Well, I think this lifestyle change is going to stick. It has now officially been three months since we made the switch in our household. I never in my wildest dreams thought that I would go vegan. I always had some issues with eating meat, but it never stopped me. I *loved* milk products and eggs. (can you say scrambled eggs and cheese?) Going vegan was a totally foreign concept to me. Then I got sick and I also learned I couldn’t tolerate milk products. I started to read more about food. I read The China Study and watched Supersize Me. I know a lot of people have issues with some of the studies in The China Study, but it profoundly impacted how I think about food and how food can impact cancer risk.
I had no idea what a difference it would make. Here are some examples – my cholesterol was a health 186 when I started. I recently had it checked again. Wow, down to 142. My husband’s blood pressure and cholesterol have taken similar nose dives as well. Both of us have lost weight. I dropped 13lbs and he’s down 25lbs. All of these changes happened before I retired, so that clearly wasn’t the cause.
The beautiful thing about all those wonderful changes is that they didn’t come at the cost of typical dieting. I am never hungry. I no longer track every morsel I eat in order to count calories (that plus exercise was my secret to staying slim). I don’t need to do these things anymore – ok I do exercise, but I don’t think that will ever stop – I love to feel strong and healthy. I eat as much as I want of the healthy things in our house and I’m now at the weight I was at in my early 20s. The last time I got down to this weight I was really trying hard to get there. This time, not so much. I even have dessert most nights. I’ve learned how to bake tasty cupcakes and breads without any eggs or milk.
The switch wasn’t easy, but I think that anyone can do it with a little bit of attitude adjustment toward the food industry.
Wow, that’s really a lot of changes in just three months.
I’m just vegetarian, but I do cook a lot of vegan food. If you haven’t already discovered these yourself, I’d highly recommend anything that Isa Chandra Moskowitz has written. The Veganomicon, Vegan Cupcakes Take Over The World, and http://www.theppk.com/ are all quite excellent sources for vegan recipes.
Hi Adrienne, great to hear from you! I’ve been primarily modifying recipes to make them vegan. I also bought myself a copy of “vegan planet”, and the “new vegetarian farm cookbook” (which has an excellent recipe for “cheese”). I will have to look at the references you list. Thank you!