Vegan Challenge: Days 4 and 5

Day 4:

I had the day off, so I got a lot done, including a nice long walk to get groceries. I picked up a lot of great fruits and veggies along with some bread and Earth Balance (vegan butter) to use in my Thanksgiving recipes. 

I had a wonderful yoga class last night.  It was filled with candle light and the Christmas lights on the trees were shining through the window as we gracefully went through moon salutations and a wonderful routine of deep stretching.

Since I had the yoga training, I packed up a few things and left the house without eating...as I got hungry, I looked at the ingredients of the JuicePlus protein bars and saw that they contained whey (a protein only found in milk).  I was very hungry and knew I needed food.  I can not even tell you how many times I wanted to just open the bar and settle my hunger, but I didn't.  Today, I am so proud of myself for holding on to my strength and waiting to have a snack when I got back home later in the evening.  This trial really helped me to think about my food and remember the reason why I wanted to go vegan:

There are so many cruelties surrounding our diets these days.  Beyond health benefits, going vegan is a cruelty-free practice.  One of the sutras of yoga is being loving towards our bodies as well as the world around us.  How can we practice this when factory farms are everywhere...I have not yet worked up the courage to write about some of the videos I have seen or read about. 

I am beginning to find an inner peace with myself through going vegan and delving into yoga.

Day 5:
This morning I had a wonderful bowl of hot oatmeal with almond milk and a pear.  I am really noticing that this transition from vegetarian to vegan is fairly easy, I just have to remember to read labels more closely.  It amazes me as to how many products have milk, eggs, or forms of those products in them!  I am here to tell you that it is much easier to go vegan once you begin eating mainly unrefined foods.  Think about how many natural foods there are that are vegan-friendly:
     fruits, vegetables, grains, beans, seeds, nuts, breads (most)
Now, think of the variety that those groups offer!
     Fruits- apples, bananas, kiwi, grapes, melon, mango, pears, quince, fig, oranges, strawberries, blueberries, raspberries, plums, etc.
     Vegetables- kale, collards, broccoli, cabbage, Brussels sprouts, green beans, peppers, squash, potatoes, carrots, onion, celery, cucumber, etc.
     Grains- oats, wheat, corn, rye, teff, quinoa, barley, millet, etc.
     Beans- garbanzo, kidney, adzuki, pinto, soy, black, cannalini, navy, etc.
     Seeds- pimpkin, sunflower, chia, etc.
     Nuts- almonds, cashews, walnuts, peanuts, sanch inchi, hazel nut, Brazil nut, pecan, etc.
     Breads- whole grain, corn bread, sweet bread, pancakes, muffins, dinner rolls, flat breads, etc.

It amazes me how much we have been blessed with an abundance of produce that we either neglect to nourish ourselves with and/or feed it to livestock.  Why waste the energy and resources to feed something that we then have to kill for nourishment when we could eat those things ourselves and nourish our bodies with natural foods it craves for?

Question of the day:  If you saw the inside of a slaughterhouse, would you become vegetarian? (Click here if you are unsure)

Luana ola!