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.

My Compassionate Heart....

Tuesday, on my normal route to work thru the city, I came upon some slowed traffic. The closer I got, I saw what at first appeared to be smoke billowing around an SUV, I thought someone's radiator must've blown. When I crept closer, I saw it was not smoke.

It was fur.

Someone struck a deer. Not the norm on the city streets at all. I only saw the horrible image for about 2.2 seconds, as the doe struggled to get up, only to fall again, frantically trying to find safety, but obviously not going to live.

I immediately shielded my line of vision with my hand, so I could pass by, and just as instantly, out of nowhere...I started to sob. I have never seen a hurt animal in the flesh, intentional or otherwise. Especially now living in the city.

And I couldn't stop crying. My heart ached for that deer.When I got to my desk. I kept sobbing.

When the girls came to talk to me and saw I was upset, I felt a bit stupid saying I was fine, and telling them what had happened. But I can't apologize for being me. I was really shaken.

Yes, it was "just a deer". One of millions that are hit by cars, or shot by hunters on a daily basis. But to me, it was much more than that, it was a wounded soul. I thought about it all night. When I went to sleep, I prayed to the universe for peace from the image of the deer, so that I could put it to rest.

Then, this morning I woke up early to let out the dog. And I saw the most beautiful sight!

Look who chose my backyard to take a rest in! A beautiful deer!

I believe in the universe, and karma, and how everything happens for a reason. I knew deep down, that this wasn't random. It was an answer to my prayer. This deer was there to make my heart feel better.

I left home feeling a sense of peace, and rightness in the world!

And I had the best day! 

Feeling Like a Bad-Ass...

One of the reasons I love semi-private training is because you get so much personal attention, and motivation.

After winning my first "boot camp buddy of the day" award last week, the instructor used me as fuel for the other participants, saying I was "the one to watch, I'm the reigning champion". I felt the pressure, and it made me work harder. I took 3 more classes without winning a title....but then...

My second coveted toy soldier!

I won this time, because I took the class the night before, and the one the next day, and made it the whole class being strong, and not giving up. He doesn't know yet, that if it were offered every day...I'd be there.

Who knew a stupid toy soldier toy would make someone feel so awesome?

I also found a delicious "clean" vegan protein, thanks to Pinterest! I made lentil "burgers", and I'm in love with them! So much so, that I have to stop myself from eating too many! One is enough, they are filling with some veggies, but they are soooo goooood!

The flavor is very comparable to a good veggie burger, but home made, and you know what you put into them!

They do not taste as good after freezing them, as they do fresh, but you will have that I suppose.

Lentil burgers:
1C uncooked lentils
1C brown rice (not instant)
1.5C carrots finely grated (I shred them in the food processor)
1/2tsp garlic
1.5C Oatmeal (I used quick oats the first time, seemed to work fine)
1tsp salt
1 onion finely grated (I shred in the food processor with the carrots)

Cook rice and lentils in 4C water on low heat for 45min covered.

Mix with all other ingredients.

Let cool.

Make into 8 patties, brown over medium heat 6 minutes per side. Mine took longer than 6 minutes, so keep an eye on them.

The recipe said they are 130 cal each, but I find it hard to believe...so I am guessing them at about 200 each, they make hefty "burgers".

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Even Small Accomplishments, are Great Ones!....

This whole vegan thing is pretty hard. Not just giving up meat and dairy, but all the things that contain meat and dairy that you never thought did!

For instance, I have one cheat meal a week, and I was so excited to go to Chipotle because I could get a vegetarian bowl, and have BEANS! But I found out the beans are cooked with bacon. I was very appreciative of the workers to point it out to me, but I was also disappointed. Because of my strenuous workout routine...I was really looking forward to some extra protein in my meal, so I got cheese. I felt like a quitter, but I am not going to dwell on it.

I have been hungry. Really, really hungry, and struggling with my calorie count, because the vegan proteins are so high in calories, and making up for it with fruits/veggies make me hungry just about every hour. I have to plan more snacks to help curb hunger pangs. Next week I'll be better prepared.

I'm also having a hard time being a "clean eater" and eating all the processed vegan proteins. Unless I have dried beans and legumes that I prepare myself, I am really at a loss for what else to eat that isn't "processed".  I have had all my nutrition dead on for so long, that now I have to branch out. A challenge.

 My first attempt at a vegan meal was whole grain pasta, with tofurky italian sausage ,spinach, tomato, and I melted tofutti garlic and chives cream cheese in my noodles. I used a small plate so it looked like more. This is only 3/4c noodles, and half of a tofurky link. Total score taste-wise, it tasted like the real deal..... but the calories, and processed food part, worried me. Turned out, my noodles contained egg whites....another loss. 

For dessert I had tofutti chocolate "ice cream" and a sliced strawberry. The ice cream was just the same taste-wise as real ice cream, and the same calorie wise too. The calories scared me. I'd been having Arctic Zero ice cream, which contains whey...so it is not vegan. The calories in that are amazing!

In the end, for a week, I accomplished a lot. I'll get there eventually. I'm going to allow myself the ability to fail from time to time, because I'm going to try to do this meal by meal. Small accomplishments! I may have had cheese this week, and egg whites in my noodles, but I didn't have an animal protein for 12 out of my 15 meals for this short amount of time. I consider that a win! 

In other news, I joined my gyms new bootcamp program, which is an hour of high energy athletic interval training. My first class, I was picked out of the 6 girls as "boot camp buddy of the day". (You pair up in two's)

When I was announced winner he said it was, because of my perfect, controlled form, and my refusal to give up. (the instructor spends a lot of 1:1 time with you in the smaller classes, and offers you "modifications" in case you are tired and I never took one single modification, I pushed thru)

Sure, my prize was just a small toy soldier. But I was recognized in front of the group and this little guy made me feel Strong! 

I'm going to take all my little accomplishments as they come.

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!!!