Halfway Point

Alright, so here's some back-story, since I haven't posted in months and months (because I'm about 99% sure no one reads this but my mom): A couple of weeks ago, I decided to go vegan. I was already a "part-time vegetarian," as I called it, meaning that I ate a mainly plant-based diet, but would also eat chicken, turkey or fish from time to time. I also consumed eggs, some cheese (I'm a bit lactose-intolerant) and butter.

But I've been struggling to lose weight recently, and even after starting a work-out regimen, I was seeing no results. I realized I had to take action with my eating habits as well, no matter how drastic it may be. So, I decided to do a 30-day trial vegan diet. I started on October 17 and yesterday marked Day 15. So as of today, I am officially starting the second half of my 30-day trial. After it's over, I'll re-evaluate how I did, what I liked and didn't like and decide if I want to keep going.

So far, I have loved it. Yes, there are a couple things I miss, like candy bars and Doritos, but let's face it, those were probably the reason I wasn't losing weight anyway. Eggs have been difficult to cut out, because I love having scrambled eggs with veggies, but I've been able to open myself up to a lot more breakfast options, now that I've omitted an American staple. I feel lots better than I did before, since I've often struggled with digestive issues--I haven't had a problem since I started!

Anyway, the purpose of me writing again, was to talk about my adventures and some of the new foods I am trying now that I have to make more conscious decisions about what to eat. I'll (try to) post every day and list the things I ate and what was fun about my meal choices or what was difficult. I can already tell you that it is pretty hard to have get-togethers with friends when you are the only vegan (or even vegetarian!) in the group. I had a party this past weekend, and I made sure to bring lots of veggies to the party and luckily, some other people brought fruit. I was able to sample some cheese-less pizza and I had plenty to eat. But there were definitely a lot of things there I would have liked to eat that I decided not to (cheesy pizza, sun chips, BBQ chips, brownies and yummy cookies). I have no regrets, though. I feel like I made the right choice for me and my body and at the end of the day, I can feel confident in that.

Most days, I will probably not post pictures, because I don't always have a camera handy and some days, I'm just so excited about my food, that I just dive right in and forget about snapping some shots. But if it's something really cool and interesting, I'll try to post a pic or two. This is mainly just going to be a food journal.

Today, so far, I have had a spinach smoothie (coconut milk, flax oil, strawberries, OJ concentrate, vanilla extract + spinach)--this was only okay. I have made much better smoothies in the past (I might post some recipes later...), but I think my spinach is starting to get bitter and that's why it tasted off. For lunch, I had a no-queso quesadilla with roasted red pepper hummus, chopped red onion and Frank's RedHot on Trader Joe's Whole Grain Tortillas (which are my absolute FAVORITE tortilla!!). Instead of using canola oil spray like I normally do, I used my new Earth Balance buttery spread (which is the only margarine I'll use, more on that later) to cook the quesadilla. It definitely gave it a new interesting flavor. I make this dish different every time, so I never know exactly what to expect.

I did use the rest of my red-pepper hummus, so I'm going to have to get some more of this. (I brought it to the party and it got devoured!!)

I'll post later with my snack and dinner items. And at some point, I'll add recipes and blog about some of my favorite foods. (And maybe get on a soapbox or two.) Enjoy!