What do you eat?

I haven't told many people that I am trying out eating Vegan.  In fact, only my family and about a handful of others really know.  The biggest question I have received from those that do know is "what do you eat?".  The answer, food that taste good! 

Staples in the pantry are brown rice pasta, larabars (I have the mini ones for the kids), oatmeal, chips, raisins, and the list goes on.  The fridge is full of fruits and veggies that are in season and almond milk and almond butter. I have also cut my intake of diet soda to zero cans a day and instead have one can of Zevia cola (being honest with myself, I can say I was drinking at least 3 cans of diet soda before this change).

So there is a small break down of what I eat during the day.  How I get my energy to keep up with 2 kids that want to keep running.  I love how the energy level is up and I don't feel foggy without caffeine in the afternoon.  I do however still have a cup if coffee in the morning.  Cutting that out would be consider pure craziness :)

The one week check point!!!!

One week in!!! There are some numbers that are really great after one week.  My blood pressure is 108/77!!  Those numbers excite me the most.  If they continue like this, I can cut my medicine in half at the two week mark.

  If those numbers weren't enough to get my excited/sold on the benefits of eating Vegan, then stepping on the scale this morning was.  I am down 3 lbs!  It shouldn't always be about a weight thing but it is always in the back of my head.  To lose 3 lbs in a week is great for me and to not feel hungry or exhausted in that week makes it even better.  

To wrap up the one week in post, things are looking good.  I'm a positive person by nature but this experience (so far) I believe would be great for anyone, even a negative nancy :)

The energy level is up

No post yesterday as life happened and there was no time to sit.  I did get in a 7 mile run with hills a mile high (or so they looked :).  This was my first long run since the diet change.  I was a little nervous starting off but it ended up being a beautiful morning for a run and a wonderful run.  I never was tired and at the end felt like I could keep going (in fact I took my kids for a walk after). Almost a week in and two thumbs up from me on how I feel!  

Hidden foods that are not Vegan

I never realized how many foods contained gelatin! As part of a Vegan diet no gelatin is allowed. Ok so I get that means taking out jello. I'm ok with that. I can easily find something to replace the jello square I had maybe once a month, but I did not realize that gelatin is hidden in so many other foods. Marshmallows, jams, frosted mini wheats, peanuts and Guiness (that one makes me a little sad) just to name a few. Again this is not that too disheartening as I am not a huge consumer of any of the forth mentioned foods, but it does make me realize I need to look at ingrediant lists a little more carefully. Another interesting tid bit I found while looking into this whole Vegan thing is that red dye contains tiny insects. YUCK! I already try to keep dyes out of the food that we eat but this is even more of incentive. I'll keep using the thought process that something bought off the shelf should only have 5 ingrediants in it and I should be able to read everything that is listed. No need to put something in my body that I can't read (something that I can't spell is fine as my spelling is lack luster at best :)

The desire to mix things up a bit

The number one challenge so far is finding meals that I can enjoy and my family might possibly eat.  There is a great website ohsheglows.com that has only Vegan reciepes that can also be Gluten free.  I'm not one to follow a receipe exactly.  I like to mix it up a bit and add in a little of this and a little of that.  You know, keep things interesting.  I have made 3 reciepes from the website and all have tasted wonderful!  My kids have even unknowingly enjoyed avacodo, kale and almond milk.  Their favorite has been the smoothies we make in the afternoon (this also is my favorite as I have quite the sweet tooth).  

Planning ahead is big.  I can't just stand in front of the fridge and magically dinner will appear (believe me, I've tried :).  The menu for the week is planned out on Sunday.  This helps in the meal making process as all ingredients that I want to use for the reciepes are at my finger tips. So far it has been fun to try new things and experiment...I hope I still feel that way at the end if the month!

"That girl" at the restaurant

Ever sit next to a family member, co worker or friend at a restaurant and they change the menu item a million ways before they order?  Doesn't it make you cringe just a little bit each time they do it?  That was me last night.  I looked over the menu 3 times and found nothing I could eat that was Vegan without any changes.  It was a little disheartening but not surpriseing for the restaurant we were at (a Sports Bar with a million kinds of hamburgers).  I did the best I could and ended up ordering the pasta with red sauce and mushrooms.  When the meal came and had cheese on the top, I refused to send it back and make a fus but instead scrapped the cheese off.  Given it was only day 2 on this change I didn't feel that I had earned the right to be too demanding needed to go with the flow as much as possible.  

While it was hard to go out to eat and follow a Vegan style, it was not impossible.  I have found (so far) that this change does not seem impossible.  Hard at times, but not impossible. 

Adding in food, not taking away

It is day 2. Yesterday was not as tough as I thought it might be. I went through the day not hungry and not full. I juiced for lunch time. My kids had fun helping me prepare the juice. They even drank it and liked it. Dinner was a pasta meal and there were many snacks of fruits, veggies and nuts in between. All in all, it has not been too difficult to find substitues for the different food that I have ate in the past. But this is also only day 2. I know there will be many bumps in the road.

 The workout this morning was difficult. It could have been so many different reasons. It was humid and hot at the Y which lead to my energy level being low. It was a difficult class. I'm not ready to say that it was due to my different meal plan for the day. My expectation is that my energy level will increase as I continue with this change. 

 Recently I watched an interesting documentary title Hungry for Change. In the documentary different researchers discuss how we are overfeeding ourselves but still hungry. How as a society we eat so much processed food that our bodies can not get filled up. By bringing our food source back to how nature intended it, we will be filling our bodies with food to help us grow and become mentally clear. It's not about taking away food that we can not eat, but more adding in food that our body craves and needs. I'm trying to keep that as my motto. I'm not depriving myself of food that I want, I'm adding in food that my body needs!