Diet Problems

Today was pretty awful

I started the day off pretty good with my cantaloupe breakfast...but then my stomach REALLY started bothering me. I felt like I was going to vomit. I felt 10 times better after I snacked on some peanuts and some pretzels later on.

For lunch, I chowed on SIX veggie spring rolls....SIX!!! There was no way that I needed to eat that many. The rolls were accompanied by some rice, broccoli, and duck sauce (this duck sauce was a little better than the one you find at take Chinese food restaurants). To top off this mess, I probably had about 3oz of Pepsi. I wasn't even craving it, I just put it in my cup as I was walking by the soda fountain. I felt like such a mess, but I figured I'd have the opportunity to burn off some calories during my softball game...which we won 27-0 (I hit a homerun).

Well, I ended up pulling a muscle early on in the game, so what was supposed to be my workout turned out to be a lot of sitting. I may head over to the fitness center on campus within the next 30 minutes to get a bit of an ACTUAL workout in.

Dinner was probably worse than lunch. I had two bowls of rice topped with some type of tomato sauce concoction , a bowl of string beans, a popsicle, AND ANOTHER FEW OUNCES OF SODA! Why the hell do I feel the need to drink soda all of a sudden. My addiction is either resurfacing or I'm just trying to get a quick fix. Either one is bad news.

Someone came up to me while I was eating dinner and asked me how the vegan thing was going for me. I told her it was going well. She asked if I had noticed any changes in my body and I told her about the weight I've lost and how much cleaner I feel.

Someone else came up to me earlier today also and told me that she 'sucks at this vegan thing.' I think it's funny that so many people around me have been asking me about my diet and seem genuinely interested in what I'm doing. It not only keeps me motivated, but what I'm doing is allowing other people to look closely at their own habits. I even have a teacher who is inspired by me!

I really have to start making smarter choices concerning my eating habits since quite a few people are looking up to me (and, of coarse, for my own good more importantly). Getting more greens into my diet is a must...I can already feel my surplus of simple carbs weighing me down.

I'm going to try to get to the mall this weekend to buy a mini-blender that I can use in my dorm for the remainder of the year...maybe one like the Magic Bullet.

Doing mid-day green smoothies would really be ideal if I can get my hands on a blender. My Mom and I are working on splitting the cost of a Vita-mix since we'll both be making a lot of smoothies. Anyone have a suggestion for a good food processor/juicer?

Getting Psyched

(The sandwich from Friendly's that I talk about looked something like this...just without the cheese and it had Tuna instead)

Alrighty, so I took my weight yesterday and I'm up 1/2 a pound from when I took my weight on April 5th. I consider that to be pretty good considering my diet hasn't been seeing it's best days.

Yesterday, my meals were kind of all over the place. I normally have some cantaloupe, grapes, and strawberries for breakfast, but today I threw in some watermelon...bad idea. I have a feeling that I should eat my watermelon by itself. I had some Carrot Juice before I left for class and snacked on some peanuts and soynuts before I left also.

During my earlier classes, I snacked on some pretzels and when lunch came around, I had a small bowl of rice and a green salad (lettuce, cucumbers, broccoli) with oil and vinegar.
I had a softball game around 5, so before I left campus, I had a Naked juice and a Clifbar.

After the game is when things went wrong...

Since we won, the coaches took us out for dinner at Friendly's and I ended up getting a tuna wrap with french fries. Let me tell you...I thought I was going into cardiac arrest after I stood up from that table. My air canals felt so blocked and I had shooting pains in my chest area. I partially blame it on eating so fast, but the food I was eating also played a LARGE part.

Let me just say that as a vegan (and judge me if you want) I haven't completely given up fish. I still eat it from time to time, but it keeps me sane and steers me away from reaching for beef or chicken. I probably have fish once every other week, so nothing too excessive. I'll hopefully be cutting it out soon.

I've got three days left of being a vegan until I go raw for a month. Since I'm on campus so often, My choices are limited to mostly salads and fruit...not even juicing.

I'm excited about transitioning, but actually not excited enough. I need to get PUMPED a little more.

The Rawmodel and Tim VanOrden have been my biggest inspirations thus far, so I think that if i follow what they're doing and take in some of their advice, I'll be just fine for the next four weeks.

Before photos to come on either Friday or Saturday...

The Beginning of a Long Transition

So, just like the post title says, I'm starting what will hopefully be a long and fruitful transition into raw veganism.

I've been a vegan now for about two months or so, and I'm at the point where my cravings for meat are completely gone. I still struggle a little bit with the dairy and eggs part of being a vegan, but for the most part, I steer clear of any product that contains dairy or eggs.

I do a pretty good job with staying away from processed foods as well. I'll have the occasional bowl of rice or toasted bagel here and there, but it's very seldom.

So, mind you, I've been a vegan for around 8 weeks, and last I checked (which was two weeks ago) I was down 12 pounds...which averages out to about two pounds per week. I'll be taking my weight tomorrow (Monday) but I have a feeling that I won't be too thrilled with what shows up on the scale because I've been retaining lots of water lately.

Weight loss was only a portion of my motivation for becoming a vegan. Above all, I enjoy feeling cleaner and healthier by incorporating more natural foods into my body.
I now typically have 2 salads a day and a breakfast that consists of fruit ONLY, and I'm comfortable with that.

Moving along...pictured above is what I bought from the grocery store today. I live in a dorm, so the photo had to be taken on my bed (I washed the blanket after). From left to right, I have: Ugli (Uniq) Fruit, Odwalla Carrot Juice, Two Apples, 1 small Watermelon, 4 Pears, 2 Coconuts, 1 Cantaloupe, 1 Pepino Fruit, and a couple of waters (don't know why those are in the photo). The Ugli and Pepino fruits are two that I have never seen before, but I thought I'd give
them a try. Here they are closer up...


Ugli (Looks like a mix of an orange and a grapfruit...but with lumps)


Pepino (Beautiful fruit)

I went shopping for fruit because on Friday, April 25th, I'm going Raw for a month....More to come later