Today is Easter and marks a week ‘gone vegan!’ I have to admit this is a bit easier than I thought. I have had temptations but it has not been too hard to resist. I will admit; I cheated today. I had a piece of milk chocolate but resisted the cheese, coffee cake and cookies. I am actually proud that I only cheated once. The detox was over in a few days but the sluggishness is lingering. I had this sluggishness before I started the Engine 2 Diet, one of the reasons I wanted to try this. As I mentioned in another post is my husband and I are trying to get pregnant. So I stopped taking birth control. I read some of the side effects and had just anticipated moodiness but I got all the other side effects. The worse being sluggishness and inability to fall asleep, stay asleep and wake up in the morning. So far this challenge has not improved that but I hope it will with time.
So this week I had my yearly womanly exam this week. I asked my doctor about anything I need to worry about or if she thought there were issues in being pregnant and being vegetarian or vegan. I expected the usual comments, the comments my friends, family, coworkers and even my healthcare friends say. ‘you won’t get enough protein, calcium, vitamin D, Vitamin B12, etc.’. What I got from her was just the opposite. She said, “no, I don’t see any issues as long as you take a daily vitamin and make sure it has folate. And actually I think that is how we were meant to live”. It made me sooooo happy! I talked with her for a bit longer about my sluggishness and if I should be concerned about my thyroid. She noted that was likely related to my age and stopping the birth control. She said, “you may want to consider gluten free”. Wow it was great to hear my doctor say that. I am very excited that she and I have similar views and it helped me reassure that I am on the right path and I can do this in this conservative Midwestern town in which I live.
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| Forks Over Knives: Macaroni Salad |
I made my first trip to the grocery and that took a bit longer than I anticipated and was a bit cheaper too. I can’t complain about cheaper. I thought it would be a struggle, however, I found many things that are vegan with a little reading. Even saw a recipe for mac and cheese. This week was full of whole grains. I start the day with green tea and a bowl of whole grain cereal with almond milk. There is a lot of milk alternatives so don’t feel like you need to try almond milk. I really like it, myself. I started with the sweet ones and progressed to the non-sweet pretty quickly. Honestly though, once you get to the bottom of the box it is a tad bit grainy but nothing I notice anymore. I made a few recipes and had plenty of leftovers for lunch and dinner. I have the ‘Forks over Knives’ cookbook which is a vegan and came out of the documentary. I made 2 recipes this week. The Baked Spaghetti Squash with Spicy Lentil Sauce. This was really tasty and yielded about 5-6 meals. It was a little too spicy for me so I would suggest toning down a few ingredients. I also made Macaroni Salad for Easter brunch. I don’t think my husband’s family was interested in this so I have a lot left over. I plan to add more veggies and eat it for lunch. Also I made veggies and quinoa for dinners. This wasn’t much of a change for me… hope it is this easy for you too.
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