Tuesday, March 9, 2010

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.

6 comments:

R A C H A E L said...

This is awesome- answered some of my questions. HOWEVER- I have a few more

Any blogs, sites, recipie books you would recommend?

What does your groceery bill look like?

How often do you go to the store?

Giving up butter won't be bad, but olive oil? What do you sub for that?

You are my hero!

R A C H A E L said...

This is awesome- answered some of my questions. HOWEVER- I have a few more

Any blogs, sites, recipie books you would recommend?

What does your groceery bill look like?

How often do you go to the store?

Giving up butter won't be bad, but olive oil? What do you sub for that?

You are my hero!

R A C H A E L said...

wierd- it posted twice...

Sally said...

Excellent post.

I want to hear more about the exercise and please post a new recipe.

Linda Austin Hart said...

I'm getting more interested. Please post more recipes. They inspire me.

Hannah said...

GROOOOOOSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS