Q & A

Today marks 3 weeks of vegan living! Yay!

My sister, Emily, should be a journalist. These are the questions she asked me when I was 10 days into the program:
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Q. In addition to the eat particulars, of which I am very interested, I want to know: what is your daily routine looking like now that you are making these changes?

A. It takes more time and I am thinking about it a lot! I spend lots of time reading recipes, planning meals, and imagining my new healthy lifestyle. But I can tell that I will get used to it and it will become second nature eventually. I have been reading lots of blogs about vegans/nutritarians and even raw food diets.


Q. How has it affected your time for meal prep?

A. I am finding that cooking veggies is cleaner and easier than meat. The clean up is a breeze! And the house smells better without the meat smell. I actually don't cook as much because the salad is the main course. Instead I chop. I sharpened my knifes - they are getting a workout. I am learning to cook food differently without oil and butter - I do more steaming and sweating of veggies.


Q. Shopping for groceries? How much more frequently do you go to the store? Does it take more time?

A. I have been to the store nearly everyday looking for unusual stuff (TVP, low sodium soy sauce, flax seed, a coffee grinder [for the flax]). And I am making special trips to fancy nature stores like Whole Foods and Sunflower (quickly becoming my favorite place to shop). It's a whole new culture and there is so much to learn and explore. Eventually this will settle down and I can go once a week. We are trying so many new foods! I think we will find our favorites and start using them over and over, much like I use to do. I have to say that I feel much better emotionally in Sunflower Market than I do in Walmart.


Q. Do you need as much sleep, more, less, the same?

A. I am sleeping more soundly and waking up easier. But I can tell that I am still in withdrawal. I get fatigued in the afternoon. I read that is normal for the first 2 weeks. I am doing so many new things to my body. It is in shock!





Q. Has it affected your hormones, like in the PMS category, period, menstrual cycle?
A. I will have PMS next week. I will report on that. I may not see a big difference until next month. But my skin is clearing up (little pimples) and feels softer.


Q. I also really want to know about the exercise. How frequently, how much, do you have a personal trainer, at the gym, at home, is the trainer with you each minute, or only at the beginning & end, is the trainer nice (supportive) or tough-guy coach (pushy), what days do you train and not train, muscular or cardio or both. Morning or evening, once or twice a day.

A. No trainer. I am doing the running club 3 times a week and so far we are running about 12 minutes and walking fast for a total of 35 minutes. We will increase every week. I hate it but I am not going to quit. I would like to hire Cheryl to train me again. She really helped me build my core strength. I hated it too. Next week I will jump from 3 days a week to 5 days and then 2 weeks later I will do 6 days.

Roland will probably work with the trainers. He has been traveling this week and says it is a challenge to be vegan at conferences.


Q. Has it had any affect on your sex life yet?

A. Well, Roland has been gone for 5 days. But he gets home tonight and I am REALLY looking forward to that. So I would say...yes.