How I Accidentally Became a Vegan Eater

When Vegetarianism Never Seemed Possible

Have you thought about eating “healthier?” And maybe, if you are like me, as someone who is a “picky” eater?

For years, I’d be happiest with meals such as

• Peanut Butter and Jelly (a daily staple)
• Grilled Cheese and Tomato Soup
• Cheese Pizza or maybe with Pepperoni
• Chicken Finger Strips (sometimes, with fries!)
• Hamburger topped with ketchup (with fries here, too)
• Scrambled eggs, bacon, and potatoes ( a favorite for ANY meal)
• Pancakes with syrup or heated fruit topping
• Hamburger Helper type meals, such as beef stroganoff (popular choice while married)

And what, exactly, is a “healthy” plan?

Although my meal choices expanded somewhat as an adult, that challenge is basically what I began with nearly 15 years ago, in my late thirties.

Yes, I have thought about healthier eating for a LONG time.

Conversations at work inspired me to want to switch from ground beef to ground turkey. Once my (ex) husband’s doctor suggested the same, that trend stuck at home.

Besides the switch to ground turkey, the path to “healthier eating” seemed murky. I didn’t have reasonable examples to follow. Reasonable, as far as something I felt I could do, too, with or without my (ex)-husband’s support.

Years prior to the work conversations, a close friend switched to a vegetarian lifestyle. My friend’s switch inspired me to THINK about the idea.

For starters, my friend lost weight, just from making the switch.

When we ate out together and shared food such as pizza, I chose the vegetable toppings since I had the shorter list.

Although I could agree with the sentiment of not killing other creatures for food consumption or other things (such as leather for shoes), I didn’t share the passion enough to figure out if I could find a sustainable diet. I already had a hard time with what to eat.

Given all of these examples, how does one end up eating a VEGAN diet?

I MOVED

Since living on my own the last 10 years or so, I cut out most meat dishes. I found things like steak tough to chew and didn’t enjoy the experiences.

I stopped using a microwave except if that is the ONLY choice, and I do not own one (or WANT to own one).

I wanted to move away from processed food, and taking away the microwave also took away the convenience.

Fast food is not on my list of choices anymore. Using the term “food” seems inappropriate, and therefore unacceptable to attempt to consume.

I saw a presentation once of what looked like fast food restaurant leftovers from a few hours prior, and it happened to be SIX YEARS old. That still makes me shudder.

Although also challenging, I focus on making stove-top or oven meals from scratch, and stay away from frozen and packaged meals.

More recently, I stopped buying bread as part of an effort to cut down gluten, only eating bread at restaurants. I lost 20 to 25lbs with that elimination.

I prefer simple recipes, and ask my “foodie” friends who like to research, and anyone who also likes “simple,” since they know what I mean by the term.

Nearly 10 years ago, the first personal trainer I worked with, also a “foodie,” suggested rice, meat (or chicken) and a vegetable such as green beans, as a mix.

This became one of my staple foods, usually WITH ground turkey, and eventually WITHOUT a vegetable.

Fast-forward to 2020, ground turkey disappeared in mid-March, and I have since stopped looking.

This is the point where everything accelerated.

In November 2019, I began a training that incorporates Yoga and Ayurveda. We meet for most of a weekend each month, through July. (For a background on this, check out my post “Asking for Help When it is Not an Emergency.”)

Thank goodness that February happened to be the scheduled month with a day devoted to food. We spent Saturday’s training at the instructor’s house.

The instructor prepared breakfast so we could eat in the morning.

PREPARED — FROM SCRATCH.

I LOVED breakfast. From the warmth of the bowl to the smell and the taste.

And, in the context of training, I had the willingness to try foreign (to me) contents of the breakfast kitchari (mix) that included pears, dates, RICE, and split mung beans.

Seasoning is utilized at every Ayurveda meal, specifically to cover the SIX tastes. Most of us are familiar with Sweet, Sour, and Salty. The other three are Bitter, Pungent, and Astringent.

This breakfast, then, became my FIRST experience of having a warm, whole foods meal, appropriately seasoned for the six tastes, while with my training cohort and instructor.

Do you feel the LOVE and NOURISHMENT all the way around?

Then, it was our turn to make lunch.

Even divided into teams, the amount of people in the kitchen overwhelmed me. Similar to the list of vegetable choices, my skills and list of personal utensils and appliances is short.

What I DO have is a willingness to learn.

So I took the recipes, suggestions, and experiences from that weekend, including a cookbook, and ran with it.

The cookbook happened to arrive in the middle of March, about the same time that ground turkey disappeared.

After ordering delivery one more time at that point, I gave up on the idea of delivery or carryout meals.

I began to focus on making my own meals.

After I shared that I wanted to learn how to make soup in a slow cooker, the instructor assigned me “Stacy’s Soup Science Experiment.” I worked on several versions, had fun each time, and liked them all!

As April approached, I decided to JUMP into the ONLINE opportunity for an Ayurveda food based Spring Cleanse.

The same instructor was facilitating the cleanse.

Any chance for a non-invasive and internal deep cleaning seemed like a good idea.

I liked that there would be access to a community of participants, and that I knew several from the monthly training. I also liked online cause I could go at my own pace and not be overwhelmed in a crowded kitchen.

During the pre-cleanse week we eliminated at least one category a day including:

• Sugar
• Caffeine
• Animal protein (Eggs, too!)
• Dairy

We had specific recipes for the FIVE DAY cleanse. (I had to ask about or look up some of the items just to figure out what they looked like or where I might find them in the store).

At this point, I had also started shopping at a food co-op.

I didn’t need a bus to get there. The space is smaller. And, I happen to be friends with the general manager and could directly message questions or comments about navigating the store.

The food co-op manages most of the local Farmer’s Markets, if that tells you anything.

Conclusion

So now, I have tried more vegetables, especially leafy greens. I know that I like lentils and split mung beans, and that there are multiple dishes which include rice. I also am able to design, make, and (most importantly) eat any version of “Stacy’s Soup Science Experiment” while having fun with the process.

As I completed the post-cleanse week, the big question became “How much do I add back from the pre-cleanse choices?”

I feel lighter. And I don’t mean only physically, although that is a part of it.

When wearing my jeans, I noticed I use the fourth or fifth buckle hole, instead of the second.

Creative energy, especially, has surged. I am excited to write again!

I like the new food choices and that a lifestyle choice does not have to focus on a long list of vegetables. For example, instead of rice and ground turkey, one of my favorite meals is rice and roasted carrots.

Yum!

As part of the cleanse process, we learned to notice HOW we used food.

I am working on creating a relationship where food is more than something I HAVE to eat. In fact, at some point, I want to start growing food on my porch or in the attached sun room in my apartment.

Where would you go, post-cleanse?

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