Wednesday, April 9, 2008

Day 45 - The Things You Find

I have been a bad blogger. I require a flogger. Maybe I should just play Frogger. Okay, I'm finished.

A little over 1 week ago, one of my precious rats died a horrible death in my arms, and in the last few weeks, my father, who had a terrible stroke last June has mentally become considerably worse. Thems my excuses. I have been emotionally drained and on many days have not even turned on the computer.

But! I have not been a bad vegan. In fact, I am loving this third round at veganism! I have not given into cravings but have had to stretch my thinking and use more creativity.

There are so many products I never knew existed!! The daily staples I have down; fresh organic fruits and veggies, tofu, beans, brown rice, meatless meat substitutes, etc. But there are a few things...comfort foods....I never knew existed.

I was wandering around the store one day and thought, why isn't there a ready made vegan pot pie....and then there it was! Amy's Organics makes a killer vegan pot pie. And, bam! one less excuse to give into non-vegan cravings.

Also, when I get my period, and only then, I have insane cravings for milk chocolate. As a half-assed baby vegan I would allow such indulgences. But now that I am budding into a teenage vegan, I would never do such a thing. So, one night, my lovely husband and I started our search for a vegan chocolate indulgence. I know that online and in Los Angeles there are vegan chocolatiers, but this was an urgent need!!

My husband was such a doll, would not give up hope, and did manage to find a vegan dark melting chocolate. I thought, what the hell I'll try it. As we left the store, we saw a Guatemalan place across the street which serves fresh fruit plates and smoothies etc. We ventured over there and decided on a mix of bananas, apples, strawberries, papaya and pineapple. That night, I had the most decadent and satisfying chocolate-covered fruit.

That again was another amazing turning point for me. Being a food addict, I had the mind set that the only things that are tasty are also naughty..i.e. processed junk food. Those lovely pieces of fruity and chocolaty indulgence were sooooooooo much more delicious than any other milk chocolate I have ever had.

It is so freeing to be 100% vegan, I feel no guilt. I can breathe easier. I cannot express how wonderful it is for me to discover how truly easy it is to be vegan!

Day by day, the cravings seem to go away and little windows open to show me better ways to live...and on some days, doors open, and my life changes permanently.

I can't wait to see what else I find on this great journey!!

8 comments:

Chessa said...

I so totally get what you are saying about the whole naughty indulgences must = junk food thing. It's like I crave that feeling of skipping class and getting away with something, through food. But I, like you, have made this happen vegan style! That chocolate covered fruit sounds absolutely divine.

Also just wanted to say that we have similar histories with veganism (I think this is my 3rd or 4th round...who's counting?) but I really feel a new commitment this time. Before I had a lot of waffling, a lot of cravings for things like cheese. Now when I think about cheese (or see those disgusting ads for Taco Bell with the cheese trailing from their mouths) I get repulsed.

I just found your blog (through VegBlogs) so if you've talked about this before, I apologize: Do you subscribe/have read any of the posts from NOTMILK? It's a yahoo group, the author sends out 1 message per day about why milk is bad for you. It's a nice daily reminder about the health aspects of being vegan and why milk is GROSS!

The Reluctant Veggie said...

I liked you blog a lot. I just decided to become a vegetarian a couple of days ago. It's nice to see that there can be struggles involved and it's not just plain sailing like some suggest.

Vicki's Vegan Vice said...

very cool! you're very inspiring. thank you. :)

vegeater said...

you don't have to give up milk chocolate forever! Terra Nostra makes a lovely ricemilk chocolate!

Kira said...

When the chocolate craving hits, check out the baking chocolates at your local grocery store ... many are often vegan and come in milk to dark options.

I'm a dark chocolate fan myself, and a non-dairy chocolate milk fan, and ... we'll just leave it at that.

Maria Rose said...

Congratulations. Once you get past the habit of being non-vegan there is no reason to turn back. Sure it is a pain sometimes, but as you noted, there are so many amazing opportunities to have really good food instead of settling for junk.

PS I am sorry to hear about your rat.

Anonymous said...

Hello there!

Congrats!
I am on my 15th day of a vegan & soy free diet. And I can just say, as a food addict I have not known so little (almost none) cravings in years.
I ate very healthily before and luckily I dont crave any conventional sweets at all. Your tastebuds are getting more sensitive with all the good natural food that you start to taste all the additives and the lacking energy of trashy foodstuffs.

I love vegan food - and luckily enough I always was into dark chocolate :)

Good luck for the future and I bet if you manage all those 180 days you're gonna stick to veganism.

Best, Emme
http://detox-against-depression.blogspot.com/

buňka said...

Today is my vegan day nb. 25 and I feel pretty much the same way as you do. Good luck ;)