Wednesday, January 21, 2009

Vegetarianism: How It's Going

Now that I've become a vegetarian, I find myself fielding lots of questions on the subject. One question I've been asked frequently is simply, "How's it going?" I appreciate that question. It shows concern and interest for what is going on in my life and I thought I'd take this time to let you know "how it's going".

As I stated in my first post announcing I was becoming a vegetarian, I still have tons of questions as to where this might lead in my life. I think that is the most exciting part about this whole change. Will I have more energy? Will my BMI go down so that I can fit in the "normal" range category instead of the "overweight" category? Will I live longer? Will my cholestorol count go down? Will I be able to keep up this lifestyle? Although I've only been a vegetarian for ten days, here are some of the changes I've already noticed for which I'm very grateful:

1. I've lost four pounds.
2. Because I am trying to keep meat out of my body, and it can be an effort, I am much more careful about other things that go into my body, like refined sugar and other sources of animal fat, such as can be found in milk and eggs.
3. When I look in the mirror, I feel pure and light.
4. I've had the opportunity to try lots of great recipes that I wouldn't have ordinarily tried.
5. I've begun to wonder if I shouldn't try veganism.
6. I've begun to wonder if I shouldn't try RAW veganism, in which cooked foods are avoided, thus leaving the natural enzymes, vitamins and "good" bacteria intact.
7. I've very much enjoyed doing research on vegetarianism and all of it's facets.
8. I've begun to have a disdain for dairy and egg products as well and have actually gone vegan this entire day.

These are just SOME of the changes I have experienced. It's been wonderful to try new foods and to have the motivation to carefully monitor what goes into my body. Some of the things I've eaten over the past few days are:

-Natural peanut butter and raw honey sandwich, sprinkled with psyllium husks on whole wheat bread
-Organic yogurt
-Pasta salad with vegetables and lettuce
-Chocolate/banana non-dairy shake
-Almond milk
-Avocado gazpacho
-Granola with strawberries, almond milk and agave nectar
and
-Manna bread, a bread made with these home-grown wheat sprouts...


...and baked at a very low temperature. I will post a how-to on Tuesday, so you, too, can make this!

As all of this experimentation takes time, I've needed extra help with the three under three and who should step in but the six-year-old girl. Here's how she does it...


And she did this without me even asking! I really appreciate this little lady!

If you don't mind, I would like to keep you up to date on my progress with my new food adventure. I'm so grateful that Bethany and J introduced me to this new lifestyle. Thanks, Guys!

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9 comments:

alison said...

i'm glad its going so well. i've contemplated going veggie again. i used to be for my 2 years of college, but as you know its hard making a personal switch like that when you've got young kids.
i was at panera yesterday and had their mediterranean veggie sandwich and harvest salad. either of those could easily make ANYONE happy to be a veggie person.

Anonymous said...

SOunds like things are gping well. I am excited that you are excited about this. Good Luck. And congrats on loosing the 4 punds.

I love Claire she is a good helper. Those boys are sure growing. Give Claire a hug for me.

BarbaraJo said...

I don't know how you do it. I could NEVER do it. How do you have such exotic ingredients on hand??

Rachelle Vernon Jones said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Rachelle Vernon Jones said...

hi jen, it's been a while! i am so happy to hear that you are doing this. and what a feat, is the whole family doing it with you? we eat a conventional diet but i try to make sure 60% of every meal is raw (i try to have 3 veggie sides, or have a vegetarian main, or add juice) juicing is also an easy way to get more 'raw' in. very cool you! congrats! hugs!

Mom2my10 @ 11th Heaven said...

Barbiemat, to answer your question, the only ingredients I couldn't get as Sam's or Walmart was the psyllium husks and the agave nectar. You can get those at Sun Harvest, and fortunately, I have a personal grocer to go to the states every week to do it for me! If you need anything, just please let John know and while he's there, I'm sure he could pick up something for you!

Kathryn said...

Congrats! I'm glad that it's going well for you. It's made me curious on the differences in vegetarian/vegan/other diets. I'm going to go do some research of my own. :-)

Anonymous said...

We are just starting this adventure also.So you post was fun. I am ready to loose some weight and feel great.

Kelli said...

I'm hungry right now and would totally be a vegitarian if that's what someone would come in and fix for me... How sad is that??? The Marine is gone, so therefore I won't scare you with what we are eating.... Love ya!!