She Likes Purple

How's That Vegan Stuff Going?

I miss sour cream.

In all honesty, though, this whole Vegan Summer hasn't been easy so far, and it's not yet been a week. Hold me. Surprisingly, it's not the cravings that are tripping me up or the smell of a juicy burger, it's accidentally screwing up.

I nearly ate guacamole the other day that was made with some chicken additive or broth or something. I ordered tomato soup tonight that clearly had cream in it. I know a sprinkling of cheese has worked its way into my mouth at some point because, turns out, a lot of things are sprinkled with cheese (and scraping it off is sure to leave something behind). I wouldn't be surprised if my veggie burger was on a butter-toasted bun the other day.

I'm trying my very best, and making super tough choices, and I think that's pretty damn good. This isn't easy, but it's also not worth throwing in the towel because of the occassional (and unintentional) screw up.

I'll keep pushing forward, knowing at the end, I'll probably have consumed animal products at least 10% of the time. But that's 90% of the time I'm sticking to a goal. I can live with that.

I went to the store the other day and stocked up on more produce than I had stocked up on in a while, I bought almond milk, and the good hummus and some veggie sushi, too. I'm reading labels like a crazy person, and I am asking real and in-depth questions about my food, and that's a huge bonus to all this. I can't be perfect, but I can try to be. If that makes any sense at all.

Now, it's time to start running. I took off too many weeks between the end of March and now, and my half-marathon is a (short) six months away.

I do hear there's a nice vegan alternative to sour cream. So there's that.

I'll keep you posted, of course, and I'll share some recipes and fun finds at Food Lush (and here too), over the next (gulp) 12 weeks, and when the 12 weeks is over, you're all invited to the cheese and wine party I'm going to throw.

Summer Experiment

I am about to take off for the rest of the month. I know, that's insane, right? I'm a little tightly wound over it, too, truth be told. Now, I like traveling, a lot, and if a few months go by and I haven't taken a trip -- near or far -- I start to twitch. That's not even an exaggeration for blogging effect, I really do get restless and cranky when there's not an out-of-town overnight adventure to look forward to.

So, a trip to NYC for work (but also for fun) and then a cross-country flight to the Bay Area to see my brother graduate high school is exciting and I am looking forward to nearly everything that's going to happen over the next (gulp) nine days, but my chest tightens at the thought of being gone that long.

It's the longest I've been away from either of my guys.

(Mike has very strict instructions to take no fewer than five pictures a day and to mention me endlessly to Kyle, so he doesn't forget me.)

(I know he won't actually forget me.)

(RIGHT?)

I'm going to try and schedule a few posts to go live next week while I'm gone, so my site doesn't collect too much dust, but no promises. I haven't started my laundry yet and I leave bright and early on Sunday morning.

When I get back, though, I've decided to give up tv for the month of June (except Friday Night Lights, which I live-tweet for work) and I'm also kicking off a 12-week Vegan Experiment.

I plan to visit a doctor at the beginning of my Vegan Summer, to see what all my numbers are and then again afterward to check again. I think that makes the experiment a little more credible and interesting.

(Although come to find out, a lot of champagne isn't vegan. So. Yeah. That's not good news at all.)

You know, after wrapping the Biggest Blogging Loser, I was kind of emotionally drained, and I took a mini-break from challenging myself so I could recover a little bit. (Well, unless you define "challenging yourself" to include a lot of chocolate. If you do, you're my kind of person.) I really do like challenging myself, I like seeing what I'm capable of doing when I put my mind to something, so after an April and May mini-break, I'm ready for a new challenge. 

I also start my half-marathon training in full-force this summer. 

It's so easy to get complacent, and really all these wacky ideas of mine are just ways for me to prevent complacency. To have new adventures and new stories and new experiences, and I think that makes me happier, in the long run.

In the short run, I'm off to research the hell out of "vegan champagne options."

Oh, and hold my kid for a lot longer than he'd prefer because, my oh my, am I going to miss the hell out of him.

BBL Week #5 & #6 Updates

Yeah, I didn't update last week. I wasn't super busy since I was snowed/iced inside my house for four straight days. I just ... forgot. Or, I possibly I remembered and then said, "ah, screw it, I'll watch old episodes of Greek instead."

Anyway! Here are last week's leaders:

Beth Fish     
Amie M.  (@Amie31)
Jen B. (@jenbernardi)
Ashley E. (@akaleiart)    
Caitlin H.
Jennie (me)     
Whitney A.  (@barbetti)
Elizabeth F.    
Annie T. (@anneoftroy)    
Kate B.     

And this week's:

Amie M. (@Amie31)
Jen B.  (@jenbernardi)
Caitlin H.    
Whitney A.  (@barbetti)
Beth F.    
Maggie B.  (@andtheducksaid)   
Ashley E.  (@akaleiart)
Lisa F.  (@heylardass)
Annie T. (@anneoftroy)
Jennie   

Congrats, leaders!

***

I was thinking about something today, and I even chatted with a few separate people about it. For most of the first year after Kyle was born, I hated the weight I was. I hated getting dressed and going out and taking pictures and I really hated that I couldn't seem to lose the weight. I'd start and stop and start and stop and buy running shoes and the best salad ingredients and at the end of that same week, I'd be vegged out on the couch inhaling ice cream. I really hated that.

I just wasn't ready though. My head wasn't in the right space and trying to force myself into a new lifestyle I wasn't mentally prepared for was a big ole recipe for disaster.

As 2010 started, I became ready and the weight started easily coming off.

At the beginning of this year, I was even more ready to keep going, to lose more, to rock the whole new healthy living and whole eating lifestyle, and it's showing.

But, I wish I had gone easier on myself that first year.

If you're not ready yet, it's okay. You will be. And when you are, you're going to kick so much ass that we won't be able to resist cheering you on.