The Plan

I've decided that my diet plan needs to be the one that I started with earlier this year...a vegan diet.  In three months of eating vegan, or at least mostly vegan, I lost 15 lbs. It was a diet that I really enjoyed.  I learned about new foods, new flavors, and learned to be much more aware of what I was putting in my body.  I had high hopes of continuing this way of eating after moving to Texas, but I think I just gave in to the excuses and the comments way too easily.  It will be more difficult to be vegan in West Texas than it was in Hawaii, but it's not impossible.  I probably won't be 100% vegan.  I do love animals, but I'm not doing this diet for them really.  I agree that factory farming is a horrible thing and don't really understand why humans drink milk that was intended for baby cows, but my main reason for following a vegan diet is for the health benefits.  No, eating meat is not, in itself, bad for you.  However, the amount of meat, especially red meat, that is in the typical American diet is much more than we need.  Then there's also the problem with how that meat is processed (remember "pink slime").  I just feel that a balanced, plant-based diet is what is best for me.  Due to our current financial situation, I can't exactly just throw out all the meat and processed foods in my kitchen and start fresh, so this will have to be a gradual process.  What got me started on the vegan diet the first time was watching several documentaries about our food industry and American diets.  Forks Over Knives, Vegucated, Food Inc., and Hungry For Change are my favorites.  (Having those on DVD to watch any time I need a little inspiration would be great, by the way...Christmas gifts, maybe?)  Re-starting the vegan diet so close to the holidays is going to be extra tough...let's see how it goes!