Vegan Challenge: I'm Stayin' Vegan

by: Jill Richardson

Sat Jul 04, 2009 at 13:40:34 PM PDT

I'm not checking my cholesterol, but I saw a nurse the other day and she checked my weight (which is down from 150 to 138) and my blood pressure (which went from 120/80 to about 100/60). Now if only I could fit into my pants again!!! (It's not that I'm obsessive about my weight - I just don't want to buy new pants!)

The real deciding factor, though, is how good I've felt. I've been eating a lot of whole grains, beans, nuts, fruits, and vegetables. It's harder to find food, it's true, and I usually have to prepare food at home, which is a pain in the butt. Well, to be honest, I don't mind cooking, I mind doing dishes. But more cooking means more dishes and less procrastinating. But I feel really good!

Earlier this week I decided to "treat" myself to a bagel with cream cheese and a latte - my comfort food - to see if it could help with a headache I'd had for about 4 days. And my tummy didn't feel so good after eating that stuff. They weren't even as good as I remembered them. I should've stuck to quinoa.

So I guess I'm going to remain vegan from now on, at least for now. Although I reserve the right to cheat with the occasional latte. And I'm not giving up honey.

Vegan Challenge: Preparing For Week 3 as a Vegan

by: Jill Richardson

Sun Jun 28, 2009 at 14:31:05 PM PDT

Fava beans (but, alas, no chianti)
Green beans (to eat and share w/ the cat)
Potato
Blackberries (let the berry binge begin again!)
Cantaloupe
Patty pan squash
Grapefruit

I've still got carrots, an onion, garlic, a cabbage, oranges, and peaches left from last week. I think I'll make some soup with that stuff. I asked the farmer how he eats the fava beans and he told me he eats them raw. Well, I like that! I am FOR eating as much as possible raw, simply because that means I can be lazy and don't have to cook it. I've also eaten fava beans in a pesto before and they taste great that way - but I didn't buy any basil this week.

Then there's the quinoa, which I've been eating non-stop at about the rate of 1.5 cups cooked quinoa per day. I love that it keeps you full for so long, but not in an uncomfortable way. I'm going to run out very soon. It's either time to buy some more or start varying up my diet a little bit. Maybe some oatmeal instead of quinoa? And I've got some delicious heirloom beans to eat too.

Molly, the green-bean-eating cat:

Vegan FAIL

by: Jill Richardson

Sat Jun 27, 2009 at 13:48:36 PM PDT

Right now I'm being vegan for 6 weeks on a dare from a friend, so cheating is against the rules, but when I went vegetarian by choice in 2005, I dealt with cravings by giving into them. Usually the result was a strengthened resolve to be vegetarian, when I realized that whatever food I craved wasn't actually as good as I remembered it.

Right now the cravings have subsided. I've been drinking black coffee (it's OK) or opting for tea and water instead. I've had a few chai lattes with soy milk. I eat whole grains for breakfast - usually quinoa or oatmeal. I tried millet yesterday. I bought a big bag of it because it was cheap and I discovered I don't like it very much. Oh well. I'll eat it. I try to eat a lot of fruits, veggies, and beans too. And I've ended up eating a lot of sorbet. It's my treat.

The one thing I'm really noticing is that I used to eat a lot because I was bored. Last night I was really bored. I wanted to do something. I wasn't hungry. I had plenty of healthy food in the house if I was hungry, but I wasn't. I realized that before going vegan for these 6 weeks, I would have translated that boredom into a gelato craving.

I don't think I'd have a problem being vegan long-term, but I do rather like gelato. And lattes. And bagels with cream cheese.

Vegan Challenge Update: A Blackberry Binge

by: Jill Richardson

Tue Jun 23, 2009 at 06:00:00 AM PDT

Total cost: $18
(There's a farmer who really loves me, so I paid less than I should have for my food)

With 3 lbs of ripe blackberries, I had three choices. Freeze some, make jam with some, or eat them ALL in the span of a few days. I picked the last option. The day of the market I ate nearly 1 lb of blackberries, and yesterday I ate more than 1 lb of them. Then I decided to see how many calories and such I had consumed just in blackberries alone. So here's what's in a lb of blackberries:

195 calories
6.3g protein (13% of DV)
2.2g fat (3% of DV)
24g fiber (96% of DV)
22g sugar

132mg calcium (13% of DV)
2.81mg iron (15.6% of DV)
91mg magnesium (23% of DV)
100mg phosphorus (10% of DV)
735mg potassium (16% of DV)
95mg vitamin C (158% of DV)
972 IU vitamin A (19% of DV)
114mcg folate (28.5% of DV)
89.9mcg vitamin K (112% of DV)
0.091mg thiamin (6% of DV)
0.118mg riboflavin (7% of DV)
2.9mg niacin (14.5% of DV)

I realize one isn't supposed to survive on blackberries alone. I also ate some oatmeal, toast and jam, a baked potato, a few leftover carrots, three vegan cookies, and some leftover beans. Most of the logic behind my eating involves a) not wanting to eat leftovers b) guilt over cooking more food when there are leftovers to eat and c) not wanting to wash dishes.

Vegan Challenge Update: A Blackberry Binge

by: Jill Richardson

Mon Jun 22, 2009 at 06:00:00 AM PDT

Total cost: $18
(There's a farmer who really loves me, so I paid less than I should have for my food)

With 3 lbs of ripe blackberries, I had three choices. Freeze some, make jam with some, or eat them ALL in the span of a few days. I picked the last option. The day of the market I ate nearly 1 lb of blackberries, and yesterday I ate more than 1 lb of them. Then I decided to see how many calories and such I had consumed just in blackberries alone. So here's what's in a lb of blackberries:

195 calories
6.3g protein (13% of DV)
2.2g fat (3% of DV)
24g fiber (96% of DV)
22g sugar

132mg calcium (13% of DV)
2.81mg iron (15.6% of DV)
91mg magnesium (23% of DV)
100mg phosphorus (10% of DV)
735mg potassium (16% of DV)
95mg vitamin C (158% of DV)
972 IU vitamin A (19% of DV)
114mcg folate (28.5% of DV)
89.9mcg vitamin K (112% of DV)
0.091mg thiamin (6% of DV)
0.118mg riboflavin (7% of DV)
2.9mg niacin (14.5% of DV)

I realize one isn't supposed to survive on blackberries alone. I also ate some oatmeal, toast and jam, a baked potato, a few leftover carrots, three vegan cookies, and some leftover beans. Most of the logic behind my eating involves a) not wanting to eat leftovers b) guilt over cooking more food when there are leftovers to eat and c) not wanting to wash dishes.

Difficult Vegan Decisions

by: Jill Richardson

Thu Jun 18, 2009 at 16:05:17 PM PDT

Well, I could make cookies. Except then I'd have a minimum of a dozen cookies on hand, and I'd have to run around buying all the ingredients. No thanks. Hmm. Whole Foods sells vegan cookies. Well, on that note, they also sell sorbet. Sorbet's vegan, right? And better for you than cookies.

So, off to Whole Foods for some sorbet. I chose the "mojito" flavor and then decided to make it half mojito, half watermelon. Yum. But that didn't help my cookie craving.

I checked out the Gianna's brand cookies. Vegan, yes. Organic, no. Made with soybean oil. Yum, GMOs. Not to mention the cookies' plastic packaging. How about Uncle Eddie's vegan cookies? They aren't all organic but they are made with organic ingredients... and palm oil. God dammit. Why aren't there any vegan cookies out there that don't contain totally unacceptable ingredients?

I ended up buying Uncle Eddie's molasses cookies, because at least in their case, palm oil was the 3rd ingredient instead of the 2nd (after flour and molasses). You can actually make a pretty good vegan ginger snap cookie without any strange ingredients (like fake butter or egg replacer), so I find it incredibly lame that Uncle Eddie, whoever he is, found it necessary to put palm oil in his cookies. I ate two cookies and put the rest in the freezer (to hide them from myself). Now I'm overly full and disgusted with myself for buying palm oil. I can't help but think that cookies made with local, pastured eggs would have been healthier and more ethical than the ones I bought.

Day 4 as a Vegan: Starvation, Headaches, and Caffeine Deprivation

by: Jill Richardson

Wed Jun 17, 2009 at 06:00:00 AM PDT

Yesterday, I solved the caffeine problem by hitting Mama's Bakery, a local Lebanese place, and ordering some Arabic coffee. Depending on where you are eating, it's called Greek, Turkish, or Arabic coffee, but it's basically the same thing no matter the name, and it's served black. I've been a fan of the stuff since a trip to Greece back when I was 16. Along with my coffee, I got a fried eggplant wrap.

Other than that, I've been eating lots of oranges, nectarines, apricots, and toast. Two days ago I went to the co-op to stock up on various types of whole grains and nuts. The nuts cost a fortune so I got one and a half pounds of walnuts and left it at that. I started choosing grains based on price - rolled oats and millet for $.99/lb - until a nutritionist I was chatting with made a strong case for the $3.99/lb red quinoa.

Yesterday I decided to "cook" my quinoa and ended up scorching a pan. It shouldn't be that complicated. 1 part quinoa to 2 parts water, cook for 20 minutes. So now I've got a scorched pan soaking in the sink. I tried again with a 2nd pan and succeeded. I added brown sugar, raisins, and cinnamon. I should probably add some soy milk too but I forgot. Now I'm hungry again, and I just ate another apricot. I've got asparagus, broccoli, a tomato, a cucumber, a potato, and carrots in the fridge - I just need to work up the energy to do my dishes and then cook one of them.

Day Two as a Vegan: Dreaming of Lattes

by: Jill Richardson

Mon Jun 15, 2009 at 12:17:12 PM PDT

Today's a little harder. I'm in post-migraine mode (what I refer to as a "headache hangover"). Those who get migraines know what I'm talking about. I've eaten a baked potato, some oatmeal, an orange, a nectarine, and an apricot. But in my head, I keep dreaming of lattes. I made black coffee earlier but it really just didn't give me what I wanted. I wanted coffee. You know, with milk. The way I like it. So now my brain keeps thinking that the reason why I can't have coffee is because there's no milk in the fridge, and I keep coming up with ideas about stopping off at various coffee shops to pick up a latte.

I do want to note that I'm not doing this vegan challenge out of any belief that all people should be vegan or that no eggs or dairy are OK to eat. That's hardly the truth. When done right, animal agriculture can be good for the earth. The problem is that most of the time, our culture doesn't do it right. Many people (like Paul McCartney and Yoko Ono, who are now joining the Meatless Monday campaign) paint all meat or even animal products with the same broad brush, and that's not entirely correct. Factory farmed anything is bad for the planet. Sustainably farmed anything is good for the planet. Unfortunately, it's difficult to communicate complexity and it's much easier to tell people that all meat is bad.

I'm not sure what I'm going to eat next but it won't be a latte.

UPDATE: I just got an invite to an ice cream social emailed to me. 7pm, a few blocks from my apartment. Great. Maybe I'll go and watch all the other people eat ice cream.

Vegan For a Month (and a half) Challenge

by: Jill Richardson

Fri Jun 12, 2009 at 02:08:34 AM PDT

Here's why. I hadn't seen this friend in a month or so, and the last time I talked to him, he was interested in losing weight and saving the earth but convinced he needed animal protein (in fact, meat specifically, not even just dairy/eggs) to survive. He called today and gave me some news that shocked me. He went raw. "Raw... vegan?" I asked. Yep, raw vegan. 100% vegan, and mostly raw. (Even for raw foodies, going 100% raw is difficult. It's far more typical for them to hover somewhere between 50%-90% raw, supplemented by a cooked item here and there.) His friend challenged him to do it for a month, so he started on June 1.

The two of us went out for dinner to a nearby Vietnamese place. I enjoyed my vegetarian pho and fried tofu while he ate a ginger salad, vegetarian spring rolls, and mango for dessert. He's lost weight, he told me. He feels amazing. Amazing! When he finishes a meal, he no longer feels like he's got a softball in his stomach, and no longer needs a nap. He doesn't feel hungry after eating, but he doesn't have that overly full feeling either. And he's sleeping well, too, and waking up with energy in the morning. And then there's the bathroom part of being vegan... you no longer need reading material while you go.

God. I remember that from the year I was vegan (2006). In fact, it started on that same trip to Hawaii where I worked in the cardiac ICU. I took 5 days of vacation on Kauai after my work was done and I was mostly raw and mostly vegan while I was there (thanks to a live vegan restaurant next to my hostel). I felt amazing! Best I've ever felt. So I came home and went vegan shortly thereafter, and I stuck with it for a year. I lost 20 lbs that year. The weight just fell off. I wasn't even trying to lose weight! Once I gave up veganism, the weight came back (and then some).

So my friend and I made a deal. I'll go vegan (not raw) as of Sunday. I'll do it until August 1. I'll document it here. Meanwhile, he got his cholesterol checked the day he went raw and it was 252, and he's getting it checked again on July 1 to see what happened. So I'll chronicle our experiences here - and I challenge anyone else to join me as a vegan for 6 weeks. Who's with me?