I get it, I understand and yet I don't - I look at my roommate's diet and go - you know you're almost there... people ask me is it hard, don't you get bored, don't you get sick... it's the word vegan that brings to mind the following - dreads, hairy legs, anemic, anorexic, anarchist (to continue the alliteration) etc.1. WHY? As to why - I've got plenty of reasons why I made the change - one was sure it fascinated me - I was intrigued with vegetarianism back at 15 and then when I had to get rid of milk last fall, I followed that change with research - I found the PPK and started thinking about my life and the change slowly happened - since I didn't eat red meat or eggs it wasn't really that hard. Seriously sure I eat fake meat products occasionally and times like today when certain biological things change - my brain goes you know something fatty and icky would be great - there are plenty of other options other than a greasy burger.
2. HARD? Is it hard? Hmm, I don't think so - it was when I started, I always kept food on hand - Lara Bar's helped a lot. I make dinner for myself as I would anyways and I eat the leftovers for lunch and ofter for dinner again. Breakfast is pretty easy - I've got lots of options: waffles, pancakes, fronch toast, quiche, shake, toast, cereal - hot or cold....
As to food options? Well for dinner it's easy - some days sure I just don't want to cook for myself - but aside from that - last night I made curry, coconut, lentil and butternut squash soup with fresh roti - I'm going to make chick'n pot pie for dinner tomorrow night... I don't think we're bored yet.
3. SICK? Not yet - maybe due to the diet/lifestyle, maybe just because hand washing, exercise and sleep are important to me.
4. ANOREXIC/ACTIVE? Not anorexic - my veganism isn't a cover for disordered eating - as to activity - I'm at about the same level of activity as I was last year - in the gym 4 to 5 days a week - including 45-60 minutes of running everyday, plus on 3 days of weights - to clarify on 3 of the cardio days I add weights . On average I burn a minimum of 600 calories a work out - which ensures I fit in the range of ideal calories expended in physical activity - in excess of 3000 a week you can run into fatigue issues.
5. B12, Iron? While iron can be derived from the diet and other vitamin's too - I do take two multivitamins - one is daily - like many of you do, and the other I take every other day which is a vegan daily vitamin - has daily B12 and iron. Vitamin D I get from being outside, and Calcium - from fortified soymilk.
6. BALANCED? According the RDI - 0.8g per kg is the recommended intake of protein - can be easily achieved - and is normally topped up with a protein shake post work out - complimentary protein intake ensures all necessary amino acids are taken in.
7. LIFE? Well it's fast approaching one year of this life - and I can't see any reason to change, one big reason not to is I know how I feel when I accidentally mess up my diet. Would I raise vegan kids? That depends if my partner is vegetarian or vegan - if he's vegan then yes, if not I'm not sure - I will not give them dairy - hormones and such in that, eggs? I detest them as much as they detest me - so I don't think so - and cooking meat - gags,* if I marry a vegetarian - who is determined to cook the meat stuff maybe I'll let him - since a part of me doesn't want to screw up my children's social life consider how much grief I get at times.
9 comments:
i am very curious about ur roommates diet?
is it the excessive amount of bread?
i want to eat that cupcake!
is spelling "weird" wrong part of the blog? and better to be weird than normal!
er, I've found my new editor - yah and I bet you didn't even know I was looking
wow jenn, the ppk is pretty neat!
isn't it? :) *claps hands*
Thanks Jenn.
Vegans seem very similar to vegetarians then... just they don't eat eggs, is that right?
Our family used to be vegetarian and I remember all the types of foods we used to eat when we were young.
Some of the foods were quite nice, and if it's ever on offer at a restaurant I will murder a lentil burger over a meat burger any day.
While I do agree with the issues surrounding meat (hormones, inhumane treatment... etc), eating meat doesn't bother me, but I will admit I can never eat two rounds of red meat in the same week.
I commend you on your lifestyle.
PS - don't all Canadian women have hairy legs regardless?? I know you ladies have to keep your little bodies warm up there, so I can fully understand. ;op lol
Vegans - consume no animal products - so the extent to which someone is dedicated depends - I still consume honey though that's a contested one. It means we avoid everything animal derived - so no gelatin etc.
As to the hairy legs - well that depends on the day, the event and well if I'm lazy - but I'm sure that's too much information.
And what are you like on dates or outings with friends?
Do you have final vetoing power on the choice of restaurant? Or do you just order salad and maybe some bread? Or do you go through each item on the menu with the waitress? Or do you just leer at your partner while they eat? ;-) LOL!
Ok, so I was getting a little stupid there, I can understand why you would cook such fab food (so people can come to you), but surely you're not at home every night 365 nights a year... are you??
As to eating out I do have some kind of veto power - you won't likely see me at a steak house. However, for the most part I just drive the staff at the restaurant crazy where I can. The issue I have found as of late though is that even when you say you're allergic to something - it will pop up on your plate since dairy and eggs are prevalent in most foods.
If I'm choosing a restaurant I know the ones where I can eat and not worry - Vancouver had vegan and vegetarian restaurants - which is where I have an type of celebration dinner - the nice thing is most of them are cheaper. The Naam is the most popular one in Vancouver.
As to dating/social situations I know it's difficult but I don't - we'll see - as a whole I hope the people I spend time with are respectful of my choices as I am of theirs. So if they want to eat a steak they can, but it would be nice if they didn't
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