I thought it was time for a check-in with myself on this vegan journey. It's only been a few days of total veganism (I did spend about two weeks prior to that slowly weeding out dairy and eggs) but there are things I am already noticing. 1. The biggest change so far has been breakfast. I had been eating yogurt with granola prior to the kickstart. I'm not a big fan of soy or coconut milk yogurt, so I gave that up totally. I was also saddened to see that my favorite granola is made with honey. The good news is that this forced me to branch out. I've had whole wheat and flax seed toast with peanut butter and plain oatmeal with a little agave, almonds and dried cranberries this week. I also bought a ton of ingredients to try some green smoothies.
2. I feel.....lighter. I am definitely eating a lot more vegetables and paying attention to things like getting enough protein now that my yogurt is out of the mix. I haven't had the gross too full type feeling once so far. I was a little worried about eating properly (I know a vegan or two that lives off of french fries). I am improving my diet in a pretty simple way--it's much harder to find sweets that are vegan! My mind also seems sharper, if that makes sense. Life seems clearer.
3. My love for Washington, DC has been renewed. There are a plethora of vegan-friendly restaurants in this town and I'm really appreciative of that fact. It's nice to be able to try out new foods and not have to do the dishes afterwards.
4.. I'm becoming more adventurous. I bought nutritional yeast. I made brussel sprouts for the first time. I tried radishes (not sure how I never had these before!). I researched ways to veganize some favorite foods. Foreign sounding ingredients in recipes seem more like a fun challenge now and less scary. There is a growing list of recipes I can't wait to try!
5. So far I've only had one not-so-nice encounter about veganism and no cravings for cheese for far, so that's a good thing too! I suspect I will eventually want cheese, since it has some addictive properties, but for now I don't. In fact, I walked by the pizza part of Whole Foods the other night and really only the cheeseless vegan pizza looked good to me!
7 comments:
That's awesome! It's great to hear that you're having a positive experience. Since making major changes in my diet (not vegan, but pretty close), I have noticed that food tastes better. Flavors are sharper and more vivid, and even very healthy foods like butternut squash taste rich and luxurious. It's interesting how our taste buds change and adapt!
Good for you!
Augh I wish I didn't miss cheese. I was fine until last night - I'm not sure what happened, but all I wanted was something hot and cheesy. :(
Carolyn--I'm sure I'll get those cravings too! I got a book awhile back called "The Food Seduction", which apparently addresses dairy's addictive properties. You might want to check it out. I'm fairly lucky because I didn't eat that much dairy before this either.
Sounds like you're doing amazingly well!! Congrats on going vegan!
My boyfriend just spent the weekend in D.C. & said there are so many delicious vegan options there! You're a lucky lady. :)
I love reading your daily updates on your vegan journey. Breakfast was one of the hardest hurdles for me too.
Here are some of my favourite vegan breakfasts:
* Oatmeal with pecans and maple syrup
* Scrambled tofu
* Quinoa porridge http://meghantelpnerblog.com/2008/12/26/whole-grain-tummy-warming-goodness/
* hummus and carrots (not traditional breakfast food but I find it sets me up for a good day on those days when I don't really want to be bothered with cooking or anything)
I look forward to hearing more about your journey. I hope you have a good vegan day today.
Not completely vegan here, but cutting out dairy and wheat meant I really had to rethink breakfast. I often eat vegetables for breakfast now - sometimes hummus and veggies like ellecubed, but lately, with this cold weather, it's been a lot of squash and split pea soup (pureed), sometimes iwth a side of raw or steamed spinach. It seems weird for breakfast, but it really works.
Curious to hear your vegan-friendly restaurant recs :)
This is so great. I am not there yet, and reading your posts gives me inspiration! Thank you and keep at it.
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