I just completed my first week as a vegan. After my sister gave me her summary of Skinny Bitch, I promised her that I wouldn’t eat any meat for the month of November.
The first week wasn’t as bad as I thought. I imagined that I would crave meat all week. That my mouth would salivate at just the thought of deep fried chicken or a well done peppercorn steak.
Neither has happened.
I must admit that I’m not completely vegan. I think I’m more of a vegetarian because:
- I had cheese on a vegetarian pizza on Nov 5th.
- I had French toast twice last week (eggs are the culprit).
- And I had egg in my Pad Thai from Spring Rolls and in my fried rice from Asian Legend.
What have I eaten this week? The common misconception is that a vegan diet is rich in tofu. Well, I’ve had tofu this week, but I’ve also had beans, lots of vegetables and soya products, such as soya ground, soya chunks and soya milk.
Easy Transition
The transition has been relatively easy because:
- I’m lactose intolerant and I don’t consume much dairy anyways, except yougurt and cheese. Not having milk, sour cream or cottage cheese was easy since I don’t consume them.
- I typically eat red meat once a week, so cutting it out completely for my so called vegan diet was simple.
- Being active means that I watch what I put into my body, so I’m used to being selective about what I eat.
- I’ve been exposed to vegetarian foods all my life. I tend to mix my diet with vegetarian dishes, so instead of doing that once a week, it’s now every day.
- I don’t like biting into fruits, so I use a juicer daily and mix different fruits together. Since I was already doing this, it was easy to do more of this as a vegan.
What I Like
What am I enjoying the most about my so called vegan diet?
- I’m not hungry at all. I used to eat 6 small meals a day, but now, I eat 4.
- My last meal is around 6pm and except for some air popped popcorn around 9pm, what I eat for dinner takes me through until the next morning.
- I lost 4 lbs this week alone. It just melted off.
- I feel more alert. I don’t know what it is, but I now have more energy than I did before.
- I see meat, yet my mouth doesn’t water. I even went to my favorite Chinese restaurant over the weekend and my sister ordered my favorite chicken dish. Yet, I didn’t crave it.
- I’m sleeping better. I now tire around 9:30pm and can fall asleep by about 10:30am. This is perfect since I’m at the gym by 6am 4 mornings a week.
What I Don’t Like
There are some drawbacks:
- I miss cheese, especially old cheese and yougurt. I tried soya cheese, but it tasted gross. My sister has given me a tofu, cashew, frozen fruit recipe that’s just like yougurt, so I’m going to give it a try.
- I had a problem with flatuence. It would go on for almost 12 hours. I cured that problem with Beano and so far, it’s working.
- I now have to plan my meals for the week. Lots of work involved in shopping for lentils, beans, tofu and then grinding them into pastes and liquids for the week. Of course, working from home makes this easier to do, but now I have to fit food preparation into my daily schedule.
Action for Week 2
This week, I’m going to add a little bit more variety to my vegan diet. I’m going to add more nuts to my foods and I’m going to try and cut out eggs from my foods.
Also, I’m going to check out the Toronto Vegetarian Association website based on a referral from my Twitter pal, Angela del Buono.
If you have any vegan resources, eg associations, receipes, etc. do post your links in the comments area below.
photo courtesy estaticist
Leesa,
You are doing great. Protein is related to productivity. Your mind may disagree with what your body wants. Trust your body.
To ease digestion, soak beans overnight, add spices or vinegar, skim off cooking foam, pressure cook or purée, and eat small amounts.
Seeds (sunflower, hemp, flax) are a good source of protein. I add them to my daily breakfast smoothie and sprinkle over salads. If you have a really good blender (or Vita-Mix) make your own breakfast cereal by grinding almonds, sunflower seeds, coconut, and dates. Top with soy or hemp milk. Yum!
A mixture of nuts (peanuts are highest in protein), seeds and dried fruits such as cranberries or raisins make an excellent crunchy snack. Other good sources are broccoli and quinoa (my favorite grain). You can find a few recipes here.
Whatever our food choices, digestion begins before we put the food in our mouth, so slow down, create a positive food prep environment, eat mindfully, and chew your food well.
All the best to you.
Aqiylah Collins
Holistic Health Counselor
Brava Leesa!
You touch on some key points in making sustainable lifestyle change. I have been observing and working with clients and students for many years, and there are definitely secrets to creating lasting success. You project a strong motivating force (your sister), a buddy/coach (your sister), a positive attitude that is searching for all the benefits you are gaining along the way, and realistic expectations.
As an expert on the subject, I would like to especially note 2 more powerful secrets to sustainable lifestyle change that you exemplify: 1. Your aforementioned realistic expectations reflect a level of self-forgiveness that is ESSENTIAL to true health. Not only are guilt and punishment barriers to your ultimate success and happiness, but they are downright toxic and corrosive to your health. Brava! 2. You imply that your changes are not drastic ones, but rather small adjustments to your ‘baseline’ lifestyle. This is an essential point. I was concerned at first that you made an abrupt change into your challenge, but was relieved as I read further. Your combination of the “jolt” technique and “kaizen” (continuous improvement) is a fabulous combination – a one-two punch!
Lastly, and not to be a bummer, but… you are definitely not a vegan. Vegans eat no animal products at all. Some include yeast. Vegetarians come in different varieties. Those who eat eggs and dairy are technically ‘lacto-ovo vegetarians’. You are better off steering away from a lot of dairy even if you include it. Many vegetarians are dumb about fat, calories and sodium and over-rely on cheese. Also beware of a lot of processed soy products they have hidden problems. Dr. Furhman’s work (cited above in another post) is awesome. Eating better- not less; nutritiously dense foods allow you to eat more and lose weight while feeling better than ever before. Go back to traditional eating patterns…
“Change your mind and your body will follow.”
Great Job!
Karen B. Cohen (The KAIZEN Coach)
KAIZEN – A Private, Holistic Training & Wellness Studio
Lexington, Virginia
KAIZENWellness.blogspot.com
Oh, dammit. I didn’t realize you were lactose intolerant. There goes my great idea to stock up on cheese.
What about yogurt? I’ve heard some people who can’t drink milk can still have yogurt because it doesn’t contain lactose.
Hey Leesa
Funny “coinkydink” …
I have a student living with me who is a vegan. When she asked if I was a vegan I replied – “Not in the strictest sense!” Nibbling on a chicken wing!
But, as I have been really watching my diet and making sure I listen to the dietitian I have (TGH Diabetes Clinic – Julie is so cool!) I have been doin some cookin here – totally vegan.
Couple of ideas…
Soup. Lots of soup – tomato rice, cabbage, pasta fagiole etc etc
Eggplant lasagna (but no noodles or cheese lots of garlic – breaded eggplant and tomato sauce)
Stuffed Eggplant – with rice onions garlic and peppers
Cabbage rolls (actually cabbage roll lasagna so leaves on bottom and top rice, peppers and onions in the middle top with tomato soup)
LOTS of stir fry
And a bunch of others – but you get the idea
These are great healthy meals – and tasty.
ya have to get lots of protein. IMPORTANTE!!!
So see if you can get a glycemic chart and stick to great low number legumes.
Great idea. Keep up da good work!
Leesa:
Congrats for being the most honest blog of the day. I have yet to be able to work up a farting post but you’ve now inspired me.:))
Best always,
– Peter
Hey Leesa! Congrats on week 1! probably the week with the most adjustments!
The pad thai from the Vegetarian section at Spring Rolls is actually vegan (like everything else in that section) So maybe you were good, and you didn’t realize it.
http://www.springrolls.ca/menu-di-veg.html
thanks for the props! 🙂
TVA has a resource centre that is open Wednesdays (6-9pm) and Saturdays (1-4pm) that is staffed by wonderful, helpful volunteers, a lending library with over 500 books, DVDs & videos and a bookstore.
http://www.veg.ca/content/view/36/67/
These volunteers also record a weekly podcast if your readers aren’t local and want to hear whats going on in veg T.O, they can listen at http://veg.ca/content/blogcategory/31/95/
Cheese:
Your tastebuds have a memory, after another week, they will forget what cheese and cow’s milk “really” tastes like. I’ve been vegan for 11 years, and a previous cheese-addict. Nowadays, I’ll eat vegan things that tell my brain its cheese… even though its not.
There are some really really horrible vegan cheeses out there, I’m wont’ lie to you. Earth island cheese and Chreese (available at the Big Carrot) are the best out there.
Good Luck for week 2! Its gonna rock.
best
angela
Good for you, sounds great! I have flirted with a Vegan lifestyle on many occasions, I do agree it is the best way to live for dietary reasons and you get healtier faster. When I followed http://www.drfuhrman.com/ Dr. Joe Furhman’s diet backed by his great web site I lost a good amount of weight. It is hard being Vegan, but his tips about eating a high quality nutrient enriched diet devoid of dead calories is key. You can eat Vegatables all the time…
Good luck and keep up the great work, it shows! Also, eat that Oatmeal in the morning, just spice it up, I gave up milk years ago, I love lowfat soy flavored of course…
Jonathan Fleming