Not Much to Give Up

As predicted, vegetarian is easy, and vegan was very, very hard.  I say "was", because I gave that up on the third day.

The breaking point for me was Chipotle.  I had been eating most of the same foods that I always had, but making substitutions.  They tasted fine, but were super light on calories.  So, I ended up eating a bunch of junk food, like chips.  It all just seemed off.  I got most of my nutrition from a wholesome dinner, but half my calories were coming from soda pop and junk food.

I know it doesn't have to be that way, and I would have figured it out.  In the mean time, I had one easy answer; Chipotle.  I knew I could get a good nutritious meal that has a meal's worth of calories.  But then I got there, and I took a hard look at that cheese.  I can replace the meat with sofritas, or guacamole, or even both.  It just seemed hollow without the cheese.  I didn't order the cheese, but I did really miss it.

Part of my problem is that I'm doing too much at once.  I'm still getting used to being back on a low calorie diet.  I'm also walking considerably more now that the weather is getting nice.  Then there was meet.  Now dairy?

I know a wiser man would suggest going vegan one day a week, and slowly increasing it.  I just think I'll be happier with the cheese and ice cream.  I'm going to remain vegetarian for now, but I think I'm going to literally wait a year before I even consider vegan again.  Food is just so much of our lives, this is really all I have the will power to do at the moment.

I will say this though.  If I started trying to cut out meat, I'd probably be obsessing about the meat I'm not eating.  Instead it seems almost trivial, and I keep thinking about all the things that I can eat.