http://www.mugshotscoffeehouse.com

2100 Fairmount Avenue
Philadelphia, PA 19130
Phone: 267.514.7145
Fax: 267.514.7146

Monday – Friday 6:30am - 10pm
Saturday: 7:30am – 10pm & Sunday 7:30 – 8pm

I was hanging out with an old friend who lives in the Fairmount area, and knowing my vegetarian eating habits, he decided to take me to Mugshots for a morning brunch.

I had a vegan reuben that was just fantastic. It had tempeh on it, with a goddess dressing (that I must learn to re-create) and some killer sauerkraut.

But the best part of Mugshots? The coffeehouse has soy milk as a regular part of the sugar and milk bar. You don’t have to pay extra for it! Brownie points galore!

We went around 11, and it was a tad on the crowded side, but you didn’t have to wait long for your food. It’s a tight squeeze in there, but it’s cozy and has a great feel to it. Orders can be for there or for take-away, so it’s possible to grab a great vegan or veggie meal and go sit out in the sun!

The price isn’t horribly bad either, and although sometimes you do pay a bit more for veggie foods in general, everything I thought was pretty reasonably priced!

People often ask me why I am a vegetarian, and does it insult me that they are eating meat? Of course not. Eating meat is what most of the United States does. And why I am a vegetarian I have said over and over. It makes me feel GREAT!

I hear a lot of “I could never give up meat” or “That’s what animals are for. They are food.” Look at the teeth in your mouth. There are different teeth for different reasons. If we were meant to eat JUST meat, our mouths would look quite different. We were hunter/GATHERERS. What do you think that gatherer part was? Ice Cream? A burger? A slushie from the 7/11?

I have recently started a life overhaul. I am trying hard to cleanse myself of the bad. I have started a hardcore workout schedule, and have my first 5k planned for the 3rd of July, and then after that, a ½ marathon. I feel great running, and I find that I have MORE energy now that I have rid myself of the fatty/carby foods.

Now, everyone has bad food they love. Myself? I LOVE pizza and bread. Lord do I love it. But I do NOT have the body type that can eat the crap all the time. I just don’t .

There was a point in college, where all I ate was fast food and carbs and bad cafeteria food. 2 am Taco Bell? Sounds like a great idea. Chick-fil-a for breakfast and lunch? Sure. My car was a littered mess of fast food wrappers and soda cups (It’s a mess now, but at least it’s protein shake cups and Tupperware). And one day, I went to a doctor, and I couldn’t believe what the scale said. I was in sweatpants all the time, and just in denial. I was wearing a size 16.

I started running that summer at home, drinking protein shakes, and my parents were force feeding me healthy food. Did I stick with it? Eh, some of it stuck. I became a healthier person, and lost the weight, but I don’t think I took it that seriously. I still didn’t eat totally healthy. My freezer was filled with frozen chicken, pizza; the fridge with cheese and bread. I did start making SOME changes, but it just wasn’t enough.

Living in Scotland changed a lot for me because I walked everywhere. The grocery store, the bar, and school. I walked at least 3 miles a day. And when you WALK to get your groceries, you don’t get as much, and you make better decisions. Here’s where things started changing.

Then, I worked at a summer camp where I ran and rode horses ALL day. It is ALL I did, and although I ate crappy camp food (actually not that bad) I lost weight. I was healthy.

For a while, I lived in Savannah. I had nasty roommates, and felt like I couldn’t have too much in the fridge. So I ate things like canned tuna, salads, hummus on pita. See the change happening? And again, I walked a lot. And I rode horses pretty religiously which helped too.

And now, I live in PA. It helped living with my uber-healthy conscious and ex-runner Aunt for a while. I picked up running again, and she helped me not have bad things in the house. I did slack off over the winter with the running, but I got even more serious about eating healthy. In July I went completely veggie, although I will admit, I will have fish every once in a while. But, I am trying to keep bad things OUT of my body. If I eat fries, I get SICK. I have to truly limit what I eat. My body just rejects it now.

And I am by no means saying I am a saint. The other night at the bar, 2 cheese sticks. I had chips with a veggie burger the other night. And I love my wine. But today I had huevos rancheros in a wrap, a salad, a Cliff granola bar, and some southwestern style bean soup. All veggie, all low in fat, and protein in everything.

What would I have before?

Let’s take a look at some of my old favorites, shall we:

Chick-fil-a Chicken Biscuit: Total Fat: 18 grams
Spicy Chicken Sandwich (Wendy’s): Total Fat: 9 grams
Medium Fry (Wendy’s): Total Fat: 17 grams
Taco Bell Bean Burrito: Total Fat: 12 grams
Taco Bell Taco: Total Fat: 10 grams
Bojangles Cajun Chicken Biscuit: Total Fat: 21 grams
McDonald’s Big Mac: Total Fat: 33 grams

So let’s say, for example, you eat Wendy’s Spicy Chicken Sandwich with fries, and then hit up McDonald’s on the way home: 59 g of FAT!

Yeah. Shocked yet? I was.

I am not a calorie counter, and I am not saying you should be. BUT be AWARE of what you put INTO your body. Don’t be ignorant about the bad that is in your food.

And, if you do eat meat, know WHERE that meat comes from. HOW are those animals raised? Are they eating animals by-products? Are they laying in their own filth? This isn’t a cruelty post, because you might say, but they are just animals. Raised for the purpose of eating. Yeah, ok. I’ll go with that. I was in FFA and I am a realist. But would you want to eat an animal that had been sitting in its own feces for its entire life? Think about pungent smells and items, and how they can seep into the skin. You think that doesn’t happen with animals too?

People may judge me for being a vegetarian, and I don’t really care. Everyone is their own person. But arrogance is ignorance. I am trying to make healthy decisions to impact my own life. I am changing my life. And share my bits and pieces of knowledge along the way!

Information about Fast Food from: http://www.chowbaby.com/