My Vegan Blog

Happy Birthday To Me!

2006-08-10T17:23:00.000-04:00

Go, go, go, go
Go, go, go sheila
It's your birthday
We gon' party like it's yo birthday
We gon' sip Bacardi like it's yo birthday
'Cause you know we don't give a f*ck
It's not your birthday!

Well it really is and here is 37!

Where do you draw the line?

2006-08-10T17:16:00.000-04:00

Yesterday I was reading some posts on veganforum.com and they were about ALF and PETA. They were heated about terroristic activities and not supporting anything illegal.

Now I don't believe in blowing up a building but I must ask myself...

Where do I draw the line? When would I break the law for my beliefs?

Would I fire bomb an animal testing facility? NO

Would I threaten with harm or do harm to others? NO

If I saw my neighbor abusing their dog would I steal it to keep it safe? YES

Ok so I would break the law to protect an animal. Am I better then those who go farther then I am willing to for AR? I don't know but it's a question I will need to think about.....

Addicted to the VeganForum.com?

2006-08-07T06:29:00.000-04:00

I think I have become a veganforum addict. I can sit and read the posts for hours on end. I don't think this is normal? I get like this in spurts. It's usually when I am bored with life or need to space out.

I guess the thing that draws me there is that all of those people are just like me! A fabulous group. I wish I knew more vegans or even vegetarians....It's weird being almost the only one I know....

Animal Testing ---- How Wrong

2006-08-05T17:18:00.000-04:00

Animal testing for human 'advancement' has been a problem for me for some years. I remember about 15 years or so ago getting a mailing from PETA about cosmetic companies testing makeup and other things on rabbits. That disturbed me to no end. It made no sense at all. Why would you put nail polish remover and such on a rabbits eyes to find out if it was safe for humans? Put it on the vain woman who was the target of the nail polish remover and see if her eyes burned!

I have always felt that animal testing for non-medical reasons was unacceptable and totally wrong. Medical experiments were another thing though.

I remember watching 20/20 or some other news show many years ago and they did a segment on animal testing and I think it was about AIDS. They had some kind of primate strapped to a table and drew blood. I remember at the time thinking that animals were OK to use to further the human race through medical research. I thought, "It's only an animal and humans are more important."

I'm not proud of my thoughts but that's how I felt at the time. I cannot believe now that I actually once even thought that. Today I would rather die then know that an animal had to be abused and harmed so that I may live.

It amazes me that my scope of compassion was so limited. I really do believe that animals are not ours to use in anyway at all. How could I have been so selfish and blind?

I think so many people really feel that everything on this rock we live on is theirs to do with as they please.

1 Year Anniversary!

2006-07-30T13:16:00.000-04:00

I cannot believe I didn't post about this. 2 weeks ago was my 1 year anniversary of being veggie. The vegan one is coming up in September.

Happy anniversary to me!

Raw bit the dust

2006-07-30T12:03:00.000-04:00

What good intentions I had! Well it only lasted 2 days and I just felt it wasn't right for me at that time. I think it's something I'm going to have to work myself up to.

It's been a busy time. We've sold our house and are moving at the end of August. I'm looking for a new job and school will be starting soon. So much to do!

Day 2 Raw Food Diet

2006-06-13T06:57:00.000-04:00

Last night at 5:30 I was so ready to go to sleep but if I would have I'd have been up at midnight climbing the walls and not going back to sleep. So I made myself stay up and had a couple of glasses of wine and finally went to bed at about 9 PM. I woke up at 6 am and feel awesome. I'm a little tired right now since I have not made any coffee. Well I actually can't since I'm out of filters....Strategic unplanning!

So it's Day 2....I was too tired to go to the gym yesterday but think I'll go this morning and get my blood moving. I didn't go at all last week since I have been cleaning the house and painting. We are getting ready to sell it so that was the priority over having a tight butt. Oh the sacrifices I make.

Through the wonderful people over at www.rawfoodtalk.com I found out I can spritz the nori so it'll be easier to eat. Heck yesterday it was the only thing that made me full.

Day 1 Raw Food Diet

2006-06-12T07:00:00.000-04:00

It's only 4:30 PM and I am ready for this day to be over. I have been so tired all day that I just cannot stand it. I woke up this morning with a slight tinge of a hangover. Yesterday I ate a sandwich for lunch and didn't eat anything else. I thought last night it would be a good idea to do a few Jagers since they aren't raw and it would be the last time well at least for 30 days.

I have been a strange kind of tired though, not the normal day after drinking. I won't have coffee tomorrow, but it saved me today.

6 AM
Coffee 2 Cups

Breakfast:
7 AM
1 Cup of Red Grapes

9 AM
Small Smoothie with Banana's and Strawberries

Lunch:
11 AM
Huge Spring Mix Salad with corn, peas, onion, tomato, and cukes. Drizzled with Olive Oil and Cracked Black Pepper.

It is pretty but taste a little too plain. After I took the picture I drizzled a small amount of vegan (not raw) dressing on it. I'll need to find some good raw salad dressing recipes.

2 PM
I felt so hungry I couldn't stand it so I ate a really big banana

4 PM
I decided to go to Earth Fare and look for some raw soy sauce and see if they had anything raw ready made. I never found the soy sauce but I did find some raw flax seed, tomato and onion crackers! Excellent they are so good too.

On the way home from the store I stopped to get gas and had the overwhelming urge for a V8. I don't believe that is raw but it was either that or a diet coke.

As soon as I got home I made a nori roll with avocado and cucumber. Since I couldn't find the soy sauce I used some Braggs with my wasabi. It's much different eating nori when it's not toasted and there's no rice. It was kind of hard to chew. Maybe I have to soak it or something. I'll have to look into that.

So the first day has not been so bad. I have been really hungry though. That could be because of yesterday I'm not sure. I have also had a dull headache all day. I wouldn't think that my body is already reacting to this....

We'll see. Tomorrow I'm going to visit my in laws. I think I'll keep the raw hushed. They are finally getting used to me being vegan I don't think I want to explain this yet.

One Day To GO! Raw Food here I come....

2006-06-11T11:46:00.000-04:00

Well I have set the start date for tomorrow and feel so ill prepared, almost fringing on scared. Not scared in the OMG sense but very uneasy and at the same time excited.

It seems quite the adventure to go on. Today I am absorbing as much on the net as I can to get it going for tomorrow. I fear the first week or so will be some what boring and get on my nerves. I have found some great raw cooking shows to watch online from G Living and that's helping some. (Free Viewer available at www.im.com and I highly recommend it!)

Well back to the research.....

Raw Foodism and can I do it?

2006-06-02T11:46:00.000-04:00

I have been kicking around the idea of Raw foodism for the past month or so. I feel like I have hit a plateau and need to kick my health to the next level.

Starting June 12th I will be keeping a daily blog of my journey going raw. I have committed myself to 30 days at 90% - 95%.

I want to see if the effort is worth it. I have heard nothing but good about it and think I can do it. With a little more research I think I'll have the skills I need to succeed at this.

Why I love Ingrid Newkirk and PETA!

2006-06-02T11:42:00.000-04:00

It occured to me a few weeks ago that no one will ever know how much you appreciate them if you never tell them. So I sat down one morning and wrote a letter to Ms. Newkirk to let her know how wonderful and important her work has been to me.

(Copy)

May 12, 2006

Ms. Ingrid Newkirk
PETA
501 Front Street
Norfolk, VA 23510

Ms. Newkirk,

I must write to you today to tell you Thank You! You and all of the wonderful people working at PETA have given me my life back and along with that a sense of compassion that I never knew I had.

Several years ago I had done the “Atkins” diet with some success. After I could no longer stay with it my body went into a complete health reversal. I gained weight and could not lose it. My sinus problems which were always present became unbearable. I developed severe eczema along with a host of other issues. I felt like a 75 year old woman though I was only 36.

Last July a friend of mine who had been vegetarian for about a year convinced me through the changes I saw in her that this was a route I was willing to try, well at least for a week. Within days I started to feel very good and I needed more information on how I could make this a lifetime commitment.

Through my searching for vegetarian information on the internet PETA always came up. I had heard about your group but had thought you were on the fringe. I always considered myself an animal lover but never felt compelled to do more then adopt an occasional stray or rescue.

I must say that within 1 ½ months of my research I knew there was no other choice for me but to go from vegetarian to vegan. I have visited your site so many times and have read I think every page. Through your education and the mass amount of information, you have saved me and the countless animals I now no longer consume. I had no idea the brutality of factory farming. Thank you for opening my eyes.

But your good work has done so much more then change one omni to vegan. The lady who inspired me to become a veggie is now vegan and so is her partner. My daughter who is only 8 is now a card carrying vegan as well. My dear husband who loves meat more then anything has been so impressed by the positive changes in my life that he has cut his consumption to a 10th of what it was.

The health benefits for me of a vegan life are so amazing:
• No more sinus problems
• The eczema has vanished
• I now weigh what I did when I was 20
• My hair is getting so healthy and growing back where it had thinned
• My skin looks amazing
• I can run for an hour in the gym now

I am so glad I found PETA and finally realized how my daily choices affected so many innocent animals. I am now a better person both on a physical and compassionate level and I truly cannot thank you enough.

A new vegan and veggie in the house!

2006-06-02T11:36:00.000-04:00

I cannot believe it's been a few months since I have written here.

1st My daughter who is eight is now a card carrying vegan! It makes me so happy that she is getting healthy. She absolutely glows and looks so amazing. (5 weeks and counting)

2nd My husband the die hard meat eater decided 3 weeks ago that he was now going to be a vegetarian! Never thought it would happen in a million years.

So now my whole family is meat free and I never have to have meat in my house again. The only thing non vegan is the sour cream my husband loves for his burritos. I can live with that.

May was a really good month!

Road Trip! The joy of French fries and salads!

2006-03-20T20:26:00.000-05:00

Just a fast post: Trip to Gatlinburg, TN from Charlotte, NC:

A fabulous weekend full of crappy food.

Here's the frustrating thing about being vegan in a non vegan world. I feel like a lunatic eating out! Veganism seems so restrictive when it's not. It's quite the opposite. It's an amazing life choice.

Friday:
Left Charlotte with my husband and our two close friends. Stopped at the Cracker Barrel on the way. Side Salad with Italian Dressing and French Fries.

Dinner: Went to the grocery store in Gatlinburg and got all of the fixings for the best nachos known to man!

Saturday:
Breakfast: Family Restaurant: Breakfast bar- Salad with Italian Dressing and Home Fries.
Lunch: Salsa and Tortilla Chips
Dinner: Breadsticks with marinara

Sunday:
Lunch on the way home: French Fries

Hum?!! Last resort choices. French Fries and Salads were the only Vegan Items available.

Next time I go on a weekend trip I'm packing a bunch of Amy's Vegan Burritos and Other food that I can actually eat. I was so hungry by the time I got home that I ate 2 huge BLT (vegan of course!) sandwiches.

Cheese, Fall From Grace, and Never Say Never!

2006-03-12T08:36:00.000-05:00

(February 3rd and 4th 2006)

In order for this blog to work for me I must be completely honest with myself. I fell from Vegan Grace on one terrible weekend. Though only a month ago it confirmed for me an important lesson that I already knew. Cheese is toxic to me.

Over the prior months I had not slipped or fallen. I was true to my cause. I was committed. During those months I had a frustration grow in me with the world.

Why did everything have animal in it????? Why did I go to a restaurant and only find one or two things on the menu that I could eat? Even when I found them I had to tell the server to hold this and hold that.

(Day One)

That Friday night was a special occasion and we were going out to celebrate. I being the good girl that I am called ahead to find out what I could eat. Huge surprise! I could have a house salad, hold the cheese, hold the croutons.

OK I'll go and have my salad......

We arrived. I opened the menu. The disgust started....

On the entire menu the only thing vegetarian was the spinach and artichoke dip. Of course the only thing vegan was the salad. I got pissed. Not at the menu but more at society in general. Why can't anyone accommodate me? Why do I always have to make concessions?

Well just screw it then!

I order the salad with cheese of course and the artichoke and spinach dip.

(I thought the vegan gods would strike me dead) Cheese in the salad and dip. Cream and other dairy in the dip.

It came. I ate it. It was so rich it almost made me feel sick.

We left the restaurant and the most amazing thing happened. My sinuses started to close up. OMG dairy really was the cause. I had my confirmation now. On the way home my stomach also started to do this grumbling, flip-flop sort of thing.

I felt bad. But I didn't learn my lesson.

(Day Two)

I woke up and lo and behold there was a blister on my finger. The eczema reacted that quickly?

We went out again that night continuing our celebration. Bar food was the fare. I felt such guilt over the night before that without going into the mental state I was in, I ordered the Cheese Sticks with Ranch Dipping Sauce. (I don't even like Ranch)

I liken this experience to an alcoholic that falls off of the wagon, feels guilty and then has one more because they already screwed up.

Again leaving I started to not be able to breath. God am I a moron or what!

(Day Three)
I woke up and felt really bad. Not so much physically but really mentally. I think this was something I had to do at some point. It really made me realize how my body does not tolerate even the slightest amount of dairy. I also needed to realize that the way cheese tasted in my mouth is not the way that I remembered it. It was gritty and slimy all at the same time. It tasted greasy and rich. I know, I know I ate it anyway.

I can only say that since this incident looking at cheese even in the dairy section of the grocery store gives me the creeps like when I see the meat there.

It's only been a month since this event but I feel it was another turning point for me.

It was about a week ago that I went to lunch with my friends. I know how this event has changed me because I ordered the Nachos.

Nachos hold the: cheese, chili, beans (lard), sour cream.

I got a plate of chips with chopped lettuce and tomatoes and a side of salsa. And you know what I did not feel deprived. I felt good. I knew that my choice is my choice. For the good, bad and the ugly what are convictions if you only stand by them when they are convenient?

Atkins Diet Guilt

2006-03-11T23:40:00.000-05:00

I just have to say that I did Atkins on more then one occasion. Knowing what I know now I feel at times such guilt.

I feel like I would have to live at least 5 more full lives to make up for the damage I did to animals on that crack pot diet.

The diet from a weight loss stand point does work in the short term. For me I stuck to it for about 1 1/2 years. I felt good at the time and I lost weight. But it is the long term that screwed me up. After a while I felt really strange.

I believe, though that the Atkins Diet does long term harm to your body. After everything that I have learned about what meat and dairy do to you I can only believe my theory to be so. I also believe that the damage can be reversed.

The Joy of Soy and How Tofu Is Now a Good Thing

2006-03-11T23:01:00.000-05:00

(February 2006)

So I'm thinking that since I'm going to continue to be vegan for a long, long time I want to learn how to cook with this mystical bean curd called Tofu. Lucky me there's a cooking class at Talley's in Charlotte, NC.

Sign me up, I'm in!

I drag my friend to it and my life changed again! This woman, this goddess of tofu and soy that taught the class was amazing. She did things with Tofu and TVP that I can only describe as heavenly. I had dishes that were like nothing I had before. Never in my 36 years had I tasted curry or ginger in food. The TVP looked like steak and I was almost afraid to try it.

The next day I headed to the local Earth Fare and got all of my ingredients to become the vegan chef that I knew was just hiding in me. I was skeptical of this though since my earlier attempts had not always turned out with the desired results, but I persevered.

Cooking, mixing, braising, and combining I found a new appreciation for my abilities. I could cook, and god it was good! There was hope. I was unstoppable.

This was my real turning point in my vegan cooking.

I have since purchased and used so many items that 6 months ago I did not know existed. My cupboard is full of all kinds of things like nutritional yeast, toasted sesame oil, and vital wheat gluten.

In my fridge is a jar of Vegenaise that tastes even better then mayo. A great addition to tofu to make a wonderful eggless salad.

I can only imagine the masterpieces that I can create now. It's an adventure in cooking that just feels so good.

My possibilities are endless....

Who runs out of shampoo?

2006-03-11T22:47:00.000-05:00

(January 2006)

Ok, I've got the vegan diet going no slips or setbacks. Still feeling awesome in my choice. But damn my shampoo is almost gone. I buy the jumbo size and it lasts like 6 months. My makeup is almost out too.

What do I do now?

Back to the internet.

Aveda is looking like a good choice. I've used that before, it's vegan and there's a salon near by. One down, one to go. What about make up?

After some research I found Beauty Without Cruelty. Maybe I'll try that. Or maybe I can find something locally that I don't have to order online. Well for now I guess I'll cut back on the beauty supplies until I figure out what brand I want. I hate buying something and then not liking it and being stuck.

Crap....I need toothpaste, deodorant, and soap too. A short search finds me at the local store where they sell Tom's of Maine. I'm a bit skeptical but I buy the toothpaste anyway. Wow! It is probably the best I've ever used. Cinnamon and Clove gel is very good. Kiss My Face for soap and a neat crystal all natural roll on do it. That was probably the easiest vegan purchase I have ever made.

I'll have to think on the make up though.......

Tofurky ROCKS!

2006-03-11T22:34:00.000-05:00

(November - December 2005)

I've got my animal ingredient bible in hand. I'm being Vegan. I'm feeling good!

Oh goodness, what is that in the freezer section at the grocery store? A Tofurky roast! What the hell is that?

Only the best thing ever! During this time I think I ate 4 or 5 of them. Thanksgiving is for Tofurky and so is Xmas. I had the best most compassionate holidays ever. I'm feeling good, but I'm getting angry.

Why Angry? I can't quite explain it but I started feeling disgusted with other people who had no clue about the 'real world' and how they get their food. I found myself in the grocery store checking out other peoples carts. Somehow I equated the amount of dairy and meat in the cart with the size of their butts. There seemed to be a link though. I found myself feeling superior in my decision and disappointed in those closest to me for not following. Though I never preached or was militant I thought that everyone should just care as much as I now did.

In retrospect I think I was trying to reconcile my past to my present and get a handle on where I was.

Animal Ingredients A to Z and Health Benefits of Veganism

2006-03-11T21:48:00.000-05:00

(September - October 2005)

So now I'm on a Vegan diet. I am happy and I feel amazingly good. My skin looks great. My hair is growing fuller and growing back. I've always had baby fine hair and since I was about 25 has been thinning in the front on top.

The biggest health benefit is that my chronic daily sinus problems are gone. 2 days after I went Vegan I could breath. I hadn't been able to breath clearly in the past 16 years.

The other benefit is that my eczema is now gone! I had hand eczema for the last ten years or so. It is where my hands would get red, cracked and blistered. It was embarrassing and awful and now it was gone!

I am committed. I will be Vegan. But the more I learn the more I realize I don't know. I need help with all of the hidden animal ingredients in food and everything else. Why can't they just call it what it is? No, they give all of these ingredients creative, deceptive names.

"Animal Ingredients A to Z" Compiled by the EG Smith Collective became my vegan bible to live by. For example: "ELASTIN which is found in the neck ligaments and aorta of bovine. Similar to collagen." Oh, but there are also synthetic sources. That adds a new level to the land of confusion that I'm in. Many of the ingredients could be animal derived, synthetic, or plant.

What is a new vegan to do?

Even my wine may not be safe! Isinglass is a form of gelatin prepared from the internal membranes of fish bladders. This can be used in clearing wine. YUCK!!!! Is nothing sacred?

The more I learn the more daunting this feels. So I come up with my own way. If I can't read the label in plain English then I don't buy it. Well at least not until I get a real handle on what is animal derived or not. .....

Vegan is not just a diet, It's a Life Choice!

2006-03-11T21:23:00.000-05:00

(September 2005)

So they make vegan shoes and soap. What makes them vegan? My search is on.....

This is what I find:

Vegan is not a diet alone! Wow! It is a life choice, a decision. It IS compassion over killing.

My brain was spinning. In my travels I found PETA. As a meat eater I thought sometimes they were extreme. Though I have never worn fur and find it disgusting I thought PETA was over the top at times.

But I read about every single page on their site. I had no idea.... I couldn't believe I had been so clueless as to what really gets food to my plate. I read the fur is dead info, Kentucky Fried Cruelty info, and everything else they had. My GOD I felt sad and depressed.

How could I as a good person, a caring person have perpetuated the greatest crime ever? How could I have contributed to the suffering of all of the animals who died so I could be a selfish shit head? I wondered if a lightning bolt would come and strike me dead for my transgressions.

Ok, I caught my breath and thought about it. I couldn't change the past but I COULD change my future. It was the middle of September and I was going to be completely vegan. I would not contribute to battery cages. I would not be responsible for a calf torn from its mother. I would not contribute to the brutality of factory farming.

I would NEVER again cause the suffering of a beautiful animal for my selfish satisfaction....

What the heck is a VEGAN?

2006-03-11T20:57:00.000-05:00

(Late August 2005)

My cooking frustration was enough to make me cranky. I couldn't seem to make all of these cool things that vegetarians ate. Was I stupid or something? Did they have some secret way of doing things? Secret vegetarian things that I didn't know about? Was I the only person that hated TOFU?!

Who could be a good vegetarian and hate Tofu? I felt like quitting and didn't know where to turn.

During this time I spoke with my friend and was ranting and raving about all of this. She told me, "If you think this is tough you should see what Vegans eat."

What in the hell is a Vegan? Wow, if I would have only known how life altering this conversation was going to be. She kindly informed me that a vegan ate no meat, dairy, gelatin, honey, etc...

I couldn't believe it! People really deprived themselves to that extent? This fascinated me....I had to find out more.

I really wanted to know what a vegan COULD eat instead of what they couldn't eat. Of course I head to the internet. I'm going to Ebay to buy a Vegan cookbook, well that is if they even have one. Log into ebay and click the buy tab. Type in vegan and what...There must be something wrong with their search engine.

The results show soap, shoes, clothes, etc... What the heck do shoes have to do with vegan I wondered? Soap is soap, isn't it?

I revise my search to vegan cookbook and find a bunch of entries. I settle on The Vegetarian Times Complete Cookbook and a couple of others including the Vegan Gourmet. I pay and they arrive a few days later. I am shocked. There is a bunch of food to eat as a vegan that does not involve Tofu!

This may be something I can do. A vegan diet sounds like it would be a challenge but I'm up to it. Though I am still intrigued by ebay putting shoes and soap in my search....I must investigate further.......

Looking for vegetarian food and finding a whole new world

2006-03-11T20:34:00.000-05:00

July - August 2005

So now I'm eating vegetarian. Cool! It feels good but I seem to eat the same thing over and over again. I'm a great cook but feel a little lost in this new arena. What do I turn to for help? The Internet of course.....

Seitan, tofu, TVP, tempeh, hummus, tahini, WTF?! What is this stuff? Wow, there was a whole world I had NO CLUE about!

I'm excited! I'm going on the greatest adventure ever... I am going to be a vegetarian cook! NOT!

As with anything it takes time to hone these skills and not every recipe on the internet is created equal!

I found a recipe for 'Neatballs' (Fake Meatballs) made with Tofu. I went to the store and got all of my ingredients and was so excited that I had bought Tofu and was really going to cook with it. I'm chopping, stirring, and shaping. All the while thinking these smell really good. I put them in the oven and the smell is really that good. I just can't wait to try one. Soon the timer goes off, out they come. My first Tofu creation: MY MASTERPIECE.

I pop one in my mouth and couldn't get it out fast enough. YUCK! It tasted worse the wall paper glue combined with rotten yogurt. Or so I thought even though I had tried neither of those things. (Strike One)

My next adventure involved Hummus. I bought some at the store with Spinach and Artichoke. I read the ingredients they seemed very straight forward. Again I searched the Net and found a great recipe. Though I did have to find out what that mystery Tahini was? It sounds silly now but after I figured out what it was it still took me a half hour to find it in the store. I would have never thought to look next to the peanut butter.

Again I have all of my stuff together. In goes the beans, lemon, Tahini, garlic, etc...... No matter how long I ran that food processor it just didn't get as smooth as the store kind. I kept adding water, oil, juice, etc... Finally, enough was enough, it didn't taste bad but was just too gritty for my taste. (Strike Two)

Since I am a new veg I am still having cravings for some of the meats I used to eat. I decide that a hot dog is a hot dog and I'm going to buy some Tofu Dogs.
Bun is ready, Condiments on go, French Fries salted just right.

One bite of the dog and I thought I would hurl. YUCK, YUCK and more YUCK! (Strike Three)

It's amazing that I made it through with these and the hundreds of other blunders in my kitchen! It does get better though......

How I became a vegetarian

2006-03-11T20:20:00.000-05:00

July, 2005

I am 36 and not getting any younger and I am sitting at Myrtle Beach, SC and realizing that I am not feeling as good as I should. There are about 35 extra pounds that I need to lose and since my stint with Atkins in 2003 I have never been the same. I feel gross and sluggish as well as old beyond my years.

There had to be an answer to feel better and there was I just didn't realize it.

When I came home from the beach I was talking to a friend of mine who had gone vegetarian the year before. She looked beautiful and so healthy. She had lost a considerable amount of weight since going veg too.

I had toyed with the idea but never thought I could do it. I just loved meat too much. Well at least that's what I thought.

After our talk I thought, "What have I got to lose anyway?" So I decided that I would go veg for 1 week and see how it would be. I would not commit to any more or any less.

It wasn't as hard as I thought in some ways, but in others it just kicked my butt. I had no clue how many items contain meat of some sort. Well, at least the items I was used to eating did.

After about 2 or 3 days I really started to feel good and after the first week I think I was hooked because of the weight I lost. Since I don't own a scale I'll have to guess that it was at least 8 pounds.

At this time my food was pretty straight forward. No meat, gelatin, bullion, etc.... Though I had never realized that gelatin was animal derived.

Recording for posterity....

2006-03-11T20:10:00.000-05:00

Today March 11, 2006 I realized I needed to start writing down my thoughts to see how far I evolve and grow as a person and vegan. It all started with a trip to the grocery store.... Innocent enough you would think.

I usually avoid the meat section of the grocery store but I had hamburger and hotdogs on the list for tomorrow. As I entered that aisle I felt my stomache turning. I could barely look at all of those cellophane packages of rotting animal flesh, let alone pick them up....

It is time for me to sort out how I will continue to thrive in a world full of omnivores. To do this I need to go back to that time not too long ago when I, myself enjoyed cheeseburgers, steak, bacon, and such.....