Monday, June 25, 2012

Vegan She-ro

So here I am on day 7 of being vegan. This has been an interesting journey. It has been a lot easier than I expected it to be. I think mostly because I already make some vegan choices in my life that I just didn't realize were vegan. For example, I don't drink milk. I use coconut milk for everything and have even gotten my boyfriend into coconut milk too. I also started using more super foods a few months ago so one of my favorite lunches is a Vegan Burrito Bowl previously referred to in my world as just Burrito Bowl. I also started a quest to add more fruits and vegetables into my life. The hard part is not cutting out the obvious animal products like milk, cheese and lamb(Actually, that's a lie. I love cheese. RIP Cheese). Now its finding the hidden milk derivatives on package labels. This has also brought about the rule that if I don't know what 3 of the ingredients are then I probably should not be eating it. Luckily in San Francisco we have a treasure trove of vegan delicacies and easy to read labeling. 
Another hard part has been that I work for a cupcakery. Not a vegan cupcakery. A full on butter, cream and buttermilk cupcakery.  I love my company and I love my job and I get to do a lot of really cool things like help plan weddings and be on t.v. shows. And I love cupcakes. I love how they taste. I love how they make you feel and I love the memories that they evoke from your childhood. However, lets face it, they are bad for you and even if I wasn't vegan I should not be eating them. So it has given me a great incentive to cut out baked goods but it is also hard to be surrounded by temptation. I'm not going to lie. The cream cheese frosting was asking me to eat it yesterday. Luckily it did not win and my streak of 7 days vegan is still intact. Just 21 more days til my goal of one month vegan is complete.
Oh, but the good things about being vegan, not just the cupcake deprivation part. I honestly feel great. My body feels better and stronger. I feel lighter and have more energy. My stomach has not been as upset as it has been and my headaches have gone away. I've been really into this because it has also challenged me to explore new recipes. I'll post more but later today I am making Nabeyaki Udon and for the first time ever cooking leeks. Ooooo leeks. They sound so exotic. 
Oh, and a fun fact I learned in my 7 days of being vegan. Bac-o's (that's right, the bacon bits you put on your salad) are vegan. Shhh, don't tell North Carolina.
 

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