Toi Magazine Nov. 2018 Issue NO. 13

M A G A Z I N E NOV. 2018 ISSUE 13

FROM THE MOUTH OF A VETERAN

AFTER THE PHYSICAL WAR COMES THE MENTAL WAR

4 FILLING VEGAN HOLIDAY DISHES FABIAN ROMAN CHANGE, MLB, & VEGANISM

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

Vegan Holiday Dishes Vegan Athletes Ethical Fashion From The Mouth Of A Veteran

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FOUNDERS NOTE

"Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the LORD your God will be with you wherever you go.�

JOSHUA 1:9

MINI NO-BAKE PUMPKIN PIES W/ GRANOLA CRUST Preparation 20 minutes; Freezing time at least 2 hours Skill Level: Easy Serves: 12 Ingredients and Measurements For the Granola Crust: 3.5 cups Nutritiously Delicious Naked ‘Nola About 1 cup pitted Medjool dates 1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice For the Pumpkin Layer: 1 can pumpkin puree, or about 2 cups 1 cup Medjool dates, pitted 1/4 cup vanilla yogurt ½ cup melted coconut oil 2 teaspoons vanilla 1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice 1 teaspoon cinnamon 1. Add the Naked ‘Nola and pumpkin pie spice into a food processor and pulse. Slowly add in the dates until a sticky, moldable consistency is reached.

½ teaspoon ginger ¼ teaspoon pink salt

2. Press the crust into the bottom of 12 re-useable silicone cupcake liners or use a mini tart pan. Press the crust about halfway up the edges.

3. Freeze the crust to allow it to harden, while making the pumpkin layer.

4. For the pumpkin layer, add the remaining ingredients in a high-powdered blender and blend until completely smooth.

Taste and adjust spices, if desired.

5. Remove the crusts from the freezer, then spread the pumpkin layer evenly over each one, filling the liners to the top.

6. Place back in the freezer for at least 2 hours, or until hardened.

7. Remove from freezer and let them sit to soften for about 15 minutes.

8. Top with a dollop of dairy-free cool whip and enjoy! *Notes: Store any extra crust/pumpkin filling in a mason jar and refrigerate. Enjoy as pumpkin pie in a jar. It’s so delicious by the spoonful or with a little dairy-free coconut cool whip on top!

This is one of my favorite pumpkin recipes. It’s easy and nutritiously delicious. I love using my homemade granola to make the lightly sweetened, nutty crust. All of my tastetesters found these to be heavenly. I am so excited to have them featured in Toi magazine's fall issue.

@NUTRIOUSLYDELICIOUS_ WWW.TASTEND.COM GRANOLA MAKER; MARKETING COORDINATOR OF OOBY

o z z u n i D a n n a i G

Tania

This delicious mushroom lentil loaf has a five-star rating and is the most cooked recipe of any other on my blog! It’s so popular because it is packed with healthy veggies that everyone has in their kitchen, it’s incredibly easy to prepare, and it is so. darn. flavourful! The sweet balsamic glaze caramelizes beautifully in the oven and is the perfect complement to the earthy flavours of savoury mushrooms and lentils. This rich and hearty loaf is a fantastic centrepiece to any meal (bonus: it’s healthy too!).

Vegan Lentil Loaf @whoneedssalad www.whoneedssalad.com

VEGAN LENTIL LOAF Prep time 10 mins Cook time 50 mins Total time 1 hour

INGREDIENTS 1 tbsp olive oil 1 medium onion, finely minced 1 small carrot, finely minced (about ½ cup) 1 rib celery, finely minced 200g crimini mushrooms, roughly chopped 4 cloves garlic, minced 2 tbsp tomato paste 1 tbsp vegan Worcestershire sauce (optional) 1 cup breadcrumbs 1 15oz can brown lentils, drained and rinsed 2 tbsp fresh parsley, minced 1½ tsp salt 1 tsp dried oregano ½ tsp paprika ¼ tsp dried thyme ¼ tsp black pepper ¼ tsp cayenne (optional) ¾ cup vegetable broth For the Glaze ¼ cup ketchup 1 tbsp balsamic vinegar 1 tbsp maple syrup ½ tsp mustard

DIRECTIONS Preheat the over to 350 degree F. Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the onion, carrot, celery, and mushrooms, plus a pinch of salt. Sauté for 10 minutes until most of the moisture has evaporated from the pan.

Add the garlic and sauté for 30 seconds until fragrant, then add the tomato paste and vegan Worcestershire sauce, if using. Sauté for 5 more minutes for the flavours to marry, then remove from the heat and set aside to cool.

Prepare a loaf pan with some parchment paper. To a large bowl, add the breadcrumbs, lentils, parsley, salt, oregano, paprika, thyme, black pepper, and cayenne, if using. Use a wooden spoon to mix until thoroughly combined, roughly mashing some of the lentils as you go. You may also use a potato masher for this.

Add the contents of the skillet to the bowl, along with the vegetable broth, and stir to combine until it forms a compact, dough-like mass. Press the mixture into the prepared loaf pan, ensuring it is evenly distributed.

Prepare the glaze by adding all ingredients to a small bowl and whisking to combine. Spread the glaze on top of the loaf, then place in the oven to bake for 35-40 minutes until the glaze has turned dark brown around the edges.

Let cool for at least 15 minutes before slicing otherwise the loaf will be too soft and fall apart.

Vegan Pumpkin & Chocolate Chunk Muffins

By Nicole and Nathan Moore @mythisandthatkitchen

method DIRECTIONS Preheat oven to 375° F (190° C). Line muffin tin with liners and spray liners with canola oil.

INGREDIENTS 1 (15 oz) can pumpkin puree 1 cup cane sugar 2/3 cup vegetable oil 1/2 cup unsweetened almond milk 2 tsp vanilla 1 tsp baking soda 1 tsp baking powder 2 tsp cinnamon 1/4 tsp ground cloves

Combine the pumpkin puree, cane sugar, vegetable oil, unsweetened almond milk, and vanilla in a large mixing bowl. In a smaller bowl, whisk together the dry ingredients - baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg, ginger, salt, and flour.

Incorporate the dry mixture into the wet mixture about a cup at a time. Once the wet and dry ingredients are thoroughly incorporated, fold in the chocolate chunks.

1/2 tsp ground ginger

Fill the muffin tins until they are about three-quarters full. Bake for 25 minutes or until a toothpick comes out of the center clean.

1 tsp salt

Enjoy!

1/2 tsp ground nutmeg

2 1/2 cups all purpose flour 1 cup vegan chocolate chunks

This recipe is very near and dear to our hearts, largely because it was one of the very first vegan recipes we created back when we first transitioned to a plant-based diet! @mythisandthatkitchen

www.mythisandthatkitchen.com

apple sourdough crockpot stuffing

PREP TIME: 20 MIN

l

COOK TIME: 1 HR.

l

TOTAL TIME: 1 HR 30 MIN.

 A

NAMASTE

UPBEET

CREATION @namasteupbeet www.namasteupbeet.com Ashley Shapiro

method Ingredients 1 loaf sourdough chopped 3 stalks celery chopped 1 honey crisp apple diced 2 flax eggs 1/4 cup vegan butter melted 1/2 cup dried cranberries 1/2 cup pecans chopped 2 cups vegetable broth 1/2 tsp sage 1/2 tsp rosemary 1/2 tsp thyme 1/2 tsp salt

Instructions Add all dry ingredients to the crockpot and gently mix Pour vegetable broth and melted butter over dry ingredients Combine all ingredients, making sure all bread is coated Set crockpot on high for and hour to an hour and a half, checking occasionally, with the lid on

CHANGE CAN BE UNCOMFORTABLE. EVEN CHANGE FOR THE BETTER IS ALMOST ALWAYS ACCOMPANIED BY MOMENTS OF DRAWBACKS. BUT WHEN YOU’RE DOING IT FOR A GOOD CAUSE;A BIGGER PICTURE THEN JUST YOURSELF... YOU BEGIN TO FEEL GOOD ABOUT YOURSELF FOR DOING SOMETHING GOOD BY CONTRIBUTING TO SAVING OUR PLANET AND GOING AGAINST ANIMAL ABUSE/CRUELTY.

-Fabian Roman Fabian Roman @fabroman_

I

I am Puerto Rican. Born and raised in jersey city, nj. Hobbies of mine include working out, running, yoga, meditation, reading, family time and traveling. Passions of mine would start with baseball. I’ve been playing baseball since I was 9 years old, and I started off really terrible lol. At the age of the 9 I was hit in the face with a bat that fractured my eye socket, and was supposed to be. Blind from that one eye. Thankfully there’s a higher power above and his plans were different for me. I came back the following year and it was like I was a whole new person. I was blessed to have later on in life, get drafted into the MLB at the age of 17 years old. I decided to attend college being that I would be the first one in my family to have the opportunity to do so. I attended school in Texas having a dominating first 2 years with a record of 21-4 both years combined. I then transferred over to northwestern to continue my career. Fast forwarding to 2013 a year later, I was blessed with another opportunity to turn professional at the age of 21. The Cincinnati reds drafted me. I was also blessed to have played with the Seattle Mariners in 2017. I have been professional 5 years now and things are only getting better. I enjoy motivating those around me to challenge themselves into growth. I love making someone believe in themselves as much as I believe in my self.

The Beginning I decided to go vegan just over a year now and I feel amazing, . I watched a few documentaries, and did some extended research. After finding out what they do to the animals really disturbed me and I couldn’t see myself ever playing a part in that. It also just doesn’t make sense to me that if for years people have lived healthy lives without any animal products, consuming strictly a plant based diet, that all of a sudden “we need meat” and milk for calcium. It’s being misinformed, and closed minded. We are what we eat and our body is made up of water and oxygen so that is what should be

consumed in our diet. I’ve came across so many stories where people have over come cancer, diabetes, and many other healthy conditions through consuming a plant based diet.

I did have many doubts about being vegan and an athlete because it was all new to me. I literally went vegan from day to night.

It was like a brand new person inside of me lol.

At first it was a little difficult because I didn’t know what to eat. I found myself overloading with potato’s with every meal until I got the gist of things, which was the moment I fell in love with fruits and avocado. I did lose some weight at first because for me it seems like I got full faster but hungry more often if that makes sense.

Protein??

I get plenty of protein through my daily diet without even touching meat or dairy. Foods such as tofu which is a popular meat substitute also containing calcium and iron making them solid choices of replace for dairy, tempeh, Lentils are a great source of protein to add to a lunch or dinner routine. They can be added to stews, curries, salads, or rice to give an extra portion of protein, fiber, potassium and iron. Chickpeas, almonds, peanuts, spirulina , quinoa, chia seeds, flax seeds, hemp seeds, vegetables, potatoes, eggplant, jackfruit and many more.

Any Social Struggles After Making the Change?

I don’t feel as if it’s a social struggle at all. The only difference wouldn’t honestly be people not expecting someone to be able to be vegan and an athlete. I definitely get questioned about it a lot, and many of my friends joke with me about it but for the most part it is very well respected because my performance

has only gotten better. I would love to be able to lead by example and encourage people to give it a chance for at least 30 days before judging it.

With google now a days you can obtain an endless amount of information towards living a plant based vegan lifestyle.

Listen to This...

Some advice I’d give someone transitioning to a vegan lifestyle would be to be patient with the process of transition.

You’ll definitely have the urge to give up after some time. But once you get past that you won’t regret it. It wouldn’t even be a thought. Change can be uncomfortable. , even change for the better, almost always accompanied by moments of drawbacks, due to simply just the people around such as a family and friends who aren’t vegan, and discomforts because it will almost feel too hard to do, but when you’re doing it for a good cause, a bigger picture then just yourself, you begin to feel good about yourself for doing something good by contributing to saving our planet and going against animal abuse/cruelty.

@sarahfisketraining

SarahFiskeBoxing

Credit: Regina King Photography reginakingphotography@yahoo.com

SARAH FISKE

BOXING FOX "Veganism is for me because it is the most  compassionate and nourishing choice. "

A.K.A.

I

I originally went to school for photography, specializing in music events. I started boxing for fitness in college and eventually left photography to pursue a career in personal training. I love boxing, and I love helping my clients reach their goals and build confidence in the process.

The Beginning I was never a huge meat eater.

As a kid, my parents had to basically force me to eat my meat. When I was about 16 and was able to purchase my own food, I gave it up for good.

As for doubts, not at all. I had been plant based long before I became an athlete, so I never really considered another way.

Protein All the regular places. Beans, lentils, tofu, seitan, etc. I also looove nutritional yeast! I take a vegan version or supplements most athletes take; protein shake, multi vitamins, sometime preworkouts... I’m incredibly lucky to live in a city like Los Angeles, though. I have almost unlimited vegan food options and it’s easy for me to keep a well rounded diet.

Advice to You Don’t be scared of it! It’s easier than you think! Focus on eating plenty of whole, healthy foods.

Available on Amazon @pnuffcrunch Instagram

All professional photography including Padideh is by Noushin Bahr of @noushpotography. noushin.bahr@gmail.com

INTRODUCING

PADIDEH "I believe that veganism is not a label and should not be. One cannot and must not be either vegan or nonvegan. Like sexual preferences, I view veganism as a spectrum." @padidehclimbing

I'm

I'm a civil engineer and a route setter at Mandala Boulderhalle climbing gym in Dresden Germany. I immigrated to Ontario, Canada in 2011 where I met my German partner. Currently I live in Dresden, Germany where I’m trying to learn Deutsch! I like sports and I like to be active. I bike to work a total distance of 14 kilometers everyday.

I have had my hands in quite a number of sports in different periods of my life but rock climbing was love at first sight. I find nothing more satisfying than the perfect body movement and power optimization that comes with advanced climbing. Climbing is so sophisticated and geometrically complex, I doubt that anyone fully understands the human body's capability in climbing. When I have a boulder project in front of me, I think about it as if I'm trying to solve a math problem, and not kidding, it pretty much is the same thing. Bouldering is solving a multivariable optimization problem which can result in multiple solutions, and that’s the beauty of it from a nerd’s point of view!

The Beginning For me, things didn’t happen overnight. For multiple years I stopped purchasing red meat. I would still eat it when dining out simply because I felt my options would be very limited otherwise.

After some time, I gradually stopped purchasing chicken as well. So basically, my animal consumption at home was limited to seafood. At this period of time I didn’t know anything about the environmental impacts of meat consumption. I simply stopped purchasing because I couldn’t see myself killing a cow or a chicken. So I felt responsible to stop asking people to kill them for me.

I was in this state of mind when I met my vegan partner. I had a lot to learn from him about the environmental impact of the meat industry. The way animals were treated in animal farms, and how the diary industry was no less guilty.

Following social media content on veganism, I slowly developed a fully vegetarian diet and it all happened naturally. I never tried to refrain myself from eating meat. I tried to educate myself, to fix my emotional relationship with animals, whose love I had forgotten since childhood.

Everything else followed. It was around October 2017 that I thought I could give veganism a try. I never set myself a rule. If I craved cheese for example, I never pitied myself. I purchased cheese and consumed it.

I believe it is natural for one to

crave one’s old habits no matter how terrible she thinks they were.

We are all humans and we need to take our time to adapt to our new standards. But all the cravings faded away by time. It’s been around 5 years since I fancied reducing my red meat consumption and today I’m vegan! It could sometimes be questionable for people when they hear about my vegan diet as an athlete but overall being a vegan athlete, I feel that it is quite the opposite way around.

I believe that representing oneself as a vegan athlete is more of a statement than a question mark.

When hearing about my vegan diet, more people are inspired and motivated than have doubted my capabilities and potentials.

I believe the society nowadays considers vegans as healthy, conscience and fit beings, true or not, than physically struggling individuals. Veganism however could be a struggle but not a social one. As a vegan, passion for animals does not end on our plates.

We feel responsible when purchasing sports equipment to find vegan products. When it comes to shoes, I find myself especially in a bigger struggle and I hope that in the future more companies take interest in providing vegan athletes with vegan products.

Advice to You I believe that veganism is not a label and should not be. One cannot and must not be either vegan or nonvegan. Like sexual preferences, I view veganism as a spectrum. I hear people telling me that they really like the idea of being vegan, but they can’t imagine not eating steak for the rest of their lives. Or vegetarians who say they love mozzarella cheese way too much to be able to give it up. Since they consider themselves nonvegans, they not only keep eating their steaks and their mozzarella cheese blocks, but they also eat chicken, eggs, butter, feta cheese and all other animal products, and that’s simply because they think they don’t belong to veganism. Now if we stop thinking of veganism as a label and more of a goal, then the steak lovers can have a vegetarian life style but eating a steak every now and then, and vegetarians can be vegans but eating cheese every now and then and our planet would be better off.

The problem lies on the fact that vegan or vegetarian has become a social status of higher conscience and any infringement is punishable by the society. It is as if someone tells you if you get to enjoy a higher social status, you don’t get to eat a pizza like we do! You’re either with them or with us!

Labeling is hurting the cause and it must stop.

I think we first need to be aware of the reason, for which we are going vegan. Is it the environment that we

care the most about? Is it our health? Or is it our passion for our fellow beings? When one knows what one’s main reason is, one must read and watch and socialize to thoroughly institutionalize the idea and the cause in oneself. A vegan lifestyle is like attending a university. One cannot graduate overnight, and it is okay not to.

And finally, as a vegan athlete, I have not felt better before. I feel lighter, more energetic and healthier than ever. I find myself trying a more variety of vegetables, grains and nuts since I’ve gone completely vegan. I get enough protein and more healthy fats in me. Sitting down and calculating my daily intake of protein from a healthy vegan diet, I realized that eating meat and eggs is necessary for muscle growth and strength progression is a myth. These days if someone asks me where I get my protein from, I cannot help but laugh.

Veganism Is For Me When I look into a cow or a chicken or a lamb’s eyes, I see no more than a friend.

julie berland LULLU

INSTAGRAM: @fitberland

Hello

Hello there =) My name is Julie Berland, but you can call me Lullu.

I am a educated Health Counsellor and Fitness Coach, but you’ll find my office 38 000 feets above the ground. I am currently working as a Flight Attendant as well as studying tourism. I am 25 years old, born and raised in Bergen, Norway. If you do not know where Norway is, Google it. Some passengers tend to as if we have polar bears running wild in the streets. (I actually got a question once if women are pregnant for more than nine months because of the cold weather.). As cool as it sounds, this is not true.

Before reading on I just want to excuse my English, my first language is Norwegian, so I might spell words the wrong way. Either that or blame it on my dyslexic.

The Beginning There’s many reasons to why I decided to make the change to go vegan. To be fair, I didn’t know much about veganism 3 years ago.

It was actually my ex-girlfriend who open my eyes to the animal cruelty and the environmental changes. I watched loads of documentaries and started research for studies that has been done to learn more about it. During this time, I was on and off eating some fish and milk now and then. It was also really difficult for me to be 100% as I was commuting from Bergen to Oslo because of work. My job as a flight attendant did not make the situation easier as I always had to sleep in different hotels around Europe.

Furthermore, since I was young I’ve had loads of stomach/bowls problems. I was often bloated and constipated, which resulted in rifts, bleeding and hemorrhoids. This became even a worse problem after started flying because of the cabin pressure. I therefore decided to go to the doctors to get a colonoscopy done. The doctors told me that my bowls wasn’t function the way it should and that I didn’t digest the food properly. I had to cut down on diary and heavy meals. Turning vegan have been a life changing medicine to my stomach issues. I haven’t had a problem since! *Knock on wood* Is Veganism A Social Struggle?

Hmm.. yes and no. There’s so many vegans that I have met that are dieting. This is where I find the most social “struggle”. I eat a lot and often. I always eat something, to be fair haha. This tend to lead to discussions. But the amount of energy output that I spend during a day needs sufficient enough energy input. Some vegans ask me how I do

it, but its easy. Just prepare food, drink coffee, exercise and have fun.

How can I exercise almost every day, deadlift 110kg and do yoga with a diet that is not giving me fuel?

Veganism Is For Me I don’t see why I should destroy my health, ruining the earth and kill innocents just so that I can have a snack.

Contact Me I used to have a very popular Instagram with more than 30K followers. Because of a lot of work and some personal issues I deleted this account. A couple of months later I opened a new one for my own sake, nothing fancy just my everyday Yoga and Fitness. @fitberland

Sil VEGAN CYCLIST

@silnbubb

I am a passionate cyclist, and I do mostly road cycling. I have been vegan since October 2016 and am part of groups advocating for veganism. I love singing and making music. I love gardening too, altough I am guilty for not mowing my lawn as often as I aspire to. I am Scandinavian but live in Upstate New York now.

The Beginning I decided to go vegan and cut out animals from my diet, make-up kit, wardrobe and wherever else I could, in October 2016. My sister had gone vegetarian a few years previous, but I never remember speaking to her about why. Then one day in the daily news paper in Switzerland, where I was living at that time, I read an article about a slaughterhouse that is Zürich. The journalist had gone to visit that slaughter house, and reported in a very objective way about what happened behind those doors. He spoke to a man working at the pig line, killing pigs, and asked him about the process and his job. The slaughterhouse worker told the journalist that they had a quite modern system that would automatically calculate how much power was needed to stun a single pig according to their weight.

Sometimes however, this machine would miss calculate and the pig would not successfully be stunned and would still be conscious. In this slaughter house they had 15 seconds to kill a pig because they needed to have killed all the pigs for that day at a given time a day. So the journalist asked what happened to the pigs that were not stunned unconscious. The slaughterhouse worker said that these pigs could not be taken back to be stunned again and would have to have their throats slit open being conscious, this because of time pressure. I was very surprised to learn that this happened in Swiss slaughter houses, because I very much trusted the Swiss to handle this delicate process in the best way possible. At this moment I also realized that I am paying for this to happen. That was when I started looking into vegetarianism. I read a lot online and everywhere I would turn I would see veganism mentioned. Being vegetarian was apparently not enough because of how cows milk and eggs are produced. I watched all the slaughterhouse fotage there is on Instagram, and I suffered!

Those clips depict the nightmares you would never have the fantasy to even imagine. It was very difficult to watch this and to come to realize that I am funding this industry.

Whenever I wanted to turn off, I told myself, these individuals have lived through that, the least I can do is to witness it.

I have celiac disease so I have to eat gluten-free. I thought it would be impossible to also be vegetarian, not to even think about being vegan. but what I had seen was not something that I wanted to contribute two, therefore, I decided to try to be vegetarian for a week or two. Of course this was ridiculously easy. I informed myself on what my body needs and the vegan sources from which I can get that. That was another important realization, that one can be perfectly healthy, and in many ccases even much healthier, as a vegan. therefore, I felt that I had to give veganism I tried in order to be able to know if it is really impossible to have celiac disease and be vegan. I gave myself a few weeks to try and told myself if it did not work out I would go back to eating animals. Of course being vegan was much easier than I thought. it was in fact not difficult at all. I kept informing myself on veganism and I had decided to eat and drink on the animal products that I already had at home, but having seeing how the animals are treated and knowing that it is completely unnecessary to consume animal products, there was no way I could drink or eat anything that came from an animal ever again. A short time after I moved from Switzerland to the US and weird giving up my household I also gave up my old lifestyle and adapted a compassionate life style, veganism. it, Advice To You Be prepared for shorter recovery times and being able to work out more. Free your agenda for more and happier training units. inform yourself about what your body needs and the vegan sources where you can get it. Use a platform such as cronometer.com to check that you get enough of what you need and use it to learn where nutrients come from. Connect to other vegan athletes and see what they eat.

Social Struggles As A Vegan??

No, everyone I have met are very respectful and some are curious to learn more too. Athletes care about their bodies and if they see fit vegan athletes they are bound to be curious.

My Why Having compassion for all creatures we share this planet with.

SHAKEEL

"THE JAMAICAN JUGGERNAUT" PHINN

CANADIAN SUPER MIDDLEWEIGHT CHAMPION (PRO BOXING)

I am I am a very sport oriented person.

When I was in college, I was playing football and sports that I love. During the off season, I was looking for another sport to do while I was on break. I found a boxing gym near my house. I learned how to box and fell in love with the sport. After 6 months of training in that gym, I had my 1st boxing amateur match, that was 7 years ago. This sport has been my passion ever since. I deiced to make it a career, I turned professional in January 2015. I have now 21 fights; I have won 19 with 13 of them coming by way of knock out. I am currently the Canadian Super Middleweight Champion. Some of my passions are food, sports and travelling. I also own a boxing gym called "Donnybrook Boxing Gym". I get to teach the sport that I love different people everyday. I was born in Montreal QC., currently living in Brossard QC. The Beginning My girlfriend was a vegan 1 month before I decided to change. But the thing that really got me to switch, was that I was having trouble making weight for boxing, because I have to be a certain weight for my fights. I was looking for ways to change my diet.Then,I watched the famous documentary on Netflix " What the Health". After that, it kinda change my perspective on eating animal products and being healthier. I went to my fridge and threw the milk away. I gave away all the stuff that I had containing animal products to my family. I made the change instantly.

Was It Worth It? In the beginning I didn't, because I looked up different athletes that are following a plant based diet. So I thought I was going to be fine.

Until I had my 1st loss since I changed my diet. Then I had a lot of doubts on whether being a vegan athlete was the right decision. I felt good with the food I was eating, it is just that I was getting a lot of criticism. People around me were blaming my new diet on the fact that I lost, saying that I looked less strong and less powerful than I used to. That really played with my mind. But I decided to stick with it, because I felt great in my body and health wise. I did

more research on the proper food and messaged a couple vegan athlete on what they do and how much time did it take for their body to adjust to a plant based diet.

They all encouraged me to continue. Now it has been a year and I have won 3 fights in that period of time, 2 of them by knock out. I do feel I am the strongest I have ever been.

Protein Of Course You can find a lot of proteins in a plant based diet. They are in most vegetables and legumes. I make sure that I can my protein from that. I am not big of supplements.

When I did my research, I found that vegans do lack some vitamins.

The only thing I do take are vitamins B-12 and vitamins D. Social Struggles Yes. I kind of experienced it first hand. My girlfriend and I are both vegans. when I mentioned I was a vegan to my family and friends, they were worrying a lot about if it was going to affect my performance as an athlete . When It came to my girlfriend who is not athlete, she didn't have the same type of comments, nobody really said anything.

Advice To You To any athletes that are trying to make the transition I would say do your research, look up for different athletes that are doing the same and buy a lot cook books, pinterest will be your best friend! It has been a life changing experience for me and I would suggest it to any athletes.

It's For ME. Veganism is for me because I feel healthier and I feel that I am doing something better for the world.

www.rawrorganics.com

Rawr Organics What Encouraged You To Start Rawr Organics?

I, Rachel, was a fitness competitor for several years. I got really wrapped up into hitting my “macros” just right and was primarily focused on keeping carbs low and protein high whenever I enjoyed a protein bar. There was one brand on the market I was very loyal to, I was obsessed with their bars! In fact, I became a sponsored athlete for them and was eating their product 1-2x daily for an entire year. During this year, I began to have adverse side effects from the bar. I would get bloated afterwards. My stomach would feel sloshy and to be frank with you, it gave me constipation! I even gained weight!

As I became more educated on micro nutrients and actually feeding my body what it needed to be healthy, I realized I could no longer eat this particular protein bar and enjoy it.

However I could not find a good replacement on the market that had what I was looking for.

Rawr Organic

I was looking for a protein bar with 20g protein that would be 100% plant based using no processed fibers, like IMO’s, chicory root, soluble corn fiber, etc. I also wanted a bar low in sugar that only used real food sources as sugar, not introduced to high heat, vs. sugar alcohols, stevia, erythritol, sucralose etc. I resorted to my kitchen in 2014 and created a bar for just my husband and I to have as a goto. We had no intention to bring it to the market at that point!

As time passed, we began to dream about launching the bar, but we didn’t know if it was the direction we were called to. We had what we thought were our dream jobs in the finance industry. Our career path was set and life was very comfortable. However we began to feel less and less fulfilled in our jobs. In 2017, we felt that the protein bar was part of our calling and that we needed to go all in on it. We decided it was worth it to pursue our passion and take the leap of faith! It took many moving pieces and perfect timing for us to make this shift in our lives. Prior to development of the bar we went and spent 3 months in Africa serving. We came home January 2018 and went all into development of the bar. We launched June of this year.

Why a plant-based bar?

When I first wanted to make the bar plant based it was primarily to avoid the dairy from whey protein. I wanted to make a bar using all real food ingredients that was easily digestible for all, that most anyone could eat if they had food sensitivities; however in the past year I’ve actually gone almost 100% plant-based myself. I never thought I would, especially coming from the bodybuilding industry, an industry that tells us we need to eat insane amounts of meat daily. My mindset shifted after spending 3 months in rural Mozambique, Africa last fall. We were serving on a mission

base, given a diet of mostly rice and beans to eat. I realized I could maintain strength, I naturally remained leaner, and I felt WAY better! I felt cleaner and lighter inside and digestion after a meal was much easier on my tummy. So, now I actually have much more conviction for making the Rawr Bars plantbased.

What is the ultimate vision for Rawr Organics?

The ultimate vision for Rawr Organics is honestly what drives us. We are driven by something bigger than ourselves and this bar is the means to meet the vision. We have both been very involved in serving overseas in poorer nations since we were young, so our hearts are focused on seeing world hunger come to an end. Maybe we are naive, but we did the math, and it is possible to see come to pass in our lifetime.

Rawr Organics currently gives 10% of it’s net proceeds to two different organizations focused on feeding and empowering the hungry. (Feed My Starving Children, and Stop For the One). Both organizations we have served under and trust; however our deepest desire it to eventually have it so that when a bar is bought in America, one is sent to feed the hungry. We envision this to be in Africa, the Middle East and beyond. Wherever there is need.

We plan to work with a PHD in agriculture to design the bars for the hungry using familiar food sources that are most readily digested and absorbed for the hungry, as well as making sure the proper balance of nutrients are in the bars. We would begin by producing these bars in the USA and shipping them to other nations, but as the company grows, we would like to produces these bars for the hungry in their own nations so that we are locally sourcing the ingredients and creating jobs.

From opening day of Rawr Organics to now, what has been your highlight with the company?

Our biggest highlight has definitely been all of the local love and support we’ve been receiving! We have complete strangers try our bar and then go to bat for us, connecting & networking us to great opportunities!

Do you have any new collections or items?

Yes, we do! We currently have a seasonal flavor: Pumpkin Pecan. It has been a big hit.

We use organic dried pumpkin in the bar with crushed pecans and fall spices! We have extended this flavor to go until New Year’s. We also have a fun flavor ready to launch for the holidays. We will be announcing it after Thanksgiving!

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ARIKI www.cariki.co.uk @cariki.apparel

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Our journey started with bamboo and a desire to create tshirts with a subtle yet bold design. Bamboo is an amazing material with a lot of benefits for the environment and feels incredible to wear. If you haven’t felt bamboo clothing before, you will be blown away by how soft it feels against your skin, there really is nothing like it.

As we continued to grow and learn more about the fashion industry, we were increasingly appalled with what we discovered. The devastation that this industry has on the planet and it’s people is truly horrifying, some experts claim that it is the second most polluting industry in the world.

The more we discovered, the more passionate we felt about doing something to change the situation. It is honestly unbelievable how some corporations appear to totally ignore the problem, and that so few people even know about it. Change doesn’t come immediately, one thing you quickly learn is that everything takes time, but we are determined to continue to produce only items that we are confident has as minimal an impact on the planet as possible.

Why are you passionate about ethical fashion?

This was not something we were born with, like many of us, it is something we have learnt and have become increasingly more passionate about with every passing day.

The lives that many in the industry live, the environment they live in and the consequences of our demands for the next fashion fad have an unspeakable impact to millions across the globe. How can anyone in this industry even consider building a business when they know they are just fuelling this cycle of exploitation and degradation?

We are passionate because we are trying to do the right thing. We are trying to help educate those who are unaware of the real consequences of their throw-away lifestyles, and we are trying to provide an alternative that is easy to switch to.

However, one of our goals is to not make people feel bad about their past decisions, nor make the ability to change so out of reach that they feel reluctant to even try. We want to make change easy, so that we can all take small steps towards a better future.

What is a misconception people have with ethical fashion and how does Cariki counter it?

When most people think of ethical fashion, they automatically assume it will be too expensive.

We are trying to change this by providing affordable alternatives that don’t cost the earth. Ethical fashion should be accessible to everyone and we should all care about who made our clothes and where they came from.

From opening day of Cariki to now, what has been your highlight with the company?

We love attending events and being part of pop-ups where people can see all our garments, feel the quality and explore the different range of materials we offer. When we talk people through what each item is made from and they get the chance to feel how different it is from the regular cotton or polyester clothes which they usually buy, people are amazed. Seeing the reactions as we describe what each item is made from, whether it be Tencel, recycled polyester, organic cotton or bamboo, and the environmental impacts of each material, is always incredible to watch, but the quality and texture of each item is what often fascinates people the most.

Something we are really excited about is the release of the British Independent film, Are We Dead Yet, a comedy horror due to be released this winter in the UK. Cariki will be making an appearance so keep an eye out!

We are starting to do more collaborations with other brands who are trying to produce something more sustainable. It is always nice to see others help spread the word for you – one of our most recent collaborations was with music artist Chris Reardon, who is now on tour in Europe and selling sustainable t-shirts as he tours.

Graphic Design: Lauren Kulp

"A Forever War" Graphic Design Art by Lauren Kulp @blueiartangel77

Veteran's Helpline: 1(800)273-8255

The biggest act of courage you can do is care for your mental health. Vulnerability and self-awareness makes us stronger and creates a  never-ending domino effect to those in need. Everyone has or is going through a battle in their mind. Help someone else by saving yourself.

Share your story.

Email services@boutiqueoftoi.com to share your mental health story.

NOTE: We DO NOT edit our mental health stories. Your story, your complete words.

Typos & all, lol. We embrace your story, your background, your pain, your triumph because ... it's "toi".

You.

November 20,2018 Dear Toi Magazine Reader, The following story is of a U.S. ARMY Combat Eningeer who served 6 years and 8 months (active duty) with 2 years of that time being in Afghanistan. One of his duties included I.E.D; finding and destroying the bombs of enemies. He is honored with a bronze-star for his service and recognized immensely for his work.

In his words, he will describe to you not only the battle that he was fighting, but most importantly...the battle in his mind.

THIS, IS THE STORY Â OF JUSTIN BURGI. A.K.A.

About Justin: Born Jan 23 1988 Modesto, CA. Raised in the City of Ceres, CA aka C-note aka C-Town;GO BULLDOGS!

Mental Battles Other peoples lives are in your hands as a route clearance sapper.

Fear of making mistake or a wrong decision.

Any decision in combat is better the no decision.

Depression was hard. I had to soldier up and not let that affect the mission.

I hardly ever communicated/contacted home. I had to stay clear-minded and focused on the mission.

Sleep was little to none- felt like at first. Our main duty was just walking or driving to get blown up; first we had to clear the roads for the grunts.

I would tell my soldiers “to protect the sheep you must be a wolf,it takes a wolf to catch a wolf”.

The First Effect & Is Help Something To Fear After my first IED blast I felt really weird- vomited and developed a slight studdard.

Affected my whole mind and body I got a mild TBI.TBI traumatic Brain injury and post traumatic stress.

Thoughts of wanting to die hopeless of life. My alcohol abuse was bad;I needed help.

I wasn’t a afraid to get the help, I just knew something was worse/not good. So shame on them if they don’t agree with me getting help.

Advice If You Can Relate & To Loved Ones Get help; call veterans crisis line 1800.

Don’t do quick fixes. Stay sober, eat healthy., arm yourself with knowledge to self cope (Medications, diagnosis, side effects).It doesn't matter about the time of day, just call or text the veterans crisis line 1800.

As for loved ones…SUPPORT SUPPORT SUPPORT! ASK to be in appointments together.Study the diagnosis together.Study medications. Hard to, but try and put yourself in their shoes.

Since I was young I grew up around a lot of drugs, violence and negativity but I also got to be around a lot of other positive family environments. Lived both sides. I was 21 when I Joined the US ARMY I was just surviving the streets til then. I wanted to do something bigger. In Iraq 2005 my next door neighbor dustin fritangela was wounded in combat by a enemy I.E.D (improvised explosive device). Combat engineer a (sapper) was my job of choice blow stuff up and fight yeah lol generation kill.

Enlisted march 09 by that august 09 I was already walking in Afghanistan- clearing road.

The Result Of Self-Reflection I am one hell of a resilient mofo and dangerous. I learned to try amd go with the flow and try not to go against the grain. Life is short.

I love myself- I didn’t want to die, I just wanted the pain to go away.

More Advice & Contact Info Depression; make bed every morning, shower and eat. Set small goals and workout. Reward yourself in healthy ways when you do reach your goals. Go shopping, love on your pet, walk them, and feed them.Bad sleep; get melatonin 3mg – 5mg Stress-management- get in the sun if its not sunny go to a tan salon and get UV rays.Try laying down to meditation music- something new I'm doing.

Anger- walk away and or diffuse the situation. Call veteran crisis line 18002738255 press 1.Seek treatment as soon as you see your triggers of issue.WRAP-wellness, recovery , action, plan ….it help you get well stay well.

@defiantsapper747 @747_flyy @tesorofinemexicanrestuarant

November 20,2018 Dear Toi Magazine Reader, The following story is of a U.S. ARMY Combat Engineer who served 9 years and became the first woman to place for the Solider of the Year Award out of her entire combat engineer region in the Army Reserves. Her life did not stop after the army and in fact did include even more awards and first place winnings, but there is so muc more for her to speak about in regards to what happened during the army and other after affects.

This STRONG and RELENTLESS woman has been throguh a numerous amount of hardships, but she overcame them and is now here to tell you her story.

THIS, IS THE STORY OF

"Don’t isolate yourself from those who want to help.

Surround yourself with positivity."

" F I N D

A

P U R P O S E . " LANDRI PEDEN

@Landri_Liftsalot

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I served in the Army for 9 years. I competed on the Army 10 miler team for Fort Drum for two years. I was selected as a representative for my battalion for the AUSA Convention in Washington DC in 2005. I was in the running for the Soldier of the

Year award. I was the only female of 25 soldiers in the competition and I placed 5th. I was the 1st woman to place in this competition out of my combat engineer region in the Army Reserves.

The army seemed perfect for me. I was always an athlete growing up and extremely competitive. I started sports when I was 4 and have always had the drive to be the best I could be and win. I’m the oldest of 4 girls in my family and I come from a small town in Michigan. It wasn’t easy being the oldest and when I decided to join the army at the age of 18 my parents were concerned but knew I was stubborn and my mind was made up. I’m so thankful for my experiences in the army. I learned so much about myself and have met some absolutely incredible people along the way.

I began CrossFit after getting out of the Army and started to compete in November 2017. I have competed in six team competitions. Of those competitions, I earned a spot on the podium three times – once placing 1st, once placing 2nd, and once placing 3rd. The lowest position I have placed in any competition is 5th. I am currently training with TZ Strength and have a goal of competing in the CrossFit games.

Mental Obstacles I think one of the biggest obstacles was simply being a woman in the army. I was treated poorly at times in the army and it was a scary place– I learned to live in fear when I first was stationed at fort drum always feeling like I needed to be looking over my shoulder. I would get followed by male soldiers to my barracks and a couple years into my enlistment I was sexually assaulted. I pressed charges but was told my my female attorney and CID that I didn’t have a leg to stand on because he wasn’t able to finish so there wasn’t enough evidence to prosecute and I would ruin his career because he outranked me.

Another traumatic event was when I was pregnant. I was hospitalized when I was 16 weeks pregnant and I almost lost my son. My old company commander isolated and humiliated me daily and ordered my leadership to work me to the extreme limitations of my pregnancy profile and the stress nearly caused a miscarriage.

The final and most traumatic event was watching my husband fall apart with each deployment and suffering the domestic violence that nearly cost me my life. We tried to help him but were denied by his troop commander.

I wanted to be promoted and to be a leader in the army, but I was afraid to ask for help because I didn’t want it to ruin my career. I chose instead to try and deal with things on my own and the fight to save my husband failed because the support we should have had wasn’t given and my family was ripped apart.

Noticing Things...

I noticed that I was not well shortly after I got out of the army. Within one year, I felt severe depression and a sense of not belonging. There is great community within the army and I felt like I lost that community. Things began to get worse in 2016, about three years after being out of the army.

I found myself suffering from severe migraines as well as panic attacks resulting in passing out without warning and eventually lost my job at Verizon due to my issues with anxiety and PTSD. My Story He was deployed three times while in the army. With each deployment, he began to slowly unravel. He began to get violent at home, both verbally and physically. We knew he needed help and sought counseling services. The counselor felt he needed a more aggressive treatment plan. It was

suggested that he be placed in an in-patient treatment center, but the unit commander would need to sign off, so he could be relieved of his duties. Unfortunately, that didn’t happen. Without his commander’s approval, he was left to stay on duty and continue with his out-patient treatment.

My marriage deteriorated as I watched my husband unravel day by day. He became addicted to the prescription drugs he was given, which eventually escalated to a heroin addiction.

He got involved in an anti-government militia called FEAR. The violence at home increased and I was held at gunpoint and threatened on more than one occasion. Sadly, my husband was found guilty of murder in relation to the group FEAR (Forever Enduring Always Ready) and is currently serving two life sentences in a Georgia prison. All of this could have been avoided if the unit commander would have authorized a more aggressive treatment.

All of this was devastating to me. My life was not turning out the way I had envisioned with my husband as a newlywed and new mother. Instead of turning to a vice of alcohol or drugs, I chose to focus my energy on getting well and taking back my life. I turned to CrossFit in order to overcome the pain and struggles I was dealing with, and still deal with daily.

Self-Reflection I have learned how truly strong I am. I am capable of surviving, no, thriving. I learned about the intricacies of my heart and even though I have been hurt deeply, I still love deeply. I have a passion to help others. Through the obstacles in my own life, I have learned to be a better person.

Advice To Those Who Can Relate and Loved Ones The two things I would advise is to find a passion/purpose and surround yourself with positive people. Don’t isolate yourself from those who want to help. Surround yourself with positivity. Find a purpose. I went through a phase where I withdrew and pushed people away – it’s normal! But once I found my purpose, things began to turn around. I chose CrossFit as my outlet. I found the community I was missing, and it became an opportunity for me to not only focus on myself and my health, but also to help others. Don’t give up!

The two things I would advise is to find a passion/purpose and surround yourself with positive people. Don’t isolate yourself from those who want to help. Surround yourself with positivity. Find a purpose. I went through a phase where I withdrew and pushed people away – it’s normal! But once I found my purpose, things began to turn around. I chose CrossFit as my outlet. I found the community I was missing, and it became an opportunity for me to not only focus on myself and my health, but also to help others. Don’t give up!

Danielle Burdlock Psychologist & Co-director of Soldiers and Sirens (West Perth, Austraila) About Danielle: "I was a police officer for 6 years before starting practice as a psychologist. I have been a psychologist for 10 years predominantly in the field of trauma."

PTSD is probably the best known mental health issue amongst those who have served however we do see an array of mental health issues. The most common alongside PTSD are depression, anxiety, alcohol misuse, and substance misuse.

It is difficult to know why some people develop mental health disorders and others do not. We do know there are predisposing factors such as mental health issues pre-existing prior to service, lack of support at home and/or at work, and the number of traumas one is exposed to as there is a cumulative effect. It is never about not bring resilient or tough enough!

Mental health is on a spectrum. I would encourage service persons to look out for anything that is starting to negatively impact their day to day life, such as sleep disturbance, changes in appetite, changes in mood or concentration, or issues in their interpersonal relationships.

My best advice to anyone who is concerned about their mental health is to talk to your health care provider. Look after yourself - eat nourishing food, exercise, rest even if you can't sleep, and surround yourself with supportive people.

Soldiers and Sirens Western Australia are on Facebook. Our website has not yet launched but will be coming shortly at www.soldiersandsirens.com.au

Thank You For Your Service.