Vegan for Six Weeks...Should I Stay or Should I Go?....

After a 6 week trial of going vegan, I've learned...it's just not for me.

I didn't hate it. But I also didn't love it.

Was it hard? Yes!

Will I still continue to make choices that I feel good about? Yes!

I don't plan on dismissing all vegan foods. I have actually enjoyed all of the vegan meals I have had. I even tried more vegetables that I'd  never tried before, and I can certainly live with this stuff about 80%  of the time.

I will continue to strive to be vegan, but if I occasionally stray from the course, I am going to be OK with it. Going full speed ahead is a really hard way to go. I'll find what works for me, and until then, I'll keep doing what I'm doing.

The past week after my 6 weeks was up I have been eating mainly vegetarian. (back to having dairy, and not watching for "whey proteins" in all my foods) Which, I can live with.

I put on about 10 lbs on this trial, and not for lack of workouts....but for lack of finding the right proteins that fill me up, and are cost effective. Most people lose weight when they go vegan. Not me. I'm the exception! I ate way more of the beans/legumes/vegan proteins than I should have...I tried to compare it to eating a chicken breast and the fact is they just have way more calories than chicken.

I can say with full gusto, that being a "clean eater" made me feel physically and mentally way better than being a vegan. And I think I'm headed back down that road.

I like my chicken, and I like my veggies. I have at the very least, found a local Amish chicken farm, and it costs a bit more to buy from them but the tiny bit of piece of mind I'll get from it will be enough for me.

In closing....Yes!! Vegan foods taste pretty great...amazing even...Everyone should try something vegan before dismissing it! But most of the delicious convenient proteins are "processed" and I'm just not a fan of it.

It's my personal preference. 

I'm really happy that I took the challenge, because my new most favorite thing to eat is a lentil burger! And, I learned that spinach is a great filler for any meal! I am also in love with tofutti cream cheese, which I also got a few coworkers to admit was delicious, and I plan to use this in place of cream cheese from here on out!

I will consider every non-animal product I consume as a success as I move forward.

And that is good enough for me.

A Vegan...Challenge...?

The interaction most people have with vegans, is bad. People telling you "what you are eating, and how you are the demise of the animal population".

And then I decided I want to try to be vegan. Gasp!!

I love animals more than people, yet I still eat some of them. But I don't like to be judge-y!

I was raised by a vegetarian,  my Momma grew up on a farm. Her stories were sad, but it never occurred to me, until me and my cousin were playing with two giant turkeys in our playhouse, and then...they were gone, and there were two huge turkey's on the dinner table for Thanksgiving. I was about 8, and that was the first time I refused to eat anything that I can remember.  I didn't eat meat for many years, but around adolescence, I started to eat it again.

The past 15 years or so, I've only eaten dairy, chicken, and turkey. With a once in a blue moon craving of a hamburger, or a Momma's meatloaf tossed in.

I've seen a billion sad documentaries about factory farming and I fast forwarded thru the horrible parts, even though, I knew deep down what really happens

This past weekend, I watched a lovely little documentary called "Vegucated". Which, by the name I thought would only be about the healthy side of being vegan.

Well, it still had the sad side of factory farming, and while I skipped most of the horrible parts,  I never in my 37 years thought about cows being forced to be pregnant constantly to produce milk, and having their babies taken away after birth, and the horrible lives they must live. I thought they just produced milk. Seeing their babies taken away from them was heartbreaking!

 I am so against puppy mills, having adopted a puppy mill stud, and seeing how traumatized he is..I can't imagine the fate of the Mother's. For me... factory farming is the same thing with farm animals. And if I don't support it with domestic pets I shouldn't support it any way.

It broke my heart to see those babies torn from their mothers, and I wanted to make a small change, if only with myself!

I don't expect to change anyone's point of view. That's not me.  I am one person, making one decision, and if statistics serve right, I alone can save 95 animals a year by being vegan. So why not try?

For 6 weeks, I am going to try to be strictly vegan. I am hoping that I can keep it up, or at least replace 50% of my chicken/turkey/dairy intake with vegan options , even if I decide being strict 100% of the time, isn't for me. I want to make at least a small change.

My biggest fear, is that most "vegan protein" options are processed. And I do not want to fall back into eating processed foods, so my challenge is even harder. Oh, and the fact that I am 100% in love with cheese. I am really going to miss....cheese more than I miss pizza. And sour cream. And cream cheese. And eggs. But I know, there are great alternatives, that I am going to try.

On a lighter note, my Mr. Magoo is loving my "vegan purge" as he is getting to partake in all the meats I still have in my house.

I smell chicken!!!