Vegan Experimentation

Vegan bean patties

Vegan chocolate chip bran muffins

Vegan risotto with peas (nutritional yeast instead of cheese)

Kale salad with pickled Dragon's Tongue beans (from the farm!)

I went to a couple of nutrition classes at work and decided to pursue my curiosity with veganism.  I've gone vegetarian for a few months at a time in the past, but now that I've slowed down in running, I'm really noticing the impact that diet has on my health.  I learned in those classes that avoiding all animal proteins, a.k.a. veganism, has been shown to not only decrease risk of certain diseases but in some cases reverse disease.  I had a nagging plantar fasciitis problem and thought I'd give veganism a try in case it worked.  I also have some family members who could use some disease reversal.  If I can get them to eat a more plant-based diet, I think this might be a great path to good health and wellness.

I read a lot online about what foods I could and could not eat.  I started going to Whole Foods and Down to Earth and visiting the health food section of grocery stores.  I bought a lot of vegetables and grains to keep on hand to cook.  I signed up for a Cronometer account to track how much macronutrients and micronutrients I was taking in.  Monitoring my nutrients so closely was interesting, but I also felt like that was too much regulation to be sustainable, at least for me.

In the end, I tried a lot of recipes I would never have tried before -- chia pudding, tofu pudding, tofu cheese, vegan chili, and vegan chocolate chip cookies, to name a few.  It seemed to have no effect on my plantar fasciitis injury but did help me lose a couple pounds and feel healthier.  I'm now sporadically vegan.  I don't beat myself when I do eat animal proteins and feel better about my food choices, not just for my physical health but also for my whole health and that of the planet.

One thing I realized during this process was how much I miss having easy access to an abundance of vegetables from the farm.  We got close to getting into contract on a house that was set up with a bunch of fruit trees and growing areas, even water catchment, but we didn't get the house.  It was a major setback, one I haven't fully recovered from, but I'm optimistic that one day I'll have a piece of soil to nurture and use to grow food and healing plants and build a welcoming ecosystem for abundant life.