Veg Day 2 Update

Hey guys!

So I was able to stick to my plan all day yesterday, making Day 1 of my veggie experiment a success.  I'm trying out a vegan diet this week, and so far it's going really well.  I didn't take any pics, but here's a rundown of my eating the first day:

Yesterday, I had oatmeal with almond milk, blueberries, half a banana, and cinnamon with a cup of black coffee for breakfast.  For lunch, I had a black bean veggie burger in a whole wheat tortilla with tofu sour cream, salsa, lettuce, shredded carrot, and tomato.  My afternoon snack was a sliced granny smith apple with a spoonful of peanut butter.  I started feeling very weak and shaky before dinner and kind of crashed on the couch for a while, which I never do. 

Dinner was the Blushing Alfredo recipe from Vegan on the Cheap.  I made it with whole wheat linguine and it turned out really well.  The sauce had a small amount of marinara in in, which gave it a nice pink color, and I soaked the raw cashews for several hours before hand because I don't own a high speed blender.  The sauce turned out thick and surprisingly creamy, given that it was dairy free. 

I know the pasta was a success because my husband ate two heaping bowlfuls, and didn't once ask (suspiciously) "What's in this?" like he does sometimes when he suspects I'm feeding him something too healthy.  He did ask for more garlic next time and added a douse of garlic salt on top of his bowl, but he didn't put parmesan on top or ask about it. 

Dessert was three large spoonfuls of my nondairy ice cream (made with almond milk) and two sliced strawberries over top.

I'm feeling pretty good, although I did take it easy workout-wise yesterday.  That had nothing to do with the diet, I was still all drugged and allergy-y from visiting my husband's friend, who has two cats.  I'm very, very allergic and was sick despite taking about four allergy pills and showering after we left their house. 

Today, I'm trying to decide if I'm still not feeling very well from the cats and anti-cat drugs, or if I feel funky because of the change in diet.  Last night I had a stuffy nose and I woke up with an upset stomach from my nose running down my throat all night.  yuck!  Not sure if it's residual cat, the diet, or if I'm getting a summer cold.  I only did dog walking this morning, too, no weights or intense cardio.  Again, I'm not sure if it's from the allergy attack or from the diet that I feel so low energy. 

 The scale did say that I've lost a pound since I last weighed myself on Thursday, though, so I suppose that's good, although I'm not actively trying to lose weight right now.  I can also tell I'm eating more fiber, my stomach feels like it's working overtime!

Also, I've noticed something very interesting as I've been doing online research about veganism and vegetarianism.  Depending on what you're reading, they're either the best thing ever or a complete travesty.  It makes me think that there's more "political" information out there (in the sense that it has an agenda) instead of factual information.  As such, I'm reading everything I come across carefully and with a critical eye.  I think it makes the most sense to rely on myself and see if this is working for me and my body at the end of the week before I make any decisions.

I am also looking down a (potentially) veggie road and seeing a lot of future concerns.  Right now, this feels super restrictive, like an extreme diet that I couldn't follow long term.  Maybe it gets easier further along, but I felt pretty panicky last night in a what-have-I-done kind of way.  However, I committed myself to trying this for a week, so this morning I kept going with my plan. 

I'm taking meal pictures today and will post them later on.

Stay cool!

Amy