An experiment
My daughter will be gone for a week in June. She is flying out to Maryland to visit her grandfather at the beach. I will use that opportunity to clean out her room and throw away about 10,000 prizes from Chuck E Cheese as well as other bits of clutter. I have another plan for that kid-free week, though. I'm going to see if I can go completely vegan for a week. My hope is that some of my meal plans (and food purchases) for that week will stick with me long-term. I don't think I'm ready to pull the trigger on full-time veganism, but I'd like to move more in that direction. I've already been reducing animal products for some time now. For example, we exclusively drink/use almond milk instead of dairy milk.
I figure the kid's absence will be a good time to try the experiment because I won't really have to cook for anyone that week. My husband can muddle through on his own or eat what I eat. In preparation, I've been making lists of vegan foods. I have a few friends who are vegan so I've been bugging them for advice. My wee baby sister is also vegan so the other day I was sending her photos of vegan stuff I found at the grocery store. A lot of the stuff is not cheap but it's healthy so I guess that's the trade-off. Of course, going vegan does not automatically result in healthy diet. Oreos are vegan, after all. While I was at the grocery store last week my sister gave me the worst news of all: York Peppermint Patties are not vegan. I seriously almost shed a a tear over that. Good news, though - she said that Junior Mints are vegan.
Many of my current meal choices are already vegan, so that's a plus. There are some things that will be a challenge to replace. For example, for breakfast I sometimes eat a Vita Top, veggie sausage, and fruit. The Vita Tops are not vegan so I'd love to find some kind of replacement for that. Also, after lunch I usually eat a Weight Watchers two-point snack for dessert. Those are not vegan either. So, if anyone has thoughts on replacements for these (ideally, something that doesn't involve a lot of baking), I'm all ears. If you have other vegan tips, sites, or recipes to pass along, please feel free. I'm all ears at this point.
For my week-long experiment, I will probably write down everything I plan to eat just to make it easier to stick with the plan. We'll see how it goes!
Speaking of eating, I've had some extra time on my hands this weekend because I am still recuperating from surgery. Yesterday I did manage to go to church but that was about it. I still have to keep my foot elevated for the most part. I've also learned that if I take half a percocet, it seems to stave off the pain without bringing on a lot of nausea. Anyway, I am muddling through. It has been a challenge, though. I can see the house getting dirtier and it is really hard not to be able to do all of the things I normally do.
Yesterday I somehow ended up watching multiple episodes of "My 600-lb Life" on TLC. Holy cow, that show is something else. Now, I have struggled with my weight all my life. However, if there is one thing I've learned from attending a gazillion Weight Watchers meetings, it's that your body really does notice what you put into it. You can't trick it. I was amazed to watch some of these folks have gastric bypass, then continue eating biscuits and gravy, and then tell the doctor, "I have no idea why I'm not losing weight." It's sad in a way. One woman even claimed that she hadn't eaten a thing and insisted that the scales must be wrong (meanwhile, her family was blatantly bringing in fast food for her - WHILE SHE WAS IN THE HOSPITAL). The doctor eventually ended up throwing in the towel, unable to convince her that her failure to change was killing her. Most of the other patients saw the light and tried to change. I don't really have a point to make with all of this. I guess it just reinforced my interest in making good food choices (and modeling them for my daughter as well).
Onward and upward.
I figure the kid's absence will be a good time to try the experiment because I won't really have to cook for anyone that week. My husband can muddle through on his own or eat what I eat. In preparation, I've been making lists of vegan foods. I have a few friends who are vegan so I've been bugging them for advice. My wee baby sister is also vegan so the other day I was sending her photos of vegan stuff I found at the grocery store. A lot of the stuff is not cheap but it's healthy so I guess that's the trade-off. Of course, going vegan does not automatically result in healthy diet. Oreos are vegan, after all. While I was at the grocery store last week my sister gave me the worst news of all: York Peppermint Patties are not vegan. I seriously almost shed a a tear over that. Good news, though - she said that Junior Mints are vegan.
Many of my current meal choices are already vegan, so that's a plus. There are some things that will be a challenge to replace. For example, for breakfast I sometimes eat a Vita Top, veggie sausage, and fruit. The Vita Tops are not vegan so I'd love to find some kind of replacement for that. Also, after lunch I usually eat a Weight Watchers two-point snack for dessert. Those are not vegan either. So, if anyone has thoughts on replacements for these (ideally, something that doesn't involve a lot of baking), I'm all ears. If you have other vegan tips, sites, or recipes to pass along, please feel free. I'm all ears at this point.
For my week-long experiment, I will probably write down everything I plan to eat just to make it easier to stick with the plan. We'll see how it goes!
Speaking of eating, I've had some extra time on my hands this weekend because I am still recuperating from surgery. Yesterday I did manage to go to church but that was about it. I still have to keep my foot elevated for the most part. I've also learned that if I take half a percocet, it seems to stave off the pain without bringing on a lot of nausea. Anyway, I am muddling through. It has been a challenge, though. I can see the house getting dirtier and it is really hard not to be able to do all of the things I normally do.
Yesterday I somehow ended up watching multiple episodes of "My 600-lb Life" on TLC. Holy cow, that show is something else. Now, I have struggled with my weight all my life. However, if there is one thing I've learned from attending a gazillion Weight Watchers meetings, it's that your body really does notice what you put into it. You can't trick it. I was amazed to watch some of these folks have gastric bypass, then continue eating biscuits and gravy, and then tell the doctor, "I have no idea why I'm not losing weight." It's sad in a way. One woman even claimed that she hadn't eaten a thing and insisted that the scales must be wrong (meanwhile, her family was blatantly bringing in fast food for her - WHILE SHE WAS IN THE HOSPITAL). The doctor eventually ended up throwing in the towel, unable to convince her that her failure to change was killing her. Most of the other patients saw the light and tried to change. I don't really have a point to make with all of this. I guess it just reinforced my interest in making good food choices (and modeling them for my daughter as well).
Onward and upward.
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