Today marks the eighth day of my vegan routine. What is a vegan? Veganism is a type of vegetarian diet that excludes meat, eggs, dairy products and all other animal-derived ingredients.
What do vegans eat? A vegan diet includes all grains, beans, legumes, vegetables and fruits and the nearly infinite number of foods made by combining them.
Why am I doing this? I didn't make a conscious decision to go vegan even for a day and, after one week, I know I am not going to make a lifetime commitment to veganisim, but for now, much like my attitude towards the return of good weather, I am taking my vegan routine one day at a time.
How did I get started? At the suggestion of a Flores de Bach (http://www.bachflower.com/index.html) therapist that I am seeing for never-ending sleep problems, I stopped eating dairy products after our first session on Sept. 14. She believes that women of a certain age no longer need dairy mainly because the dairy products we have access to are filled with sugar and/or have been processed so much that there is very little true nutrition to be found. She also listed other health reasons such as a growing tendency to lactose intolerance as we age, the fat content of real cheese and the chemical content and tastelessness of "light" cheese.
When she first suggested I eliminate dairy products, I mentally rolled my eyes and thought, "Oh, please." Well, actually I thought, "O, por favor." Nevertheless, I heard myself say I would work on it. Amazingly, I haven't had any dairy since. Nothing. Nada. No cheese, no milk, no yogurt. No ice cream. No cheesecake. I don't miss it at all except that no dairy forced me to re-think my entire way of eating as dairy was often my go-to solution for quick meals, quick snacks, quick protein. I always met the famous WW guideline for 3 servings of dairy products a day no matter what kind of train wreck the rest of my daily menu looked like.
I had already stopped eating beef, chicken and pork in mid-August after a moment of revulsion one day while scarfing down a roasted chicken from Costco. Again, a roasted chicken had been my go-to staple for years and years. Animals based protein then consisted of eggs and fish. Even my fish intake was getting less and less as I read the news stories about mercury content in fish. I hadn't thought too much about eggs.
Without dairy and chicken, I had to stop and think about what I was going to eat every day, make a plan and shop accordingly. Yesterday, I realized I have been unconsciously eating vegan for a week...lots of different types of beans, lentils, brown rice, couscous, vegetables, some pasta and some bread, olive oil and avocados, almonds, raisins. No animal protein at all. No meat substitutes either as they are not to be found here and seem gross anyway. I have found a small health food store that makes fresh peanut butter...thank goodness! Last night I had dinner with a friend at a sushi place. I asked for tofu rather than fish, and the choices were limitess.
What am I thinking? One of my concerns is that because I have had this cold/flu, I have no appetite for anything and that my tastebuds are dead. Once I feel 100% again, a vegan diet may make me crazy. But maybe not. Stay tuned.
