being vegan
It’s Friday, we should break up – Being Vegan
Apr 30th
Well, guys, it’s my last day of the Vegan Experiment. While it’s been fun, I’m so looking forward to eating sushi tomorrow, I can’t even explain it to you.
I’ve learned lots of things in my tenure as a vegan. Mostly that the general population has no effing clue what being vegan means, nor do most people have ANY idea what’s in the food they’re eating. And no, I’m not getting all preachy about chemicals or processed food or meat packing (hehe). I’m talking about the fact that people have no idea how to make bread or what’s in salad dressing or that cheese is made from milk which comes from cows. Or goats. Or squirrels, whatever.
Also, in general, vegans are REALLY obnoxious. But I’m not.
I did eat one piece of a yellowtail roll last week because I accidentally checked that box instead of vegetable roll. And I discovered three bites in that there was parmesan in my salad dressing last night. Aside from that, though, I’ve been a pretty damn good vegan.
I lasted through family vacation without messing up. I got really sick and still stuck to the vegan diet. I went to a lock-in and didn’t eat barbecue. And really? None of it has been very hard. EXCEPT FISH. I miss fish so much.
Since I don’t really care that much about animals, and since fish isn’t really bad for you in any way, I’ll be adding fish back into my diet TOMORROW. My main plan is to continue to eat very little dairy, but maybe be a little less of a crazy person about eggs and butter.
My stomach really DOES feel better. It’s amazing how you can change the way you feel with what you eat. And for me, this wasn’t some weirdo diet I was trying just to lose weight. I really wanted to feel better. And I do. In addition, the 22 pounds I’ve lost certainly speak to the efficacy of eating healthy.
I didn’t keep up with the Shred like I’d hoped. I did it everyday for the first week and a half, but then I went on vacation with my family. I did take my DVD, weights, and workout clothes with me to NYC, but there was really no way to Shred with Jillian in the hotel room with my Aunt. When I got back, I shredded for a couple more days, and then I got REALLY sick. Since then, I have been doing some form of lower impact activity everyday, including rock climbing. But I’d like to see what Jillian will do to me if I start the Shred again tomorrow.
All in all, this was an awesome experiment. I would recommend that anyone try it for a while, just to see how your body feels without all the meat and cheese. It’s kind of amazing. Even after 30 days, I still feel motivated to continue to improve my health. So Jillian? Let’s go.
It’s Friday, we should break up – Vegans
Apr 2nd
Okay, yes, I know what you’re all thinking. “BUT YOU JUST STARTED BEING VEGAN YESTERDAY!”
And you’re right. I did. And this really has nothing to do with my personal choice to be vegan for a month.
This is about those crazy-ass extreme vegans who think it’s a good time to harass people and be rude and obnoxious to strangers.
I just want to tell you something important. You’re not helping your cause. Honestly, if I weren’t doing this vegan thing? I’d go out and eat as many meat products as possible, every time you try to tell me I’m a murderer or whatever. Just to spite you. You’re that obnoxious.
But I can’t this month. Someone pick up the slack, eh? I’m looking at you, Jay Ferris.
You have a message. You have a belief system. I get that. But the more you rudely try to push it in people’s faces, the less interested they’re going to be. When someone asks you to back off? BACK OFF. You want to put your opinions out there? Start a blog. Write a book. Make some videos. Whatever. But continuing to bother someone who is clearly not interested in listening to you is going to get you NOWHERE.
Frankly, I don’t want to be lectured. I don’t want to be patronized. I don’t want to be called names because I happen to not give a flying crap about killing cows and chickens. We’ve been genetically altering those animals for domestication for so long they barely resemble their wild animal cousins any more. If there even ARE any wild cows out there. I don’t know. But the fact is, the cows we eat for food wouldn’t make it on their own any more.
Personally, I’m not a huge meat-eater. I love fish, but everything else I can pretty much take or leave. Sure, I love a good cheeseburger every now and then, but if I never ate another one? I’d be okay.
And you know what? Maybe I AM what’s wrong with the world. Anything is possible. But I don’t need some holier-than-thou, self-righteous, insulting asshole to lecture me about eating animals. If you respected people half as much as you respected chickens, the world would probably be a better place.
So I propose this: Why don’t we worry about people first? Why don’t we concern ourselves with racism and sexism and homophobia before we worry about how the turkeys feel about getting eaten? Maybe you’ve read Animal Farm one too many times, but trust me, the animals aren’t plotting against us.
T-Minus 24 hours until the Vegan Experiment begins!
Mar 31st
It's Natalie Dee, y'all! Click the picture.
All right, guys, so if you read my last post, you know that starting tomorrow, I’ll be going vegan for the month of April.
I’m mostly doing it to clean out my system. Then when I add things back in, I can see how my body really feels when I eat them. I’m looking at you, cheese. And I love you. Oh, how I’m going to miss you. Don’t forget about me. It’s only a month. We’ll be together soon. I hope. Unless you’re part of the problem. In which case, we’ll probably be like long-distance lovers.
Whoops. Got a little off topic there.
First, I wanted to say thank you to everyone who sent me recipes or snack ideas or book ideas or websites to help me through this little experiment. You guys are awesome! (Just a Girl, What Kind of Girl, Graygrrrl, Natalie, Antje, and everyone else.)
A special thanks to April, who said that if I decide to be vegan for good, we can’t be friends any more. Because she likes her friends to eat cheese. Little did you know, veganism could end friendships.
I also want to take a moment to assure you guys that, well, I’m not an idiot. I have actually thought this through. I have a degree in biology. I’ve taken more than one nutrition class at a college level. And more importantly, this is only for a month. I do have a plan for eating protein, I am not going to starve myself, I do know that soy can be dangerous if eaten in large quantities, and I STILL don’t care about cows and chickens.
This isn’t just about losing weight, folks. Granted, I can’t imagine that this will cause me to GAIN weight. But I’m not doing this in an effort to become a stick figure. I’m doing this because I DON’T FEEL GOOD. Like ever. And I’m tired of it. So I’m going to essentially do a reboot. I’m going to clean all the crap out and give my body a chance to TELL me what it likes and what it can’t handle.
Yes, it’s going to be a long 30 days, but I’ll make it. Yes, I might slip up from time to time (accidentally or on purpose, it’s going to happen), but the key is to stay on track until May. I’m guessing that at the end of the experiment, I’ll end up some form of pescatarian (with an occasional side of bacon).
This week, I have been eating at least one vegan meal per day, to prepare myself and to see what my options are if I need to eat out during the month. The idea that I will have packed a lunch everyday is just ludicrous. I can barely wake up in time to brush my teeth.
What I’ve found is that there ARE ways to eat vegan in restaurants, but you really can’t listen to ANYTHING the people who work there tell you. It seems that no one really knows what “vegan” means. Yesterday, I decided that lunch would be my vegan meal, so I went to the little cafe where I eat regularly. Normally I have a club sandwich (no mayo) with a side salad. So when I walked in, the cook asked me if that’s what I was having. I said, no, that I was going vegan for the month of April, so I wanted to see if there was anything on the menu I’d still be able to eat.
One of the ladies who works there handed me a laminated card with specials on it. “Oh honey, we have plenty of options for you! These are all the things we have for Passover.” So apparently by “vegan” she thought I meant “Jewish.”
The specials were all full of cheese and eggs and even some meats. I said, “Well, most of these don’t even appear to be vegetarian, much less vegan.”
The other lady said, “Oh! We have a vegetarian sandwich. Why don’t you get that?”
I looked at it. While it does have vegetables, it’s also on bread (which has eggs) and contains two kinds of cheese. I said, “Um, why don’t I just do the Greek salad, but without any of the cheese.”
She said, “No cheese? Not even the feta?”
By that point, the whole thing was almost comical. So I just smiled and said no. When they brought my salad out? It had a beautiful piece of buttered bread sitting on top. Which I couldn’t eat.
People, this is hard enough without being tempted with cheese and bread over and over! Like I said, it’s going to be a long 30 days.
