Vegan? Really?!? You???

the honeycomb with the larvae....

So, if you know me, you know that I have at one point or another eaten just about everything under the sun: cow brain sheep face, fried silk worms, live bee larva (this one was a horrifying surprise in my mouth). I can match just about any episode on the travel channel that involves food. A few instances involved my voluntary desire to try some of these strange items. Most of the time, though, I felt victim to third world hospitality - which I could just simply not turn down...despite my frequent desire!

pre meat-coma

Additionally, I grew up in Texas - the land of beef. Many Texans believe that if you do not have meat at a meal - it is not a proper meal. (I even heard this from a vegetable seller at a local farmers market!!) Admittedly, I knew a vegetarian or two during my years in Texas, but this was certainly the exception. In grad school when I participated in a nutrition study for 6 weeks, during which time everything I put in my mouth was supplied by the researchers...food, drink and supplement - I romanticized about how much meat I would eat at the end of the study since I felt I was given a very meager amount during the study. Texas Steak House's triple meal - ribs, brisket and chilli was just the ticket to make up for the "lost meat". A meat-coma followed.


I have always been a meat eater and always believed that I needed *some* meat in my diet - for energy, for protein etc. I was sold on the theory proposed by Dr. Peter D'Adamo in his book Eat Right For Your Type  I have O blood, and thus I was convinced that I needed meat in order to function at my maximum energy/potential etc. I prided myself on being willing to eat just about anything.

But, then, things started to change. I'm not sure how or why it began.... My mother has never been a big red meat eater and has eaten more and more of a vegetarian diet in recent years. In grad school I started meeting people who were not only vegetarian, but vegan ("Oh, I could NEVER do that!"). I watched my classmates and friends eat food that looked good - fresh and healthy. And THEY looked fresh and healthy. Admittedly most of them ate some meat - but not that much.

So, I started eating less meat. Especially less red meat.

And then I started learning more - and really listening to - the arguments about how animals are treated. I had never been convinced by the arguments about how wasteful it is to use grains to feed animals instead of humans ... afterall, there is more than enough food on this planet to feed everyone absolutely as much as they need ... but I was convinced both by the animal rights standpoint of the cruelty to animals as well as the realization of the sludge I was putting into my body - growth hormones, antibiotics and fear hormones left in the blood/muscle from the cruel way animals are slaughtered.

Thus,  I started eating "cruelty free" meat - no hormones, grass fed, no antibiotics. And "cage free" eggs.

But, there are always arguments about how companies and stretch language and what these things really MEAN... Is "cage free" only indicating that the chickens are not in individual cages, but instead in a "pen" where they are still stuffed beyond the point of being able to move freely?

My next step was buying more from local farmers markets - so I could feel more secure that the animals were treated well and were not full of that long list of chemicals that I did not want in my body.

And as I got into farmers markets, I rediscovered the fun of juicing. My husband and I decided to do a ten day juice fast - for cleansing and not for weightloss. It was fun. I had no revelations. I did not have an "aha" moment where I turned the corner and felt my mind clear. But, I felt good and kept my energy up with only the juices to see me through my (fairly taxing, mostly-on-my-feet) workday. 

our organic farmer's market "booty" for the juice fast

After this, I decided to give up all meat for Lent and spent 40 days as a vegetarian.Surprise! It was actually very easy to be vegetarian. I liked the food I was eating and felt good. Though, I admit I did look forward to meat at Easter.

Somewhere in here my father became vegan. Being a researcher at heart, he'd read the research connecting consumption of animal products with heart disease. Having had a heart attack and bypass surgery a few years before, he decided to try being vegan. This proved difficult, as he lives in Texas and the rest of the family is pretty married to meat and dairy - but he continues to eat a vegan diet as much as possible. I am proud of him and impressed at his perseverance - I don't think I could have taken up this lifestyle in Texas!

I supposed I'd been rolling around these many different pieces of information in my mind/heart for a while when I moved to Portland. Unlike Texas, it is very easy to be vegan in Portland. There are vegan restaurants, vegan bakeries, vegan options on menus in non-vegan restaurants. I was simply more aware of this possibility here.

After returning from a wonderful trip to Iceland where I was showered with love and hospitality by my inlaws - and fed amazingly delicious Icelandic fare ..... meat, dairy and potatoes mostly .... for two weeks. I felt happy and loved ... but heavy, sluggish and (excuse me for saying it publicly, but...) very constipated. I swore I would not eat meat or dairy for at least 2 weeks.

And then I saw a social media post by a friend (who is vegan) about a book by Alicia Silverstone  The Kind Diet: A Simple Guide to Feeling Great, Losing Weight, and Saving the Planet. On a whim I ordered it...along with several vegan cookbooks. Why NOT give this a try?!?

sweet potato black bean dish - yum!

So, now I am two months into this journey and it is going well. I feel good - not energy deprived. My husband is graciously on board with vegan eating at home (and he's even eating mostly vegetarian at work!!) I am taking multivitamins and B12 as supplements and getting as many leafy greens as I can manage (iron and calcium).

We are eating well. It tastes good (sometimes great...even vegan chocolate peanut butter birthday pie)! And I have not craved meat once.  Who would have thought!

Chocolate Peanut butter Birthday Pie - made my mom, enjoyed by all!!!

Thanks for reading - I hope you will continue to join me on this journey. It is an experiment. But I can promise you that I will share things I learn and recipes I try. It's going to be a fun delicious journey whatever the outcome!