20th January 2012
Listening to: “Blue Jeans” by Lana Del Rey
It might be because the world is going to end (according to the Mayans, and I would like to thank them for planning it for after my birthday because everyone knows how much I love getting my birthday on), but 2012 is already shaping up to be a very introspective year for me.
Anyone who knows me well understands that I’m not really a planner when it comes to changing things. When I decided to get my MBA, I pretty much woke up one day and thought “I’ll go to business school”. The same was true for moving to England and has been the case for any major lifestyle change I’ve undertaken. So I guess it comes as no surprise that one day in late December, I decided to give veganism a go.
Yeah, I’m going to pause a moment for you to digest that. Yes, me - who has previously composed entire odes to pieces of food (namely Iberican jamon from Spain…). Yes, me - who never met a steak I didn’t like. Yes, me - who used to rank macaroni and cheese, prime rib and Southern fried chicken as some of my favourite foods.
So how did it happen? Well, I think it was a convergence of about four things:
1) I have known for awhile that I’m either lactose-intolerant (or maybe just lactose-unliking) but have basically done nothing about it other than occasionally buying lactose-free milk. This led to near-constant stomach distress, but quite frankly I was too lazy to really change my cheese-loving habits.
2) My sister is vegetarian, and has been for awhile. I used to make fun of her. And then, as part of an overall attempt to have a better relationship, I started to try to understand - and support - her dietary choices. She is vegetarian because she just honestly doesn’t like meat. She is also in very good shape and very healthy in general and didn’t seem to be starving (though we did have some discussions about potato chips + nuts not being a balanced meal for her…). So I thought I’d give eating her way a try.
3) I have wanted to get into better shape and lose some weight for awhile. But as anyone who has ever done this knows, wanting to and actually doing it are two completely different things. For some reason, I just sort of knew that 2012 would be my year to do this. I joined a gym, started exercising and thinking about my overall health.
4) I caught up with an old high-school friend who, through a completely random twist of fate, happened to have become vegan about a year ago. I didn’t know this. In fact, the last time I saw her a few years ago, she took me out to her favourite hamburger joint. She looks absolutely amazing and had a real glow about her. She also happens to be one of the most bare-bones rational people I know (so forget any ideas about hippies, Birkenstocks, hairy armpits or vintage clothing) and so to find that she had deliberately chosen veganism was very intriguing. She is not one to do something lightly and she was never easily swayed. I asked her about a million questions and was really surprised and interested by her answers. Add to this that I ate vegan with her and the food was delicious.
All of these factors sort of converged and I think I had my last meat, egg, or dairy on Wednesday, 28th December over lunch with a friend. I ordered a huge, greasy hamburger. As usual, I loved every bite. And as per usual, I really regretted it later when I felt bloated and a bit nauseated. It was the first time I had really thought it through, but that was generally how I felt after eating any red meat - whether it was a fast food hamburger or a super expensive cut of steak. I then started thinking about how I felt after eating poultry - and the answer was that while I didn’t feel ill, I usually ended up feeling bloated and just generally overfull.
I wondered - what would happen if I gave it all up? I already knew that dairy wasn’t my friend. I’d figured out that meat wasn’t doing me any real favours either. All that remained were eggs and fish - two things that, honestly, were kind of hard to part with (as I’ve always loved scrambled eggs and I’ve spent the past several years as a die-hard sushi addict). But I love a challenge and I’m not really one to do things halfway so I figured why not try it?
My bargain with myself was that if I absolutely hated it, or felt sick, or as if I were missing anything, I would quit. I’m happy to report that I haven’t quit - and what’s more, I feel amazing.
I have had a few moments where I’ve had to compromise, or go hungry - simply because the world is not always vegan-friendly. In both instances, I ended up eating a small amount of fish. I didn’t beat myself up over it, but I have made a conscious effort to try to not eat any animal products if at all possible.
What is really interesting is that I am not one of those people who turned vegan due to animal rights issues. I did it for my health. But now that I am doing it, I’ve been reading (a lot) about veganism and what I have learned is something that I won’t be able to un-learn. I’m not going to use this blogspace to preach the benefits of veganism. The information is widely available if you’re interested. Even if you think it’s silly, I do encourage you to read up about what is in the food we eat everyday (veggies and grains included). It is a sobering and somewhat frightening experience. I honestly think the only way I would be able to eat meat again now is if I personally raised the animal myself. That is not bloody likely as a) I’m a diva and hate mess and farms are messy; b) I would probably make friends with the animals and then end up living in a big house with my pets Mr. Pig, Mr. Cow and Mr. Chicken.
So that is the big change in my life right now. It has been really fascinating and, if I’m honest, a bit challenging and frustrating at times. A few things I’ve learned:
- My friends are awesome. Since I told them, they have gone out of their way to ensure we go to eat at veg-friendly restaurants. One of my friends even had me over and cooked a vegan meal! (It was excellent, btw)
- Breakfast can be very hard if you don’t eat at home. In America, the Starbucks oatmeal is vegan if made with water. In the UK, they sell something called porridge (which is not, no matter what anyone tells you, the same as oatmeal - trust me) and it is mixed with milk powder. Other breakfast options almost all include egg or animal products. I know that it is possible to make amazing vegan muffins, croissants, etc but I don’t live/work near any good vegan bakeries. So I make sure I either eat oatmeal + nuts + dried fruit for breakfast at home - or if I’m running late, I eat a banana and nuts and a half peanut butter sandwich if I can find one.
- Eating vegan is delicious! I haven’t cooked in earnest in years (I don’t really have anyone to cook for beside myself, and I think we’ve already established that up until recently I wasn’t very choosy about what went into my mouth). My idea of a homecooked meal used to be some microwaved cheddar mashed potatoes, microwaved steamed veggies and a big hunk of some sort of meat. I am still a novice at making vegan food but I’ve already figured out how wonderful different spices are, and how great vegetables can taste on their own. For example, the other night I just threw together what was in my fridge and ended up with wholewheat rotilli pasta and a sauce of red/green/yellow peppers + celery + carrots + onions + tomatoes + chickpeas + olive oil + spices. It was healthy and really, really good. And yes, it filled me up!
- I actually eat more now than I ever used to. I eat less at each meal but more frequently throughout the day. I’m pretty much hungry all the time - and I mean a real hunger, not the “omg I’m starving” feeling that we all claim to have. But I’m snacking differently. Because I’m limited in what I can eat, I snack on fresh veggies, nuts, berries, peanut butter, and whole grains.
- It will probably be a long time before I stop missing cheese. Or at least that’s what I think now. Who knows - maybe in a few months it won’t even matter. But I do still miss the idea of a cheesy pizza. I get around that by remembering how I felt after I ate the pizza, and also by reminding myself about a) how that cheese was produced and b) what is actually in the cheese.
- “Ethnic” foods are the easiest to eat and these kind of establishments tend to be really reasonable about making sure the food is vegan. Indian, Thai, Japanese, African, Chinese - all of them are great. I’ve become a huge devotee of Indian food.
I’m discovering that there are some amazing vegan friendly restaurants in London - places I would never expect. I recently dined at Circus London (very cool place) which is a very on-trend restaurant and was really surprised to see menu items marked out as veg-friendly. The staff was great about ensuring that all my dishes were vegan, and that I had enough to eat.
I also went to The Gate and had an amazing meal. The starter was this - “
I’m looking forward to an amazingly healthy and fun 2012. I’ve got all the time during the Olympics booked off and now I just have to decide where I’m going (because I most certainly am NOT going to be in London for that mess). I got a promotion at work and so while that’s more responsibility, it also gives me a chance to work on more fun projects. I’m getting a new boss and some new team members, too, so lots of change. 2012 is pretty much the year of big change. And you know what? I’m okay with it. I welcome it.
Next post is going to be around my other challenge for 2012 - getting my budget under control and working on paying off my credit card debt. I am not a budgeter; I pay my bills and pretty much spend anything left over. This is not sustainable behaviour and I really don’t fancy living in a shopping cart in my old age. Also, I really want to travel and I can’t afford to do that if I’m subsidising American Express with my interest payments ;)
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PS - 2012 is the year of Alan Turing because (according to Wikipedia, which we all know never lies) it has been been designated as such to “commemorate the mathematician, computer pioneer, and code-breaker on the centennial of his birth”. Kind of cool that 2012 is the year of the code-breaker and everyone is still trying to piece out the Mayan code…
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