Trial run on going vegan

As many of you know, over the past two months my health has been having some technical difficulties.  I have sought the advice of doctors, friends, naturopaths, family, and just about anyone who thought something would help... I have listened to all and followed several suggestions. 

One of the major changes has been what I eat... my new motto is if you are what you eat... and you want to be healthy then eat that way.  Several years ago in the goal to lose weight I started making changes... first to go was red meat and processed meat (ie sausage, hot dogs, etc)... then it was real milk but I kept eating dairy products (ie cheese, yogurt, ice cream, etc) because they were just too good to pass up despite the reaction to my body... then it was switching to whole grains vs. white (bread, pasta, rice,etc)...more veggies and fruits... lean meats... and the list could go on. 

Lately due to the medical issues and turning to food to comfort... I have put on a few pounds and was finding my self getting very upset when I went to get dressed in the morning.  Things were not fitting like they did 3 months ago.  Argh!  So I started looking at what I was eating... what was benefiting my body and what was sabatoging my progress.  After looking at how my body was reacting to dairy I decided that had to go (bye cheese.... bye ice cream... BOOHOO!)... soy had to go... sugar had to go (did you know that 1 tsp of sugar inhibits your immune system for 4 hours!!!!)....then coffee with no sugar and no creamer (dairy or soy) is kind of hard to swallow so (sniffle sniffle) coffee had to go...  SOOOOO.... after all that is out... I am left trying a vegan diet for a while.  So far I am on day 3 and have lost about 5 pounds... granted I do realize that some of that is water weight but time will tell.  Now that the coffee withdrawals are finished I am feeling better... more alert... handling stress a bit better... and able to get a lot more accomplished!

Now I am not saying that I will be vegan forever but at least for the next couple of months or so we are going to change my thought pattern of eating to live rather than living to eat!  The key to eating vegan is variety... try all of the fruits and veggies, beans and legumes that are in your super market (or farmers market).  It is not the cheapest but health wise just in three days I am seeing a huge difference. 

Here is a sample of what is on the menu today....
Had a greens and strawberry smoothie with almond milk for breakfast...apple for snack... lunch was bell pepper slices, cucumber slices, steamed okra, northern beans, and cherries... at this point not sure what I will have for dinner  but whatever it is it will be yummy!