Yep, it's that time of year again, that time you pump your fists in excitement for that grand ol' holiday....
LENT!
This year I chose to be vegan, for many reasons, the number one of which being that it's way better for you and for the environment, and since I believe that, I should definitely be doing something about it, instead of blatantly pretending ignorance.
Since I believe that, I should probably be doing it forever.
SIGH.
The jury's still out on that one. I kind of like Pollin's theory, the "eat vegan until dinner" thing, but I am aware of its hypocriticisms (did I make that up? Do I care? And do I really think 'hypocrisies' could do the job here? No...?).
I've learned all sorts of interesting things about being vegan. Care to hear?
1. You can still be totally fat on a vegan diet. Even when you have been doing the P90X workout plan for 3 weeks now, you can not even lose 1 pound. OH, yes, you all thought I'd start looking like Scott, but actually there are all sorts of fun things you can make and eat and still be vegan, the not least of which are OREOS. That's right. You heard me.
1.a. Oreos don't taste as good if you don't have regular milk to dip them into.
1.b. Newman O's are waaaaaaay better. I recommend peanut butter flavor.
1.c. You can even make vegan poundcake. I think I've been baking more than ever.
2. Soy yogurt? DEESGUSTING. Except for baking with. That probably should have been 1.d.
3. You are more likely to randomly stick a piece of spam in your mouth if you are trying to be vegan that if you are not. Just ask the billions of omnivores that don't live in Hawaii how often they eat spam. This is especially true if you are making musubi for your non-vegan family.
4. That being said, I haven't really missed meat.
4.a. Much.
4.b. Gourmet Magazine is so not vegan friendly. And they are so mean to rub your face in it.
5. When you eat vegan, you almost never eat until you are disgustingly full. Satisfied is a term I am now familiar with.
6. If I had been Jesus in the desert for 40 days, I would most certainly have given in. Good thing for you I wasn't Jesus. Lent might have been a tad different.
6.a. Today I not accidentally ate 2 twirls from Amy's boxed macaroni and cheese.
6.b. Yesterday I not accidentally ate some sort of dip that had either mayonnaise or cream. (you can't eat fried green tomatoes DRY people!)
6.c. I have accidentally and not accidentally had animal products at least a handful (or several handfuls) of times over the last 30 days. And I am scheduled to eat normally for Jake's birthday (his request) as well. I maintain that I have pretty much been entirely vegan. I did not blatantly drink milk or eat cake or anything like that. Well, I did have a bite of one cake. Okay, so I did not eat any meat. Except that one time at Robin's. But only that ONCE! I don't think I had cheese.
7. You can eat a LOT of vegetables and not feel full.
8. There are almost no vegan convenience foods. Which is good and bad.
9. Agar agar powder is ridiculously expensive.
9.b. There are a lot of strange products for vegan cooking (mostly baking) that I now have a lot of.
9.c. Granulated cane sugar (regular sugar) is not vegan. Neither are nestle semi-sweet chocolate chips. I guess you can chalk those up to the not-accidental eating I've been doing. I've learned more about sugars than I ever thought necessary.
10. I'm cringing a little bit at the idea of going back to normal.
12 comments:
Wow. I don't know if I admire you, or pity you.
I could never be a vegetarian, let alone a vegan! More power to you.
Normal is relative. A regular vegan would say that what you are doing IS normal.
I, however, think it is insane. Kudos to you and your semi-self-diciplinary skills.
My sister the Catholic, my fiance the Jew. I think I'll have to tap into some Buddhist or Shinto roots now.
Excited for you guys to come. I had a dream with Jake in it last night. He had really long, like hippie long, hair. He shaved it off.
Miss you!
PS Thanks for the Ramekins!
I think your effort is FANtastic and that you look fantastic as well. Whenever you say "fat" everyone needs to replace that with "cute". Cause you can be totally cute on a vegan diet, which you are! I love all these interesting things you've learned, though, like how in the world can you bake a pound cake without a pound of butter?!!!
Oh, and for the record, you didn't eat meat at my house; they're called "chicken tenders". See? No "meat" in the name there! tee hee. But the mashed potatoes had dairy. :P
You rock, and I think it's totally acceptable if, after Lent, you continue to make vegan cookies and pastas and such, but still eat meat and dairy when you feel like it.
I agree with Robin and applaud what you're doing cuz I could NEVER in a bajillion years, be a vegan. I LOVE my meat! I am 100% and maybe some days 110% carnivore!! ;D
When you eat meat again, come to my house for dinner and Guitar Hero b/c I don't know how to cook vegan and therefore can not cater to your needs! and I really don't want you to make something to bring to my house...
i like how you are pretending that Lent is a totally normal holiday. i am impressed that you've made the effort. from what i have read, any effort to eat less meat is good for the environment (even if you just eat it once a week, etc). i agree about not getting full on veggies—i never do. But I can get full on whole grains. We went out and bought a bunch of quinoa, millet, wheat germ and whole wheat pastas to try and up our whole grain intake.
I agree with Sienna. I haven't been eating a lot of meat lately because whenever I make it I get super sick. Quinoa is my new favorite food especially with Kale and sun dried tomatoes.
You need to give yourself more credit. You've totally lost weight. You know you have. Give yourself a break!
I gave up Lent for Lent.
hawaii needs a trader joes. period.
you would be having so much fun being vegan if there was one there. promise.
Kristina: I used to ALWAYS say that. It's totally not true. If they sold vegan on TV, would you try it?
Kegan: I don't think we have buddhist roots. And that dream is not too far from normal truth. Make your chocolate molten cake in ramekins! And many other yummy things, including FLAN.
Note to everyone about Robbie: She is pregnant, so she is so cute that she thinks everyone is cute.
Carol: I will come play guitar hero and bring my own vegetable dish (canned corn don't COUNT!).
Sienna and Da: Quinoa is really good. I have a hard time getting myself to boil up grains though. I don't know why.
I should probably just use my pressure cooker.
Syl: WORD.
Ashley: YES. Talk to them for me, wouldya?
Although I haven't totally given up meat (I occasionally eat chicken or fish if it's a hassle not to), I don't really miss it. in fact, when I do, it feels kind of like candy, but with excessive fat instead of sugar. we eat a lot more beans and lentils. we have been soaking our own beans and have a pressure cooker. it's delicious. i think the biggest challenge really, is just finding new foods to eat. and trying to eat out without paying too much. bekah made some ono daal with saffron rice.
I never thought about the diference between not eating meat and being vegan, but it's huge- they put animal products in everything! I'm impressed with the distance you're going for this one and wish I wasn't so lazy about things that matter.
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