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Addicted and Guilt ridden
Started
by CraftyKiddo
on March 19, 2010
I have been flirting with a veg lifestlye now for almost 13 years. I have all the right reasons for changing....The desire to be kind to the planet and the creatures who live on it with us, and for the good of my own health and for my own longevity. The problem seems to be that I am HOOKED on all the bad stuff. Its EVERYWHERE!! Its just so darned easy to run thru the drive thru, "Just one more time." Then once I do that I am hit with crippling guilt knowing I just dosed myself once again! I just dont know how to make this happen for me finally. I have a very supportive husband who wants to do anything he can to help me achieve whatever goals I have and I thank the gods for him! My children are more of a challenge since 2 of the 3 are too young to reason with but my son is all too willing to try new things! HUGGERS my son! But I seriously need some truly delicious "on the go" type foods to help get me past the drive thru "Fast food like substance dealers"! If anyone has any suggestions for me I would be so thankful!
I would recommend taking baby steps into "full healthy" vegan. I have NO problems sticking to complete vegan, but the only struggle I do have (and not to stay vegan, but to stay away from "processed vegan") is while I am on the go or traveling. But- if you want to ease into vegan without ruling out processed foods it is quite simple. There are TONS of easy, quick, microwave vegan options- Amy's vegan burritos, vegan frozen waffles (Van's Flax YUM!), Amy vegans canned soups, gardein "faux" meats, chicken strips, nuggets, bbq beef kabobs, fresh ready to eat to go food at WF, Tofurkey, veagn ice cream, ice cream sandwiches, v/ yogurt, for sandwiches and ON and ON! Just walk down the freezer isle in WF!It just takes a little preparation before you leave. In my car I always have a box of the peppermint/choc LUNA bars (YUMMY!), a ziplock bag of raw almonds (very filling) & a bottle of water. This is my salvation! If I have a little time to prep I add in a zip lock of raw veggies like carrots, celery sticks and broccoli. If I am having lunch at a restaurant I google the place, view their menu- enter in "vegan" or "vegetarian" in the search box and see what they have ahead of time that I can either eat off the menu or ask them to modify into vegan. For over night traveling I always do the same thing by googling- but I google the city for vegans options. Then I use those great insulated zipper totes from WF and put lots of healthy stuff in it so that I am never hungry to the point of desperate. IT IS SO WORTH IT!! BEST OF LUCK!!
I'm just starting out (first week) and so right now my go to foods are all pretty "on the go" but maybe they will help? For work I take a lot of fresh *ripe* fruits: this week it's been strawberrys, texas oranges (I peel them at home), fruitabu organic fruit leathers (kids will love those!), baby carrots, bananas, red bell pepper sticks, whole wheat pita with hummus, cucumbers, and tomatoes....next week I'm going to try Mom's Granola from The Kind Life for noshing :) If you like bagels try it with Tofutti cream cheese, some tomatoes and avocado, and red onion. I haven't had any intense cravings for the bad stuff yet but I bought some Morningstar Chikin Nuggets that I remember loving when I was a vegetarian in college, or a simple peanut butter and banana sandwhich on whole wheat is yummy too! I know that these are pretty generic but I think that it's a good starting place, after coming from a world of Taco Bell and McDonalds myself!
One word...Burritos!
I live on them. Take a warmed Ezekiel tortilla and fill it with beans, rice, salsa and tofutti sour cream, some greens and some fresh cilantro! wrap in foil and voila! The tofutti sour cream is the trick. It is amazingly like regular sour cream and you don't need much of it for the flavor.
Thx for the encouragement folks! Yeah my downfall comes when I get really hungry and Im in my car. When I pick my daughter up from preschool she and my youngest and I are all hungry so it sets me up to be bad, Its just so easy to fall off the wagon. Im looking forward to trying out your ideas! Thx again!
Hey, I'm in college at the moment and I know exactly how you feel!!! Whenever I come home after a seriously long day I grab the first thing that comes to hand - so now I just make sure it's vegan. I prepare a lot of things at weekends so that they last throughout the week. My all time favourite snacks are:
1) vegan coconut flapjacks - easy, just put oats, coconut shreds, vegan butter, golden syrup and a bit of cinnamon, put it on the stove till it melts and then pack into an overproof dish for about twenty five mins on a medium heat - then yummmmy central.
2) cut up veggies with humus.
3) pitta bread - toasted with vegan butter.
4) Grandma always told me to keep dried fruit and nuts in my bag and I do!!!
5) rice cakes
6) I ALWAYS eat tortilla chips with guacamole - I know you can't eat them in the car but they are vegan and also delish.
7) My nana makes me eliopita - I'll post her recipe - it's totally vegan - filling - hopefully you like olives - and can be taken around everywhere.
8) sesame snaps.
Hey, I'm in college at the moment and I know exactly how you feel!!! Whenever I come home after a seriously long day I grab the first thing that comes to hand - so now I just make sure it's vegan. I prepare a lot of things at weekends so that they last throughout the week. My all time favourite snacks are:
1) vegan coconut flapjacks - easy, just put oats, coconut shreds, vegan butter, golden syrup and a bit of cinnamon, put it on the stove till it melts and then pack into an overproof dish for about twenty five mins on a medium heat - then yummmmy central.
2) cut up veggies with humus.
3) pitta bread - toasted with vegan butter.
4) Grandma always told me to keep dried fruit and nuts in my bag and I do!!!
5) rice cakes
6) I ALWAYS eat tortilla chips with guacamole - I know you can't eat them in the car but they are vegan and also delish.
7) My nana makes me eliopita - I'll post her recipe - it's totally vegan - filling - hopefully you like olives - and can be taken around everywhere.
8) sesame snaps.
Hey, I'm in college at the moment and I know exactly how you feel!!! Whenever I come home after a seriously long day I grab the first thing that comes to hand - so now I just make sure it's vegan. I prepare a lot of things at weekends so that they last throughout the week. My all time favourite snacks are:
1) vegan coconut flapjacks - easy, just put oats, coconut shreds, vegan butter, golden syrup and a bit of cinnamon, put it on the stove till it melts and then pack into an overproof dish for about twenty five mins on a medium heat - then yummmmy central.
2) cut up veggies with humus.
3) pitta bread - toasted with vegan butter.
4) Grandma always told me to keep dried fruit and nuts in my bag and I do!!!
5) rice cakes
6) I ALWAYS eat tortilla chips with guacamole - I know you can't eat them in the car but they are vegan and also delish.
7) My nana makes me eliopita - I'll post her recipe - it's totally vegan - filling - hopefully you like olives - and can be taken around everywhere.
8) sesame snaps.
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