21 Day Vegan Kickstart - Day 1

Today is day 1 in the 21 Day Vegan Kickstart challenge sponsored by the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine. And because I love a challenge, I decided to give it a go.

So...

Good bye cheese. Good bye meat. Good bye coffee creamer (which I guess means good bye coffee since I'm not sure I can drink it without my beloved creamer). Good bye eggs. Good bye processed foods, white flour and white sugar.

Basically, good bye to all that is good and holy in my life.

Alright, I'm being a bit melodramatic, but that didn't stop me from gorging on this yesterday as sort of a last supper:



Lou Malnati's thin crust cheese pizza. Sigh.

This morning, I purged the refrigerator and pantry of temptations (bye 1/2 eaten Ghiradelli chocolate bar, bye Oreos, bye Hint of Lime tostitos). And then I broke out my juicer, which hasn't seen much action in the past, oh, six years or so.



Back when Clean Fresh Hubby and I were engaged (about 11 years ago), I was completely vegan. I made fresh carrot juice two times a day. Fruits, vegetables and grains made up the bulk of my diet. Then we got married and over time, I started introducing various foods back into my diet. I discovered a love of cheese I never knew existed. And from then on, all bets were off. And over the past six years, I have gained about 30 pounds as a result. Now no one would look at me and say I'm overweight, but more of what I'd call "skinny fat." And no matter how much exercise I do, I seem to plateau and am unable to lose the last 15 pounds I need to shed.

So here I am, attempting to get back on the vegan bandwagon, at least for the next three weeks. I can handle 21 days. And, combined with my current exercise regime, if I can start seeing some movement on the scale, then perhaps I'll extend it another 21 days. We'll see what happens.

If you're interested in learning more about the kickstart and want to join me on this crazy adventure, check out the Web site. I'm going to try to post daily on this challenge and will be sure to include any recipes, products and tips that help lessen the pain of a cheese-free existence!