Day 1: Oh My Goodness!
As with all good Catholics (alright even the bad ones do this), Lent means the beginning of the end… for a habit or food. During Lent, Catholics sacrifice something of meaning to them. For years now, mine has been associated with food – go figure! A girl talking about food, right?! Well, this year I wanted to make a drastic decision after seeing a little movie entitled Forks over Knives. It spoke to the health benefits of going vegan. So, for Lent I thought I might go Vegan but after some resistance about my lack of knowledge of how to properly get nutrition via this new form of food consumption, I decided to do a very strict, almost Vegan Lent. I’m giving up the following:
- coffee – I know but I still get tea
- chocolate – worst time to start giving this lover up
- eggs – the one thing I could eat every single day and NEVER get tired of
- cheese – this will probably be the most difficult part… no, I’m not kidding. I can add cheese to almost everything!
- meat (with the exception of seafood) – I told my friend that I’d maintain a traditional form of protein till I learned more
- fried foods – the first year I did this, I was still living in Texas and was stumped for weeks as to what I could eat
- white flour/rice/pasta – I really try to wheat as much as possible but this will force me into it… saddest part? Sushi!
- whole-fat dairies – i.e. only low or nonfat versions need apply here
- liquor – bye, bye vodka waters!
- beer – and my occasional Stella! (notice wine’s not included… Jesus drank wine so I’m thinking we’re cool)
- soda – I don’t drink many anyway so this won’t be that hard but the lack of caffeine will take a bit of a toll
So, here’s Day 1… Ash Wednesday… And, what did it look like? Like a lot of “what the heck can I have?”
Breakfast: Starbucks oatmeal with brown sugar, dried fruit and mixed nuts – yummy!
Lunch: Chipotle – this was a bit odd. “Sir, can I have the bowl with, um, nothing?” I got a bowl with brown rice, black beans, corn salsa, hot salsa, guacamole, lettuce and all 3 versions of Tabasco. When I asked if the sour cream was low-fat, the girl said it wasn’t then proceeded to tell me that the guac had more calories. With a bit of a sneer and education in what I’m actually giving up “Hello, it’s not calories, hun,” my friend and I took our seats and laughed about how creamy her’s looked and how green and red mine did. Thanks for my glass of water, too!
Afternoon Snack? I drank half of a Berry Blast Naked Juice… it was so good and while I wish I had a V8 (totally not an endorsed plug), it was enough to make me feel as if I had some fruit in my belly. The reason I wish I had a V8 is simply because I always feel energized after… like I man-handled a massive salad. Do I like the taste? No! Does anyone?
Dinner: tuna with Wheat Thins and some honey Greek yogurt – that stuff is addictive!
From Texan to Vegan 