I am currently slow cooking pears in a quart of vodka so that I can make these gorgeous drinks. I already made rosemary-infused simple syrup, and I'll puree those fabulous pears and mix 'em all in together with some sparkling water. Something to be thankful for!

Eek! That's quite the opinion.

I fell off of the wagon, hard. I went to the store and bought: sour cream, cream cheese, cottage cheese, cheddar cheese, blue cheese, cheese pizza, cheetos..... so much cheese!! And I gotta say, I am feeling better than I did while vegan.

I thought maybe once I went back to dairy, I would get sick or feel gross. But I have to say, I was feeling sick and gross as a vegan more. :-( I feel better now... I don't know why, either, it doesn't make logical sense.

So, I wanted to try it out for a month and see if it fits, and the answer is "No". In retrospect, January was not the right month - summer would have been better, when fresh fruit is in abundance. Overall, I am really glad I tried it, and I am happy for it to be over.

Gotta go eat some cheeto's...yay!!

I have had a tummy ache for over a week. I think it started from traveling and trying to eat vegan, which resulted in eating a bunch of crap. I can't seem to kick it, though, and I can barely eat these days. Blech. All I am eating is fruit and vegetables and some whole grain stuff and veggie "meats".

I find myself counting down to my 30 days, as if eating food that made my stomach hurt before is going to make it feel better now. Lol. I think I am just not ready for how much time being vegan takes.

I will make my call at 30 days, but right now I am leaning towards no more veganism, at least at this point in my life. We'll see, though! But I can tell you this much - I do not feel good these days!

Well, the mentally clear thing is still going, and I love that! I am tired, though, a lot. But of course I am working a million hours and staying up late watching crap TV in the hotel room, so... you, know. Guess I own that one.

Traveling vegan is sure much harder than eating at home. I am hungry a lot and want to walk into the kitchen and snack. There are vegan snack foods, of course, but chips are easier to come across than fruit or something healthy. Thank goodness for Whole Foods being close by. I

Right now, I am 40/60 about staying vegan after the 30 days. Maybe 30/70. I like how my body is feeling, but it has kind of tapered off, and I need to lay off the chips! BUT - I feel soooo deprived right now. Unless you make it yourself, there is dairy in nearly EVERYTHING!! I could really go for some chocolate cake, (the Innkeeper here at the B&B just made some and it smells ridiculously good), but I'll have to go to Whole Foods or wait until I can make it for myself. Blech. Normally I could care less about chocolate cake, but since I CAN'T have it....

I went to sleep at 5 pm that night, slept until 9, got up for a couple of hours, and then slept until morning. I don't know why... I was SOoooo tired at 5, which is not at ALL unusual, but instead of fighting it, I just went with it. And got a lot done the next day.

In other vegan news, I just weighed myself, and I have lost EIGHT pounds in SIX days. And seriously, I feel great!

This is overall turning out to be slightly easier than I thought it would be. I am sure it helps that I work from home and can make my meals. But I also eat out at least 5 times a week, and I haven't found that to be a real problem yet. It just takes some planning and some time. And having a nice server helps, too.

Good so far: More energy, clearer mind (I am reading A LOT more), loosing weight, saving money (you spend less when you don't order the lobster!), and feeling great about my diet - tons of fresh fruits, vegetables, and whole grains. Loving Asian resturants (Japanses, Thai, Vietnamese, Indonesian) and Mexican (hold the cheese).

Bad so far: um.... it definitely takes more time! I have had to learn and teach myself new things, grocery shopping for the first time stressed me OUT, there is this thing that happens that they call "the dairy dump" (which I will not explain any further), and trying to keep track of the ingredients that they sneak dairy in with feels overwhelming sometimes.

Nika has decided to go vegan as well. A great choice for her sensitive stomach!

They say you have more energy when you're body does not have to spend energy processing a bunch of foods it is not meant to eat - stuff from other animals, processed food, etc. I have been waiting for more "energy" and I think today is that day!!

Actually, starting last night, I could tell that I had more mental energy, and when I woke up this morning, even though I stayed up late reading (and thinking - !) I could tell my body had more energy.

Nika and I had fruit smoothies and Organic Wheat Elmo-O's for breakfast, and danced around the kitchen singing about fruit. In the morning before school. I suppose it's possible that I have more energy, and also possible that I am delusional. LOL. I suppose it doesn't really matter!