Husband and I are going vegan for a month.
I am shocked myself. But it was his idea, and when your husband suggests changing your diet for the healthier you kinda have to roll with it. Around his office lately several people are doing something called The Engine 2 Diet. There's a book by the same name written by a triathlete/firefighter from Austin named Rip Esselstyn. He convinced his fellow firefighters to try a plant-based diet for 28 days to help prevent heart disease. The diet is vegan and then some. The list of forbidden foods includes:
- Any food containing more than 2.5 grams of fat per 100 calories.
- Meat
- Dairy
- Oil
- Refined sugars
- White grains
- Alcohol
- Any food containing any of the above (no salad dressing with oil, no pancake mix with dried milk or white flour, etc.)
I don't see this becoming a way of life forever. I have some concerns about the long-term feasiblilty and health ramifications of eating this way. But I am game for several reasons. One, it may not be ideal but it is still better than the typical American diet we are currently eating. My diet relies too much on dairy and Husband's on meat. I am consuming way to much sugar and processed foods lately. Since I started weaning Henry a month ago I have been so tired and a bit down (weaning can cause some of the same hormonal changes as childbirth) and although I feel better everyday I am still drawn to sugar and caffeine to help me keep up with my life these days. I am hoping that eating real food instead of edible food-like substances will help boost my energy. I also think trying it for four weeks will force us to get creative and discover some new healthy recipes we can keep after the month is over. And of course there are the big picture reasons: I don't want to be a fat lazy mom. We want to set a healthy example for Henry. I have heart disease all over my family tree and I want to do my best to avoid it so I can see Henry grow up. I want to have some vitality left when I get this kid out of my house so Husband and I can enjoy a new chapter of our lives together that doesn't involve one of us in a Hoveround chair.
So we are starting on Sunday. Husband is busily filling his menu between now and Saturday at midnight with soon-to-be-forbidden foods (this morning was breakfast tacos). Being the grocery shopper and financial manager of the house I am trying to eat all the naughty stuff in the fridge so we don't have to throw it out. I am Googling up a storm and searching through all my cookbooks for some vegan recipes to try. On Friday night I think we will make a menu for the first week and then on Saturday it's off to Whole Foods. I'm interested to see how this works out budget-wise. I'm optimistic since we are aiming to stay more on the homemade/real foods end of the spectrum and away from too much of the processed and expensive meat substitutes.
I will report back on our progress soon!
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I'm trying to think of Vegan things I eat...veggie Chilis (lots of beans!), stirfries with brown rice (I add shelled edamame beans for extra protein), um, soups? Oatmeal in the mornings with rice milk or soy...hmm, this is hard! Can you eat agave since it is natural, I use it as a sweetner in a lot of things instead of sugar.
ReplyDeleteGood luck and keep me posted. I may try if I can't get these last 5 pregnancy pounds off!
My father-in-law recently went vegan for a while and, by doing so, lowered his cholesterol by over 100 points. It's a difficult diet to take on, but there's no question that it's very healthy as long as you still manage to get plenty of protein. Good luck!
ReplyDeleteI'm excited to see how this goes and have already started my list of vegan dishes to help in your menu making and on side note I told my husband about y'alls experiment and he said he would probably end up in the hospital with malnutrition if I made him to it ;)
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