Vegan? Vegan!

About a month and a half ago, Ethan asked if I would try a vegan, low-fat diet with him. I responded with a loving, but skeptical, "I guess we could try it". I am so not a hippie. I feel no moral obligations to cows that prevents me from eating them or their milk. But I do have a very strong family history of heart disease, and there is pretty good evidence that a plant-based, low fat diet is the healthiest possible for prevention of heart disease and multiple kinds of cancer.

And the surprise? I actually like it. The first couple of weeks were tough. I was craving fat, salt, and cheese. I am fine with eating almost no meat, but cheese was a BIG deal for me. and Ice Cream. I have a major sweet tooth. But after a couple of weeks, the fat cravings went away. We have been trying out new recipes, and trying foods that I had never eaten before in my entire life (Kale,mustard greens, turnips, parsnips, nutritional yeast, new kinds of peppers). We have explored Indian and Chinese grocery stores and found new kinds of seasonings, and different kinds of lentils and beans. We have tried out grains that I haven't ever had before.

The best part? I can eat as much food as I want. I can eat until I am completely full and I don't feel bad about a single bite of food that goes in my mouth. I don't count calories, but I have lost about 4-5 pounds since changing my diet, and my body feels like I have lost more (Ethan's looking pretty good too, added bonus!). Meals take a bit more planning. I can't just decide I'm tired and I want to go out for a burger and a beer. But I don't feel deprived at all. We both have more energy and we've both noticed our skin clearing up.

You may wonder, "what on earth do they eat?"

Here are a few of the things we've made:

Texas Caviar

 

Asian Slaw with rice vinegar, tamari, and a tiny bit of tahini, over radishes, carrots, parsnips, and cabbage.

 

Home made corn tortillas- SO much better than store-bought if you have the time!

 

Vegetable Fajitas. I'm not sure exactly what Ethan put on them for a marinade but they were the best veggie fajitas I've ever had in my life.

 

We both started taking a vitamin with B12 to keep our bases covered, but we're converts.

Here are the resources that helped us to change our minds:

Forks Over Knives (also on Netflix)

Prevent and Reverse Heart Disease

Fat, Sick, and Nearly Dead (Also on Netflix)

The China Study