30 days later

Yesterday marked 30 days as a vegan :)

This has been an interesting and rewarding experiment. It started with the Reboot Program of juicing and veggies/fruit only for 15 days and the last 15 days has been incorporating grains, nuts and legumes. I have REALLY liked the last half of the month... food with more staying power!

With the last additions, weight loss has slowed from the extremes that happened the first 2 weeks but that was to be expected.

Total for the month is 18lbs :D

More importantly than the weight loss is my blood pressure. It is holding steady at 20 points down! I'm so happy about that! I really was very worried since heart issues run on both sides of my family and I'm happy to say that I'm on the road to a healthier existence. Hopefully too much damage hasn't already been done.

One thing I have discovered is that there are many options for vegan eating... healthy and unhealthy. ugh. I'm reading labels to avoid meat products, animal byproducts and dairy of any sort and I've found that there are several things that don't have all that stuff in them but contain a bunch of other crap that I can't pronounce. I need to be more vigilant in not exchanging 'good' foods with 'convenient' food. I'm a pretty good cook and I actually enjoy it so I just need to exercise more discipline so I don't head down a slippery slope.

My house has enough candy in it for 2 Halloweens. lol. I don't struggle too hard avoiding candy but there are chips here. I sure love crunchy chips. Did you know that Fritos have 3 ingredients? Corn, corn oil & salt.Empty calories, basically no nutritional value & yet I have let myself indulge. This is where I need to be more disciplined. It's not that big of a deal but some days are easier to keep on track than others.

Over the next couple of months of holidays I'm projecting that there will be some challenges. Obviously turkey isn't going to happen on Thanksgiving and that will be different so if any of you have cool recipes that you would like to share, I will be more than open to trying them out. I don't want to feel that sense of deprivation even though I can counter it with all the benefits that I'm receiving and the extended life I will get to live... in the moment where I'm smelling super tasty stuff and watching people eat, I could use something tasty for myself to make others jealous with :P

Okay... enough rambling from me. I really should be studying for a test but umm... no motivation! It's sure been hard maintaining any kind of interest in my classes with a new baby in the house and all the rabble rousing from the toddler. I'll make do, just gotta buckle down :]

Thank you to all my cheerleaders! You have been monumental in me staying the course. Seriously, you have no idea how your kind words have helped me pull through a challenging situation with good choices. I hope I'm making it worth your while :)

Short and Sweet

This is going to be short :0

All is well. Energy has been pretty low although better now than a few days ago.

I knew I was feeling tired and just chalked it up to having a newborn and toddler in the house but it quickly became an unnatural feeling. I don't ever remember feeling that exhausted. Thank goodness Dena did what librarians do best and spent a few minutes researching and ta-daaa... problem solved. I'm taking supplements of iron and B12 and just about back to normal.

The only real issue I'm having is my lack of motivation to do homework. ugh!

ok, that's all for now... told you it was gonna be short :P

Skinny, Plastic B's

I apologize for the blogging delay as we've had a baby :D

I have to admit that if ever there was a time to go back to eating convenient crap, this would be the time but nope... I'm in it to win it... well, actually "lose"... weight, points of the blood pressure, indigestion. I want to lose all sorts of bad stuff so I have maintained juicing and eating fruits and veggie's and in the last couple of days have incorporated some grains.

Eating vegan is not very convenient when you're in a time crunch but I'm starting to get a little more familiar with what is available and where so if we're out and about and I don't have enough stuff packed to nibble on, I can pick something up in a pinch.

Shopping for organic items and trying to familiarize myself with other vegan foods has been challenging and not just looking for the food items but dealing with the people. Orange County can be a bit frustrating when trying to do something good for yourself. The skinny, plastic bitches that shop in the stores give nasty, judgmental looks like, "what the hell is she doing here?" They want everyone that is unhealthy to be healthy but they don't want to see the process of getting there, just the finished product. They actually may not even want them to get healthy at all, then there would be more competition. lol. It's like fat people going to the gym... you're supposed to work out but not with the 'pretty' people.

Well, screw them. I'm nice and funny and they are miserable people that have dark souls. I'll bitch slap them with happiness. haha

So, as for the baby and the toddler... I was really hoping for more energy provided by nutritious eating but honestly, I'M EXHAUSTED!!

I personally don't think I have been consuming enough calories and that's causing a weight loss plateau and lack of energy. I'm going to make more of an effort to eat more frequently and of course, drink coffee and perhaps more importantly--- nap! lol

Alright... off to snuggle with one of the tiny people in the house :)