The Start of Something...

I have been wanting to write about this topic for quite awhile now.  There has been a shift in me, maybe unnoticeable to some.  I finally feel free to stand up for myself and the way I want to eat.  There have been many obstacles I've had to face, which is why it took me more than 2 years to finally make the change.  A lot of the people in my life have been a force against my healthy eating, but ultimately, the change had to come from me.  I had to be prepared.  I have to be mentally ready for it.  

There was a lot of guilt for awhile.  Well, for years.  Mike loves to cook, and he loves to share what he cooks with others.  But the majority of his meals have always been meat based.  Loads of fat and dairy.  So, the issue with that was with me. Not him.  I had to learn to put myself first for a change and do what was right for me.  He isn't heartbroken like I thought.  He doesn't resent me for eating plant based.  It was in my head.  Hurdle #1....  conquered!

 Please understand...  my motivation in sharing this journey is not to persuade anyone to go vegan.  There are enough people out there doing that.  And everyone has their own journey to follow in their own time.  I'd like to share this because there are so things stacked against us when we're trying to eat healthier, and earth and animal friendly.  There is misleading information everywhere!  If I can help anyone make their transition easier by sharing my path, I will have done what I set out to do.  But please, if this does not interest you, I will not be offended if you opt out of reading this humble little blog.  

I do have to say, I do have a few things going for me that made at least my decision to go plant based easier.  One is that I never limit myself by saying things like "I can never give up coffee" or "I just couldn't live without cheese".  I guess it's that little rebel in me, but I have never cut myself off from a challenge by thinking that way.  Maybe my positivity has always won, but saying I could never do something is negative to the extreme, if you ask me.  I just don't give myself limits.  You cannot imagine the doors that open when you say yes to things.  (Reasonable things, anyway). 

 As it turns out, I didn't even give up coffee this time.   I didn't give up sugar either.  There are bigger fish to fry.  (Using that term ironically, of course, lol).

So, as I need to go on with day 23 of my plant based journey, I will end this here.  Please leave comments if this interests you.  Even if you are thinking of eating more vegetables for health, or eating to help the planet, let me know.  It will help me to stay focused.

Anonymous negative comments are not productive, so if you are inclined to leave them, go write your own blog instead!  

Thank you for reading!  Now go outside and play!

Cilantro growing in the weeds!

Beans growing in the weeds!

Kale growing in the... notice a pattern?  Could I be a lazy gardener?  :)

Day 3

Well.   Day two is now over.  Besides the headache that never goes away, I'm doing just fine.  I have the same amount of energy and everything.  My brain feels a little fuzzy but that could be the headache.  

I kind of just foraged all day long yesterday, starting with some blackberries pureed with oat grass that I grew on my counter and some lentil sprouts.  It didn't taste very good but I just chugged it.  My blackberries were sort of sour this year because of too much rain in the spring.  The rest of the day I just ate whenever and whatever.  Some parsley leaves, beet and dandelion leaves.  Some wild stuff: lambs quarters and malva.  A few tomatoes.  My dinner was a potato.  It's shocking how little food I can get away with when it is really fresh.

My constant is the herbal tea.  I drink that almost all day.  Plus one 18 ounce glass of water in the morning and one after dinner.  

Oh, and I had an apple.  I only had a few apples on my tree this year because most of them fell off the tree early in the spring.  This apple was perfectly ripe.  It was the highlight of my day.  It takes so little to make me happy.  

I think it's a little easier on me psychologically if I don't leave my house.  There is just too much out there to be tempted by.  I am selling this Saturday at Peddler's Market in Caledonia.  I have to leave the house at 6 in the morning, so we'll see what I come up with for the day.  I'll just have to plan ahead because I won't be home to forage until 7pm or so.  Long day.  Maybe I'll see some of you out there!

Let's see how the day goes.  An enchanted one, to everybody.

Day Two of Eating What I Grow. Caffeine Withdrawal.

I made it to day two.  I can't believe it.  Yesterday was hard.  But not in the ways I thought it would be.  I thought I'd have sugar cravings, or carb cravings.  Something.  No, I was too busy with my caffeine withdrawal headache to think about anything else.  

I really could only imagine what it was going to be like.  I didn't realize how much my life revolved around food.  Not just food.  Food from stores, restaurants, gas stations.  I had about a million choices yesterday just leaving my house and going to Medina to take down fall stuff at Filomena's.  I drove by my favorite Amish store on the way there.  All food.  I had to put gas in the van.  The gas station is full of food.  And coffee.  I went to Filomena's.  Danette had food out for all the vendors working on their space.  Plus, she always has cookies and coffee for the customers.  I had to get cat food at Tractor Supply.  Food all over the check out.  Then I had to go by every fast food and food place on earth on my way home.  I'm going to buy myself some of those blinders the Amish put on horses so cars don't freak them out and I'm going to wear them myself.  

I never thought of myself being a food dependent.  I mean in the way that I reward myself with food.  Don't want to get out of bed?  Well, coffee is waiting.  Had a rough day?  Well, maybe I'll just eat cheese cake for dinner.  I know I was doing that with wine.  Especially with the stress from when I had the store.  I quit drinking 2 months ago, and it was the best thing, because I was definitely rewarding myself with wine on my bad days.  And I had a lot of stressful days.

So, I got through my first day and I'm about an hour into the second.  Yesterday was not what I expected.  I woke up tired, and then I drank no coffee so I was really sleepy all day.  But the time I got to Filomena's in the afternoon, I had a headache.  By the time I got home, my brain exploded.  I couldn't function.  I knew it would go away eventually.  I just had to wait it out.  So I slept most of the night.

My breakfast was completely fresh stuff out of the garden.  Broccoli, mustard greens, zucchini, and a few cherry tomatoes.  I cooked it slightly with a little salt.  Surprisingly, I wasn't starving all day or anything.  When I got home, I thought carbs might help my headache so I ate a baked potato with salt.  It was really good.  I drank some of my grape juice I made and that sort of lifted my spirits because I was actually feeling a little sadness.  Weird.  Another thing that was weird is that I wasn't really hungry during the day.  Actually the thought of eating made me a little nauseous, but I ate what I could and made sure I drank lots and lots of herbal tea to get my vitamins.

So, that was my first day.  The headache seems to be pretty much gone, but I can almost feel it coming back.  I'm drinking some dandelion & calendula tea for breakfast and I am going to go on with my day.  I got through my first day.  I'm feeling a little proud of myself, but I know there is more challenges to come.

Until tomorrow then.  Have an enchanted day and thanks for reading!  Now go eat some vegetables!

Day One of Eating Only What I Grow

Well, my last night of eating whatever I want is over.  Seems fitting that it was my favorite holiday, Halloween!  But I didn't really go crazy with food or anything.  I ate some candy of course.  It was Halloween, after all. And I drank a small can of Pepsi.  I don't drink soda very often, but it was my last night.  I had to try being bad.  I was carving pumpkins and roasting the seeds so I ate lots of those.  I didn't really even eat dinner.  I guess I was just excited for this adventure to start.

Mike is in the kitchen cooking something that I can't eat right now.  Oh, I think he's making tuna or something.  He must be finished though because Little (the cat) is watching me type.  

My morning so far has been uneventful.  I am drinking blackberry leaf and plantain tea instead of coffee.   No sugar.  No milk.  I really like it.  Blackberry leaf is most similar in flavor to black tea.  These are some of the leaves I dried during the summer.

I'm going to eat fresh stuff from the garden today.  I don't want to break in to my stored food until I have no other alternatives.  I have celery, parsley, turnip and beet greens, broccoli, onions and garlic in the garden still.  I also have oat, lentil and sunflower sprouts.  My breakfast this morning will be some of those things.  And what ever wild food is out there still.  

So here I go.  I'll update you tomorrow.  Have an enchanted day everyone!