I Never Imagined…

I’m so glad that I’m going over these old diary entries because they’re reminding me of things I’ve learned since becoming vegan almost 5 months ago now. Now that I’ve read the post below, I’m going to get myself back on the Blackstrap molasses! I have some, and want to use it, but the lid is stuck on. So, I’ll either get the lid off or buy some more, because it really did make a difference to the way I felt.

Missing the Old Stuff (written August 1, 2010)

I bought the Blackstrap molasses! It is great! It was hard to swallow at first (literally), but I have been feeling so much better since I started taking it. It’s great for my energy levels! And now it goes down easily.

Toby’s parents are visiting so we have been eating out a lot lately, which has been difficult at times but fine at others. It’s a little difficult when we’re at a restaurant where there is really only one dish that I can order, but I don’t feel like eating that kind of dish. For example, last night we were at an Italian restaurant and there was only one dish, a pasta marinara, that I could eat- but I really didn’t feel like eating tomato sauce! What I desperately wanted to eat was gnocchi with pesto sauce, but the pesto has Parmesan cheese in it so I couldn’t. But Toby ordered it and I had to sit there across from the deliciousness for the whole meal!

I will have to make my own vegan pesto sauce and eat it with some gnocchi… yum! I also love Alfredo sauce so I will have to make a vegan Alfredo, too.

I had a delicious grilled vegetable sandwich yesterday from our local diner- who’d have thought?! It had portabello mushroom, lettuce, tomato, red peppers and garlic mayo- but I switched that for mustard- all on a focaccia. Brilliant! So fresh and so filling, all for $8! I’m constantly being amazed at the new foods I’m discovering as a vegan, even at places I’ve been to many times before.

Another odd but pleasing discovery I’ve made is that the bread I have been buying since switching to vegan actually goes moldy! Yes, moldy! Yes, pleasing! I haven’t seen moldy bread since I left Australia 2 years ago, and I thought I was buying relatively healthy bread all this time… Well, it was not as healthy as I thought. I knew it had a lot of preservatives because it wasn’t going moldy or even stale after a few days, or a week, or more… so I am very happy that I’m buying bread that actually goes moldy now!

In this uninspired diary entry from July I talk about the trouble I was having trying to get my diet right. I was feeling blah, hence the uninspired (aka, boring) post. My apologies!

Check out my other diary entries here.

Feeling Blah (written July 29, 2010)

I have been feeling pretty sluggish over the past few days, which I think might be partly from a flu that I am mostly fending off, but also due to the change in my diet. I have to be extra conscious of what I am eating so that I get enough iron, enough calcium, enough protein and enough calories- among other things. For the most part I am doing this, but the things I used to eat, like a sandwich with Vegemite, just don’t cut it anymore. I need to make the most out of every meal.

For an extra boost I’m going to buy some blackstrap molasses which is supposed to be a good source of iron and calcium. I have my iron supplement every night with vitamin C, and I drink a glass of chocolate soy milk every morning with breakfast for calcium, but it’s not enough. In fact, the reason I have been having Vegemite instead of peanut butter is because it makes me thirsty so it’s easier to drink the milk. I also must stop drinking the chocolate with the milk, and adjust to the milk on its own.

At first I was happy to eat the Vegemite because it gave me sodium when I craved it, but lately I have been getting enough anyway from adding salt for flavor- another thing I must cut down on!!

So, to summarize, I still have a lot of work to do with my food plan.

I am still enjoying the book, Diet for a New America, and every page I read reinforces to me why I am doing this, and why I will never give up!

When I eat out, I often think about things that I used to order compared to what I order now. Tonight, for example, Toby and I went to a pub for dinner. In the olden days I would have ordered fish and chips, but tonight I ordered a salad (minus the feta cheese that was listed on the menu). It was a great salad! I ordered a side of broccoli rabe, too, because even though it tastes… how do I put this nicely… disgusting, it is SO good for you!

In this post I started to examine the differences between my eating habits before and then after switching to vegan.

Comparisons (written July 26, 2010)

I find it interesting to compare what I eat nowadays compared to what I would have eaten had I not stopped eating animal products. I’m going to name a few dishes that I’ve eaten recently and compare it to what I would have eaten otherwise (because the dish was on the menu, or we had it in our apartment at the time).
Continue reading Before and After