As you know, food choices and experimentation had been quite the focus for the past two month, especially the last month. As of this week, I have been at least a 75% raw vegetarian for a month, 99% vegan for at least two weeks or more (I had cheese pizza with Steven one night), and I feel GREAT. Here are some observations I made thus far:
- Transitioning to vegetarianism was a cake-walk for me. Not hard at all. It was so easy to simply cut animal flesh from my diet.
- Transitioning to veganisim was a little harder than vegetarianism, but not bad at all. There were a couple hills I had to climb in making this switch. One of them was cutting out my beloved Activia yogurt. This was not a taste concern, but a health concern. I'm waaaaay in touch with my bowels, and if they don't regularly move once a day, I'm screwed with chronic constipation. Not fun. I knew the inclusion of enzyme rich raw foods alone would help my GI issues, but I was still nervous....then the light came. Stupid Claire, here, didn't realize one could take probiotics in capsule form! Hell yeah! After doing a little research, I headed over to the our local natural foods store, For Goodness Sake, and picked up a bottle of acidophilus bacillus probiotics, and am doing fabulous down "south." Mission accomplished! My other fear of veganisim was cutting out ice cream....AHHHHHH! I'm addicted to ice cream! Since I love to be in the kitchen, and don't mind tackling odd ingredients, I have found many various raw vegan "ice kream" recipes that suffice just fine for me. Mission accomplished, again. Milk, you ask? No sweat; I haven't been drinking cow's milk for quite some time, now. I was drinking soy milk, but soy's got a bad rap, so I've had to switch to nut mylk which is awesome, too, so I'm fine in that department. Cheese? Yeah, I love it, but it makes me miserably constipated, and I had already cut it from my previous diet. Cutting out things I crave is hard; cutting things I just like is not. Even though I really like cheese, I never crave it. I'm sure there are times I have unknowingly cheated on in veganism, but you know, I could give a rat's ass about that.
- Raw foods. When you take a diet like raw veganism, un-raw veganism seems like a cake-walk. Honestly, going raw is not really that difficult. It's actually very easy to be 75% raw vegan, also known as "raw 'till dinner." I have a green smoothie for breakfast, fresh fruit snacking 'till lunch, then a salad w/ raw vegan dressing for lunch with some dehydrated "baked" crackers, chocolate nut mylk for something sweet afterward (or whatever other kind of yummy raw dessert I have on hand), I'm usually good 'till 5pm, maybe snack on a dried fruit/mixed nut trail mix, Lara Bar, or some homemade raw concoction of mine, then I eat about a 50% raw 100% vegan dinner, and if Steven's there for dinner, I'll include a cooked chicken breast for him. See? Not hard.
- How do you feel? FANTASTIC! Weirdest thing...food cravings are gone. I've noticed I don't have these spur-of-the-moment uncontrollable random food cravings anymore. Raw foodists say that's because I'm finally eating nutritionally loaded food that's satisfying the void my S.A.D. diet wasn't fulfilling. It's totally weird. As many of you know, I'm a BIG eater, and was afraid I'd be left hungry on a vegan diet. Before my detoxing period was over, I was not completely "fulfilled" by my vegan switch. Once my detox started subsiding, I become totally satisfied by my vegan diet. I am full, satisfied, but not bloated and disgusted. It's awesome...but, I can't eat as much as I used to; Steven says he can sense my sadness about losing my previous astronomical eating ability ;-) My sleep has improved. In fact, I've had to cut down on my sleeping med dose, or not take it at all, due to falling in to a sleep coma with it! I've been on OTC sleeping meds for over 10 years and struggled to sleep well even while taking them; last night I didn't take one and slept great. My skin is almost void of rosacia symptoms. I can honestly say I've just been all around happier! I physically feel "lighter," and have yet to have seen a decline in my running ability, or frequency. I feel aware, energized, clean, and healthy. The one vitamin supplement I am taking is B12, as this seems to be the only vitamin red meat provides that can't be found in a significant amount in a vegan source. I have not felt deprived in any way since eating this way.
- What do you eat? Like carrott sticks and nuts? Hell no! I eat raw vegan versions of ice cream, cookies, pies, cakes, chocolate, etc. I have awesome salads with creamy dressings and tons of variety. Wraps, sandwiches, soups, avocados, marinated veggies, fruits, and the list of endless possibilities goes on. I'm not counting calories whatsoever, per Natalia Rose's advice; I'm just going with what my body reasonably tells me I want/need. I will say, once you properly detox and continue to eat this way, the foods your crave definitely change towards the food style you've been eating.
- Have you lost weight? The only time I'm weighed on a scale is at a doctor's office. I don't believe in weighing myself religously; instead, I go by the way my clothes fit, the way I look in photos, and simply changes in my body I notice throughout the day. I have lost a little weight. I can tell simply by looking in the mirror, certain tight jeans aren't tight anymore, and the excess weight I do have "sits" differently on me now. Granted, I don't have a lot of excess weight to lose, in my opinion...maybe 10lbs, or so? The raw foods diet is suppossed to get your weight to where it naturally should be. I don't think I'm too far from that, so I'm not expecting drastic changes.
- How are your family, friends, and Steven dealing with this? Well, mixed emotions, actually. Steven is a total God-send here. This is why I love this guy. He is so supportive, accepting, patient, and willing to take part in some aspects of this food experience. No, I'm not making him what I eat, but he's interested in trying all the different raw vegan creations I make. He likes greens smoothies, he loves veggies of all kinds, and has liked all my sweet raw vegan creations, thus far. Remember, I'm a foodie, so I'm not going to ask anyone to try something that doesn't taste good. If it's not palatable, I'M not going to eat it, much less ask someone else to. Dinners are my meals to let a little loose, so we meet half way all the time. My folks are pretty much cool with it, but I am sensing a little animosity from my mom. In the Cunningham family (myself, included), we all think we've got the right answers; we're stubborn and proud. This raw veganism thing wasn't her answer, so it'll take her a while to get her pride down.
- "Breaking up is hard to do..." My two worst food habits I had to break up with were Splenda and CoffeeMate. Splenda was only mentally hard to break up with. We've been taught for so long that sugar's terrible for us, and to use artificial non-calorie sweeteners instead. I just knew I was going to blow up like a pig when I went back to real sugar sources (raw sugar sources in particular)! But, I haven't. The best thing about breaking up with Splenda is I no longer have these freak-out sugar cravings. I believe my body is finally getting the amount of sugar it wants, and is finally satisfied. CoffeeMate? CoffeeMate, oh how I miss thee; let me count the ways! You are so creamy, and make my coffee taste like candy, and even though you are nothing but hydrogenated oils, I still want you. I must stay strong against your temptation. I have, and I will! Break-up woes in regards to the raw aspect? Yeast risen baked bread...me miss you.
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