2011 earthquakes and one of the few open hotels in the area. Walked through the excellent botanic gardens to Dux Dine for dinner.

    Saturday October 5th: Dropped off car and flew to Queenstown and stayed The Rees Hotel (for 3 nights). Drove a total of 1,004 kms (623 miles) on the South Island. Had lunch at Habebes and dinner at No. 5 Church Lane.

    Sunday October 6th: Full day return trip by coach to Milford Sound via Te Anau, Eglinton Valley & Mirror lakes.

    Monday October 7th: Slept in, made own brekkie, lunch at Habebes, visited the Kiwi & Birdlife Park, walked back to the hotel along the frankton trail (part of the Queenstown trail) and had drinks & snacks at Bordeaux room with dinner at No. 5 Church Lane.

    Tuesday October 8th: Flew from Queenstown to Auckland on ‘Crazy About Rugby’. Had lunch at the Soul Bar in the Viaduct Harbour and stayed at the Heritage. Dinner at the hotel (mostly gourmet vegan menu).

    Wednesday October 9th: Very windy, breakfast at the lobby bar which is completely vegan. Ferry to Devonport and back after walking around the twin volcanic cones, lunch at Raw Power Cafe back in Auckland (Vulcan Lane), then flew home to SFO.

    Useful Vegan Links

    Fat Free Vegan Kitchen

    Food Babe

    Food & Loathing

    Happy Cow

    Kaiser Permanente Nutritional Update for Physicians: Plant-Based Diets

    Meatless Mondays

    The Tolerant Vegan

    Veg Guide

    Salt, Sugar, Fat

    Recently read Salt, Sugar, Fat about the processed food industry (a fascinating read).

    Vegan Friendly Restaurants

    Austin:

    Avila Beach:

    Burlingame:

    Budapest:

    Chicago:

    Cupertino:

    Glasgow:

    Healdsburg:

    Laguna Beach:

    London:

    Los Angeles:

    Montecito:

    Mountain View:

    Newport Beach:

    New York:

    Oakland:

    Palo Alto:

    Paris:

    Paso Robles:

    Santa Barbara:

    San Luis Obispo (SLO):

    San Francisco:

    San Francisco Bay Area:

    San Jose:

    Seattle:

    Vegas:

    The Weight of the Nation

    HBO has a set of documentaries, The Weight of the Nation’, that took 3 years to make. The accompanying HBO web site is excellent and contains links to the films (Parts 1 - 4):

    1. Consequences
    2. Choices
    3. Crisis
    4. Challenges

    and allows you to watch the documentaries online.

    Interesting Blogs

    1. Malcolm Gladwell
    2. Maria Konnikova
    3. NetApp Community