Run Plant Based

Formerly The Raw Project - Running on a Healthy Vegan Diet

SacTown VegFest for the List

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Hello and happy Superbowl Sunday! It’s been a busy and fun weekend so far and we’re looking forward to a family Superbowl party later today. Yesterday was beautiful here, sunny, not freezing, and Miko and I took in fun scenery of hot air balloons on our long walk.

Don’t think I will ever get in one, but they are pretty to look at – haha.

Still trying to be a healthy eater at home lately, especially with life being hectic and stress at work. Lots of salads, smoothies, and oil free stir fries this week.

We did step out for tasty spicy Thai tofu dishes on Friday night.

And I made a hearty veggie, quinoa, and lentil dish for dinner last night that left plenty of leftovers for easy lunches this week.

Yesterday was SacTown VegFest! And I’ve been busy helping to prepare for it with many social media posts last week. Again this year it was packed! But we also have more in demand food vendors to satisfy the crowds and cut down the massively long food lines such as Pho Fresh, Compassion Meals, and Southern Fried Vegan.

This year I did all my volunteering to help with preparing for the event and got to enjoy it more as an attendee which was nice.

We started by heading into Dr. Forrester’s presentation, a family medicine doctor with 45 years of experience and many strong opinions about the medical industry and methods to treat patients. It was a great format of attendees giving him a list of topics they wanted to know more about a the beginning such as afib, thyroid, diabetes, arthritis, and heart disease and he worked through the list discussing the current research, causes, treatments, etc.

He probably spent the most time on Type 2 diabetes summing the condition up to insulin not working in the body due to high fat in the diet and on the body and reverse it by losing weight and cutting dietary fat. He also discussed the calorie density in foods which measures the calories in food groups per pound. Veggies are 100 calories per pound, fruits 300 calories per pound, starches 500 calories per pound, beans 600 calories, meats 1,000 calories, nuts 2800 calories, etc. That introduced a new way to look at foods we consume and the average human consumes 3 pounds of food a day. And it’s much easier today to consume the higher calorie density foods.

He also discussed Branched Chained Amino Acids, found mainly in animal products, being a huge risk factor for heart disease.

After it was time for lunch and we decided to hit the Pho Fresh booth because I am a huge fan of the restaurant, wish it was closer to me, and the menu looked delicious. I got the Jack-Up Banh Mi sandwich which was delicious with a spicy kick from fresh jalapenos.

Then we spent a long time browsing and chatting with great friends in the vendor area. Oh, I could have spent so much money on fashion, jewelry, foods, art, etc.! There were so many great vendors and organizations.

At this point I have so many vegan tanks and tees, it’s hard to fit them all in my closet! But that didn’t stop me from considering more, gotta mix it up at the gym.

I did get curry mushroom jerky, kombucha, a pretty handmade bracelet, seasoning mixes, local heirloom beans, and vegan gelato from Conscious Creamery.

So many great vendors and goodies to see.

I am already looking forward to next year and growing this event more.

But I am also relieved it’s over after all the planning and buildup. So, to the list!

Comments

  1. Aw man, I’m so bummed I had to miss the VegFest! I was in San Francisco photographing the Vegan Women’s Summit instead that day. There’s just too much going on… Which is really a good thing, but the FOMO is strong. I just need to clone myself and be in two (or three or four) places at once. Thanks for the excellent roundup to help ease the pain, though.