I have actually lost count as to how many weeks it has been since I decided that I would eat a plant-based diet for one year, since I actually started several weeks before actually announcing my commitment here on the blog. But since my official start day was on the first day of the Jewish new year, Sept 14, 2015, I have almost completed a month, which means only 11 more months to go!
As far as not eating fish, meat, chicken, eggs and dairy, I have been 100% on track, I did not even taste one little tiny drop of these things! I did not taste the roasted lamb, the grilled chicken, the Moroccan fish, the grilled cheese sandwiches, the weekly vegetable kugel, or even all the delicious cakes my daughter made for the holidays. That in itself is actually quite an accomplishment given all the food I was cooking and serving. Funny enough, in the past telling myself that I was giving up sugar would not have been enough to enable me to resist all those desserts. But because I decided that I am not eating any animal products the cake is off limits, a great way to trick oneself isn't it?
(One tiny confession: during the succot holiday my neighbor gifted us a plate of homemade middle eastern pastries which included baklava, my favorite. Being almost 99% sure that it did not contain eggs, I had a few pieces. And I must remember to ask her is there was any egg in her recipe, hopefully not.)
Now that the holidays are over and life is calming down a bit, it is time to move forward with my healthy eating and remove a few more things from my diet, the things that are truly my biggest enemies: sugar and wheat! I have tried eliminating these from my diet in the past, but did not last more than a month, but this time I'm much more serious, so here's hoping I'll be able to do it this time.
So, no sugar and no wheat means no standard whole wheat pasta, none of my delicious challah, none of the chocolate and rice crispy bars my daughter makes, no non-dairy ice cream and much more. But truthfully, I'd much rather know that I've done my very best to attain good health and well-being than to eat these things which ultimately make my joints ache and cause puffiness around my eyes and possibly swelling in my hands. Sigh.
So that is it, I'm now two days into no sugar, no wheat. Wish me luck, and do join me on this journey if you so desire, I think it is going to be an interesting one!
