Dabbling in Ayurveda really made me start to question my eating habits. However, the diet just wasn't realistic because we tend to eat out a lot. So I jumped ship, and continued eating about 3-4 bowls of granola everyday, craving milk all the time. For the past few months, probably since January, I have had this uncontrollable hunger that I simply could not ignore. Attempting to eat healthy for a couple of days would be canceled out by trips to Wendy's where I secretly snacked on french fries and frosties.
So I decided to take a step back. When I lived in Chile the weight dropped off of me effortlessly. Despite my lack of "planned" exercise. What was so different? I thought. I ate tons of (fresh) white bread, ate out and drank alcohol all the time, and baked like a crazy housewife. There were three main components, however: 1) No car and thus walking a lot more 2) Smaller portions 3) Not as much dairy, not as much preservatives in the food (not as much processed food)
Milk came out of a box, which never seemed to have the same appeal as our milk here in the US. Cheese in Chile, as well, was boring and didn't interest me all that much, although it was still a main part of my diet. I ate dairy, but not nearly as much as I do here in the US. Actually, I attributed my initial weight loss after switching off of a vegetarian diet abroad to my tendency to substitute cheese for meat.
Lately though, my interest in meat has totally dwindled. I eat generally three things only: P.Terry's cheeseburgers, salmon and white chicken breast with absolutely no fat. However, even then I tended to shovel my portions onto my husband's plate and grab a bowl of cereal instead.
Yet, when my weight and diets simply haven't changed, and I have still been gaining weight despite my half-assed efforts, I just decided I needed a drastic change.
So I decided to become vegan. Ordered a copy of Skinny Bitch, stocked up on all kinds of vegan staples in Whole Foods, and decided to do it until I lost some weight.
Well, it's only been a week and I have no idea if I've lost weight because I don't own a scale. However, I've been going through some changes that completely shocked me.
I'm going to save you all the details, because they are pretty gross, but if you're REALLY interested ask me. But, after being off all dairy products for a few days, the patches of eczema that I constantly have on my inner elbows disappeared, as well as my constant canker sores that mysteriously form on my tongue. I, even, for the first time this summer, felt a lift in my depression and have been able to wake up before 4pm.
Then, I bought an almond cheese product which I had thought was completely dairy free. An hour or so after eating it, the red patches on my inner elbows popped out again, I felt a canker sore on my tongue, my ears itched, my throat hurt, and I felt really really really bitchy. When I examined the ingredients, I realized that this cheese contained a milk protein called casein.
Now, I was diagnosed, as a newborn, as being lactose intolerant, but a casein allergy never crossed my parents', or my mind. But now, after almost a week of being casein free, I feel awesome! More so than Lactaid ever allowed me to feel. I've been doing research about food allergies and realized that people often end up craving the food they are allergic to, which might explain why I'd been downing a quart of milk every two days.
This is what I love about being vegan:
1. It's nice to the animals. I luv da animalz.
2. When you make vegan baked goods, you can taste the batter without worrying about salmonella poisoning. Score!
3. It keeps stuff moving. Catch my drift?
4. I don't get horrible stomach pains or digestive problems like I did before.
5. I don't smell as much. Even after a week. Not as much bad breath or body odor.
6. It's a built in way to avoid most unhealthy foods.
7. There are tons of vegan products available at stores like Whole Foods. I don't feel like I miss anything that much because vegan cheese is pretty good, it even melts!
8. I don't have to eat as much! I'm not hungry like I was before!
:)
Photo Wednesday: Looking Back
16 hours ago
6 comments:
awesome! I have several friends who drastically changed their eating habits and it has literally changed their lives. I've also shifted the way I eat, weighing most of my meals and eliminating wheat. While I'm not vegan, I find myself feeling so much better! Way more energy and just generally better about myself :)
That's so weird that all your body issues went away. And allergy your whole life and you had no idea! I wonder if I'm allergic to anything weird.
Probably not dairy because I rarely eat it, but not because of Skinny Bitch or anything. I just don't like milk or cheese or yogurt really. Although Bravissimo is it's own food group in my life :)
I don't currently feel any need or desire to change my diet, but I do think it's interesting to hear about the major changes people feel when they do. Glad this is working so well for you!
I adore yogurt, too much really. But I've been getting along fine without dairy yogurt and have been eating soy and coconut milk yogurt. The coconut stuff is so much better--to be honest, I don't think I could be vegan without the Turtle Mountain coconut milk line -- it's just awesome!
Emily--no need to fix something that isn't broken--you look fabulous so whatever you're doing, keep at it!!
Wow Good for you. I was almost vegan for a while but it was so difficult for me. Plus, I enjoy certain things like coffee with milk in it that would be hard to give up. I acutally found that I was hungrier when I was almost vegan.I heard it has something to do with your blood type and some blood types are better at being veg than others. I still don't eat a lot of meat because I hate cooking it. Bleh.
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