Vegan Eating Day 5

When I first went grocery shopping as a vegan, I went to the local Mother's Market and bought tofu, soy jerky, rice and almond milk, a cart full of produce and some bags of bulk grains.  For the most part, my diet suddenly included things that I've never eaten on a regular basis.  This morning, I decided to have a bagel with almond butter.  It seemed too easy, where was the preparation and careful instruction following?

I have now come to realize that I can't eat relatively normal things that have the vegan qualities that I'm looking for.  I made a big pot of steel cut oats afterward.  It took about an hour to make them but I will be able to heat some up for breakfast in the morning for the next few days.  I can eat salads and pre-cook a lot of dinners so I don't have to cook at the end of the day when I'd rather be doing...anything else.  I've made this into a big cooking intensive process and it does not need to be that.

If only they made vegan TV dinners...but I suppose the sodium would be unhealthy, entirely defeating the purpose.  Just finished the rest of my vanilla almond ice cream.  Vanilla but made with almond milk. It is really unbelievably good.

Christmas Time Eating
My family is getting together with my dad's brother's family for Christmas Eve.  I'll be bringing my own food so as not to inconvenience them into making something vegan.  I need ideas though.  I was thinking about going to a local vegan place and just getting a fancier than usual meal to take with me and heat up later.  I don't know if this will be an awkward social situation and it makes me a teensy bit antsy.

My dad is making lamb for Christmas dinner.  I'm eating it. End of story. Well, not really the end.  I'll have a few bites of it.  An incredibly small portion because I want to taste it without feeling too many of the effects on my body.  Perhaps it will also be a learning experience.  I'll feel the difference between eating animal products and not eating them far more acutely than when I switched to veganism.
 
Loving Hut
My mother and I went to a vegan restaurant last night called Loving Hut.  The food was delicious.  The service was so-so and the literature and pamphlets were a little bit horrifying.  I saw a few things about something called the Supreme Master.  This is the kind of place that uses 4 instead of for and 2 instead of to.  Just a little 2 new-agey for me.  However, the sweet potato fries and spring rolls made up for it and I will happily return...to get take-out.

Overall
I'm still enjoying the learning experience I get with eating vegan.  My brother mentioned that I'd been very nice this week.  Perhaps a result of my healthy eating.  I've been sleeping well enough.  I've had a bit of trouble falling asleep but I've also been trying to go to bed earlier.  I'm still enjoying the journey.

Tip 5 Get fit!

This morning I woke up very early to do my young friend's hair for her school dance.  It was surprisingly easy to get up at 5:30AM instead of my usual 8AM.  If this is any indication of my ability to stick with a different sleep schedule, I may not have as much trouble with the Uberman as I would have thought. 

When I got back from getting her hair done at around 7:30AM, I turned on the TV.  I fully intended to watch something I recorded, nothing specific.  I saw that I had recorded a Slow-roebics workout from the FitTV channel. A channel that I am quickly learning to love.  I hit play to see what it would be like and the trainer said all you need is a pair of sneakers and an exercise mat. Well, I have sneakers and there is an abundance of yoga mats around this house so, I thought, "Why not?"

Tip 5: Get fit! (My edit: If that's what you want from life.)
Some people don't need to be fit to do what they like and be happy.  I like being active so becoming fit is important to me.

So, I jumped in, head first.  This all adds up to 40-50 minutes of working out this morning.  I don't know if I've ever felt "the burn" as acutely as I did this morning during one of the exercises.  Ouch! However, now that I'm done, I feel amazing.  Tip 5 has gone very well so far.  I have yet to decide on an exercise for tomorrow, but I have a variety of options.  My most comedic option is a Dancing With the Stars Cardio Workout DVD that I got for Christmas one year.  One of the dance leaders has an Australian accent that makes exercise far more fun.

I recently read a list of excuses and why they suck in January's copy of O Magazine.  I'm going to get a copy of the magazine for myself and put that list somewhere where I'll see it often.

I went vegan 5 days ago for the health benefits.  This morning my brother said that I had been really nice this week. We get along about as well as Palin and liberals do most of the time.  Perhaps I'm in a better mood because of my healthy eating.  I like to speculate and it's probably best that I don't.  I'm looking forward to the added benefits of exercise and being fit.

Vegan Eating Day 1

So far so good. I had a little trouble last night with staying satiated.  Maybe it was a lack of protein, that's the common belief.  Maybe it wasn't related to vegan eating.  Sometimes I get hungry and stay hungry even when I eat.  I'm really looking forward to the benefits of vegan eating. You know, superpowers and all (Scott Pilgrim anyone?).

I met a friend of my brother's today.  She said she could never give up cheese so she's a vegetarian (as of 1 week ago) but she feels so much better already.  Meat based meals always gave her an upset stomach.  I tend to have an upset stomach very often so maybe this will help.

I made a long list of things to buy at Mother's Market or Trader Joe's. I'm fortunate enough to have both of those within a few miles of my house.  I also managed to find Tofu (on sale for $.79 a package) at Ralph's in LA yesterday.

I found vegan "butter" to put on my baked potatoes.  The boyfriend is excellent at making baked potatoes so I thought I would splurge a little on the butter. $6 for a medium sized tub. I wish I could remember how many ounces, but alas, I left it in LA.  It tastes alright.  Like margarine or the fake butter spray but vegetable based.  Actually, I used to despise adding butter to anything.  It was the fake butter spray that got me back onto this butter habit.

I'm looking forward to trying almond milk as well as soy yogurt. So far, I woke up with a stomach ache (which is not unusual for me) but have felt fine the rest of the day.  I'm a little bit nervous about running out of food that I can eat before I go shopping. Easily remedied but I'm hoping my mother will come with me this evening if she has time. If not, well I'd rather not shop right before the local kids get out of school. Other moms shop right before they pick their kids up, or right after. It doesn't make a ton of sense to me but the Mother's Market is withing a mile radius of a few elementary schools and a high school.

In other news, Boyfriend gifted me with the Mumford & Sons CD called Sigh No More. It makes me feel good. Both the music and knowing that he remembered that I like them. I'm unbelievably fortunate to have him.