The Vegan Purge

Yesterday, I eased into the change to a vegan lifestyle, thrilled to wake up to 2015. 2014 and I were not close friends. 2015 and I have already bonded.

Fresh juice from our new juicer - my Christmas present to myself  - black French Roast coffee and freshly made bread toasted with Earth Balance spread began the day.

I gave a small new Years Day brunch for my dear friend Ann with some people who she was aching to see. A luscious fruit salad and a vegan raisin bagel with Trader Joe's fake cream cheese (which I will not buy again) was a perfect brunch plate for me. Others snacked on quiche; smoked salmon, capers and red onion with their bagels, goat cheeses, and pumpkin bread along with mimosas or bloodies.

A bit of hummus and tapenade in the afternoon with a glass of red wine was a lovely end to the daylight as Peter, Ann, her hubs Mark and I chatted at NorthPoint in Portland following our abandonment of a walk along the water front, driven toward the cozy pub by a 20 degree wind. northpoint portland

We enjoyed a grilled Pizza dinner,  topped with fresh mozzarella and a bit of prosciutto, dates, slivers of red onion and fresh thyme, which I had planned on all along. I ate without guilt, knowing it was my choice and the next morning would bring a new vegan day.

Today was our 1st full vegan day. Peter and I have embraced this together with full commitment and resolve. Peter had a full shoulder replacement one month ago and the inactivity of the last 4 weeks together with holiday food has taken its toll on both of us. We agreed this morning that as we head into our late 50's (both of us will be 58 in June)  that we do NOT want to be defined and held back by our health. We agreed that we will adopt without end date a healthy vegan lifestyle, meaning we will not be Oreo Vegans (they are vegan if you can believe it).

I had baked a beautiful loaf of whole wheat oat bread, in the Jim Lahey no-knead style and that toasted with peanut butter and a kale citrus super juice was breakfast. Here's the recipe - give it a try. Easy-shmeasy. I suggest the flour ratio be changed to 2 cups whole wheat and 1 cup unbleached white.  recipe-oat-no-knead-bread

Also off the menu for the next 6 weeks is alcohol. We don't need the calories, nor the snacking that comes with a good cocktail. We head to Miami Beach for a short vacation in 6 weeks and will save out selves for a fabulous cocktail on the beach in February.

When we settled into the house after errands and appointments today, the purge began. My Garbage to Garden compost bucket was full with the following (which my 22 year old son Seth suggested I might have mailed to him in Brooklyn rather than throw out...)

• 2/3's of a chocolate ganache cake from Whole Foods
• Left over macaroons and almond crinkle cookies from the brunch
• A jug of prepared bloody marys
• A bag of chocolate candy...really good chocolate candy
• Left over pizza
• Left over Linguine Alfredo from Street & Co
• A full quart of Egg Nog from Smiling Hill Farms that my older son Bennett had insisted we purchase, but never drank.
• Left over quiche. A full untouched quiche went to Boston with Ann for tomorrow's brunch with her parents. 

Dinner tonight was a fabulous stir fry with marinated and baked tofu with a killer ginger peanut sauce from My Darling Vegan, a terrific blog filled with recipes. broccoli-pepper-stir-fry-with-ginger-peanut-sauce/ Served over brown rice, perfectly made by my $19 rice cooker from Amazon, it was filling, healthy and delicious.

So, we are off. 

As my cold wanes and coughing dissipates, I'm looking forward to yoga tomorrow at Portland Power Yoga. 11 am class with Darcy. Guaranteed to cure what ails you. Portland Power Yoga.  My teaching schedule this coming semester will have me at PPY 4 or 5 mornings a week. Hoo-rah.

As Peters PT gives him back more range of motion in his left shoulder than he has had in many years, and ZERO pain, he is anticipating putting his bike on a trainer soon and beginning to ride again. Good books, knitting, a new semester, pending vacations, beekeeping classes, Downton Abbey and new seasons of Shameless and Justified have us both looking forward to diving into 2015. 

On Sunday September 30, 2012, I announced my intention to eat Vegan for 30 days. It lasted for over 18 months. I felt amazing. I was healthy, fit and energized. Then change happened. A change in jobs brought a significant amount of stress to my life, I discovered vegan baking, became slack with my diet and let myself gain weight. My Endocrinologist looked my straight in the eyes and said "Lose it. I don't know what happened, but get back to where you were."

Did I??

No.

I decided that vegan wasn't convenient enough. I was tired of friends making a fuss over having us over to dinner or dining out. I was tired of not being able to throw a piece of chicken on the grill, toss a salad and call it a dinner. So I went back to counting carbs. And gained 6 more pounds. That's over 10 pounds from my healthiest about 2 years ago.  Clothes don't fit. My energy is low. I look about 8 years older. Rut-roh.

It's not as if I counted carbs carefully and the weight still came on. I had lost control of my eating and was letting stress dictate virtually everything I ate. And I ate virtually everything. My teaching schedule this past fall semester, which was all early classes, made my 6:30 yoga a thing of the past. Yoga went from a 4-5 times-a-week practice to twice a week if I was lucky, but typically 1 class a week, some walking and nothing else.

Can you say SLUG?

December marks the year end and also my annual physical. Annual physical means lab work. Now, I knew things would not be pretty. But they were down right ugly.

Cholesterol - through the roof. 80 points higher than last year.
Blood sugar - higher than its ever been. Way higher.  And I'm on Metformin.
A1C - worse number I've had since seeing an Endocrinologist
Vitamin D - 26: lowest its ever been (and I have a difficult time keeping it up).

My doc, Heather Schwemm at Intermed, is a love, but also a no-nonsense gal. She put her hands on my knees, leaned over to toward my face and said "This has to change, now." Give yourself the holidays, she said, but come Jan1, "I want you vegan again. "  Then she made some suggestions: Throw in some eggs if you want to, especially egg whites. If you want some fat free greek yogurt, fine. But no other dairy, nothing white, i.e. refined sugar, AT ALL and no meat, period. "When you go out, eat fish. That should keep your social life in tact."

So here I am.  Kim, the nutritionist I have worked with for a few years suggested I go back to blogging about this, so here I am. Keeping me honest. Asking your help to keep me grounded and on track.  I've already released the meat, thanks to having my vegetarian son, Seth, home for Christmas. Dairy will be more difficult, but I'll do it.

Count down. 4 days.