And now for my next trick- veganism

So I actually started this blog with the intention of recording travel adventures, which have become more and more prevalent recently (I recently got back from backpacking in Peru for a month and I gallivant through Canada and other such outdoors-y places often.  In fact, I love being outside of the U.S.).  But then I realized that my travels are actually just the tip of my adventure iceberg and that most of the things I do are either very strange, completely random, or downright stupid and that I should just keep track of everything because if I can amuse myself with some of my life decisions then maybe someone else would be amused, too.

Then, I read the book Skinny Bitch by Rory Freedman and Kim Barnouin (http://www.skinnybitch.net/) last week and I immediately decided to try veganism.  So that same day I donated all of my animal products to my friend, who proceeded to eat one of those giant boxes of Goldfish in, like, the next 36 hours (he's a cyclist, though, so he burns about 9,000 kcals/day).  All of this basically on a complete whim.  Family and friends: blown away.  Although they really shouldn't have been because I pull these kinds of stunts on a regular basis.  Mom defended her position as a milk drinking, meat-loving carnivore, dad bought me a watermelon, and my grandma a case of V8 vegetable juice. My roommates have joined the fun, too.. and that's why I love them.

So far, it hasn't been too difficult for me.  I was already at least a fairly healthy individual who ate mostly fruit and veggies, drank soy milk, and didn't really eat meat anyway.  The biggest thing for me has been not eating fish and yogurt.  It's also kind of a pain to be standing in the grocery store reading the ingredients list to make sure that there is no animal in your food.  And they put animals in the dumbest things.  See for yourself...

English muffins: milk
V8 butternut squash and broccoli soups <3: cream
--even the tomato soup has Parmesan cheese for no reason.
some granolas: whey
even some veggie burgers have eggs in them
Steamfresh southwestern rice: cheese
I mean, you wouldn't believe how much stuff has cheese in it, for absolutely no reason.  No wonder America is so fat and vegans are not.
and forget about eating anything baked unless you baked it yourself.

But I feel better already, truthfully, even though it's only been a week.  It's worth the 'sacrifice' ...and increasing the amount of time you spend in the grocery store by about 200%.  I mean, I used to have insomnia and it's gone already.  I used to think it was because of stress, but stress is such a scapegoat.  It was because I was eating crap and feeling like crap and I couldn't sleep as a result.  I also have a bad knee that I can't (couldn't) run on ever without paying dearly the next day, but I ran 2.5 miles last night and I feel fine today.

This choice hasn't been without consequences, though.  And this doesn't count not being able to eat ice cream, because that's not a consequence, it's a benefit.  I'm talking about having to defend yourself to people who don't understand you.  It's funny how defensive people can be about their meat, especially in southwestern Pennsylvania where there might be more beef cattle than people.  The roomies and I went to the store to pick up some vegan-friendly snacks for a concert and they were giving out some free samples of something, you know how they do.  So we go up to the lady and I pick up the display box and start reading the ingredients:  'Nope, there's cream cheese in here.  It's a no go.'  Lady: 'What, are you watching your weight or something?'  Us: 'No we just became vegans.'  Lady: 'Oh... How long do you think that's going to last?'  Us: 'Well, there's no way to tell???  Hopefully, uh, forever???'  Listen, lady, I don't think it's in your job description to criticize the customers...

So anyway, there are hurdles.  But I'm not giving up.  And yeah, I've accidentally eaten animal products since last Tuesday, but I'm still getting used to people hiding cheese and non-fat milk powder in my ingredients lists for no apparent reason...  ahh well, I'll get better.  I can't turn down a challenge.

here goes nothing

I guess I need my first ever post to be a disclaimer:  I have never read a blog before and therefore have no idea what one should read like, but I'm going to give this a shot anyway because I think it will be good for me regardless of whether anyone ever reads it.  I never could keep a journal or anything like that because I hate to write, but sometimes I look back on stuff I've done and wish I had a record of what was actually going on in my head at the time.  So this is what I'm trying to accomplish here- recording my adventures here and now (and on a computer) so that when I wish I could look back on something, I can actually kind of do that.. maybe.  We shall see.