Friday, April 22, 2011

Two More Days

I am in the final stretch of my "Forty Days Vegan", which is actually "56 Days Vegan" due my starting early, etc...

It really has been a good experience, AND a lesson in discipline.  It is not easy in our society to live on a special diet.  The response from other people has been interesting:  few are indifferent.... some folk praise the effort and others look at me like I am nuts.

I lost weight.  While the scale shows positive progress, it is not nearly as much as I had anticipated.  I lost five pounds in the first couple of weeks, but then it leveled off.  I lost no more weight over the past month.  I figure it has to do with the reality that my calorie count was not probably reduced very much.  I ate when I felt hungry, and I often was hungry.  I chose healthy foods most of the time, but nuts and other healthy foods are not low in calories.  I will admit that I did eat some vegan dark chocolate as my dessert of choice quite often.

I feel great.  My energy level is clearly improved, although I was not feeling bad or lacking energy before I began, so the difference is minimal.  I just like how I am feeling, so that is a good thing.

My mind is clear.  This one is hard to explain.  Again, I did not feel "un-clear" before I started eating vegan.  My focus is better, and my dreams are much more vivid.  I use the term "clear", which is subjective and hard to understand, but others who have chosen a plant based diet nod in agreement when I try to explain this side effect.

It has been educational.  The attention that one must pay to the ingredients in processed and packaged foods automatically made me learn more about food.  I also took an active role in learning about nutrition, and what vitamins and minerals the human body needs.  I don't think I will ever look at food the same way again.

Being vegan has been a conversation starter.  My favorite experience was at a Computerworld Magazine conference where I was the keynote speaker.  At lunch the waiter was visibly shocked by my request for a vegan meal (not vegetarian).  The look of horror lead to laughs all around the table, and a lively conversation about food with the lunch companions. (I blogged about this experience in a post called "I said vegan, not Al Qaeda" on March 10, 2011).

I learned to cook new things.  My wife and I both had to make adjustments to how we cooked.  While I was the only one in the family who kept a vegan diet, everyone joined in on several meals.  We discovered there were many non-meat and dairy free options that were equally delicious.  Other things were good enough.  A few things were awful.  Overall we experimented with new recipes and had some great meals.

I had fun.  The whole experience was better than I had expected.  I had worried about the level of commitment that it would take to stay true to a vegan diet, but while difficult, it was not impossible.  I was most concerned about eating while traveling, but with some planning (and carrying a stash of snacks in my backpack) I was able to navigate all my business trips without incident.

Will I stay vegan?   This is the big question.  The answer at this point is I am going to attempt keeping a vegan diet Monday through Friday.  On the weekends it will be my choice on what to eat.  I do know that I do not plan the weekends to be meat and dairy shmorgishborg, but instead the opportunity to have some wonderful foods when the opportunity is right.  I do miss really good meat and fish (no desire for fast food or processed meat products...yuck), and I want to eat homemade waffles and some other favorites.  This plan seems like a good way to keep going with the structure of being vegan, with some wiggle room.  Otherwise it can be a slippery slope back to my old habits of eating anything that crosses my path.  My hope is my weekends be mostly vegan, with the exceptions being for some great options, not crap food.

1 comment:

  1. I can relate to you about experiencing "clarity" (even having been "conscious" prior to going vegan). Maybe it was giving up the dairy?

    It would be great if you were to follow up with a blog entry on why you want to continue eating animal products (on weekends, Tuesday evenings, or national holidays - whichever you choose). Even if it's a top 5 or 10 list like: fun, convenience, flavor/texture, etc. Curious to see what inspires you to continue to occasionally eat animals.

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