Strangechord

Starting Tuesday, July 1st, Jeremy and I are going to go vegan for a month just to see what the effects are. I’ve heard from people who have recently switched to a vegan diet that their energy is way up, that they need less sleep, and their bodies feel lighter. I want all of that, not to mention the ecological and political benefits of cutting out animal agricultural dependency. We’re entering into July in the spirit of experiment.

It really shouldn’t be much of a stretch - although I will have to give up chicken and fish, Jeremy is already a long-time vegetarian and the two of us barely eat dairy or eggs currently. Plus, I already converted to soy milk a year ago and regularly cook with tofu. The tricky thing will be watching ingredients when we eat out or buy pre-made stuff like baked goods (which contain eggs, butter, etc.). The fortunate thing there is that Portland has many, many vegetarian/vegan restaurants and you can easily find vegan cookies and other yummies at Nature’s or the health section of most grocery stores.

The past week I’ve been researching how to do this wisely, and I really don’t see that it’s going to be difficult. Protein will come from tofu, soy milk, beans, and certain fake meat products out there. Calcium and iron will come from the tons of veggies we already eat and maybe a supplement, and getting enough Vitamin B12 is not the issue I originally thought it would be. Anyway, this should be fun; I’m curious to see how I feel while eating a vegan diet and taking Pilates 4x per week all July.