Plans and goals

Hi, Kathleen again. The hippie diva, remember? Today I’m going to fill you in on my plans to turn my family’s diet into a primarily plant-based diet.

This is not going to be easy. For starters, our food choices over the past ten years have revolved around the SAD (Standard American Diet), albeit a bit on the healthier end. We’ve never eaten meat on a daily basis, for instance, and we’ve always liked vegetables. But as much as I like veggies, they don’t get on the table as often as I want because I’m not always willing to cook them. I want something quick and easy. We also tend to keep away from junk food, except as an occasional snack. Our biggest food problem is eating out. I’d do it all the time if I could, just to avoid cooking. I'm positively addicted, as a matter of fact, a topic for another post.

But one month of disciplined cooking? I can do that. I don’t want to do it, but I can. Following the vegan-only month, our plan is to continue with the vegan diet on weekdays and allow a little more flexibility on weekends. I’m hoping this transition will allow my family to eat a healthier diet without having to completely give up some of the animal based foods they enjoy. Our Vegan Challenge month will go from July 18^th to August 18^th and I will primarily follow recipes from two cookbooks:

The Supermarket Vegan by Donna Klein. This is for my easier days. Plenty of familiar ingrediants, nothing too complicated or new.

Vegetarian Times Everything Vegan by The Vegetarian Times Magazine. This book has recipes that are a little more complex, but not overwhelmingly so. For example, there are recipes to make cheese substitutes out of nuts. Now, I KNOW cheese will be my weak spot (right after real cream in my coffee!), so I want to have a plan laid out to make sure I'm able to have something ready to substitute on occassion.

Next week I will post a recap of my weekly cooking adventures and let you know how everything went, whether my five pre-teen children approved, which recipes worked and which didn’t.

As for exercise, I have been walking with a neighbor most mornings. We started with simple 2 mile walks and have expanded our daily walks into 3 ½ - 5 mile walks, with a little stair climbing thrown in for good measure. I know the exercise is making me stronger because I’ve been practically ravenous, especially on days we walk 4+ miles. The Vegan Challenge might be tricky to coordinate with these hungry days, so I’ll let you know what types of snacks I choose.

The month of August will be an exercise challenge month for me. Some ideas for this are to walk at least a 5k every day or to walk every day but insert at least a one mile run. If anyone has any other ideas for an exercise challenge, let me know. By the time August roles around I’ll be well-entrenched into the Vegan Challenge and hopefully have a good grasp of how much I need to eat and what keeps my energy levels high.

Wish me luck! Hopefully next Monday I’ll have some positive updates on the Vegan cooking front!