I changed my meal plan for September, but since the change was fairly drastic and involved the addition of grains, I decided to keep quiet for a bit until I was sure I wasn’t going to slip on a black mask and starting prowling the neighborhood at night for kittens to eat.
I am happy to report that the cat population in my neighborhood remains stable.
Those of you who follow me on Twitter already know that I decided to try a vegan meal plan for the month of September, but even those of you already privy to my decision don’t know how it came about.� The last 4.5 months or so of dieting have gone well with the exception of my meal plan.� As I complained about repeatedly, I couldn’t seem to add grains back in without it altering my mood negatively.� I don’t know why this is, but it continued to be a problem, even when I stuck to low glycemic grains.� This isn’t to say my meal plan wasn’t successful.� I lost 40 pounds following it to the letter.� You can see the meal plan I used to lose the first 40 pounds here.
But, if I am being honest, variety was an issue.� And it was a lot of meat.� Too much meat for my taste and my budget.� I was born in a country famous for their meats, even I had my limits.� Sadly, so does my monthly food budget. (Hello, $7 wedge of brie.) My energy was a factor, too, which I think had to do with calorie count.� Finally, I was a vegetarian throughout college and a vegan for two years of that time.� During that time I was the healthiest and thinnest I have ever been, and that is something I have never forgotten.� But, every time I tried to adopt my college eating habits, it didn’t stick.� I would start back in with the cheese and meat and before you know it the lifestyle change was dead before it was even born.
This time, though, I knew that I could adopt any change in my diet that I wished.� Really.� I am in such a great place with food right now that I wish I could bottle it and give it away.� Actually, I would prefer to sell it so I could make enough money to visit my grandmother in Argentina for the first time in 15 years, but that’s a different story.� I credit the program I am doing with Jorjana for most of that, but there are a few books that have helped me with my diet and have played a part in the change in my meal plan.
The first book I bought shortly after meeting Jorjana through this blog is From the First Bite: A Complete Guide to Recovery from Food Addiction
My change in meal plan wasn’t inspired by a book, although last year I did read and love The China Study: The Most Comprehensive Study of Nutrition Ever Conducted and the Startling Implications for Diet, Weight Loss and Long-term Health
I’m on day 9 of this new meal plan, and I have to say this is the best I have felt in months. For me, the meal plan is effortless. Oddly, I haven’t had a single problem with the grains. If anyone has a theory as to why, I would love to hear it. I will say this–I am eating a TON of food. Nonstop, it seems. I haven’t really focused on weight loss (it’s only been a week) but if anyone is interested I can report back to you the stats at the end of the month.
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I’ve just previewed this post, and good gravy this is one hella hot mess. Welcome to the long-winded labyrinth that is my mind. I’m going to go ahead and post this because with both boys sick, I will not have the time to edit this disaster for clarity and I will just end up deleting it out of embarrassment. I’m sure if there is something unclear you will let me know, right?
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I know the links look goofy, but I can’t seem to fix it. Something with the way wordpress communicates with my Amazon store is making everything look oddly spaced. Oh well, you get the idea.
Congratulations on your success so far, and also for trying out (again) the vege/vegan diet. My partner and I have been transitioning from vegetarian to vegan and although the change hasn’t always been easy (there may have been a few ‘slip ups’) we were forgiving with ourselves and now are eating a vegan diet 100% of the time. I’ve never felt better or had more energy in my life! I’m so glad to hear that you’re doing well with it as well.
Oh good! Someone who was able to reach the end of this post without losing their mind AND has had a good experience with veganism, too. :)
Thanks for all the info. and book recommendations. I had no trouble following your post. My mind must be maze -like as well:)
No trouble following the post, and grateful (truly) for the book recommendations. Go, you!
Thank you, Frances! To be honest, I was a little nervous about this post. I don’t want anyone to think I am pushing an agenda on how to eat. I’m just trying to be honest about what is working and what isn’t, since I know people have asked in the past.
Jules,
Congratulations! I’m so glad to hear that you’re finding approaches/methods that work for you. As for vegan-isms – there are many benefits to be had. There are a couple of websites that have some INCREDIBLE vegan recipes/food porn, of which I recommend:
http://veganyumyum.com/
http://blog.fatfreevegan.com/
(try the “Sweet Chili Lime Tofu with Wok Steamed Collards and Quinoa” – you won’t be sorry! it’s made more than a few non-tofu believers change their tune)
Little Miss–I love both of those blogs! I try to stick with the recipes from Fat Free Vegan, but Vegan Yum Yum has some amazing recipes, too, that I want to try on those days that I want to splurge (vegan donuts? that BLT salad she did a while back? holy cow.) I also love Heidi Swanson @ 101 cookbooks. She has some amazing, and very tasty, recipes, too. I love her 10 minute brown rice/asparagus recipe.
Which site has the chili lime tofu recipe?
Very true – the recipe I quoted is actually from Vegan YumYum and really introduces you to the amount of sugar that goes into a lot of asian-inspired meals (and sauces!). So it is a splurge, but awfully tasty!
It sounds like you have a good source of inspiration, which is really the most important point.
Also – this one popped up the other day and I’m thinkin’ it looks mighty tasty:
http://smittenkitchen.com/2009/09/roasted-tomatoes-and-cipollini/
Happy cooking!
Um, yeah. That looks mighty tasty. O_O Tasty enough to wish I could open my computer monitor like a door and climb into that cookie sheet of roasted goodness.
These blogs and their food photography. They KILL me.
Thanks for your post. I am excited to try it out. I have lived with anxiety pretty much since I can remember. There are days when its worse and others that are better. I have many useful coping techniques given to me by various doctors/therapist, etc. I am also a firm believer that how I am feeling, relates to what I am eating. I have always been interested in trying a vegetarian/vegan diet but I have not really known how or where to start. The Your Health website you referenced seems easy enough for me, so I think that it will be a good starting point. Best!
Awesome post! I’ve just started re-reading the China Study, love that book. I wish it were required reading for every health practitioner.
There are SO many great vegan & raw blogs I follow and the recipes are amazing (and OMG, yes the photography makes me drool), but honestly, I have no time between work, gym, pets, yard work (almost an acre), barely (usually not) keeping up with laundry, cleaning, etc…. so I’m wondering, how do you do it? Do you meal plan/shop weekly? Cook nightly, eat the same things two days in a row and only cook a few times per week? Just wondering, could use some ideas on how to be more efficient with my meal planning/prep so that I can enjoy a new recipe once in a while instead of smoothies, salads and random thrown together snacks.
Cheers!
I do meal plans, actually. I plan out what I am going to eat the night before, and I usually have a rough idea of what I am going to eat for the week because I try to shop one week at a time. I try to have a collection of meals ready so that I don’t have to think about it so much. If I have to work or think, I won’t do it. :)
So, most mornings I have cereal and fruit for breakfast. It’s kind of boring, but I have to get Mikey to school by 7:30, so it works. Lunch is usually rice, steamed vegetables, and a protein, like beans. The rice I will cook a large batch to last me a few days because, again, I’m too busy to make lunch complicated. Dinner is the same thing. I have my staples that I tell myself to eat to maintain a balanced diet (grain, green vegetable, etc.) and then everything else I mix up. It helps to have a few core items that you turn to so that you aren’t reinventing the wheel every night.
Of course, I’m doing this and trying to lose weight, too. If I wasn’t, you can bet I would be dipping into all the yummy vegan recipes out there. But, even before I was dieting I would try to have a week of dinners on a piece of paper in the kitchen based off my shopping for the week.
I’m actually not an organized person naturally. But, I learned that the older I got, the more obligations I seemed to have and if I wanted to curb my take out eating I would have to be somewhat organized.
I hope this helps!! :)
xoxo
Jules