One Month Update

• It's been one month of me trying to be vegan and I'm amazed at my body's transformation. I can still eat a lot of my favorite foods and have discovered a lot of foods I never knew existed. The first week was hard until I discovered alternatives to my favorite foods.

• I noticed my taste buds have changed a bit. I used to be able to eat tons of Baked Lays chips and now they taste too salty to me and aren't as satisfying. I used to hate bell peppers and now I crave them in most of my meals. It's as though my taste buds are tasting more of the flavor in dishes.

• Now I'm a really deep sleeper at night so when I wake up I'm refreshed. It's easier for me to get out of bed where as before I would drag. I still have some days every now and then, but that's because I stayed up really late. Most days I feel as though I have coffee in my system.

• I hate to admit, but I used to be depressed for no reason at least once a week. It's not like I have a bad life...not at all......I would get this sad feeling out of nowhere. I haven't been sad or depressed since starting this new way of eating. I'm either happy or super happy. Even other people have noticed a change in me and I contribute this to my happy mood from eating better. Plus I haven't had any headaches so far. I used to get those at least twice a month.

• My body has gone down in size and my jeans are really baggy now. I was on the edge of having to buy new pants since I could barely squeeze into my jeans. I'm so glad I don't have to go out and spend money on a bigger wardrobe.

• At first my body was going through detox, so my face broke out a bit. After I got through the detox my skin is almost flawless. It's so nice not to worry about pimples anymore.

• For ladies eyes only--------> This is very personal, but I have to mention about that time of the month. Yep, Aunt Flo.....crimson wave.....yeah....I know....gross. I usually would have cramps 4 days prior up until 2 days before it ended (that's a little more than a week of pain). This month I didn't have any pains before which is so great! I only had pains on day 2 of my period and it lasted only for a few hours. Plus it was lighter and ended before it usually does. I didn't have any mood swings either (which made my husband happy). I think I found a cure for PMS! I'm sure other girls' bodies react differently, but for me this diet helped me for that time of the month. I hope that it's like this again for the next time Aunt Flo visits.

• The best part about eating this way is that I'm never starving. I don't have to punish myself if I have a piece of vegan cake or a vegan cookie because I'm allowed to have it. All the diets I have tried never worked out for me because I would miss my favorite foods and go back to old eating habits. This way I can still eat my favorite foods....just the healthy versions. At first I did this as an experiment to try something new and to lose weight. Now I find this is something I can do the rest of my life and not have to worry about weight again.