Day 2 1/2: 1 Part Sweet Potato 1 Part Uneasy

So usually these things begin with a grand statement of purpose, a goal, a dream of world peace. They also usually begin with "Day 1" but I've always been a procrastinator so you get "Day 2 1/2" and we'll back track a bit. 

Flash back to a few weeks ago when on a slow night I decide to venture over to the good 'ole Hulu and check out a lovely little documentary called "Forks Over Knives" (check out more info here: www.forksoverknives.com ) After a very informative and slightly disturbing 90 min ride, I had come to a life altering decision.....I wanted to be a vegan. 

I'll give you a moment for the "shock!" and "awwww!" Yes this tricky little documentary had shown me one clear fact: I don't want to die. I mean I have no grand illusion of immortality (yet). But I don't have any interest in running my arteries into the ground and fighting the big C. No, i'm not going to preach that Vegan is the only way to go, so please, put down your pitchforks and crookedly painted signs. 

Goodbye old friend

Truth be told, I already struggled with my own morality regarding eating animal products. Many of you know that I am big on only using products that have not been tested on animals, and I try to be as environmentally conscious as I can (There now you have my grand statement.) 

After watching this documentary, along with many unfortunate heavy eye-lidded afternoons followed by desperate attempts to inject caffeine intravenously into my blood stream, I realized that I may not be the healthiest person on the block. And so, with a tearful goodbye tour of all my favorites eats and treats, I embarked on this Vegan Experiment with my life. And 2 1/2 days in....it's fantastic!!

Alright alright, you caught me, I'm lying. It's not all daisies and roses (although that amounts to most of my diet now.) It's challenging and takes a lot of thought and planning. My shopping trip to Trader Joe's amounted in a plethora of vegetables and a desperate text saying "We can't eat anything!" 

Day 1: Inspired and ready to go, I realized I had one; done absolutely no shopping in preparation and two; don't really want to spend every morning of my vegan life eating instant oatmeal. Night wasn't bad at all. Now, that may be because I spent the night curled in a tiny ball with a migraine (not diet related more a symptom of the disease called work). But a delicious homemade wrap complete with sautéed onions and mushrooms, spinach and beans was nothing to turn your nose up to. 

Day 2 was a lesson in the importance of planning. I'm not a big breakfast person, never have been. This usually means I resort to something simple and alas, egg-related. Rather than fry my brain on the effort, I just walked over the handy dandy gym across the street from work and got a delicious vegan smoothie complete with peanut butter, banana, almond milk, dates and hemp protein. Lunch consisted of another wrap made with leftovers from the night before and delicious (no sarcasm there) spicy fried rice with tofu from a local Thai restaurant. Definitely going to that place again. I repeated that for dinner and finally made my trip to Trader Joe's for some food. 

• Note about shopping as a Vegan Virgin: READ LABELS. Companies have become very smart realizing that people want to be "healthy and nutritious!" but they are still slipping some not-so-vegan-friendly ingredients into their foods. Be prepared on your first shopping trip to spend a lot of time in people's way reading tiny labels and putting a lot of things back on the shelves with a big sigh. 

And now, on Day 2 1/2, I've got this down! (fake it till ya make it people) for breakfast, I chopped up some sweet potatoes and some apples, drizzled some honey on them and microwaved them for a few minutes to soften them up. Then I sprinkled some cinnamon and I'm not gonna lie, twas pretty tasty. For lunch I let my brain take a break and hit up the vegan oasis of The Veggie Grill nearby (www.veggiegrill.com). If you haven't tried this place, I would highly recommend it. Even as a carnivore there are some tasty treats there when you feel like having a leafy day. 

I will say with 1/2 a day left on day 3 I am feeling pretty good. I think I can tackle this and really enjoy this vegan lifestyle. That is, until I am PMSing and some blind craving sends me pummeling down the bakery aisle taking out small children and old women without mercy. Until then!