Ah, The Sweet Smell Of Split Pea Soup and Success

A little over a year ago, I started a group on Facebook called Wishful Shrinking. Dubbed a "safe space to discuss weighty issues", it quickly became an exciting mix of both friends and strangers who have all since become comrades in weight loss. It's great to get others' perspectives, their stories on success and failure, what they define as such and to just cheer one another on after a bad day, week, month, etc. It's also a fun place to share everything from recipes and exercise tips to workout playlists and weight loss gadgets.

138 pounds - OBLITERATED!

Unfortunately for the Shrinkers, the activity within the group depends in large part upon my stoking the flames of motivation - and when I fell off of the wagon, hit my head on a wheel well and went into a coma of not giving a rat's ass about the size of my own ass from late September until January, the group went pretty well dormant. That is, until the past few weeks! The sleeping giant has most certainly awoken and I am beyond excited to say that as of yesterday, those handful of us who use the site to check in with weekly weight loss results have lost a collective 138.61 pounds!

That's an entire person! I am so proud and completely re-motivated to keep that number growing. Imagine if we can match that success in another year's time?! I know we can! Hell, I aim to personally ;-)

NOM! NOM! NOM!

In other news, I broke the vegan fast this weekend for sushi. It was so worth it! Still no red meat to speak of and as far as dairy, I've only had a little bit of grated parm cheese on some pasta and on some roasted asparagus. Not having dairy in my life has made a heck of a difference. I'm sure not eating beef isn't hurting either. I feel great. The inflammation and bloating that had just become a part of my life are near gone. It's just wonderful. I may never go back. But, never say never. I'm sure there's a burger or a steak in my future. And a burger just isn't a burger without a big ol' slice of cheddar on top.

My friend Bridgette, who went down this road a bit ahead of me and keeps tossing back some great advice, said it best: not eating meat or dairy on a daily basis really makes the times that you do have it all the more enjoyable. Cut to my sushi-fest on Saturday night. I don't think I've been happier eating raw fish. It doesn't hurt that we have a fantastic restaurant just around the corner.

I also discovered that split pea soup without ham can be quite awesome. With some vegetable stock, crushed mustard seed, tarragon, bay leaves, salt, pepper, celery, carrots, potatoes, onion and...balsamic vinegar of all things...it's hearty and a fantastic healthy lunch option. The balsamic really threw me for a loop when I was searching for recipes but I figured why the heck not? It's fabulous. Don't miss porky at all!

Boy, this post has some twists and turns in it. Thanks for coming along for the ride.

Farewell, Moo Cow F*ck Milk and Hello, Soy Juice!

Never in a million years did I ever envision myself wearing this label!

But, here it is: after years of hearing from friends, the media and yes, even Oprah, that Veganism might be worth pursuing (at least as a means of cleansing/recalibrating my system) -  I've fast gone from curious skeptic to full-blown believer. W-O-W!

First, there are the vanity aspects. Just 5 days in and my skin looks ridiculous. It's the dead of winter and I'm glowing and barely need any moisturizer at all! On top of that, I've already lost 2 pounds. My digestion has regulated and, not to be gross, I'm pooping like clock-work up to 3x a day. (Of course, I'm also tooting like never before - but Bean-o helps to take care of that problem.)

As for the food, fortunately, I'm a veggie lover. I also really love fruit. Soy, if seasoned correctly, also works well with my body/tastebuds and satisfies the craving for protein. A lot of the foods I already eat regularly are vegan or easy to make vegan. Homemade granola + vanilla soy milk for breakfast = heaven. I heart veggie burgers with a little yellow mustard. Carrots and homemade hummus are snack crack to me. I love veggie soups. Oh, and I discovered veg-based Wacky Mac this weekend and it's pretty damn delish. I'm even actually looking forward to testing some new recipes. The only thing I'm a little wary of are the pretend meat products. Soy chicken cutlets aren't made of chicken - wtf? I don't know if I need to seek out pretend meat in order to feel truly satisfied. Still, I'm willing to try all of it. Besides, I'm already drinking "soy juice" masking itself as soy milk. Gotta love this Lewis Black bit from which the title of this post was born: 

In terms of the ethics, I come from a family with dairy farming past and, in one case, present. I have no illusions about my place on the food chain and that some animals are put on this earth to quite literally sustain the lives of other animals. I also have no ethical qualms about humanely slaughtering animals for such puposes (ie: Temple Grandin style slaughterhouses are fine with me). I also  have no intention of shunning meat or dairy from my life completely.  I will not give up fish or sushi. I can't imagine my life without my dad's Oyster Stew come Christmas Eve. 

Still, just a few days without what in retrospect was at least 3-5 servings of meat/cheese on average (milk at breakfast, yogurt at lunch, grated cheese on pasta/lean meats at dinner, butter on bread or eggs in baked goods) - I am really intrigued by how great I feel and am interested to see where this leads. 

I'll keep y'all posted. Let me know if you have had experience with vegan/vegetarianism yourself - or if you think this is just another primrose path to wellness ;-)