The month is close to over and with that the vegan challenge.  I’m still having a great time experimenting with vegan cuisine, but I’m a little glad that the month is drawing to a close.  Cheese and I have a date and we’ve missed each other a lot and can’t wait to hang out.  Hopefully my gut will agree.  I’m planning a little pizza party for sometime next week.

All of that said, I do plan to keep up with the vegan thing for the most part.  I think it’s good for me and for the planet and for all my animal friends.  I like the way I eat better when I eat this way.  I like how I feel on my insides better when I eat this way; I experience far less food guilt.  Food guilt is something that I’m normally steeped in.  I can’t say that it’s all gone, food guilt and I are almost as good of friends as cheese and I, but the food guilt is much dissipated.  I think no matter how I eat, I will always feel like I’m not doing a good enough job.

On the poundage front, I’ve now lost 7 pounds.  The weight loss is so easy and natural and that feels good.  I think in time, maybe lots of time, I will return to a weight that I am comfortable with and feel good about.  I feel relaxed and very low-key about my weight.  I think it’s because I realize that eating this way it’s hard to gain weight and much easier to lose weight and so if I just sit back and hang out, my weight will take care of itself.

I have noticed a general slacking with other things that I do in my life that I feel are important and have a positive impact.  I’ve been a reusable bag fiend for several years and I’ve accepted several plastic and paper bags during this month because I haven’t  had enough bags with me.  In the past I would shove the extras in the shopping cart, then the car, then bring a bag out to the car when I got home to put the extras in.  I’ve found myself throwing small pieces of paper away instead of walking to the kitchen and recycling them, and feeling less guilt about plastic containers that contain pre-made vegan goodies than I would had they been regular baked goods.   It’s as if I can only be so “good” and the vegan thing requires more of my “goodness” than my other way of eating.

I’ve been meaning to post lots of other vegan stuff this month, but it’s been a really busy month and I haven’t devoted as much time to writing as I would have liked.  I guess all of those other posts will just have to wait for next month.  See you after Halloween!