Those of you who know me or have been following me on Instagram for a while will be aware that three months ago I switched to a vegan diet. At the beginning of this process I wrote about the difficulties I had giving up dairy and also the issues of being a diabetic and choosing to live solely on plant-based foods.
Today I thought I’d give an update on how I’m going adventuring through South America (and America for the past couple of weeks) eating vegan.
The first thing I have to say is that I’m excellent. After deciding three months ago to adapt a vegan lifestyle I completely cut out dairy products and haven’t gone back. I used to eat a lot of yoghurt for breakfast, have milk in my tea, hot chocolate, cheese and desserts if they were available (who says no to cheesecake?) But since the initial feeling of withdrawl during the first couple of weeks I haven’t missed eating dairy at all, and the benefits I’ve seen have been enormous.
My skin is completely clear of the oils and occasional pimples I used to get. I have so much more energy than I have ever had, and the biggest benefit is that I’ve lost approximately 10kg and am continuing to lose more.
Me in June 2015
Me today, a little less tanned but a lot healthier.
As you can see from the before and after images, I’m certainly not wasting away from lack of food or nutrition, but all of my clothes are now way to big for me and one of the benefits of traveling to New York for a couple weeks was to buy some new pants and tops. However it’s been one week since I was there and already the new pants that fit me perfectly in NYC are too big.
The weight loss has been gradual and I haven’t missed out on eating anything. In fact I feel like I’m eating far better now than I was before I chose a vegan diet, and there are so many food choices out there for vegans.
Whilst in Quito this week I found an amazing vegan restaurant in La Mariscal that served some of the best food I have ever eaten. El Maple offers a daily USD$6 complete menu for lunch that consists of four courses, all food completely vegan. It was so delicious we went back for lunch everyday this week. And yes whilst it can be a little more difficult to not eat any animal products here in South America because vegetarianism and veganism are still very much niche lifestyle choices, it can be done without too much difficulty.
When we were in New York we indulged in the huge variety of plant based foods available ranging from almond milk, to bean curd with our chinese take-away, to gluten free bread and pasta. It was awesome to see how many alternative products are easily available in the States and the number of vegetarian restaurants serving beautiful food located all around the city.
And while I’ve said that I’ve lived a vegan life for the past three months, I’ve broken a couple of times. My main indulgence has been an egg for breakfast, but the 3am vegetarian pizza slice with a little cheese in Greenwich Village was a definite break in the rules. But each time I’ve eaten an animal product I’ve suffered the next day.
It seems now that my body has adjusted to not digesting animal proteins it doesn’t like when I put them in my system. So much so that the other day after eating an egg with breakfast I became so unwell that I’ve decided that I am absolutely done with my occasional egg for breakfast. A slip or two because I enjoyed it was okay for the past few months, but I’m now taking the same dedication that I have with dairy and completely cutting animal products out.
Unfortunately even this level of dedication can’t stop my diet being in some way permeated with animals proteins. So many processed foods on supermarket shelves that at first seem vegan are really not. Lactic acid, dextrose glucose, oleic acid and gelatin are all animal products that exist in processed foods like candy, sodas, bread, jarred olives and pickles, cereals and musli bars just to name a few.
So I’m continuing as best I can trying to eat as few processed foods as possible, completely avoiding dairy, meat and eggs and hoping that my weight-loss will come to an end soon, as I really need to be wearing clothes that fit!
Glad its working out for you, are you still on the same journey?
I just had to stop by to state that Lactic acid, dextrose glucose and oleic acid aren’t necessarily animal products. It’s worth looking up after reading this post. I wouldn’t want anyone being put off a Vegan lifestyle due to that statement.
Yes! It has been two years since I changed to a vegan, whole foods diet and it is still the best decision I have made.