Surprises

So far the reactions to my decision to be vegan have been overwhelmingly positive. And I must be honest, I am pretty surprised. I don't know what I was expecting. Everyone has pretty much been supportive. With the exception of one comment in reference to going out to eat that was something like "you aren't going to be all weird now are you?" I love the person that said it so I didn't take it personal but its funny because I guess that I figured most people would be that way and they weren't.  The biggest surprise was that my chiropractor was actually opposed to the idea. He expressed concern that I wouldn't get enough protein and also that I might consume too many grains and foods containing gluten. He also seemed adamant that the points presented in the film couldn't be from reputable sources and that he had some information that was better and he would get that for me. I admittedly have much to learn still on this subject so I am looking forward to hearing the case he presents. I just don't think anything he might say would convince me to eat meat again, even fish. I may consider locally and ethically raised dairy or eggs at some point, but right now I don't even want those. He suggested that I "at least eat fish" and that is just not going to happen. It's actually surprising to me also that in the light of day, my pure disgust with the idea of consuming animal products hasn't faded in the least. Last night, the smell of cheese turned my stomach. Cheese!?!? I have LOVED cheese my whole life!! I am shocked that my body is jumping right on board with this decision. Those who know me well would know I have a tendency to jump in with both feet at the beginning of some new shiny idea that pops in my head only to bail on the whole thing a week later. What can I say? I have a short attention span!(lol) But when I set my mind to something for sure, there really isn't too much that gets in the way. And this feels like a decision that's going to stick from where I am now.
As for the arguments of my doctor, I have looked up lots of stuff about the protein issue online.  It seems we have been misguided yet again folks! It seems the general public, myself included, have been led to believe that plants don't have protein in them. Even I would have speculated that veggies would be mostly carbohydrates prior to this coming up. I include here a page from a website that has the nutritional information of lots of vegan foods, specifically the protein grams in a serving.

http://www.vrg.org/nutrition/protein.htm

One of the things to note is that when you remove the meat from your plate, you are not simply going to leave that space empty. You will fill that spot with more vegan foods. I think some people get the feeling they cannot feel full or satisfied off of a meal that only contains vegetables. That's just silly. If you are still hungry after eating a portion of food, you eat some more until you are full. If you do that with meat on your plate you can do it with veggies too! Surprise!! The best part is that it will all be much healthier, lower calorie by volume foods. So you can eat to your hearts content and still be getting a reasonable amount of calories. (That is if you do like I plan to and avoid processed foods and go with whole vegetable foods instead.) Now to be fair to myself, I am facing one other particular challenge because I already know going into this that soy and  I do not get along. I also plan on avoiding gluten as much as possible so there will be no wheat-based meat substitutes included for me. That grosses me out almost as much as eating meat, by the way. If I no longer want to eat meat, why would I want to pretend to eat meat?? I also don't do corn products because of the genetic engineering issue. So there will be a few protein sources eliminated right away. But here was the other thing I found about protein in the diet. NO ONE EVER DIES OF PROTEIN DEFICIENCY UNLESS THEY ARE ACTUALLY STARVING TO DEATH. That's right kids, you don't need to fret. There is protein in almost every food that comes naturally from the plant kingdom. In varying amounts of course, but that's why varying everything I am eating as much as possible is going to help. In support of this position I have started looking up professional athletes that are vegan. Because, as true specimens of human potential, while I may never be a professional athlete myself, I want to aim high. And if its good enough for them, its good enough for me. I now include a link to a list of professional athletes who are vegan. A pretty long and yet incomplete list I might add. Names like 10-time Olympic medalist Carl Lewis and UFC fighter and MMA world champion Mac Danzig are a couple that are listed here. 

http://www.veganfitness.net/viewtopic.php?t=723

I don't know about you, but like a teacher at massage school used to say "the proof of the pudding is in the eating."  And if that is how I can expect my body to look and perform on this diet, count me in! 


A final note, dinner was so very satisfying tonight. A saute mix of sweet potatoes and purple top turnip in a Thai-style sauce of lime, coconut, ginger and garlic. Absolutely DELICIOUS! And filling!! So far, I am liking this whole thing quite a lot! 


Until next time...