I Went Vegan!
I Went Vegan!
For one whole month.
Let me catch you up with what has been going on with me… It has been too long since I sent a Weekly Check In Newsletter and even longer with my monthly newsletter. So much has happened!
I shared this with a few of you, about my sudden decline of energy. Out of nowhere, out of the blue, I was suddenly feeling more than exhausted, more than unmotivated; the best way to describe what I was feeling was “depleted”. I didn’t feel like I “lacked” energy, it felt more like an “absence” of energy. Literally depleted.
I couldn’t wake up in the morning feeling even remotely rejuvenated from sleep. I was sluggish from the moment I woke up to the moment I lay down to sleep. (Side note: I just googled the tenses of “lay” and I have been using them incorrectly probably since childhood! The English language is so weird! LOL)
I couldn’t really remember when this started, but it felt like it had been more than 6 months. I was so sick and tired of feeling the way I felt. I talked to my decluttering coach (actually she is a transformational coach, I call her my decluttering coach because she helps declutter my thoughts and emotions) and she helped me realize that the word depleted did, in fact, perfectly describe what I was feeling. Also, at this point I was at my heaviest. I was gaining weight pretty quickly.
As some of you know, my husband lost his job last year and he got into real estate. In March of this year, he quit and then returned to real estate in July. He was trying other things in between.
My brother moved in with us, to save money before moving to Japan. Shortly after that, my 11.5-year-old dog, Harley, had to suddenly be put down after going through too many seizures within a 5 day period.
Every summer my mother and niece visit for a couple of months. They arrived about 2 weeks after Harley’s death. By the first of August, my mother and niece left and we basically had the house to ourselves again. My brother was still there, but he was practically non-existent because he was always at work. 2 to 3 weeks before my family left, I was so tired of being so exhausted and blah.
That’s when I spoke to my coach. I knew I was stressed and I kept being told, “Of course you are tired and stressed! You have financial problems that all weigh on your shoulders since you are the breadwinner now.” This was true, but if that were the case I would have started feeling like this last year, not this year.
Talking to my decluttering coach, I found I was right about that. Yes, I had that stress in the first place, but it wasn’t the finances. It was my attention that was spread thin. I felt like I had to be there for my husband, my dog, my mom, my niece, my brother, for my house financially, for my house in general, for my business, for my clients in person, and for my newsletters. I had so many things that were all of a sudden my responsibility. I felt I had to put myself aside and be there for them all.
In reality, I could have avoided all of that stress, but I unconsciously made everyone’s problem mine. I spread myself out so thin that I had no space for myself and I was depleted in no time.
I felt so guilty for not doing work I usually do, like keeping up with my newsletters and such, but after this talk with my coach, I told myself there is no shame in taking some time off of… well, everything, except for my clients and their important treatments.
I took a step back from everything and let myself take it super easy at work. I sat back and entertained myself with Netflix and YouTube. I also spoke of this to some of my clients and one of them told me his wife went through something similar and the only thing that worked for her was going vegan. I have heard that helped with a lot of things, so I went home and told my husband I was going vegan for the entire month of August. Thank goodness he is a very supportive man.
Side note: I was asked why I went vegan specifically when there are a lot of other kinds of diets out there. When my client mentioned veganism, I did think about other diets. However, all diets have these rules and have a lot to do with tracking what you eat. I am doing this because I spread myself thin. Why put more on my plate? Also, I am too lazy for that!
Going vegan meant cutting out all meats and byproducts of meats. So simple! I also think there is value in going back to how our ancestors ate. Veganism is like going back to our hunter-gatherer days. They didn’t always have a lot of meat and they also sometimes didn’t have a lot of vegetables.
Yes, I went vegan for an entire month. I was so worried I was going to hate everything I ate. The last time I tried a veggie burger out of curiosity was about 13 years ago. It tasted horrible like I was eating cardboard. However, vegan foods have come a long way! Everything Josh cooked for me tasted fantastic! (Yes, he cooks for me, because he is home way before me. But I still cook if I’m home early.)
I have had multiple people ask me this so I will address it real quick before I keep going on this subject. What is the difference between being vegetarian and vegan? Vegetarians do not eat meat. They will eat unfertilized eggs and have milk and such. Of course, everyone is different, but just in general, that is the difference.
If you are familiar with the movie, Scott Pilgrim vs. the World, I quote one of their lines as a definition of being vegan “I can’t eat anything with a face.” So on top of going vegetarian, any animal byproduct cannot be consumed.
It was also much easier to shop than I thought! Who knew vegetarianism and veganism had come so far? I didn’t really feel much of a difference until the end of the month, but according to my husband, he noticed a difference in my voice on day 3 and saw I was much less sluggish in the mornings starting on day 6.
It was nice to have feedback because I didn’t feel any change and I was not sure if I would have completed an entire month when there was nothing to show for it. His comments were enough for me to completely commit myself to this decision.
FYI, I took advantage of this diet and decided to introduce foods back into my life slowly. Just to see what makes me bloat, and sluggish, and keeps me awake at night. I can learn my body from scratch since I was basically cleansed. What does my body like and dislike, as opposed to what my tastebuds like and dislike?
It has been a couple of weeks since August ended and, as I am typing now, I am thinking back on that month. I did this for health reasons. I was sick and tired of feeling depleted, but I was also tired of not being able to get back to the gym and enjoying my days off at their full potential. I was tired of scrolling through social media because I didn’t feel like getting off of my couch to do stuff. For those of you who know me, you know for a fact I am naturally driven and energetic. That was very not like me, at all.
In conclusion, what going vegan for a month did for me were 5 things.
I got my energy back, and it is the kind of energy I had over 10 years ago!
I lost 10 whole pounds in just one month. I am working out again and with this energy, the possibilities are endless! I may lose more weight, but I am definitely losing inches and building those muscles back up!
Mental health. I am happier, energetic, and driven.
This is something nobody talks about; intimacy. I feel less resistance towards my husband touching me even in the smallest ways. (This has everything to do with hormones!)
Another thing nobody talks about; is gut health. I have not had to take my fiber supplement since mid-August.
If you don’t want to read about it that’s fine. It won’t hurt my feelings. Another thing about me, TMI is not a thing for me and some things we don’t share are things that should be shared. In this case, who knew intimacy could be affected?
I had to look it up! Apparently, what you eat messes up your hormones so much and intimacy has everything to do with hormones. Apparently, it was because of my high cholesterol, specifically my triglycerides. I found this out on a hormone test I took randomly. So I googled it and this is what I found:
Seriously!
All 6 of these changed for me… How much better can I get??!!
Wow! I am going to guess I successfully lowered my cholesterol through this! And the next thing we don’t talk about is gut health. I don’t need help by taking fiber supplements anymore. I have been very much regular!
My energy level was the main reason I got into this and, I must say, this change of diet has also helped me be less emotionally driven. I was never emotionally driven, or so I thought. I wasn’t for the most part. However, it is hardly existent anymore! I found myself greeting everybody I passed with “good morning” with a big smile while I was shopping. I usually don’t care.
At the end of the day, going vegan has gotten my energy back and then some! This is so crazy!! Understanding what it does for me, I have decided to dedicate half of every week to veganism.
FYI, in case you are curious about how my husband managed during this time; he ate what I ate, but added chicken to his plate once he split the meal up. So, eating less meat and more vegetables he lost 10 lbs, he has been more regular like me, and he enjoyed the food as much as I did. He didn’t think he would, so it was a big surprise for both of us.
There were a couple of recipes we both couldn’t do, but that was only a couple of recipes out of a whole month’s worth. That is pretty impressive!! Most importantly, though, he loves what this has done for me and he doesn’t want me to lose it. With that said, it is not only me who wants to keep this going as my diet for half of the week (at least), he also wants this for me. (Did I mention what a great guy my husband is?)
Do what you will with this information. I am only sharing this because I feel it transformed me. I never imagined I would feel this much better just by altering my food intake. I feel amazing and if you want to feel amazing, I seriously suggest giving veganism a try. You don’t have to change completely and forever. Just try it for one month.
