Questions

What do you say when people ask you why you're following a vegan diet? I have only been following a vegan diet for a couple of days, and already there have been questions. Well, in all fairness people also asked me why I chose not to eat meat before now. Questions like:

Why would you do that. (Emphasis on the words WHY and THAT).
Are you trying to lose weight?
Why cut out dairy, eggs, etc?
Did you make the change for any particular reason, or do you not like meat?
Is it just for a little while or permanent? Are you going back to eating meat, etc?

Now I know these people are just being curious and maybe have good intentions. But I also know they don't really want to hear all about how eating living creatures is wrong or bad for you. They probably won't or can't even fully understand why someone would choose to eat such a restricted diet.

Now, let me address these questions:

Why would you do that? Well, I love animals and don't want to kill them in order to eat. I was a vegetarian about 10 years ago but wasn't going about it in the right way. When I got pregnant with my son I thought I wouldnt have enough nutrition if I stayed a vegetarian. I decided to become a vegetarian again more recently. But, when someone asked I hear myself saying "Because I want to."

My best friend and I have been dabbling with vegan recipes, which were amazingly good and made me feel good. I also watched "Forks over Knives", started reading about veganism, and felt myself drawn to the plant based diet. I decided to try it for 30 days to see how I like it. So far so good!

Are you trying to lose weight? This is pretty insulting if you think about it. That is the first thing that people usually jump to as a reason why you would change your eating habits. When they are asking if I'm trying to lose weight, they're really saying that I need to lose weight because I'm a fat slob. But in a nice, wrap it up in a bow kind of way. I'm happy with myself. If I lose weight, that's good. If not, that's good too.

Why cut out dairy, eggs, etc? Ok, I know that PETA has some pretty radical activist sides, but seriously, have you seen the living conditions that the animals that they raise to produce these products? People think they're on a farm being happy and producing products for our consumption because they love us. Or maybe a dairy and egg fairy makes it? Go to PETA's website, and look for the Starter Guide, and read the "Meet your Meat". Wow! Also, while you're at it, watch Forks over knives. It freakin opened my eyes.

Did you make the change for any particular reason, or do you not like meat? Well, I do like some meats. They're yummy. But an innocent animal had to die for me to eat that food. It's not THAT good. Try a vegan recipe by Isa Chandra Moskowitz (www.theppk.com) or from Peas and Thank You, and tell me that's not good too! Nothing with a face had to die there.

Is it just for a little while or permanent? Are you going back to eating meat, etc? I don't see myself going back to eating meat, but I did before so anything is possible. I'm pretty darn happy with the decision to become a vegetarian, so at this point I'm saying no. I did have one steak on my anniversary, but you know, it wasn't as good as I thought it would be. Meh. It's easy and good, but just means a little more forethought and preparation. That, and having a good coop that produces yummy vegetarian options is nice!

I still don't know about veganism. I committed to trying it for 30 days with the idea that if it fits well, I'd make it a permanent choice. If I spend more time cooking and planning, it's great. When I'm hungry and searching for something that doesn't have meat, dairy, eggs, gelatin, etc in it, it's not so easy. I'm thinking about what I'm eating a lot more, and I'm feeling good about it. We'll see how that goes!

Oy Vay!

I signed a 30-day vegan challenge yesterday, and decided to try a vegan diet. A couple of months ago I decided to become a vegetarian again, and had been reading and playing around with more vegan recipes, so I decided that I would like to try. I really started on Tuesday, but I’m not going to count it because I ate a lunch with cheese and sour cream that day so it wasn’t truly vegan. Yesterday went really easily. I had leftovers of the lasagna rolls that I made –recipe from the Vegan Zombie. It’s awesome! www.veganzombie.com.

Now today is another story all together. It’s more challenging. I didn’t have much time for breakfast, so decided to grab a fruit and maple oatmeal at McDonalds, and an orange juice. I thought I was doing really well until I later looked up the ingredients and found that there’s milk in the oatmeal.Where they put it, who the heck knows, but it’s there. Well, no biggie. Now I know. I had a cup of instant miso soup mix that I keep in my desk and had the last leftover lasagna roll for lunch. Then the shakiness started, as it sometimes does when my body decides I haven’t eaten enough.

So I headed to the grocery store cruising for something sweet to stop the low blood sugar shakes. It took me about 20 minutes to find chocolate that didn’t have milk or gelatin in it. I then grabbed some chips and soda. What can I say, I was shaking. Very disappointing that I have no trouble finding chips and soda that’s vegan. Even bacon bits are vegan. But I barely can find chocolate that doesn’t have milkfat, butterfat, gelatin or anything else. Very frustrating.

This is just a learning curve for me. I had never realized just how much stuff has some kind of animal products in them that you would not expect. I’m sure it’ll get easier with practice. I’m just not going to give up or beat myself up for not being 100% strictly vegan. I’m trying, and that’s what counts!