Day 30 was pretty basic:
Breakfast: Grape nuts, soy milk,
and a glass of OJ
Snack: Banana
Lunch: Gnocchi w/ red sauce, apple
Snack: 4 squares of dark chocolate
Dinner: Vegan chili
I'm really loving having this
gnocchi around... it's definitely one of those meals for "everyone" -
well, except no-carb folks. Sorry :) It's very filling and easy to change up
because you can keep it interesting with different sauces. And the vegan chili,
I've been using that recipe for over 4 years now - I've found that it's so
dense in beans, vegetables, and spices that no one misses the meat.
As for thoughts... Hmmm. I would
guess I probably had an easier time adjusting than others, since I've been lactose
intolerant for 5 years and had to cut out red meat over 2 years ago - my PCM
thinks gallbladder issues, and I prefered trying the dietary changes option to
flat out removal. I mean seriously, who wants body parts removed just because I’m having extreme bloaty/gassiness?
I'll take option B, thank you! Bottom line is, the recommended diet changes helped significantly so I've stuck
with it. So I was already very used to soy products and for meat only
ate fish and birds. I also had several vegan cookbooks in the house and I took
a few vegan cooking classes when I was living in Pasadena. Cooking-wise, I had
already been introduced to the "lifestyle," and then I had a little
leg-up in terms of having to cut out products.
That said, the restrictions that
come along with being vegan are just too much for me to think about all the
time. It really is exhausting - having to go to more than one grocery store if
a vegan product you need for a recipe isn't available, constantly checking
nutrition labels to make sure those dreaded words "Contains: Milk,
Eggs" aren't at the bottom, having to inconvenience friends/family members I visit to
cook up a vegan-friendly meal at dinner, having to ask about ingredients at
restaurants... It's just too much. I honestly don’t know how “real” vegans do
this permanently. Sure, vegetarian I can see – it’s easy enough to ask a friend
or restaurant to leave the meat off. But those little products that get you –
casein, whey, the stinking bone char in white sugar? I had no idea those little
additives were in so much stuff. Grrr!
So what does this mean going
forward? I think this was a big wake-up call that I should be paying more
attention to having a consistently well-balanced diet – more home cooking,
fewer nights ordering in or eating out, less sugar, taking the time to self-assess
how my body feels after I eat something, etc. Now that we’re done with the 30
days, I’m essentially going to stop asking, “Does this food have an animal
product in it?” and move back to a general, “Is this food something I want to
be putting in my body?” and “If so, how does my body feel now that I’ve eaten
it?” And you know what, that's probably something I should have been doing before!
The good GOOD news is that I spoke
to my cardiologist, and because the symptoms that have been getting continually
worse over the last 2 years – PVCs, racing pulse, light-headedness, general
lethargy – have decreased so much in the last month, I do NOT have to undergo
the month-long monitoring he was going to put me on! Obviously if I start having them consistently again before my next annual echo I'll go right in, but MAN I am so happy - it would have been
such a pain! Apparently it’s some kind of device (not the permanent implanted kind)
I would have to wear 24/7 and plug in to my home phone line once a day so that
my cardiologist could monitor everything. BLEH. I genuinely think it’s all due
to my body not having to work as hard processing the vegan food, in addition to
just in general keeping a well-balanced, good diet. The change I’ve felt has
really been amazing, so I will continue on a path of healthy eating and better
tracking – but I don't think it’s necessary to deprive myself of EVERYTHING
that has a tiny bit of animal product in it forever, as long as I keep taking good care of myself.
So here’s a basic breakdown of my
experience:
Positives – Fewer heart symptoms, lower
pulse/blood pressure (although I was in the healthy range before, it’s even
lower now), more energy, improved mood (probably because I didn’t feel tired
all the time), better fitting pants, and better skin (I had good skin before
because I always wear sunscreen, hats, and very little makeup, but seriously in the last week I’ve
gotten compliments from 5 different people about how good my skin looks – thank
you, hydration and good eating!).
Negatives – Too restrictive,
inconvenience to friends/family members who invite you to events, occasional feeling
of deprivation, occasional feeling of running out of “fuel” on a long (6+
miles) run (luckily, I always carry an emergency Gu), and the general
frustration felt when you go to an event and realize you can literally eat
nothing being served.
Overall, at least in my case, I
give it an A+ for the health benefits and would probably recommend it to anyone
who has heart problems like I do, or anyone who wants a jump start to healthier eating.
It’s been real, everyone! Thanks
for suffering through this with me! I hope you all found some added benefits
and that the experience wasn’t too rough on you… And please, for the sake of
your bodies, be careful easing back in to the meat lifestyle! J
xoxo
Carrie
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