Crave on

It's been one full month (Feb 1 - March 1) that I started this wonderful meatless journey. It's been interesting to say the least. Nothing has been really grotty or spit out disgusting so that's a plus.

I do have cravings. Things like pepperoni pizza...Wendy's Chicken Sandwiches, ice cream, so I'm human. We went to P.F. Changs last night and I really wanted the Mongoloian Beef. I had tofu - which was really amazing and the sauces...so great.

Nothing else major to report - no baby yet.

One month with no cheese.

I started this journey on 2/1/10 and it's now 2/22/10 and I've been doing this for three full weeks. Entering my fourth week - I am happy to say that my Safeway has started carrying Gardein - it's the chicken that's not chicken. It's really good and low fat, etc. It is the same price as Whole Foods as well - which is good.

In case you have a spreadsheet - I've lost 8 lbs so far. I'm pretty happy with that.

Three cheers for Almond Milk

Giving up milk was not too hard for me. I have always loved milk but as long as there are adequate substitutes, it was fine. I found something really good - Almond Milk! I think it's new - at least the carton says it is - but it's from Blue Diamond and it's very creamy and smooth. I love it on ceral (Life, Cap'n Crunch) or in my coffee.

Yeah for Almond Milk!

Cuties R 4 Kids!

I am at the tail end of week three of this obedience journey. It has been really good for me - as I've wanted to give up several times, but somehow, the strength to continue goes on! It's weird.

I've been on a Cutie kick - you know the little California mandarin oranges.Today I ate four at one sitting. This is huge for me because I normally do NOT like fruit...so, Cuties have me wrapped around their juicy orange shell!

I purchased some homemade Vegan, Oreo type cookies on Etsy - and they are delish! I am happy to have these little sweets to help curb the lack of cheese & chicken.

My favorite thing by far is the spicy "chicken" from Boca. I mentioned before that I'm worried about my carb intake, and still am a bit worried. It has gone up of course because I can eat rice, pasta and most breads.

The journey continues!

Swing and a Miss by the Naked Baby

For those of us without - V-day sucks. Tonight, though...my family is indulging my Vegan lifestyle and we're all going to the Teapot Vegetarian Restaurant in Redmond. It's 100% vegan and their menu looks really good!

I am thankful for my family and happy that tomorrow is a holiday - and not Valentine's Day.

a first of many

Last night was not a good night. I had a sweet potato for dinner and thought that was enough. Half way through Fergie's agility class my blood sugar dropped and I got the cold sweats and shakes. So I left early and went to Burger King for a large diet coke and (wait for it...) some french fries. At this point I didn't care if the fries were fried in animal oil...I needed something down my gullet!

I waited about 10 minutes and started to feel better. I didn't plan well. I usually have nuts or something in my purse but had ran out. I felt guilty but also felt like my body was screaming for food and I had to do whatever I could.

Note to self...a sweet potato for dinner is NOT enough.

And...we move forward.

Go-to foods

I've found that I have to keep some go-to foods around in case of cravings. These include my sourdough bread, peanut butter and granola bars. It also helps if what I fix for lunch/dinner is disgusting...these are my go-to foods. I must have these around or else I think I'll feel desperate and want to cheat. So far though, I've not wanted to cheat - and everything I've prepared thus far has been awesome. Really...

I found tempeh at Whole Foods that I really love. It's a different kind of soy bean protein that is really good when "fried" up crispy.

Week #1

Week one is in the books. I am celebrating by eating spaghetti with TVP - first time - but I am looking forward to a new taste experience! I am down 3 pounds too. That's what I get for not eating cheese for a week!

I think some butter may have snuck into the week - at certain times. But, like my mom says, I will let grace fill in the blanks.

Thanks for following along.

First night out...

Last night we had a Girl's Night at North Bend Bar & Grill. It was my fourth day of Veganism and my first time out to eat. I ordered the veggie burger with no cheese or mayo but with mustard and grilled onions.

I think they grilled the onions in butter and was pretty sure that they put butter on the bun. I felt bad after eating it...but like the bff and sister said - I made the best choice possible.

I told my mom about it and she had one of the best lines ever..."Do what you can and grace will fill in the rest..."

I love that!
Thanks mom, sister and BFF for the help!

Day three down

And on the third day...

So far so good. I am a person of routine and once I get a routine down, I'm pretty happy. This eating plan has been pretty routine. It has also been pretty tasty. I have used ingredients that I've never cooked with before as well as spices. I made tofu chili yesterday and it was really good.

Tonight...collard greens - Brazillian Style!

The final night

I'm pretty depressed - not going to lie. The one thing that keeps me going is that I know a few things...

1. I'm not going to starve
2. I'm eating better food - better for me and better for the animals
3. I am prepared. My freezer and fridge are full of good things.
4. I'm scared as heck...of failure and disobedience
5. One day at a time.

I'll report how it's going tomorrow and what I'm eating. I know...it's exciting!

Thoughts on Cold Turkey

Who doesn't like cold turkey? It's usually always great on the day after Thanksgiving as we all watch more football. However, it usually doesn't work for an eating plan or any kind of habit change. But...come Monday morning - I will be going cold turkey.

I watched Alicia Silverstone on Oprah the other day. She has gone total Vegan and was recommending certain foods, etc. I got a little excited as she was walking through Whole Foods finding great food to cook. The best thing she said was that eating Vegan makes your poop "wonderful". That my friends, is what I look forward to most and why going cold turkey will be worth it!

"Obedience Stinks"

What started out as kind of a funky Sunday (you know the kind...where you'd rather be anywhere else?) turned into a great (and spiritual) time for me personally. We looked at the story of Elijah and the widow in I Kings 17. My pastor said that one of his favorite parts of the story was when Elijah asked the widow to give him her son (who was dead). I think that is what God asks us to do - give him our issues, circumstances, bank accounts, diet issues, the IMPOSSIBLE and let him handle things. Why is such a beautiful concept so difficult to comprehend?

I'm not really an Old Testement lover - as you can understand by my blog's title, I'm really only into the red letters. However, there is value in understanding the God that was the OT.

We ended service with prayer stations - which I love. I wrote in the prayer journal "Obedience Stinks". Sorry, that's how I feel right now - with t-minus 6 days of eating whatever I want.

Thanks to Hillary for taking me to Olive Garden today. It was awesdome but I felt that I could not eat that again and be o.k. in light of all that's happened in the past few weeks.

Cleaning out the fridge

I'm slowly cleaning out the fridge/freezer. I should have taken a picture of the before/after look. I have enough dinners for all week - except for 2 nights and hopefully, those evenings will be covered with Olive Garden and pizza.

Starting small

Started small. Small starts. Baby steps. Whatever you want to call it - it's hard to get started on something this huge without first taking smaller steps. I want to get ready for 2/1/10 but I also do not want my system to flip out because I am not eating chicken McNuggets smothered in cheese sauce with a side of honey mustard dip. (I don't really eat that...but)

Yesterday I had a vegan breakfast. Two slices of soy toast with Smart Balance light - made with flax seed oil. It was good and filled me up. Today I had dried apricots and flax seed chips with homemade salsa. It's good and I'm satisfied. Breakfast is easy though - since I don't love it - I force myself to eat it otherwise I'll be crabby until lunch.

Tomorrow I will start my day with my normal mocha but have my Barista put in a small amount of soy...just to start. Small steps...

The blog is back.

I've decided to revamp the blog. I wanted to share the Vegan journey with friends and family. This is mainly for my own catharsis as well as accountability. I struggle with accountability because I live alone. Nobody will care that I cheat and Fergie certainly won't tell!

Preparations have begun. I bought soy yogurt - which is amazing. I bought some vegan bread, but then the BFF informed me that most Pillsbury crescent rolls are vegan and I just about died! Wonder bread is even vegan. There is certainly a difference between healthy vegan and unhealthy.

It's baby steps for the next 2 weeks - as 2 weeks from today the real deal happens.

Wish me luck.