Vegan Virgin

Oh heyy! Longggg time, no blogging. Wish I could say it was because I was off having the time of my life with a new boyfriend, or gallivanting around Europe, or moving in with my best friends, but nope. No, I've just been super busy at work, and then super lazy. Sooo....that's good. Though there have been boys, and there has been gallivanting (around Gettysburg), and there has been fun times with friends, no major life changes yet. Except for one.

I have decided to give veganism a try. Yep, I am a vegan virgin, and I am super excited about it. See...I have been having a lot of stomach issues lately. Well, I've kind of had them for the past year, but it's been especially bad lately. Most of the time I just blame it on stress and anxiety (which sometimes it is), but two days ago I had the realization that it might be all of the dairy I consume! (...I realized this as I was drinking an iced coffee with skim milk and was eating a greek yogurt. ha.) So right then and there, I decided to give up dairy for a week to see how I felt. If I feel better after the week, I will stick with it. If I feel the same, I will go back to being the cheese lover I once was.

At first I didn't even think about becoming a vegan, but then I realized literally the only other thing I would have to cut out would be eggs, and then BAM, I'd be a vegan. It sounds so intense. "Won't that be really hard??!" my friend asked me earlier today...and you’d think so but it's not really… I mean I was already a vegetarian and there’s a replacement for everything these days. So it was just a matter of buying soymilk and coconut ice cream, instead of skim milk and froyo. I don’t like butter anyway, I only used olive oil. Eggs have kind of been weirding me out ever since I became a vegetarian, but because I was allergic to nuts and beans, eggs were one of my only options for a protein source.

Butttt....I can eat black beans now! Yayyy I had them with dinner last night and for lunch today. Omg what I have been missing! Geez, I wish I had the balls earlier to try them. Along with hummus! Up until a few months ago, I wasn't eating hummus either due to my allergies. I have been allergic to all nuts and legumes (including chickpeas, beans, peas, etc.) my entire life, but one day back in July, I had had it with limitations. I was SO sick of salads with quinoa and egg whites, and I was seriously lacking in protein. So I said to myself, SCREW IT. And I took a pita chip and dipped it right into the Sabra Hummus my family was eating, and shoved it in my mouth. And guess what... nothing happened! I didn't die, I wasn't covered in hives, and my throat didn't start to close! GREAT SUCCESS! And last week, I did the same thing with black beans. My mom and I were at UNO's, and there was a delicious looking veggie burger on the menu...with black beans. So again I went through the whole "Screw This" process, ordered the burger, and I was fine!!!!

 VEGGIE BLACK BEAN BURGER

Made with black beans, brown rice, roasted onions, roasted corn, roasted green & red peppers, tomatoes, bulgar wheat, green chilies and jalapeño pepper, topped with house-made guacamole, lettuce, tomato and red onion. Salsa on the side.

So to make a long story, longer... I have slowly been adding beans into my diet. Next stop, kidney beans. I want to make chili when it starts to get chilly ;) I have also accepted the fact that I will need to add more soy into my diet in order to get the protein and nutrition that I need. I am not a huge fan of soy just because there are studies out  there that say it enhances estrogen production and can lead to breast cancer, but I feel that if I eat it in moderation, I will be ok. I’m going to try sunflower seed butter this weekend. Kinda nervous about that but really excited too!

Anddd now as I type this my stomach is starting to hurt because I tried to drink an iced coffee with soy milk. I am trying to drink less coffee too because I think it's the acidity that gets me. Ohhh the joys of allergies.

Basically I am kinda taking the whole YOLO thing a little too seriously, but come on…I’ve been too afraid for too long to try foods I am allergic to. It’s about time. It's also ironic that this change to veganism comes at a time that Vegan MOFO is happening... and I didn't even know this was a thing until yesterday! Click on the picture for more info about it!

I will hopefully STOP being so lazy and actually work on a post a few times each week. Whether it's reviewing a new product that fits into my new vegan diet, or if it's fashion related because of a new trend I learned at work, or if it's just about my romping around this fall, I want to make a conscious effort to devote time to write down my thoughts and opinions. ...plus I've really missed WIAW these past few weeks, and I wanna jump back into that next week. I've still been reading as many blogs as I have time for though. I feel disconnected if I don't know what's going on in your lives... is that weird? Whatever... I find it comforting to know that there are people out there who have similar struggles, dietary restrictions, and lifestyle choices as myself. And beacuse of that, I want to continue to share my life's journey.