Vegan Experiment: Part II

     On New Year's Day, 2010, I made the shift to the vegan diet. That means no meats, no milk products, no eggs, no animal products.
     Part I of the journey, which ended in May, went awesome. I lowered my cholesterol by at least 45 points, without the aid of medicine, and I really did not have a regular exercise routine during this time (which would have brought the points total down even lower.) I allowed myself, during this first phase, to "eat the fattened calf." In other words, once a month, I allowed myself to indulge in some old favorites like barbecue and briskett.
     The biggest challenge of going vegan, no doubt, was finding an adequate substitute for sweets like doughnuts, muffins, etc... There is nothing like a good blueberry muffin with your morning coffee.
So what did I eat during this time?
     Dinner could include whole grain pasta and marinara with veggies on top, or perhaps brown rice with stir-fried veggies, or a mexican sald with beans, salsa, onions, etc.... My breakfast favorite is whole grain toast with "natural" peanut butter (the kind with only five ingredients) and some good fruit spread. I also occasionally got my cereal fix with some whole grain cereal and almond/rice milk.
Lunch is more difficult, but of course veggie burgers (make sure they are not made with cheese) and the Veggie sub at Subway (sans cheese and dairy spreads) are old standbies.
     Phase I crumbled in mid-June, culmnating in my carnivorous binge in Austin during my two weeks of study leave. I am slowly getting back to where I was in May, but it continues to be a challenge.      Everywhere I go there are foods made with animal products, from French toast to homemade biscuits.
     My hope is that I can go hard-core vegan by September, after our family relocates to north Texas.
My goal: Get my cholesterol below 150 (at the recommendation of Rip Esselstyn, in his book The Engine 23 Diet), and my weight down to 210 (currenty struggling to stay at 230). Weight Watchers got me from 262 to 232, until I could no longer stand the legalism of counting points. Hopefully the vegan lifestyle will lead me home.
     The reasons for embracing the vegan lifestyle are several: lower cholesterol and weight to appropriate levels, to avoid heart disease, diabetes, and a host of other illnesses that have been linked to the western diet (read Colin Campbell, The China Study). And as stated in yesterday's blog, I am also becoming more educated on some serious problems with our food production and eating habits in this country. There are a whole constellation of ethical and social justice issues that convince me more and more that veganism is the way to go.
     Bon Appetit.