T-Minus 6 Days

6 days until I go vegan. I am getting a bit more nervous everyday. My parents think I'm crazy. I'm home for the holidays and since my parents eat lots of meat, I have been eating a lot of meat and diary. I'm nervous my body is going to completely freak out.

I went to the library and checked out 7 Vegan cookbooks (praise the Lord for libraries). I've picked out over 100 recipes that I need to photocopy and put into my recipes folder. I am really looking forward to cooking new things.

I love new experiences. That's another reason I'm doing this. I can't travel, so I have to be creative in how I'm going to experience new things. I won't beat around the bush - it kind of makes me a cooler/more interesting person to talk to.

This whole thing is little crazy. I'm really surprised at how many people have a negative view of veganism. It's mainly my parents generation that have thought it's actually "unhealthy". My dad keeps hounding me. Funny because he has had Colon cancer and currently has kidney problems - both caused by a high fat diet and can be reversed with high-fiber foods and vegetables. I've had to really bite my tongue when he hounds me about all the unhealthy vegans and how their children are neurologically messed up. I asked him where he got his information and he said the internet. I said "Oh, okay".

I have looked up a couple of sources on the internet of the "cons of veganism" and there really isn't much. Most people just state that there is no way to get vitamin B12. I don't know much about vitamins, or how they are absorbed but I do plan on taking a multi-vitamin everyday.

I am worried about breaking out, having gas, low energy, and headaches. These are all things vegans said they have experienced while transitioning. The body is expelling all the toxins and learning how to absorb the new plant nutrients.

I'm not sure I am going to stay vegan after the month is over. But maybe I will be a vegetarian. Who knows? I did just buy the most awesome vegetarian cookbook for $8.00!

(it sells for $78.00 on Amazon)

I plan on blogging everyday starting January 1st - so check back in.

T-Minus 12 Days

It all started with one book - The Kind Diet by Alicia Silverstone (yes, the actress from Clueless). I wanted to buy some healthy cookbooks, and Alicia's book had good reviews on Amazon - so I bought it. Little to my surprise, it taught me more than just a couple recipes. I will tell you all about it.

But first, let me tell you a bit about myself and my food consumption history. Growing up, I have never had a meal with my family that did not have meat. We are the classic "meat and potatoes" kind of people. My parents love food, the food network is always on and it seems like they are always in the kitchen. They are the people who order 6 bottles of olive oil from the Vatican because it's "that good". I feel like I didn't learn much from parents about eating healthy. However, I did learn to eat food that tastes good and eat everything off your plate (because there are starving children in China, don't ya know).

I use to be one of those naive girls who ate white bread and drank diet soda all the time. Those things aren't too bad, but my attitude was "everybody says these things are bad but they obviously are not because I'm fine." I didn't do the research or ask the questions: where does this food come from? What is the difference between white and whole grain bread (other than taste)? How does diet soda have 0 calories?

I didn't do the research or ask questions because I knew deep down that it would change me. I couldn't play the "I'm naive" card and I would have to change. I have lived with vegetarians and somehow I didn't let them influence my eating habits. Well, I did make one change- I started buying Whole Grain White Wonderbread (not much of a change). I did feel a little guilty about cooking meat, but not enough guilt to change my habits.

Currently, I am eating a little bit healthier. I have realized the awesome benefits of whole grains (way more energy) and a drink a lot of water. I eat all foods now. I thought I didn't eat that much meat (I rarely buy it), but then I realized whenever I go out to eat I choose something with meat. At home, I eat a lot of pasta, eggs, english muffins, carrots, humus, pizza, sushi, black beans, and rice. I am not vegetarian or vegan- not even a little bit.

And then I read The Kind Diet. This book calls the Vegan diet, a "plant-based" diet. Which I really like because I feel like the word "Vegan" brings up all the images of things I can't have. Whereas "plant-based" really gives prospective on what a Vegan is eating - plants. Alicia goes in detail of the health benefits of a plant-based diet. She writes about sickness being reversed because of people changing their diet. I think that is so beautiful and it makes sense. Food is what makes us run - it is the energy and foundation of all living things. So it makes sense that if you change your diet to something healthy, natural, and beneficial for your body that sickness can be reversed. I love this book, but I'm not going to go into anymore detail right now.

So, here is the point: Starting January 1st, I am going Vegan for a month. I know January 1st is so cliche, but I like cliches. And it works nicely because only in January do I have a schedule that allows time to cook and blog (I have a one-month semester).

Here are my reasons for going Vegan for a month:

1) It's trendy. I can't deny that it sounds cool to be Vegan.

2) It's healthy

3) Animals Rights (I use to play the naive card about animal rights too)

4) I'm curious

Probably #4 is the biggest reason. I'm really curious to see what is going to happen to my body. Alicia says that my body will have a 2 week freak out period as it's transitioning. She said I will smell bad because my body is getting rid of the toxins from the meat and diary and that I might feel tired as body learns to digest plants for energy.

I haven't decided how strict I am going to be yet. I am definitely not going to eat meat or dairy products. But then there are many products that have a tiny amount of milk or eggs. I'm mainly thinking of pasta and bread. I wish Alicia talked about this in her book, but she doesn't. She encourages eating whole grains - but doesn't go into detail. I will let you know what I decide and make some rules that are set in stone (or blog).

The other books I am going to be reading (and probably blogging about) for this adventure are The Engine 2 Diet by Rip Esselstyn and Eating Animals by Jonathan Safran Foer. I also check out 7 Vegan cookbooks from the library. I will posting pictures of my groceries, recipes, and special vegan products. I plan on blogging everything - successes, cheats, weight loss/gain, bathroom trips, energy levels, and grocery bills.

One last thing: Feel free to comment encouragement, ideas, criticism, or smily faces. Everybody loves getting comments, including me.