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Do I really want to do this...? Need motivation!
Started
by Vanessa Aumen
on January 20, 2010
So I went full vegan a couple of weeks ago. Did it without any cheating for 4 days and felt really really good. Then I went to wing night with a friend and cheated. Two days later cheated again. Then the whole next week was just terrible. Now I'm trying to get back on but find myself cheating somehow every single day! And talking myself out of doing this. I really want to try it for at least 30 days but I haven't even made it through a day in the past week! I did better than this when I was just flirting in December.
I'm also trying to lose weight and learn to cook all at the same time, so I'm extremely overwhelmed. It's also making me sort of anxious and depressed. So this sort of turned into a frustrated rant, but I'm really overwhelmed and looking for some motivation to get me started and finished with at least 30 days. Hopefully after that I will feel so good that I don't want to stop.
I have to agree, it takes time to change your life! Try little things--adding more fresh fruit and veges to every meal, putting them FIRST and making sure they are half of your meal!
If you don't have The Kind Diet yet, go buy it and read a little of it every day. It really helps!
Watch, "Food, Inc." and "Fast Food Nation" That changes perspective! Also, reading Skinny Bitch did it for me.
Oh, I almost forgot--HAVE FUN with this! Life should be fun and you should be enjoying things; don't make turning vegan a chore because although not easy, have a good time learning new foods and new ways of preparing them! Every day is adventure!
I was exactly where you now, a week ago. I had made the commitment, but was very anxious and stressed about how I was going to make this change for myself and still cook meat/dairy meals for my family. They are supportive of me, but not interested for themselves. I got a lot of great advice from this forum. Most of all, be kind to yourself. Alicia even says this in the book. This is a journey and some days you move a little smoother than others. It's like being on a diet and one night having a HUGE bowl of ice cream (not that I advocate diets, per se.) You do the best you can every day and be satisfied with that. What I personally did that REALLY HELPED me, was to print out pictures of baby piglets and calves and other really cute farm animals and put them on my fridge. Whenever I am tempted to eat flesh or dairy, I look at those adorable pictures and the temptation vanishes. Meat is not an issue for me, but I love my goat & feta cheese and greek yogurt. Giving those up was HARD!
I really didn't feel like I could incorporate everything in The Kind Life, like the sea vegetables and the shoyu (I really don't care for soy sauce) and the umboshi plums. Too expensive and hard to find. So I just try to follow the meal guideline that Alicia advises: each meal 1/4 is grains, 1/4 is beans and 1/2 is veggies.
I have been flirting with being a vegetarian for a couple of years and after reading Skinny Bitch and TKD, I made the leap and some days are hard, but I know that the time is right for me right now to make this commitment. When the time is right for you, you will know it.
Thank you all so much, you're so wonderful :) I especially need to remember the part about being kind to myself... that's where it breaks down for me a lot of the time, and I'm sure it's the same for many others, with being too hard on myself. And taking it one day at a time, having fun, and not worrying so much about the really out of the ordinary things right now... all such good advice! Thanks again ladies :)
Oh sweetheart, I am the Queen of being hard on myself. Part of my life lesson is to ease up, enjoy life and realize that if I take my hands of the steering wheel, contrary to what I'd like to think, the world will still continue to turn! Good luck and don't give up!
Vanessa my love, try not to be upset. You know it's true when people say that tomorrow is another day full of new oppertunities and chances to make it better. It seems as though you've got a lot going on. Trying to lose weight and learning to cook must be hard and no wonder you're over whelmed. I have been where you are, though instead of losing weight I was losing the cigarettes...eek. Honestly it gets better.
My advice as some one who has been there is forget about the weight, it will fall off. Honestly just push it aside. Then be organized about your meal plan. Don't make anything complicated. Last night I was tired and cranky so for dinner I had pasta with a tomato sauce. I put some Olive oil into a saucepan on a medium heat and added three cloves of chopped up garlic and put that in. I then added chilli flakes and a can of chopped tomatoes, a pinch of salt and sugar to bring out the flavour in the tomatoes and a swish of balsamic vinegar. I chopped up fresh basil and stired it all up then added it to some cooked pasta. It took about twenty minutes.
It's easy to sometimes feel as though we're doing everything wrong or everything is going wrong but I promise it's not and it will be ok. Good luck xxx
It has been a few days and I'm starting to feel pretty good :) And Katerina--- I need to lose the cigarettes too! Ahh! But I did decide not to add that to my plate just yet, haha. I've been trying to have more fun with my dinners and just use what I have and not be stressed by recipes. But I can see that it gets better-- it has already and I think it will continue to do so. Thanks again for all the kind support. It makes such a difference, really.
Hi Vanessa. I quit smoking, and stopped eating meat and dairy all at the same time, about 3 months ago! I haven't smoked or had any meat but I am having a hard time getting rid of the cheese! I have just decided to go slow since I have given up the other things and concentrate on enjoying the food that I'm eating. If you can have alot of recipes that you enjoy then you won't really feel like you're giving anything up. I have gotten tons of cookbooks from the library and I am enjoying myself alot. Don't be hard on yourself, just take your time and try to enjoy the things you are accomplishing and then you will get there. I think in a few more weeks I will have the dairy gone for good sonce I don't have much now. Just keep at it, you can do it!!
Wow, cigarettes,learning to cook and TKD? No wonder you feel overwhelmed!!PLEASE do not get down on yourself, its not going to go 100% perfect everyday. Also, if you are trying to quit smoking also, your body is going to respond by replacing the nicotine with food! BUT GOOD FOR YOU FOR TRYING ! When it all seems too much, take it slow, make it a journey, and maybe even keep a journal so you can see and feel how your body and mind is adjusting to all the changes!!GOOD LUCK!!!!!!
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