My Plant-Based Diet - Day 22: I'm Obsessed with Food!

I've now been a vegan for more than three weeks, and despite having a very limited repertoire of meals I know how to make so far, I'm absolutely loving food!

All day I think and obsess about my next meal. Is this normal? Healthy? Am I developing an eating disorder? Will I soon become a 300 pound vegan? It's all within the realm of possibility.

So here's a report of what I ate today:

6:30 am - water

6:45 am - instant oatmeal (cinnamon and apple)

7:15 am - hot water with lemon

7:45 am - citrus blend

8:00 am - a 5 ounce bag of PopCorners chips. They are delicious, vegan, and low-calorie.


11:00 am - green salad topped with nuts, cucumber, and raspberry vinaigrette. Half a pita with hummus.

1:00 pm - water

3:00 pm - water

5:00 pm - green smoothie (juiced spinach, carrot, and celery blended with frozen strawberries and mangoes, with two tablespoons of chia seeds and two tablespoons of ground flax).

6:30 pm - garden burger with 7-grain bread, veggie mayo, mustard, lettuce, tomato, and onion; far too many fluffy baked vegan potato wedges dipped in ketchup.

7:30 pm - I'm stuffed, but I'm already planning out the awesome food I'm going to be eating tomorrow.

I love food!

Newbie Vegan: Oreo Binge!

I have been doing well on my vegan diet for the past 17 days. I have an incredible amount of energy while consuming NO caffeine. I have stopped taking my prescription sleep medicine (which I was dependent on for 9 years), and I'm sleeping well. 

One of the best benefits of my plant-based diet is that for the first time in my life, I am not experiencing any constipation. And, I do mean life - my parents report that I was even a constipated newborn! Things are moving 3-5 times a day. My digestion has been superb and I attribute a lot of my high energy to this. Until today.

Today, I'm feeling bloated, despite having two movements. That could be explained by PMS - and I would normally attribute it to my cycle. It could also be attributed to the six Oreos I smothered in peanut butter before gobbling up. But, I feel that my newly improved health and well-working bodily functions should be able to overcome. So, I'm trying to figure out how to increase my fiber intake.

Here's what I ate today. 

8:00 am - water

9:00 am - hot water with lemon

9:30 am - citrus blend (yes, I do realize I'm missing out on fiber by juicing my breakfasts, but I really don't want to eat a large orange every day. I just don't like the pulp, so this is a good compromise for the vitamin benefits).

11:30 am - vegan chili over brown rice

12:00 pm - six Oreos dipped in peanut butter. 

1:00 pm - bloating set in. Okay, it was probably the Oreos. 

2:00 pm - water

3:00 pm - water

4:00 pm - water (symptoms persist)

5:00 pm - smoothie made with freshly juiced spinach and lemon, whole strawberries, a banana, 2 tablespoons of chia seeds, and 2 tablespoons of flax. This seems like a really healthy supplement and the taste was pretty decent. 

6:45 pm - symptoms persist. Making dinner. Here's what I will be having...

7:45 pm - veggie burger on 9-grain bread, with vegan mayo, lettuce, tomato, onion, and mustard, and Vegan Fluffy Oven-Baked Potato Wedges (click for the recipe).

I'm hoping for a healthier tomorrow. And, I'm putting myself in an Oreo and peanut butter time-out until the symptoms, uh...pass.

Augmenting My Vegan Diet with Flax

I woke up to a big surprise this Monday morning = snow day! My fast is officially over, so I'm back on solid foods. But, I did stick with my morning juicing routine. It works for me; therefore, I'm keeping it. 

Here's what I ate today:

7:00 am - water

7:30 am - hot water with lemon

8:00 am - citrus blend (I made extra for the kids)

8:30 am - almonds

10:30 am - water

12:30 pm - wild rice and refried beans mixed with two tablespoons of flax seeds and topped with a 1/2 cup of chopped cilantro, black olives, and salsa. It was a delicious midday meal, but I then discovered that flax seeds do not really digest if eaten whole; they need to be milled. I also discovered that I can grind the seeds with my much-neglected blender. Flax seeds are loaded with omega-3, fiber, and a lot of other really healthy nutrients, so I am planning to incorporate 2-3 tablespoons into my daily diet.

3:00 pm - fresh pineapple

5:00 pm - water

6:30 pm - Boca chicken burger with "Just Mayo" (vegan mayo), mustard, lettuce, cilantro, and onion. It was a very satisfying meal. I also drank some of that "vegetable juice" (beer) with my dinner. I don't intend to drink a beer every day, but the Boca burger was spicy and it just lent itself to a beer.

Day 10: Eating With Carnivores

Day 10 of my ten-day juice cleanse has arrived and I am still juicing it up...along with some solid plant-based foods as well. You might be wondering how I'm able to eat / not eat whatever I want without affecting the rest of my family. 

Here's our family's dirty little secret: we each eat what we want and that is almost never the same thing as the rest of the family. I embrace the golden rule and allow my children to choose the foods they want to eat. I do not allow them to drink soda (except non-caffeinated soda on very rare occasions). And I make sure they get some fresh fruit in the daily diet. They don't always eat vegetables, but they sometimes do. My oldest child has autism, so his food texture sensitivities created a necessity of being flexible with his food choices. By the time his little sister came along, the culture had already been established. 

And now for my final daily food journal:

8:00 am - water

8:30 am - hot water with lemon

9:30 am - citrus blend

11:30 am - green drink! I ran out of kale, so I juiced up a batch of spinach and cucumber juice. It was pretty tasteless. Green drinks should be consumed on an empty stomach and at least 30 minutes before a solid meal.

12:00 pm - family dinner! The kids wanted barbecue ribs and Steve was in the mood for pulled pork. Oh, the pork smelled so delicious! Meanwhile, I ate a baked potato topped only with salt and pepper.

2:00 pm - water

4:00 pm - water

5:00 pm - cantaloupe

7:00 pm - Steve made my favorite meal of peanut noodles again tonight and I washed it down with a Bud Light. Hey, beer is vegetable juice, right?

8:30 pm - for dessert, I'm going to eat some fresh mango :)

Day 9: I Love My Plant Based Diet!

While I don't love the taste of kale juice, I have come to really appreciate it. I can juice a gallon of kale and drink it in just a few minutes. Yes, it is a lot of work to clean the juicer, but there is no way I could - or would - ever eat that much kale in a day.

Here's how my day went:

8:00 am - water

9:00 am - citrus blend (orange, lemon, ginger) and 20 walnuts.

10:00 am - hot water with lemon.

10:45-11:30 am - I took a nice, long walk with my daughter and my dad. It was a good reminder of how much I really need to incorporate daily exercise into my life.

12:00 pm - wild rice topped with a cup of chopped cilantro and 1/4 cup of fresh salsa.

2:00 pm - water

6:00 pm - kale juice (1 gallon of kale and half an apple)

8:00 pm - peanut noodles (made with vegan butter)

8:30 pm - water

Day 8: Oh, KALE NO!

Well, I am a full-fledged whole-plant-based-eating vegan now. I'm reading the book How Not to Die by Michael Greger, MD. He is inspiring me to to eat more vegetables and fruits and stay far away from processed foods. 

And now for my daily diet:

6:30 am - water

7:30 am - hot water with lemon

8:30 am - citrus blend

9:00 am - 20 almonds

11:00 am - wild blend rice topped with fresh salsa

12:30 pm - walnuts

3:00 pm - banana

5:00 pm - kale juice (a gallon of kale juiced with an apple). I just do not love the after taste of kale at all. I don't mind drinking the juice, but the taste it leaves in my mouth is no fun. This had better be giving me a lot of health benefits.

5:45 pm - fresh chips and salsa from the local Mexican restaurant.

7:00 pm - fresh fruits and vegetables at a church event, including fresh guacamole used as dip (in lieu of ranch).

Well, I think today was the highest calorie day of my so-called-juice fast. But the all-vegan food was delicious!

Day 7: I'm Full

I'm enjoying real food these days. This juice fast has taught me to be mindful of what goes into my body. I really love the flavors and varieties of foods available, and now I have the motivation to find creative ways of putting together delicious plant-based meals.

On day seven of my juice fast, I juiced twice (twice as many times as yesterday). I haven't felt hungry at all today. I really haven't felt hungry in the past week, but today was especially lacking in hunger pains. 

What I ate/drank today:

6:30 am - water

7:30 am - hot water with lemon

8:00 am - citrus blend

8:30 am - banana and a small handful of almonds

11:30 am - an avocado

12:30 pm - water

2:00 pm - water

3:00 pm - 1/4 cup of walnuts and a large apple

4:30 pm - water

7:00 pm - kale juice (a gallon of kale mixed with an apple and some parsley)

Compared to onion juice, kale juice is delicious :)

Dinner!

7:30 pm - wild blend rice topped with cilantro and fresh salsa