Tuesday, January 17, 2012

Veganism



About a month ago Matt and I started watching different documentaries on Netflix. It's been a really good thing for us. We watched "The Business of Being Born" and it really changed my opinion of Labor and Delivery in hospitals. Interestingly enough I want to be a Labor and Delivery nurse. We'll see what happens. I will be interested to see when I can get a job in L&D if the documentary portrays the hospital setting correctly. 

Another documentary that really changed our minds was Food, Inc. 


 This movie highly changed our opinion of the food industry and the food we were putting into our bodies. I could not believe how bad the conditions were in some of our farms and "factories" in this country. I have never really been one of those "animal rights" types. I never really saw myself feeling that way. I was more like the rest of America with my beliefs of "God made animals to eat them". Not true at all. 


After we watched this documentary I tried to be more cautious about the food I was purchasing. I tried to buy more grass fed meat. I tried to buy more cage free eggs and free range chicken meat. It was hard to find and becoming a bit expensive. So, I eventually gave up and just kept buying my meat at Super Target. Then, Matt and I watched another documentary (I'm coming to the conclusion that maybe we shouldn't watch these things?! maybe we're too easily swayed?!) 


 We watched, Forks over Knives

  
After watching this movie we literally decided sitting on our futon that we were.... going vegan. A couple years ago I tried being vegetarian for a week. It really wasn't that bad, but I literally lived on a college campus and ate at a cafeteria, there was no way I could be a vegetarian eating in a college cafeteria. 

Matt and I made the decision to try being vegan for a month. No meant. No dairy. No eggs. We cleaned out our fridge and got rid of some of the lingering dairy and turkey hot dogs we had. We still have some ground beef in our freezer (just in case we change our minds, if not we'll donate to our friends). 

So, I started to do some research on what essential vitamins and nutritional supplements we needed. We went to Trader Joe's and loaded up on produce, rice, Quinoa, rice noodles, soy milk and other necessities. We had such a great time. We've been looking up new recipes and filling our mouths with fruits, veggies and nuts. After 4 days I have felt so good. The first couple days my stomach FREAKED OUT. I think I was getting rid of all the nasty sugars and "toxins" I had put in my body recently, but I was feeling better. I have cut out as much coffee as well. I've only been having 1 cup each day with just a little bit of soy creamer and attempting to cut out Splenda. I have been waking up around 6 or 7 in the morning with more energy than I have ever had. I was typically the person at work during my 12 hour shift that I would need a large coffee just to be motivated to talk in the morning, not to mention half way through the day I would CRASH and burn. Yesterday, I worked a 12 hour shift and had energy all day. I could not believe how good I felt. 

Here are a couple recipes I've tried so far and loved. 

I modified this one from one I found on 101cookbooks.com. I have found this blog really helpful. It's not all vegan but she has an archive of her vegan recipes. 

So far I think I can stick to this for the month and even longer. I think I can see Matt and I adding some meat occasionally. I have talked to a couple of the doctors I work with and they say a little meat every so often is okay. They did discourage the amount we consume in our country. 

Anyways, it's been fun so far. We've had a good time and feeling great. the next goal is to go to the gym. I am still working on that. 

I'll start posting some more recipes and keep ya'll update on our progress.

 I highly suggest watching those 2 documentaries if you're interested.

2 comments:

his little lady said...

oh gosh, it's documentaries like that that made me not eat red meat anymore. too depressing!

Unknown said...

Oh, I wish I had your willpower. I really want to watch those documentaries....I've even gone as far as to put them in my Netflix queue as I read your post. I just can't bring myself to watch, I'm afraid. Maybe I'll try one recipe at a time. I really need that energy you're talking about!