No Meat Until March 4th - A failure story

My parents are back in Canada for half a week. Just long enough to remind me that I could be eating better. Losing the weight I gained since moving to Canada has been something I’ve said I’d do for a while, but I never end up doing it. It’s not for lack of knowledge. I know how to lose weight, but I prioritize other things.

My parents are vegans. My dad lost a lot of weight (“30 pounds, just like that!”) when he went vegan a couple decades ago. I’m going to try and follow in his footsteps. 28 days of eating vegan. But no just vegan. Low fat vegan. I’ll be eating whole food only. Fruits, vegetables, brown rice, beans and sweet potatoes.

There are other ways of losing weight. Competing diets. Intermittent fasting. Intense exercise. I’m choosing low fat vegan because it’s what was presented to me. Wish me luck.

Log

February 4th. Day one.

Today was an adjustment, but not too difficult because I didn’t have to make any choices. I only had an apple for lunch. That wasn’t enough. Feeling good.

February 6th. Day three.

I’ve been eating a lot of bananas. Three a day. Every night I have rice and sweet potato. Tonight I had beans, too. It helps a lot that Julie (wife) cooks dinner for me. Supportive as always. My energy levels have been good.

February 16th. Day thirteen.

I’ve had to drop the low fat part of the diet. After just over a week of eating low fat, I began to obsess about food. It was all I thought about. Adding a bit of fat (peanut butter) made everything easier. I think I’ve lost weight, but I’m not sure. I didn’t weigh myself prior to starting.

February 18th. Day fifteen.

I ate meat today. Julie, Jasper and I went for dinner with friends. There were four of us adults and three kids. The restaurant was busy, the kids impatient. Julie and I found the only vegan items on the menu and waited for the waiter. By the time the waiter arrived, the kids had eaten all of the side dishes (Korean restaurant) and were ready to eat each other. We ordered, and the waiter let us know that half of the items on the menu weren’t available. Over the sound of our children screeching, we tried to determine if there was anything else vegan on the menu. There was not, our waiter assured us. And so I ate meat.

I’ll continue eating vegan for the next two weeks and push back the date of completion until the 5th of March.

February 24th. Day twenty one.

I am back on meat. I didn’t make it through the month. On day seventeen I developed a stomach bug. It probably had nothing to do with my vegan diet. My body stopped holding on to food. Every thing (and this is as graphic as I’ll get) started running straight through me. I lost my appetite, couldn’t sleep, and was shivering all the time. Cheese was the only thing that seemed appetizing to me, so I started eating it. Four days later I’m still dealing with the bug, but the worst seems to be behind me.

I wish I had gotten through the month, but getting better was more important than finishing a challenge. When you have a kid, getting sick puts a lot more pressure on your partner. She’s been supportive, as always, throughout my ups and downs.