Over the last few years, I've been thinking more about what I put in my body and how my choices affect our planet. I've decided I need to be closer to my food, particularly in working to understand where it comes from, and to actively work to eat more plant based.
I've also always had some kind of blood sugar or hunger issues. I've never been able to get anything diagnosed, but ever since I was a kid, if I hit a certain point of hunger, I lose it. I am beyond irritable and can't seem to make any decisions. It happens suddenly and sends me into a panic. It can also be unpleasant to be around me. I've learned which foods seem to trigger this, which seem to fix it quickly, and which seem to sustain me the longest. In these informal, casual experiments, I've learned I need a diet with a lot of protein and some carbs. I've also learned diary seems to counteract my panics quickly and to sustain me for long periods of time. So... I have been reluctant to let go of meat and dairy, knowing these have been important to the diet that keeps me from having extreme highs and lows and not having found many alternatives.
I really want to have more of a plant-based diet though, so I decided things might go better if I planned them out---and that I could tough it out for at least one day if it didn't go well.
I really struggled with what to eat for breakfast. If I have any sugar of any type early in the day, I need a decent amount of protein and carbs to balance myself out. I suppose I could have just had some peanut butter toast or oatmeal with some peanut butter and other proteins. But instead I just skipped breakfast.
For dinner, I went all out, as I knew my dad was dreading even one day of vegan eating. (Which is funny because he's not a big meat eater. He's a fish & chicken guy and doesn't eat many heavy foods.)
Our main dish was a lemony lentil soup, which I'd made before and knew would be satisfying and filling. It was.
For sides, I made some roasted mushrooms, which I'd made before and they had a good chew and flavor to them.
For my new sides, fried cauliflower with buffalo sauce & focacchia... well, those didn't work out because I didn't start the focacchia well enough in advance and had forgotten to buy buffalo sauce.
Luckily, my mom had bought some asparagus and my dad had bought some decent bread with all plant-based ingredients. So, I swapped things around, and they all work out.
The meal was indeed satisfying and filling. It gave me some motivation to seek out more plant-based foods that I can use as a main dish, phasing out meat & dairy.
Success!
Then I tried a vegan snack that I love when they're store bought: sesame sticks! They... were not great.
