New Year's Resolution

Had a realllllllllly tough time running today. Only got through two 3-minute intervals. My legs were burning, yes, but it was more that I couldn't breathe!

Ugh, New Year's Resolution to Stop Smoking - nice to meet you again! Haven't seen you in a year. Then a year before that. Then another year before that.

Defeated,
The VP

Stupid Humans

I challenge you to watch Food, Inc. and NOT come away a vegetarian. I can't even finish typing this because I'll get preachy and judgmental, and who wants that? Just trust me - watch it. It's good for your soul.

Week 3, Workouts 1 and 2 went splendidly! Can't wait to run again tonight!

The VP

Unexpected Challenges

Well, last night was a little difficult. Perhaps it was because I had taken 2 days of rest rather than 1? Or, I'll admit - I caved in to the disgusting habit of smoking yesterday a few times before the run. In any case, I finished Week 2 Workout 3, but didn't feel as great about it as I had been.

What inspired me to keep going yesterday was the knowledge that SP is doing this with me, so I need to stick with it.

Is it bad to run everyday? I love the high after a run, so why do I need to rest between them? Plenty of people run everyday, don't they?

The VP

Couch to 5K Podcast

I'm running along with Robert Ullrey's Couch to 5K podcast. Download it from iTunes! It's great. I've even grown to enjoy the music...

http://www.ullreys.com/robert/Podcasts/podcasts/podcasts.html

It's WORKING!

My running is going swimmingly (hehe)! I was dying last week - simply dying. Then I did my 4th workout last night and it was a pure breeze. I don't know why, but my body seems to be responding to the training ... I'll take it!

It's so exciting to see the changes in my body right now. My legs are getting more toned, I have less of a belly than I did just 2 weeks ago, and every time I see someone they are commenting on how I lost more weight. I'm not sure if it's the low-carb diet, vegan diet, Couch to 5K programcutting down on salt, or a combination of all of it - but something is working and it's working well ;)

Gotta stick with it. Have a good weekend everyone!

The VP

Couch to 5K

I feel good!!! I avoided most carbs all holiday weekend, minus the devouring of vegan sweet potatoes (Delish - Just mashed sweet potatoes with coconut milk and a bit of ginger). I didn't weigh myself, but my clothes are getting bigger and bigger on me.

I also started a Couch to 5K running program. I am NOT a runner. In fact, I hate it. But I'm trying...
http://www.coolrunning.com/engine/2/2_3/181.shtml

I've completed workouts 1 and 2 of the first week, and tonight will be my third. I'm considering trying the Week 1 Workout for 2 weeks and doubling the time of the program (usually 9 weeks, I'll make mine 18). I'm in no rush, this is simply for endurance and fitness.

Try it with me?
The VP

Victory!

Lost SIX pounds!!! Cutting down on carbs is doing wonders for me!

Bleh.

Been on a low-carb diet for a week - felt like I lost weight and suddenly feel horrid after getting rejected by a guy. How high-school-lame am I?

How can just an action make me feel fat?

Tomorrow Never Comes

I've been a beast lately. Eating anything that's not nailed down. My skin is breaking out because of it and my clothes are fitting poorly. It drives me into such a state of uncomfortability that I'm in bed with the lights out in my fat-forgiving pajamas by 7:30pm. GROSS! I can't stand this "addiction" to food that I so clearly have. Even when I'm not hungry I can't stop myself! There is this constant "start tomorrow" chant that runs through my head. What about starting right now?

The VP

Great Veekend

I absolutely LOVED my Vegan Weekend - or Veekend :)

Angelica's Kitchen was the best vegan experience I've had... The carob brownie with Pistachio whip at the end of the meal made me want to move to the East Village just to pick one up every night.

VegFest was a little weak but I picked up some nice pamphlets to hand to those who question why I'm making the switch in the future... I'm tired of talking about it.

And the film ingredients made me want to move to Oregon and become a farmer... maybe that's in my future.

Not happy to be back to the grind,
The VP

Food Fest!

I'm looking forward to trying Angelica's Kitchen this weekend... any of you NY'ers ever been?
http://www.angelicakitchen.com/

Also attending VegFest in Tompkins Square Park on Sunday and a movie screening of Ingredients - an exploration of the local food movement. http://www.ingredientsfilm.com/the_story.php

It's going to be a Foodie Weekend in NYC!

See you there,
The VP

Tofurky, My Behind.

Ya know what? I'm NOT going back to that nutritionist. The more I read about veganism, the more I learn she is wrong. I am NOT supposed to be eating soy every day. Tofurky is NOT a healthy replacement meal. And I've been eating MORE since I've gone to her because she says it's not enough to just snack on fruit, so I have to add nuts and a starch to that "snack" as well. It's no mystery why I'm not losing weight!

More veggies, more fruit, and I'll find my protein from beans and nuts. ENOUGH with the Tofurky.

Taking my will back,
The VP

Starting Over

Well, last night I really went for it... I isolated, ate a pint of soy ice cream, a veggie burger with fries, and way too many pretzels. I passed out at 8:30 - probably from an emotional hangover.

Today, it's my task to let go of last night. To reassure myself that others DO lose weight so it CAN happen for me. I'm letting go of yesterday and starting over today.

Defeated

No weight loss :( 3 weeks of healthier eating with no weight loss.

I went back to the nutritionist. She said I need to incorporate more vegetables but for the most part I'm doing well. What irks me is that on top of eating well and doing well, I have been to the gym almost every single day and worked out HARD for the past 3 weeks. And no weight loss?

Tonight would be one of those great, reclusive Fridays ... Cuddled in bed with a side of fries and a pint of ice cream. Can't say I'm not considering skipping the gym for the aforementioned Plan B.

Bummed and Big-butted,
The VP

My New Fave

Delicious! Not too hot, a little bit sweet, and just perfect over dry brown rice!

Piggy's Visit to the Nutritionist

WOW. No WONDER I am always hungry. Apparently stocking up on vegetables and carbs isn't worthwhile if you're not getting the protein and healthy fat needed to hold onto the nutrients.

See the pic of the "Healthy Plate" I posted. Since Friday, I've had to make sure my plate looks like this at each meal.

1/2 full with vegetables, 1/4 full with starches, 1/4 full with protein (hard to get when you're a vegan), and there should be healthy fat somewhere on the plate (olive oil on the veggies, nuts, etc).

Try it with me?

The VP

MIA

Sorry, folks. Have been on vaca - both literally and mentally.

Eating has been better since my first OA meeting. I am conscious of my binges when they are started and am starting to identify the feelings that propel me into one.

I will be seeing a nutritionist this coming Friday to get me started down a healthy vegan path. Will keep you all posted on what I find out!

Happy Eating,
The VP

My First OA Meeting

I did it! I went to my first Overeater's Anonymous meeting last night.

The speaker said so many things that resonated with me. Like I do now, she used to used food as a way to "numb out." She was embarrassed to let anyone else know how much she ate, so hid it. She would eave dinner with her friend where she'd eat a salad, and go home and binge on junk food. She would sometimes have 2 lunches, 3 dinners. She was close to 200 pounds and wore sweat pants and pajamas most of the time. She came into her first OA meeting 9 years ago, and hasn't "relapsed" with a binge since.

It never really occurred to me that you can NOT eat like that for a full week, let alone 9 years. She must weigh 115 pounds, if that. In fact, I was shocked to find that only one woman of the group of 10 was overweight, and she claimed she had just come back to "the rooms" after a 3 year relapse. Many of the girls introduced themselves as bulimics, anorexics, or "restricters" on top of their qualifications as compulsive eaters. I guess it's all as simple as this: everyone in the room has issues with food.

So, last night I didn't binge :) I ate my dinner - a baked potato and corn on the cob with a handful of grapes for dessert - and I went to bed, knowing I would be able to eat again in the morning.

Hi, I'm The VP. I'm a compulsive overeater. I have 2 days.

Oh, The Horror!

Hmmm, wonderful. My trusty, always-fit-me, size-12, guaranteed-look-good black pants DIDN'T zipper this morning. This is bad.

Something has to be done. Tonight I am going to my first OA meeting. 5:30pm. Hopefully posting this here will hold me accountable and I'll actually go...

The VP

Fridays can be scary.

Fridays can be scary.

Since I quit drinking almost two years ago, Fridays have adopted a different feeling than they used to hold. I still look forward to the end of a week of work, but there is also a little tickle of anxiety as I think about spending the night alone.

I say "alone" because, let's face it - My drinking friends just don't come calling on this nondrinker on Fridays anymore. This is fine. I somewhat enjoy the idea of winding down the work week in a quiet manner - Reading? Watching a movie? Going to the gym? Anything other than getting plastered in a bar.

Yet, I still want to feel that "freedom" of getting plastered like I used to on Fridays. I want to feel that total abandonment, that lack of control. I want to exercise bad judgment and wash all of the stress away by indulging... and that indulgence has become FOOD.

I don't WANT to devour an entire bag of pretzels with hummus and a pint of soy ice cream AFTER I've already eaten dinner. But I don't know how to stop. It has become a habit - one that I both love and hate.

How do I stop a binge when it's coming full speed ahead?

Wish me luck,
The VP

Out of Control

So, I'd be remiss if I didn't blog a bit about my struggles with food - and not just the typical struggle with non-vegan ingredients.

I am - and have been for as long as I can remember - a compulsive overeater. Photos of me throughout my life are a testament to this. It's hard to pinpoint what year any given picture was taken based on how I looked; I've weighed close to 200 lbs within the same year I've weighed 140. And even 140 isn't thin on my 5'2 frame.

I'm somewhere in the middle now. And while I'm ok and feel hopeful that veganism will eventually help me reach a healthy weight without depriving myself of too much. However, deprivation and exercising discipline are two very different things, and I'll admit I rarely participate in either.

I've been reading about caloric intakes, what's normal and what's not. Finding that I should be eating about 2,000 calories per day, I've started tracking what I eat. Not only does it NOT help me, but I become completely overwhelmed and find myself binging at the end of the day because "I'd already screwed up the day, so why not??"

Today, for instance - it is merely 11:30 am and I've already devoured 850 calories. So I panic. I think "how am I going to make it through lunch or dinner with only 1150 calories?" And miraculously I begin feeling hungry again. I know it can't be real - I can't TRULY be hungry - I just ate a banana, a bagel, jelly, blackberries, and mixed nuts in the last two hours. But what is it that triggers me to want more food? Emotions?? Even if I can pinpoint what it is that makes me eat, how do I change it? What can I do?

Unfortunately, I don't have an answer. But below are the signs of a compulsive eating disorder. I meet every... single... one:

-Binge eating
-Continuing to eat, even when you're full
-Eating rapidly during binge episodes
-Not able to control eating and thoughts of eating
-Feeling depressed, disgusted or upset about your eating
-Feelings of no self control while overeating
-Uncomfortable eating in public, or with others
-Chronic dieting
-Believing that life will be better when they lose weight
-Withdrawing from activities because of embarrassment about weight
-Social and professional failures attributed to weight
-Feeling tormented and trapped by eating habits
-Weight feels like focus in life
-Mood swings. Depression. Fatigue.
-Insomnia. Poor Sleeping Habits.

Not So Happy Eating,

The VP

Delish.

Vegan Beginner's Guide

Here's a decent Vegan beginner's guide: http://www.exploreveg.org/resources/vsk.html

Piggy's First Post!

Well, if you're reading this post, my bet is that it's been awhile since it was written... I'm assuming I won't have visitors swarming my blog right off the bat. In any case, thanks for stopping by! This blog is intented to share information about a vegan diet.

It's been about 3 months since my decision to cut out animal byproducts completely. My reasons? Too many. Mostly I want to practice what I believe in - existing on this earth without harming anyone or anything in the process.

In addition to the ethical aspect of my venture, I have to admit I was curious about the effects the vegan diet would have on my body. I've noticed a few things:
- I'm much less fatigued during the day, and no longer find the need for caffeine in the afternoon.
- I have a great deal of energy when I wake up in the morning. In the past I used to have to down a few cups of coffee before doing anything even similar to functioning.
- My skin is clearer.
- I've lost 10 pounds.

Though I've been trying my best to make a clean transition from a lacto-ovo diet, I am still surprised when I find out something I thought was "safe" to eat actually includes animal derivatives.

I'll start off by mentioning a few ingredients to avoid if you're striving for VEGAN living. I've pulled these from a great article I stumbled across here - http://www.exploreveg.org/resources/ingredients.html. Some nonvegan ingredients worth mentioning are:
Casein
Whey
Gelatin
Any ingredient with -stear- in its name
Glycerides, including glycerin and almost any ingredient with -glycer- in its name

What about you? Got tips?

Happy Eating,
The VP