The Start of a New Beginning: Becoming Vegan - Post #2

Post #2 – This one is going to be a little long, so I hope you have grabbed some fruit to snack on because I would hate for you to get hungry!

It was in January and February of 2012 that I decided I was going to make another change in my life. I had already cut back on my meat intake to just fish, seafood and occasional bacon but I had remained 150 pounds for 4-5 months and I was sick of it. Ahh to see the 140’s again, that would be awesome. I hadn’t seen that number in about 5 years and I really wanted to reunite with her again. Luckily my mother in law Mary B. was hosting information nights at her house that she called For the Health of It. The topics ranged from reducing meat and dairy intake, body brushing, dental care, to watching a video called Food Matters, which I found to be really informative and inspiring. This was what sparked my interest in becoming vegan but at the time I was not ready to make that big of a life style change. Instead I learned the huge benefits of adding greens to my diet and decided I was going to drastically increase my intake (greens include romaine lettuce, celery, cucumber, kale ect.) They are really high in vitamins, minerals and in dietary fiber which help aid in proper digestion and help reduce your risk of certain health problems.

How was I going to add more leafy greens into my life? By drinking green smoothies! I had first thought that they looked disgusting and was really wary on trying one, but it was so awesome!! I had found a great way to increase my greens intake as well as my fruit intake, plus it tasted good and didn’t take that long to prepare or eat. Through trial and error I came up with my favourite blend of cherries, blackberries, blueberries, bananas, spinach and water. I would drink one for breakfast and lunch almost every other day and did not grow tired of it. I would experiment with other concoctions, like apple, mango, banana, spinach, or blueberry, raspberry, banana, and kale, but the cherry one is by far the best and is something I still make when I need a quick meal. So between January and March I had lost another 5 pounds all, thanks to incorporating the green smoothies and was down to 145. Hello 140’s, it’s very nice to see you.

I can remember looking on Pinterest for recipes at the very beginning of July and coming across a pinner called Regina Vegetarian Society and I immediately clicked on their profile. How cool was this? Out of all of the profiles I could have seen on Pinterest, a vegetarian club from Regina (a city 35 minutes away) comes up on my screen. I instantly started to look through their pins, seeing if I liked any and I started to notice that they also were promoting a vegan lifestyle. That’s when it hit me... I needed to become vegan.... I wanted to become vegan.... I can do this... I WANT to do this! In that moment I realized that being a vegetarian wasn’t enough for me and to be happy I had to make the change. So when Devon got home that night I said to him “I'm going vegan” and his response “okay sounds good, but don’t expect me to, haha”. I was not surprised by his reaction, I knew he would be supportive in my transition but I was not expecting him to change and I still don’t. I just figure I can overload him with every piece of information I come across and let him make his own choices. The way I see it, if you are not informed then how can you make informed decisions?

When people express that they want to lose weight but don’t know what to do, my first suggestion is to cut out all dairy. This is how weighing at 145 pounds, I lost another 14 in just 4 months. The weight seriously fell off of me. By cutting out all dairy products I was so surprised to see just how much dairy I was consuming on a weekly basis. Even though if you would have asked me before I turned (that makes it sounds like a vampire!) I would have said barely ever ate it. I wasn’t just cutting out cheese and milk, I went all the way to not eating anything that contains or even may contains milk (or egg) ingredients. The amount of food I do not consume at our TGIF parties is astounding, which really opened my eyes to how much dairy there is in our snack foods because almost every dish you take to a party contains it. Now I just take vegan dishes (like my Mediterranean Surprise Dip) to every party so I am able to eat snack foods too, and people seem to really like them. Which can be unfortunate because when they don’t, more for me!

When things got difficult for me is when I traveled down in August 2012 to Sturgis, South Dakota for the biker rally. I knew that it wasn’t going to be easy, but I had high hopes that it would all be okay… It wasn’t, full fledge almost starved. Every restaurant I went to didn’t believe in fruit or vegetables, not even a baked potato, and when they did have something it was cooked in animal fat. So I mainly ate peanut butter and dry toast. What was I going to do, I couldn’t live off of bread and peanut butter for 6 days? So I got groceries! I had Devon ride into town to help me get some food to get through the week. My main staples were apples, cherries, celery, bbq chips, and peanut butter. I am surprised that I didn’t develop an allergy to peanut butter because I ate almost half a jar to myself. Next time we go down I am buy a lot more because I now understand just how much they are not vegan friendly.
My favorite food story from Sturgis was about our last night there. We went out to a sit down restaurant and I was pretty excited because I was sure they would have something for me to eat. That day I had eaten only an apple and a small bag of chips and I was F’IN STARVING and getting angrier by the minute. I feel really bad for those who had to endure the wrath of Nikki that night. We finally got to the restaurant and ordered and I quote “a really big salad, with no diary or dressing”. After 20 minutes everyone got their food but me and Sheldon. “Where the F’ is my salad, how hard is it to make one?! If it comes with cheese on it, I am going to throw it at her!” (Yay, that mad) According to the waitress it did have cheese on it so she sent it back. Insert lots of curse words, and finally I got my salad. Or what I would call a horrible mess of ice berg lettuce and shredded carrots (more curse words), but I shouldn’t have been surprised seeing how every other restaurant didn’t even have ice berg lettuce. So I ate the salad and chased it with triple vodka and waters, and needless to say I was a drunken mess that night. This month we are going to Mexico and I am getting really excited for the fruit selection that will be available to eat. I feel my eating habits will be a lot better than Sturgis and this time when we are on vacation I will be way more prepared so I am not put in that position ever again. 

In September I decided to do a four day mono fruit cleanse where I would only eat one type of fruit per day. I was scared, and now that I think about it I don’t know why because it wasn’t like I would be disappointing someone, just myself. So I talked to my sister Ashley about it because she was doing a banana island at the time (a mono diet of 30 bananas a day for 14 days). She was super thrilled and was my support and coach through it all. She never once complained about my incessant calls, asking question after question. I really couldn’t have done it without her.

Basically this is how the four days went down:

1)     Grapes: This day was really easy, I was happy and excited to do this. I ate 2 pounds of organic grapes per meal and drank about 3 liters of water. I had high energy and felt alert.

2)     This was supposed to be a banana day, but after breakfast my body felt like crap and I couldn’t stomach the thought of eating any more bananas, so I did organic grapes again. This was the hardest day, I felt sluggish, tired, basically like I was detoxifying.

3)     Peaches: I ate around 8-10 peaches per meal and about 3 liters of water. I was really excited about the peaches, so this day went by pretty well. It was around 5 o’clock where I really wanted to give up, but I held strong and didn’t cheat, even though my husband made homemade fries! Now that’s will power.

4)     Grapes: Again 2 pounds of organic grapes per meal and 3 liters of water. I had a rough morning of feeling sluggish and really tired but I felt really good about lasting 4 days. At supper I introduced greens in and had a romaine and cucumber salad. This gave me heartburn for the first time ever in my life and holy crap that hurt! I hope to never go through that again.

I am very proud of myself in what I accomplished in my four day cleanse. I did not experience weight loss but I did notice better digestion and the break I gave my body by only eating raw fresh fruit is awesome! Also not a lot of people can say that they a) ate raw for four days straight b) ate only fruit for four days straight c) ate mono meals for four days straight. This is something that I really would love to do again, but I will have to wait until summer when I can get a better selection and fresher fruit. 

I love my friends, oh so very much. None of them are vegan so I find they are the main ones asking me about being vegan. On New Year’s Eve I was in Saskatoon partying with my university friends, and we got into a discussion about my lifestyle. Spencer started asking a lot of questions (he is kind of a catalyst), mostly the standard like Why did you? How do you? And what about when you have kids? Some people might think that I am offended when they ask me questions but I really love talking about it, so keep on asking because I love answering them. However I am still a newbie so I am not as eloquent in some topics as others but I still like to share my opinion when I can. During our conversation my friend Tara then mentioned that she heard from a nutritionist that eating meat and dairy is really healthy and why would I choose not to eat it if a nutritionist said so. My response is that I know that there are nutritionist and doctors who say that, but you don’t have to believe them. I was that person before, a meat and dairy type of gal, but I looked past the norm and informed myself on both sides and I chose vegan. By me talking to people about this I am NOT trying to convert you to “my side” I am trying to inform you. There is SO much information out there about nutrition that is under played because the meat and dairy companies dominate the media. All you see are pro meat and dairy commercials, never a commercial for the benefits of eating 10 bananas a day. Basically I want people to know is that it’s okay to change your mind on something that you originally thought to be true and to not be afraid to give it a chance. I know I am grateful for taking a chance on doing something different, it has changed my life for the better and I would never go back.

I cannot believe it has almost been three years since I started on this journey, it seems like just last year I was sitting at 171 pounds, unhappy and unfit. Today I am healthier and fitter than I have ever been, but most of all I am happier and I know it can only get better from here. I would like to thank my husband Devon for all of his constant support, and my sisters Ashley and Chelsea for being my biggest cheerleaders. Also, thank you to all of you who are reading this right now, and have been following me from the beginning, I truly appreciate it. If you have any questions or comments please feel free to do so!

Thanks for reading!!!!

Xoxo -Nikki

From April 2010 to December 2012!

The Start of It All: How I Turned Vegan - Post #1

This is my story… well a part of it.

My sister Ashley suggested that I document my transformation to becoming vegan, but I really suck at keeping track of things like that. So the next best thing is to try and remember it all and write it in a blog post. I have decided I am going to do this in 2 posts so it doesn’t take forever to read. I mean it has been 3 years of my life. So here goes nothing, and lets hope I can remember everything important! 

For those of you who have Pinterest you have most likely seen the before and afters of ladies with the captions underneath stating “THIS IS THE BEST DIET EVER!” “YOU GOTTA TRY THING, ITS SO AMAZE-BALLS” ect. I would love to say this underneath my before and after pictures because I want everyone to feel as great as I do. But I am not to sure if I want to. I don’t think people would take it seriously because I know I don’t take the ones on Pinterest seriously! It’s usually just some herb supplement, or eating cabbage soup, or not eating the top 5 worst foods for you (which include bananas, and I couldn’t live without bananas!).

My weight loss plan didn’t take 30 days, 2 weeks or even 6 months. It took me 3 years to get where I am now today. Sorry to burst your bubble that you might have had about this post, but I know 100% it was the best way I could have done it. By taking it slowly and making decisions that I knew I could live with and WANTED TO LIVE WITH, made my story a success. Because cutting out junk food for just one month might help you lose 5 pounds, but when that month is over and you go back to eating the same way you were, BAM the weight is back. Trust me I know!

The Start of It All - Post #1

I got married August 29^th, 2009. It was the most amazing day of my life and at the time I felt and looked great. I was not super overweight or obese I was just larger at 163 pounds. I am 5’8 and have some curves so I feel I can carry extra weight pretty good. As the months went by after the wedding, I noticed that I was getting bigger and bigger, dun dun dunnnnnnn!!  In April 2010, just 8 months after the wedding I had got up to 171 pounds, and I realized I did not like what I saw in the mirror. Clothes were not fitting properly, I felt sluggish and my asthma was really acting up. So Devon and I decided to do a weight loss challenge, whoever can lose 10 pounds first, wins $100. At the time when I made the bet I had forgotten that men loose weight faster then girls and needless to say he won. But, I came back with a counter offer, whoever can get to their goal weight first gets the $100.

My goal was 150 pounds, that means I would have to loose 21 pounds all together. So I started to work out more (I work at a circuit gym and actually started to use it) and made a lot more healthier decisions, like eating more chicken and rice instead of going out for burgers and fries. My husband Devon quit smoking the day of the wedding, and it was the best wedding gift he could have ever given me! So when we started to eat healthier I had a hard time cutting out potatoes because they are my all time favourite food. I told him that I couldn’t cut them out, they were my crack, and that’s when he looked me in the eye and said “if I can quit smoking, you can quit potatoes.” So I did... almost. I cut back from eating them everyday to only once or twice a month. That is something I know helped my weight loss, so thank you Devon!

By just being more conscious of what I was eating I had dropped 10 pounds by Christmas and didn’t gain any weight over the holidays. This is quite hard with all of the great food around. I was really excited to be 161 pounds because my goal weight was to get to 150, thus I could see the light at the end of the tunnel.

After dropping 10 pounds by December, I then had a hot holiday to think about. My side of the family and Devons side were all going o Mexico and it was coming up faster than I anticipated. I really started to concentrate on my fitness 3 months before we left, turning to Jillian Michaels DVDs. The one that really helped me was the Banish Fat, Boot Metabolism and what I really like about it is you only need a yoga mat. The first time I tried it I only got through 25 minutes of the 50 minute workout, I was so out of breath, and the next day I could barely sit down to pee. Needless to say it kicked my out of shape ass. I started working out in my living room and after I felt comfortable with it I started to do the routine at the gym (I wrote it all down on a piece of paper).  I owe a lot to that DVD, it is a total body work out and really, really makes you sweat without being complicated. By the time we left I was down to 155, that’s 16 pounds lost and only 5 pounds away from my goal weight. 

It was in May 2011 and still around 155 pounds, I decided that I wasn’t going to eat poultry anymore. I had gotten to the point where I couldn’t stomach the thought of eating it and I now as I look back, that was the first time I started to really listen to what my body was telling me. Around the time of the wedding I had started to be really turned off by the smell of cooked meat and was finding it hard to eat. It was something that was always on and off for me, one day I could eat a hamburger the next I couldn't. On top of cutting out poultry I wouldn’t eat any meat off the bone, I would either not eat it or I would get my husband to cut it off before giving it to me. I know I know, that makes me sound like a Princess (actually I am!) but he realized that I wasn’t being a lazy jerk, it was something that truly bothered me. 

By January 2012 I had finally reached my goal of 150 pounds and that illusive bet Devon and I made was forgotten. However I am really thankful for it because it got us on track to a better and healthier life. I had also cut out all meat except for fish, seafood and occasionally bacon. I started to feel better after eating meals, such as less stomach aches, better digestion and I had more energy. Also I just felt better mentally, with the understanding of the treatment of chickens it got me to think about other animals and how I did not want to contribute to their suffering. Fish for some reason I see like bugs and didn't feel bad about eating them. It's a hard feeling to articulate right now, but for some reason I still felt right about eating fish and seafood. Maybe it was the fact that it was still socially acceptable to only eat fish or I just wasn't ready to give up the tradition of being a 'meat eater', who knows? All I know is, it was a step I took to get here and I am grateful. 

Now, I wouldn't say that cutting out meat was the main reason I reached my goal of 150 pounds because it took a number of months to reach it. I probably reached my goal between September and October 2011 and I plateaued for 4 months because my diet and exercise hadn't varied. That was frustrating but I hadn't wanted to make any other changes in my life, so I just remained the same. That's a big lesson I have learned through all of this. If you want change, then you have to make change. It is something I am at constantly trying to incorporate in my life and there are hundreds of ways you can too. It took 19 months to loose 21 pounds, which doesn't sound that impressive but I am proud because I was able to keep it off and not gain any of it back. It was all because I chose to make a life style change, instead of trying the next new diet. 

Well, this is the end of post #1 and I will let you return to your daily life! It was kinda longer than I originally wanted so if you got to the end of this post thank you so much! I will be putting up Post #2 shortly so keep an eye out for it! 

Thanks for reading,
xoxo - N