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

Day 6: Not So Juicy

I have come to accept that a 10 day juice fast is not sustainable while working a full-time job (plus a part time job), unless I purchase all pre-made juices. And since the juices that are healthy (cold pressed) are super expensive to buy (plus $45 shipping), it's just not something I can afford. So, it's day 6 of my dying juice fast. Here's what I ate/drank:

6:30 am - water

7:00 am - hot water with lemon

7:30 am - citrus blend (orange, apple, and ginger)

*** These first morning drinks are what I can sustain going forward. I can make hot water in the coffee maker and pour it over a lemon slice (well, Steve does that for me). And I can juice a bottle of citrus blend before heading to work in the morning. But I can't bring my juicer to work with me.

8:30 am - banana

11:00 am - baked potato with salt and pepper

This is what I brought to work.

 12:00 pm - water

2:00 pm - water

3:00 pm - apple

6:00 pm - okay, the fast has truly been broken. I took my kids out for Mexican food. I ordered a bean tostada (no cheese/sour cream), topped with lettuce, tomato, and guacamole. It was a delicious first meal!

7:20 pm - now. I am too full to drink any water or tea, but I will drink some water and tea before going to bed.

Juice Fast Day 5: Lack of Planning

One more successful day of juicing. Well, mostly juicing. Actually my solid foods outweighed my juices today. I should maybe think about changing the name of my juice fast to potato fast because that's the direction I'm heading. Potatoes are my new obsession!

Due to my lack of planning, I didn't have anything to eat or drink except water for an 8 hour stretch. I was a little hungry, but it passed pretty quickly and I made it through the day just fine. My calorie intake today is the lowest since I've started the fast.

Here's what I ate and drank today:

6:30 am - water

7:30 am - hot water with lemon

9:00 am - freshly juiced orange, apple, and my new favorite sweetener ginger

10:00 am - banana

11:00 am - an avocado, vegetable broth, and a banana

1:00 pm - water

3:00 pm - water

5:00 pm - water

7:00 pm - baked potato topped with salt and pepper

8:00 pm - water

I will have more time to plan my meals tomorrow evening. Hopefully.

Juice Fast Day 4: Bye-Bye 6.3 Pounds! I Won't Miss You

I weigh myself every Monday morning and this morning I was down 6.3 pounds from last week! Hallelujah! Now, I know what you're thinking right now: that's just "water weight," and she will gain it all back as soon as she goes back to her regular diet. But, here's the thing: I'm not going back! Yes, I will go back to having more solid foods in my diet, but I am 98% convinced to go vegan. I feel so fabulous and satisfied drinking mostly juices, how easy would it be to transition slowly into a solid plant-based diet?

It's the end of day 4 and, as I sit sipping my warm vegetable broth, I am feeling physically fabulous.

Here is what I drank/ate today:

7:30 am - hot lemon water

9:00 am - citrus blend

11:00 am - almond juice

1:30 pm - citrus blend

3:00 pm - fresh pineapple (thank you to my coworker, Mae, for bringing healthy snacks to our meeting)

4:00 pm - sweet greens

5:00 pm - 1/8 cup of chipotle peanuts (this can of peanuts is sustaining me!)

7:00 pm - beet juice and some raw vegetables served at a church function

10:00 pm - warm vegetable broth

And now bed! I'm hoping for a good night's sleep. I have been using sleep aid to fall asleep for years I tell you, and I have given them up with this juice fast. Last night, I could not sleep for hours, so I lay in bed praying my worries away instead. Tonight I am hoping for some good quality sleep.

Juice Fast Day 3: So Much Energy!

It's the end of day three and I feel fantastic! I don't know if it's the detox from caffeine or all the healthy juices, but this is beyond any expectations I had for benefits.

6:40 am - my eyes popped open and I was wide awake. I had planned to sleep until 7:30.

8:00 am - hot lemon water.

9:00 am - citrus blend.

11:00 am - almond juice.

1:00 pm - citrus blend.

2:00 pm - TMI - things are really moving along.

2:30 pm - 1/8 cup of chipotle peanuts. This isn't on the cleanse, but I'm listening to my body and my body really wanted something crunchy and salty.

3:30 pm - water

4:30 pm - sweet greens

5:30 pm - family dinner, so I sat with the family and ate a baked potato topped only with salt and pepper. 

8:30 pm - I have two juices left and no appetite. I choke down the beet juice while writing this post. I really hope beets are healthy because the taste had better have some payoffs.

I enjoyed my potato so much last night and again tonight, I decided to look into the potato cleanse. Ha! It's actually a thing. I think I might transition into that next. I am feeling so great without caffeine and animal products, so I am thinking of revisiting veganism (which I tried last year but gave up after about 5 weeks.

Juice Fast Day 2: The Nastiest Juice

It is now the end of the second day of my 10-day "juice" fast. I put "juice" in quotes because I have made the executive decision to allow any fruits or vegetables, whether juiced or whole after attempting to drink the nastiest juice I have ever tasted and the fallout of which I had absolutely no desire to drink any more juice for the rest of the day; however, I wanted to keep the fast going - it's only day two - so I had to bend the rules. I think allowing whole fruits and vegetables will not have a detrimental effect on my desired outcome of cleansing and resetting my appetite. 

Confession: I was having difficulty sleeping last night, and I got up and ate a few handfuls of chipotle peanuts and a banana.

TMI: things really "moved" along this morning. I think I just flushed a pound or two. 

So, here is how my day went today....

7:30 am - I got up and drank 12 ounces of water; then went back to bed where I lay for almost two hours not wanting to get up and figure out what to put in the juicer.

9:15 am - I poured myself a mug hot lemon water and crawled back in bed with a magazine. I do love the weekend!

10:11 am - first juice of the day. 20 ounces of freshly juiced citrus (orange, lemon, lime, ginger). I made a twin batch for my teenage son, but he only drank about half of it. Better than nothing and it's a nutritionally excellent way to start the day.

10:45 am - I had a strong urge to eat a bag of chips! As with all temptations, the urge eventually passed.

12:30 pm - 12 ounces of water.

1:00 TMI - I don't know what happened to the chipotle peanuts, but it's an all liquid exodus at this point. The cleanse is working. 

1:30pm - second juice of the day: celery, kale, purple onion, 1/2 cucumber, parsley. I don't know what possessed me to add an onion to a juice -  this was the nastiest thing I've ever tasted! And, I had this feeling that if I could just force it down, my body would be gaining all sorts of benefits. I drank about 6 ounces before dumping the rest down the drain. I could not drink another juice the rest of the day.

The juice from approximately one gallon of kale leaves.

Since I couldn't finish the juice, I indulged in half a cantaloupe. It was delicious.

3:30 - hot herbal tea.

4:00 - I was suddenly unbelievably energized and went for a 45-minute walk/jog at the city park. I came back feeling fantastic!

5:00 pm - 12 ounces of water.

5:30 pm - large baked potato with salt and pepper only. I needed hot food! I absolutely loved the plain baked potato. It didn't matter that it was missing the usual toppings.

6:30 pm - water

7:30 pm - water

9:00 pm - water

9:15 pm - banana

My energy level remained high through the late afternoon and evening. I feel like I could easily run a few miles and not get tired.

I will be up and getting ready for church in the morning and will be back on an all juice diet for the day. I will be sticking to the professionally cold-pressed juices for the day to ease myself back into the program. 

And the next time I make onion juice, it will be to pour on my hair. Apparently it makes a good hair rinse.

My 10-Day Juice Cleanse - Day 1

I am notoriously susceptible to advertisements, fads, and whims. A lifetime of impulsive decision making has left me with a lot of really crazy anecdotes, great memories, a plethora of life-experiences, and several volumes of regret. All these fabulous and not-so-fabulous events will be fodder for some of my future memoirs. In the meantime, I will share my current obsession: juicing.

Last Sunday night, I watched the documentary "Sick, Fat, and Nearly Dead." It documents the 60-day juice fast of an Australian businessman, Joe Cross, who was, as the title implies, overweight and suffering the physical consequences of his size.

I immediately ordered a juicer, glass storage bottles, and a 24 bottles of cold-pressed fresh juices.

While I awaited the supplies for my new life, I began to prepare my body for the transition. From Monday through Thursday, I ate only two boiled eggs each day and two bowls of homemade vegetable and bean soup. On Tuesday, I drank my last mug of coffee. I went through throbbing headaches during Wednesday and Thursday as my body withdrew from caffeine.

On Wednesday evening my supplies arrived and I went out and bought some random produce (without a plan of course).

On Friday morning, I woke up ready for my first official all-juice day.


Here's what I "ate" today:

7:00 am: 12 ounces of tap water
7:30 am: 12 ounces of hot water with lemon
9:00 am: 12 ounces of citrus juice (grapefruit, lemon, orange, ginger)
10:00 am: 12 ounces of water
11:00 am: 12 ounces of almond juice (vanilla, almond, dates)
12:00 pm: 12 ounces of water
1:30 pm: 12 ounces of citrus juice (pineapple, lemon, apple)
3:30 pm: 12 ounces of greens (cucumber, parsley, celery, kale, apple)
5:00 pm: a fairly large handful of chipotle peanuts - this was obviously not part of the plan, but I needed something crunchy!
6:00 pm: 12 ounces of root veggies (carrots, beats, apples)
8:00 pm: 12 ounces of vegetable broth (hot!)

It's 8:20pm now and I'm feeling pretty satisfied. Unlike my last juice cleanse (six months ago), I am holding up well and prepared for the long haul. I'm sure the days leading up to today of restricting my dietary intake (no meat or dairy) and giving up coffee a few days in advance were helpful. 

I will report back tomorrow evening.

Suzi