Being Vegan Isn't That Hard

I'm not going to lie. As the days wore on in gorgeous Waikiki Beach, eating vegan and eating healthy started to become a challenge. We visited the same vegan cafe three times in three days, and had a few disappointing dinners. 

The first disappointing dinner had nothing to do with the food -- the veggie sushi and salad was totally delicious -- but with the staff's utter ignorance about what ingredients actually went into their food. At one point, there was a sauce that came on the steamed eggplant that might have had fish flakes in it (which was plausible), then the waitress told us that it might have egg in it (totally not plausible). We erred on the safe side and sent anything back that looked remotely non-vegan, but ended up on the hungry side. I ate a lot of steamed rice that night. 

The second dinner just wasn't that great -- rice noodles that were firm and distinctively un-sauced which came with some limp steamed veggies. Oof.

But take heart, dear readers. Being vegan, 99.9% of the time, isn't hard. Especially in L.A.

Los Angeles, besides being my favorite place in the world, is a veritable treasure trove of healthy and fresh vegan eats. I am like a kid in a candy store over here (but not a kid, really, and definitely not eating candy). It took a delightful trip to a state in love with pork, fish, and spam for me to truly realize it. Eating vegan, and eating deliciously, is just second nature to me while living in the beautiful city of mine.

Take, for example, three of my most recent meals in L.A.:

1) BBQ Seitan sandwich and quinoa salad and green juice at M Cafe in Beverly Hills.

As you can see in the picture, I couldn't keep myself from taking a bite of it before taking the picture. The sandwich was awesome -- thin slices of seitan (known as "wheat meat") covered with BBQ sauce, garnished with vegan cole slaw, served on a delicious whole wheat bun. The quinoa salad was light and yummy, and the green juice, like all green juices, was refreshing and oh so good for me. 

2) Vegetarian chili, some baguette bread, and a garden salad at Urth Caffe in Downtown L.A.

Seriously, this was the best chili I've ever had. And as a vegan weightlifter who eats a lot of chili for its powerful protein content, that's saying something. Insanely delicious. As you can gather, the baguette bread was crunchy and soft at the same time, exactly what you want in a piece of crusty bread. The salad, tossed in a balsamic vinaigrette, was easy to wolf down and super tasty.  

3) Mediterranean platter at Panini Cafe in Downtown L.A.

I got this lovely meal at nearly 11pm, after strong workouts at Educogym and L.A. Athletic Club. The fact that I can just waltz into a restaurant at 11pm, with shorts soaked from my swimsuit, and eat a delicious vegan meal for about 12 bucks makes me smile. The hummus was creamy, the pita was warm and chewy, the olives in the salad were so good I didn't even miss the feta cheese, and the falafels were full of flavor. My taste buds and my belly couldn't ask for anything more.

Today, for lunch, I had an heirloom tomato sandwich with avocado and romaine lettuce along with some vegan potato salad. For dinner, I had asparagus and avocado sushi with lots of smokin' hot wasabi. See what I mean? This kind of culinary satisfaction is almost effortless. 

Without exaggeration, I can honestly say that I look forward to my meals and truly enjoy them. The fact that the food I eat not only tastes good but provides my body with excellent nutrients -- you know, the kind of stuff that cancer absolutely hates -- means I've got the best of both worlds. I look great, I feel great, and this trusty body of mine is being treated the way it deserves.