Forks Over Knives

Wesley Chapel, Florida

I am intrigued by the vegetarian/vegan lifestyle.  I am doing more reading.  What exactly do they eat and what do they not eat?  How could you possibly live without animal protein?

The China Study is an  interesting book,  but I knew Al would never read it.   I also know that I would have a very difficult time changing my eating habits if Al isn’t willing to make some changes as well.

After a few chapters of the The China Study, I try to relay some of the information to Al.   He listens, but always seems to have a comeback, like  “I’m not giving up meat”, or  “I’m not giving up beer.”

 

The Good Luck Ducks turned me on to a movie called,  Forks Over Knives.  

You can watch it Here.

It is very interesting,  and I encourage everyone to at least give it 5-10 minutes.  I don’t think you’ll find it boring.  You may not choose to make any changes to your diet, but at least you may get a better understanding of the vegetarian/vegan lifestyle. 

We both found it extremely interesting.  

I have always admired people where food was not such an important part of their life.  People that “ate to live,”  instead of “lived to eat”  like we do!

That’s not to say that I don’t want to enjoy good food.  I just would like food to not be so all consuming.   I’d like to have more control over what and how much I eat.   I’d like to be healthier and have more energy.  I’d like to lose some weight.  Boy, would I like to lose some weight.

Al takes a daily blood pressure pill, and a Lipitor for his cholesterol. 

I currently take no medications but I imagine my time is coming….unless of course I make some changes.

I am starting to see some benefits from a vegetarian/vegan lifestyle.

Do I think we could do it? 

I don’t know.

It would be a lot more difficult for Al, I think.  He has always been a meat and potatoes kind of guy.  He never wanted any of his foods mixed together (like casserole) and he ate very few vegetables.  He wouldn’t try anything new and on the rare occasion I could get him to try something new, he “hated”  it before it ever got in his mouth.  He was determined he wouldn’t like anything new, and he didn’t.

When we moved to Georgia and started to grow our own vegetables, he decided to give them an honest try.  He discovered he liked a lot of the things he would never eat before.  He started to listen to me if I said something was good, he’d try it.

It was a “new”  Al and sometimes I am still shocked by the things he now eats and likes.  A common phrase around here, is  “boy, if your Mother could see you now.”   All of his life, she cooked an entirely separate meal for Al. 

Never in a million years would I have thought Al would even consider being a vegetarian, let alone a vegan. 

He has not committed to it and neither have I, but we do find it interesting.

We have committed to trying it for a few days.

Could we actually find enough food that we like without meat and dairy?  Would we be able to find delicious foods that we love?  How much trouble would it be?  I am not a cook and have no desire to learn now!

He will not give up beer.  Some other things may be negotiable, but beer is not!   Hey isn’t beer vegan?

Steaks?   Hamburgers?      Well…..we just don’t know.   One step at a time.

Today is  the beginning of day three of our trial.

We have had plenty to eat, munched off and on all day,  and were never hungry.  I have no idea how many calories we had.

Yesterday,  something unusual happened.  I don’t know if it’s related to what we are eating (or not eating) or not.

Yesterday (day 2) I woke up before 6 am and felt pretty energetic.  It was probably more because we went to bed earlier than we had been.  Now that we finished watching 24, we didn’t stay up so late!

We went for a walk,  came home,  drank some coffee, got on the computers,  and ate breakfast.  I had a hand full of almonds and some fresh blueberries.   Al had the same, but added a yogurt (dairy) with his breakfast.  It was in the refrigerator and we didn’t want to waste it. 

A couple hours later, I got hungry so I put some Hummus (ground chick peas with lots of spices) on some corn chips.  It was actually very good and filling.

I started noticing I felt kind of antsy.  A good antsy, not like if you get jittery from not eating, but like I had energy. What was this unusual feeling???   I felt like doing something constructive like cleaning house.  (I resisted)

Al was out and when he came home we went grocery shopping at the local Whole Foods Store that Sherry and David love so much.

I was still feeling this energy.  It kind of reminded me of how I felt when I used to take diet pills.  I was extremely chatty!   Motor mouth might be a  better word! 

Al wasn’t feeling this same burst of energy.   Was that what gave me this sudden energy?   I felt very energetic all day, but Al didn’t notice anything different. He had dairy and I didn’t.  I had hummus and he didn’t.   Later on, he ate some hummus to see if gave him a burst of energy.  It didn’t.

So….I don’t know what that’s all about but I’d like that energy boost to come back today.

Was it the food I’m eating?   Was it the food I’m not eating?  Was it a fluke?

Today for breakfast I had almonds, walnuts and a vegan protein shake.  It’s green in color but actually very tasty with a nutmeg flavor.

I’m not even going to tell you what Al ate for dinner last night!

                                       

 

This picture is our neighbor across the street.  This nice lady picked up this dog wandering around on a busy highway.   He is a white Boxer.  She is fostering him until the local Boxer rescue can find him a home. He has sure bonded with her.  He sits in the window and waits patiently for her to come back.   Isn’t he cute?

 

 

The next picture is of crazy little Baxter when we came home from the store with a batch of fresh kale.  He loved the smell of it.

There isn’t much he doesn’t like.  He even ate some of the hot and spicy hummus I gave him.  I never thought he’d eat that, but he did.   Notice the size of his feet?  

Al has a doctors appointment today. I don’t guess we’ll stop off at the local fast food for lunch.