One year on the Journey

On August 18th, we celebrated our one year anniversary on this low-fat vegan diet. And, yes, we DID celebrate. I remember when we first discussed making the switch, we thought we would try it for one month and see how it went. When that month went by, we thought we would do it for 3 months. That was our last discussion.

We are thoroughly enjoying our meals. I cook more than I ever have and we eat out much less. Subway is the easiest place for us to eat but we also have had naked burritos at Qdoba, the California Chicken Salad (sans chicken and blue cheese crumbles) at O'Charleys, side salads and baked potatoes at Wendy's, and even a fresco bean burrito from Taco Bell (ok, that one probably wasn't the best - but only a little fat.)

We use our bread machine and rice steamer lots and my old black cast iron pot has never had so much use. Our meals are flavorful and hearty and there are many of them that we have fed to our non-vegan friends and family with good results. Sometimes they don't miss the meat until they are done. :) We have learned to cook with tofu and seitan and quinoa. We buy tons of produce at Sams and use it all up in a week or so. We buy rice in 15 pound bags. We sometimes buy 3 bunches of bananas in a week. John has learned to eat spinach, mushrooms, squash, onions, tofu, and probably a couple of other things he would never eat before.

I have lost 48 pounds and John has lost 25. Our cholesterol is well below 200, though not where we would like it to be. Though I have been diagnosed with LPR (laryngopharyngeal reflux), I have not had the sinus and allergy problems that I usually have - and I have not had a single recurrence of my asthmatic bronchitis! I attribute that to the removal of dairy from my diet.

Neither of us takes any daily meds - though I am supposed to for the LPR. (It makes the condition worse - not better and I am controlling with a couple of lifestyle changes.)

All in all, it's been a good year diet-wise. The switch was much easier than I EVER would have dreamed. We have adjusted well to travel and are learning to eat our meals before we go to church dinners - or take enough of our delicious foods to share with our friends.

I cheated only once (knowingly) and that was to eat a big ole brownie at church. I thought I had gotten away with it until about 3 hours later when my stomach began to grumble and roll and twist. I'm not too interested in having another non-vegan brownie anytime soon. :)

If you are thinking about making the switch, give it a try. You'll be pleasantly surprised. :)