A Halloween plan

I’ve totally blown it. I just can’t seem to get back into the swing of the vegan diet anymore. It’s as if once you’ve tasted real dairy again, your body just won’t accept soy. It’s like an automatic defense mechanism against bad taste.

But, I need a Halloween strategy. I can’t just allow myself to eat everything and tell myself “I’ll just watch what I eat.” Not having strict rules for myself, I will just end up eating 99.9% of my children’s candy stash. I know, because I’ve done it before.

Unfortunately Weight Watcher’s isn’t working for me this time either. I seem to be having a mental block on counting points. It used to be I could just look at a package and I could automatically calculate serving size and associated Point value. No more. I have lost that ability and really, I have no desire to restore this talent; at least not now.

So, I need to have a plan. I laid in bed last night for hours trying to figure out how I was going to get through Halloween without eating chocolate to the point of physical pain. I know it’s possible because I’ve done it before (the eating part, not the not eating part).

So here’s my plan…I am going to continue my vegan experiment. But here’s the catch, I’m not going to tell anyone. That way there’s no pressure and/or judgment. I’ve already told my friends and family that I’m over it and no longer trying to be vegan. So I figure I will wage this effort against animal products internally and just politely refuse any non-vegan fare. This will help me avoid most Halloween pitfalls. And maybe, just maybe I’ll enter November a little thinner this year.

But shh…don’t tell anyone, it’s our secret.

Cheese — rich, creamy, delicious — cheese!

Forgive me readers for I have sinned: I have eaten cheese, lots and lots of cheese. Now I could give the excuse that I’ve been traveling a lot or that my life has been extremely stressful lately (my husband and I are in the middle of relocating across the country – from Atlanta to Denver with our three young children and two old dogs). But honestly that’s not it. I just wanted it.

C’mon, you have to admit that cheese is quite yummy. It’s rich and creamy and totally satisfying. And the truth is, I don’t necessarily have a moral objection to eating dairy products. In my mind, cows have to be milked (after breastfeeding three children I have first hand knowledge of the importance of expressing ones milk when “full”). And yes I realize that dairy farms are large businesses that don’t take the animals’ feelings into consideration and that the animals are often subjected to horrible treatment, but they aren’t going to be slaughtered for my benefit.

So while I could rationalize any eating regime, I’ve come to the conclusion that I’m not doing this “vegan thing” for moral reasons but for scientific reasons. I want to see how my body will change internally (will I feel healthier?) and externally (will I look better?) after abstaining from all animal products from one full month.

And thus, I find myself ready to start over and begin that month now. Today.

Wish me luck…

The vegan lifestyle: month-end review

Well, I have to admit, I’m pretty disappointed. I thought for sure after a month of living a vegan lifestyle I’d see a significant change in my body; or, at least a lower number on the scale. But, nothing, not even a pound of water weight. I mean, c’mon, throw me a bone here. *sigh* But, to be totally honest, I haven’t exactly been 100% perfect. I have definitely slipped off the vegan bandwagon and eaten an animal product or two or ten.

However, what this whole experiment has done is finally broken me of my eating off the kids’ plates. For years now I haven’t made my own meal, I’d always just eat whatever my kids didn’t. Which made it easier in planning meals, but then I’d end up eating a ton of food and not even realizing it. I guess I figured if I didn’t sit down, then it didn’t really count, right? But now that I’m trying to maintain this new lifestyle and my kids aren’t, it’s easy to just throw their food out. In fact, it actually quite liberating.

All right, so here’s my new plan. I am going to pledge to eat 100% vegan from now until Thanksgiving. It’s only about a month and half a way, I know I can do it. But, I’m just telling you now; I better see a difference by then!

Three weeks into it…

So, I’m three weeks into the “Great Vegan Experiment” and frankly I can’t tell a difference. I feel good, but really, I never felt bad. When I was talking with my vegan friend he relayed great tales of feeling fabulous, a disappearance of allergies, boundless energy and (now this is the part that really intrigued me) great weight loss.

He said about a month into his vegan lifestyle he got on the scale and he was down ten pounds. He went on to say that the weight loss was so substantial it actually scared him a little. The thought of “frighteningly substantial weight loss” was just too much for me. I had to do it!

But now I’m three weeks into my animal-free eating and I haven’t lost a pound. Not one. Sigh. I guess the extra wine I’ve been drinking (to distract me from the fact that I’m not eating cheese) is probably the culprit. But geez, I thought I’d at least see the scale dip a little.

Well, it is only three weeks, I’ll keep on for another week or so and re-weigh. I’m bound to see a difference sooner or later. I’m determined!

You’re a what?

A vegan.

/Vegan/, noun
1.: a vegetarian who omits all animal products from the diet
2.: also strict or pure vegetarianism

It all started off as just a harmless conversation with some friends. There were a bunch of us out to dinner and I just happened to be sitting next to a couple that are both vegans. I was curious as to why they chose that lifestyle. So I started asking questions. I had been a vegetarian for about ten years prior to have kids but had long since abandoned that lifestyle in favor of convenience.

However, at the time I was a vegetarian for political reasons as opposed to health reasons. And each time I got pregnant I would crave meat and “for the baby” I’d give in to the temptations. And then after each birth I’d add more meat products to my diet. So that finally I was a full-fledged carnivore.

But after talking to my vegan friends I decided to give “veganism” a shot. Not for political reasons and not for my kids or anything like that, just for me: just to see if I could do it and if I felt better.

Hence, the “vegan experiment” was born.