Vegan Experiment Results

I did it!  I am so proud of myself that I went vegan for an entire month and didn’t even cheat once!  There were times I really thought I would give up, but I’m glad I made it through and have a decent assessment on the vegan diet, how it made me feel and whether or not it’s for me.  So here are my thoughts.  Overall, I had a general “light” feeling.  I’m not sure how to describe it, but I didn’t feel weighed down after a meal and throughout the day.  I did my best to stick to a majority of plant-based foods and rarely had anything processed.  I thought I would have more energy, but I don’t think I had any more energy than I would in a normal non-processed food diet.  A true test might have been getting blood work done before and after, but honestly, I already had great blood work.  My cholesterol has always been extremely low (which I didn’t even know could happen), sugar levels are always normal and my blood pressure has also always been spot on.  So that’s why I was waiting for some sort of revolutionary feeling.  The only other significant thing I noticed was that I felt “full” faster.  I thought I would be constantly hungry, but I needed less food in general I think.  This was great for me.  I have always had portion control problems, so this was great training for my body and I plan on continuing that trend! Now, some say a month isn’t long enough, but I think I realized you can feel just as healthy eating meat.  I think the key is eating less meat and more plants.  Before the experiment, when I ate meat and lots of plants, I felt great.  And for me personally, I don’t feel there is any reason to exclude meat, dairy, eggs, fish, etc. from my diet.  So there it is folks!  Vegan is not for me!

What I learned:

• There are a lot of great veggies out there that you rarely eat, I will continue to expand my veggie palate
• There are a lot of vegan ingredients/meat substitutes that really taste good (tempeh, seitan, meatless ground, nutritional yeast, vegan butter, etc.)
• Learning how to substitute things in cooking is fun.  I had a few failures, but experimenting in cooking is always a great time.
• I really like lentils.  I never really thought I did, but cooked correctly, they’re sooo tasty! (and full of protein!)
• It’s hard to eat out with friends and stay vegan AND healthy.  Fries and potato chips and things like that are vegan, but not healthy and not even anything I particularly like.  I went to a vegan restaurant once and I still made some other adjustments, but it was difficult.  Especially when there are SO many great restaurants in NYC.

So what’s next?  For now, it’s some meat eating.  I’m going for sushi at lunch and not sure about dinner yet.  My parents are visiting this weekend so there will be some great meat meals involved.  My goal going forward it to eat less meat though.  The way America overproduces meat really isn’t good.  So if I’m going to eat meat, I’m going to get organic, fresh and local meat as much as possible.  It costs a lot more, but quality is the best way to support the environment and local farmers.  Plus, I still have an entire Vegan cookbook to tackle! So eating less meat overall will help me get through it.  Maybe in a month or two I’ll try eating raw.  I read a girl’s blog that eats raw for breakfast/lunch and then eats whatever for dinner. (although she doesn’t eat meat, just fish) So that sounds like another great challenge and you supposedly get so many more nutrients by eating raw.  So that’s the next thing I think I’ll start researching.

So anyway, Veganism was a great challenge.  I messed it all up this morning by having two organic eggs and some cheese one Ezekiel bread. It was well worth it though, and I had a huge sense of accomplishment this morning.  I learned a lot about food this last month, but I also learned a lot about myself.

A couple vegan dishes

Watch out! 2 blog posts in one day!  Tonight I made black bean burgers and they turned really yummy.  This recipe called for vital wheat gluten which is an ingredient I hadn’t used yet.  It made the burgers a bit chewy, but with the spices and beans, it was a really good combo.  And now I have some leftovers!

Also, the other day I sauted up some mushrooms.  Buttons and baby bellas.  I used the Vegan butter, some worcestershire sauce and some pepper.  Very tasty and I ate the whole plate!

Barely making it

As it was probably apparent in my last update, Veganism is not for me. I can’t tell you the willpower it took me all weekend to stick with the last few days of my vegan experiment.  I even had some more meat dreams.  I was dreaming that I was eating out and got some sort of meal that had meat in it and I kept pushing it to the side and then every other bite I was “sneaking” in meat!  How horrible is that?!  I was actually dyfunsionally eating in my dreams!  I think that was the final kicker for me.  Part of changing my lifestyle across the board, not just with the vegan experiment, has been trying to curb my dysfuncional behavior when it comes to food.  And sneaking food, even if it’s only in dream form, can’t be good.

Over this past month I have realized my #1 problem in the food department.  Portion control.  I know a lot of people have this issue, but I think I’ve just been more aware of it during this experiment.  I even caught myself trying to justify more of whatever food because it was healthy, organic, not processessed, etc.  Again, I shouldn’t be justifying anything when it comes to food.  I’d like to get to the point some day that I don’t constantly think about, over analyze and obsess over food. The portions, the ingredients, etc.  I would like it to simply be a normal process when I automatically make the right choices and use food only for fuel.  I’m definitely getting better at the choice part, but I do find that I still eat out of bordem, some emotional reason that I can’t really point to specifically, or letting too much time go by so I get so hungry that I’ll eat whatever or even too much of a good thing.  I’m at least noticing things a bit more now, but it still happens.

The last few vegan days haven’t been that exciting.  I haven’t been doing any fancy cooking and just been eating a lot of salads, veggies, fruit and nuts.  I defrosted the last of my Lentil Soup and have also been eating that.  I will say, that has been my favorite recipe I’ve made in the last month.  I’ll definitely be making that often.  I am getting some ingredients tonight to make black bean burgers and “sloppy” joes made with lentils.  I’m hoping they are both tasty and keep me a happy vegan this last week.  I’ll be sure to take some pictures this time!

Here’s to 3 more meatless days!

To vegan? or not to vegan?

My inconsistent blogging has been sneaking back into play, but I’m back.  Nothing too exciting in the kitchen over the last week except vegan tacos.  I went home to Annapolis over the weekend and cooked vegan tacos for the family.  And everybody loved them!  I used Yves meatless ground, made of wheat and soy protein, for the first time and it was really yummy!  It’s already flavored a bit, but I added in some extra taco seasoning.  I also tried tofu cheese, which I don’t suggest eating on it’s own.  It was fine once it was on the taco, but this is one of the exact reasons cheese will be going right back into my diet.  I made some guacamole, we had salsa, lettuce and super fresh whole wheat tortillas.  If I was thinking straight, I would have taken a picture…but of course I didn’t remember that until my very last bite.  They were actually that good!  My Dad even had two giant ones!  That’s the true test I think.  Other than taco night, I’ve just been eating some normal stuff and even ordered Chinese the other night.  Just some miso soup and broccoli with spicy garlic sauce and brown rice.  Yum!

I’ve got 10 days to go!  Out of this whole process, I think the last 5 days have been the hardest.  I thought it would be the fact that I was traveling, but that really wasn’t that bad.  The main reason is that I have been craving meat!  Big time!  And it’s the worst when you walk past a street corner vendor in NYC and smell that delicious smell.  I don’t even eat at the street carts in NYC!  I even had a couple dreams about eating meat and I’m already planning a steak dinner on the 17th when my parents come to visit.  That’s right my friends, I’m not staying vegan.

I won’t be going back to my eating meat all the time ways, but I won’t be eliminating meat completely.  First of all, I’m a cook.  I love to cook and I really really love food in general.  While it’s been fun to learn to cook new things and use ingredients I’ve never even heard of, I just don’t feel like living that lifestyle is necessary.  Will I be consuming less meat? Yes.  Will I try to stick to a plant based diet? Yes. But I will definitely be adding dairy, eggs and fish back to my diet as often as I like.  I have realized during this process that I really don’t eat as much cheese as I thought, but when I eat cheese, I want it to be real cheese.  I really miss milk and yogurt and I ate those on a consistent basis and they always made me feel good.  Seafood is another thing I really miss.  I think my goal going forward will be to only eat meat (chicken, pork, beef) about 2-3 times per week max.  And when I do, I’ll be sure the meat is organic/local/anti-biotic free/grass fed, etc. and it’s the best quality.  I do like the idea of knowing where my food came from.  There are a few things I will still eat from my vegan experiment.  I will at least use up the Vegenaise and vegan butter.  Both weren’t that bad at all.  I will use more of that meatless ground and eat tempeh every now and then.  Also, I’ll be making that lentil soup again for sure.  One of my favorite things so far.  I still want to cook out of my vegan cookbook and see what else I like, so that will still be an adventure.

All in all, I don’t really feel much different.  I think overall I have a general “lightness” feel to my body, but I haven’t had a huge spike in energy or anything like that.  But, because I’m eating lighter food, that could be the reason.  I definitely think eating plant-based, whole (non-processed) foods makes a difference in how you feel.  For a while I thought my skin was getting better, but I broke out the end of last week as usual.  I might be sleeping a bit better, but I also think that’s because I have started to work out again at the gym and so I’ve been super tired when I lay down and I crash right away.  Maybe there will be some big change in the next 10 days, and I’m sticking with it to see what happens, but I’m pretty sure I’ve made up my mind.  Some people say it takes longer than a month to really reap the rewards of the vegan lifestyle, but I think I’m doing pretty well by giving it a shot for a month.  I’ll be trying a few more recipes the next 10 days, so I’ll be sure to post some reviews, but these are my thoughts so far!

Vegan food and vegan beer

Had a great weekend and stayed vegan.  Luckily beer is vegan because it’s football season!  My friend Meredith was in town and we went to the Met for a couple hours.  After that, we checked out a vegan restaurant.  I thought it was really nice that Meredith suggested it since she knows about my little experiment.  And to our surprise, we both really loved our food!  This was my first time eating out while vegan so it was a great introduction.  The restaurant is called Candle Cafe in the UES.  We had a crystal roll, sort of like a spring roll and also a smoked tempeh sandwich with roasted vegetables.  Really yummy and tons of flavor.  Then we went out to watch the VT game, have some beers and then headed to Rosa Mexicano for dinner.  I really can’t wait to go back there when I’m eating meat again. It looked absolutely amazing. There was only two dishes that I could have.  So I noshed on some guacamole and that was plenty.

Yesterday I made a macaroni salad that was supposed to have radishes in it, but since I don’t like those I left them out.  This was the first time using Veganaise.  I was scared, but it actually tasted pretty good!  It was yummy and I had it with a side of fresh spinach I sauteed with some garlic.

Tonight I made an Israeli cous cous dish with spices, dried apricots, pistachios and mint.  I’ve never had Israeli cous cous, but I loved it.  Little yummy pasta beads. I’m glad these last couple dishes were super tasty!

Still going…

The vegan experiment is still going well.  I’ve been eating leftovers and I have frozen some of my lentil soup.  Although it’s really good, I don’t want to get tired of it.  I haven’t made anything new this week since I have been finishing off everything else and last night I went to see U2 and didn’t get back until about 1:30am.  So I had another stadium situation and once again, did just fine.  I had a giant garden salad and peanuts.  I was satisfied and didn’t need anything else.  U2 made me wonder what they are doing though because those dudes are getting up there and put on an amazing performance!  Bono even ran around the entire stage a few times at a sprint!

This weekend I plan on cooking up a few more new recipes.  I have a cous cous dish and macaroni salad in mind and I have some fresh spinach that is begging to be sauted.  I’m also meeting my friend Meredith tomorrow and she’s been kind enough to suggest we go to a vegan restaurant for lunch.  Now…where should I go?  I know there are a ton of places in NYC, but I’ve never been to one.  I’ll give a review when I hit one!  Other than that, there will be beer involved this weekend I’m sure.  VT plays Miami tomorrow and we’re going to watch at a bar full of Manhattan Hokies and then Sunday I’ll be going to my first Jets game to help a friend promote her new company.  Luckily I get to watch the game too!  I have no investment in either team, but while I live in NY I figure I need to pick a team to somewhat route for.  So again, some vegan beer will be involved in that event too.

Well, I’m 10 days in and my overall thoughts are: it’s been a lot easier than I thought, I feel like I have slightly higher energy, I feel like I can get out of bed a bit easier in the morning, I have an overall “light” feeling and the challenge of finding new things to eat that follow the vegan guidelines is kind of fun.  Do I miss some things? Yes.  Will I try to stick with a majority of the vegan principles and ideas? I might!  I’ll see how the next few weeks go!

Vegan Cooking – Some good, some not so good

I got to use some of my questionable ingredients and I tried my first few recipes the last couple of days.  The Bulgar Wheat salad, not a favorite.  I love vinegar but I think this one just had too much. If I try it again I may just add some sugar.  However, my co-worker Ellen loves it, so luckily it didn’t go to waste!  I brought her the entire thing today so she has lunch/dinner for the

next couple of days.  The Lentil soup though, amazing!  I’ve never even cooked lentils before and I think the main reason why is because every time I have tried them in the past, they are just so dry.  I proved myself wrong this time and it’s super tasty!  I’ll be eating on this the whole week!

Since I can’t eat the same thing for every meal, I had to make something to switch off with.  Last night I made a Cauliflower pot pie with a soy cream sauce and herbs and a kalamata olive biscuit top.  It’s really yummy, but I’m not completely in love.  I think it’s because I’m getting used to these new ingredients and I can really tell the difference.  Soy is just not the same as cream, not even close.  The vegan butter, although pretty good, just not the same as real butter.  I’d definitely get slapped in the face by the French if they knew I made my rue with the vegan butter and soy milk.  I’m about to slap myself in the face, but hey…it’s all part of the experiment right?  The herbs helped though and it definitely turned out pretty.  I’m hoping it heats up well the 2nd day because I brought some for lunch!

Day 5 and still alive!

And actually not hungry!  I think all my research and preparation has paid off.  I had a huge order of groceries delivered last Tuesday night full of veggies, fruits, nuts, bread, etc. and today I made another shopping run to Whole Foods.  I must admit, for the first few days, my meals were a bit boring, but now I’m back to cooking.

I’m using a cookbook called Veganomicon and I must say, everything looks really really good!  I’m learning a lot though.  There are quite a few ingredients I didn’t even know existed and some I’m honestly scared to try, but I’m going to do it anyway.  I tried to shop for a few recipes today so I have no excuses during the work week. This, however, led to a very heavy shopping trip.  I had three full bags of food and I’m actually sore from carrying them.  Here in NYC, you get used to carrying things all over and sometimes you over do it.  Today was one of those days.

But now the week is off to a good start!  I already made a Bulgar, Arugula and Cannellini salad that is now marinating in the fridge.  It’s one of those salads that gets better the longer it sits, so I’m not touching that one until tomorrow at lunch.  Tonight I’ll be making Lentil Soup with Tarragon and Thyme.  I’ll be sure to take some pictures once I finish.  In the meantime, here are a few of the new vegan ingredients I picked up today.  Not quite sure how I feel about a few of them, but I’ll give it a shot!

The Veginning

I have been doing a lot of research and reading books, blogs and websites for about a month before starting my experiment.   I don’t want to become deficient in anything and want to be sure I’m not starving, getting headaches, etc.  Also, I’m finally going to be heading back to the gym, so I want to be sure I’m getting enough nutrients to keep me energized as I’m adding workouts back into my routine.

My kitchen is stocked full of grains, fruits, veggies, nuts, grain bread and beans.  There are still a few more things I need for some recipes which I’ll be shopping for this weekend and starting to cook.  Since I’m just back from vacation, I’m not as prepared as I would have liked to be, but I still haven’t had too many issues starting on time.  My meals have been slightly boring so far, but still filling and I haven’t been starving at all.  So far, I think my favorite breakfast meal has been a banana taco.  Whole wheat tortilla, natural peanut butter, banana and blueberries.  Super tasty!  I’ve had brown rice topped with veggie soup, mushroom barley soup with matzo crackers and still having my coffee but with coconut milk.

As I start cooking and trying new products, I’ll be blogging about those and taking some pictures to add on here.  I’m already amazed by the types of products out there that I would have never even looked at before, so this should be fun! Wish me luck!

The Vegan Experiment

Who? – Me
What? – Eat Vegan – which means no meat, dairy (which includes fish, cheese, yogurt, milk, etc.) or any animal products (I’m making honey the exception)
Where? – NYC – which is looking like one of the best places to try this!
When? – Sept 16 to Oct 16
Why? – The main reason I wanted to try it is to see if I feel any different/better.  I’m not doing this for ethical reasons at all.  I will probably end this experiment with a big steak, but, if I can lower my meat intake overall to help in the overproduction of food in this country, I’ll give it a shot.  I have already been trying to buy organic, local, grass-fed, free-range meats and watching what seafood I purchase to avoid over-fished varieties, but I think the overall decrease in meat consumption can only be a good thing.  I think my overall goal will be to decrease my meat consumption to only one meal per day and eliminate at least 90% of processed foods from my diet. (I still think that 10% of whatever I want is important for sanity!)  I am however, already missing milk/cheese/yogurt the most (after only 3 days), so I’ll be happy to have that back.  Being a cook, this is going to be a fun challenge and the recipe experimenting starts this weekend!

**Hopefully I’ll keep this blog up this time!  I started this thing back in 2007…so that’s another challenge this month!  I’ve hidden all my old posts because they’re just so old!