C - Day 3: Fake it until you Make it.

So today's Day 3. Hmm. I was lectured today at work about the "unnaturalness" of veganism, and the simple rationality that if a creature or living organism was put on this Earth, we were allowed to eat it. Yes, well, that's all fine and good way back in the day when the planet's total population was less than 100,000, and we all lived in chic cave-person attire, but let's face it. As of today, the US Census Bureau estimates that there are 6,814,800,000 souls living in the world, and there is no way that we're going to sustainably and ethically raise animals to feed everyone. No f-ing way!

And I guess some of this stems from the assumed, unchallenged belief that we're more superior than the other living beings on this planet: i.e. animals and plants. We are the masters of nature, are we not? We are better than say...carrots, right? Well to be honest, with the way that some human beings act nowadays (cough...leaders of Goldman Sachs...cough), I rather throw the life-jacket to the carrot any day.

Well anyway, enough ranting, back to the post (you can really tell who's the more positive friend of the pair!). Yes, it's day 3. I can report proudly that I already feel benefits of this new eating regime. I have more energy in general. I actually woke up feeling AWAKE! I kid you not! For those of you who work with me, you know that I am not a morning person. But I actually felt energy this morning without the coffee. I just felt lighter....it was strange, but nice.

On the downside though, I am still feeling a bit bloaty and gassy, but I realized that I wasn't taking enough Beano tablets with each meal. I upped it to 3, and now I feel better. And also, to my dismay, I started breaking out on my forehead a little! I wonder if my body's trying to expel toxins. I remember when Anna Marie started her gluten-free diet, she started breaking out like mad, so much so that she got pissed off and bought ProActive. Well, either my body's decided to up-chuck everything toxic from all the meat I've been having, or I'm allergic to something new I'm eating. Hmmm, I'll keep you posted on this one.

So today, for dinner....I decided to fake-out my body a little by tricking it into thinking it was eating meat. And how did I achieve this, you ask? With Yves Veggie Ground Round! I made taco lettuce wraps tonight, complete with vegan "refried" beans and soy cheese. I think the scariest part of the soy cheese. Have you folks actually had this stuff??? If movie theatre nacho cheese and Play-Doh eloped and had a child, soy cheese would be it. It reminds me of processed cheese slices, but weaker and faker tasting. It's okay, but for those of you who can eat the real thing...AVOID SOY CHEESE AT ALL COSTS! I bought the one from Okanagan's Soya Co., but Alicia Silverstone says that the one by Tofutti is better. We will have to see about that.

I've got to say....I really enjoyed tonight's dinner. Alongside my taco wraps, I had a big green salad with strawberries drizzled with a smidge of sesame vinaigrette. Everything was really tasty, even the fake meat, which was reminiscent of ground up mushrooms but a bit spongier. I think if I have a meal like this once a week, I'd be able to finish the 42 days, no problem. My only caveat about tonight is that if I could have it my way, I would only have things like Yves Veggie Ground Round and soy cheese once in a while because in the end, it's still processed food "pretending" to be something else. In his new pocket book, Food Rules, Michael Pollan says that these "food-like products" are overly processed and full of additives (it says so in rule #10, to be precise). They should be avoided as much as possible because they're not natural, and who knows how your body will be affected by it in the long run....

So yes, that's Day 3 for ya. You're in for a treat...I actually photographed my food tonight! I did used to be a photographer after all. There is nothing like transferrable skill-sets...enjoy!

Here's my meal!

Here are my lovely vegan "refried" beans. They're actually quite good and simple to make. Let me know if you want the recipe!

I think one of the best parts about this diet is that it inspires everyone else around you to be more healthy too. In this photo, my sister's dinner is placed adjacent to mine. She's having my vegan channa masala over rice with avocados. Yay Chris!