Yesterday was day 14 of what started innocently enough as a 7-day vegan cleanse.

Disclaimer: Yes, I know the salads below aren’t vegan. They include cheese. And yes, for two weeks, I’ve eaten no cheese, no meat, no fish, no milk, no eggs, no butter, no dairy of any kind. In short, I’ve eaten nothing that didn’t grow out of the ground. It has been fabulous.
After the Pursuit Conference, with buffet after buffet of delicious Southern fried goodness, and then a weekend with relatives that involved lots of yummy pizza and pub food, I knew I needed to reset my system. For a week last spring, I ate vegan, and I decided I would do it again at the end of September/beginning of October. Over the past few years, as I’ve experimented with food and sought to make healthy eating a top priority, I’ve learned that I feel best when I’m eating a low fat diet built around plant-based ingredients. I just didn’t realize how well I do with that kind of diet.

In two weeks of eating a vegan, whole food diet (the only processed ingredients I’ve had have been a few soy vanilla chai lattes at Starbucks, and I had gluten for the first time in over two weeks when I baked a dessert last night), here are a few of the things I’ve learned about how my body reacts:

• I’ve had just as much if not more energy, and no mid-day “crashes.”
• I’ve felt full more quickly, but wanted to snack between meals — thus eating proper portions and maintaining my blood sugar throughout the day.
• I’ve dropped several pounds while I haven’t been exercising, which tells me those were completely unnecessary extra pounds.
• I haven’t felt like I’ve been missing out by not eating meat, dairy, eggs, or processed foods. It’s true. I haven’t craved any meat, or even cheese, and I love cheese! And it’s been about three weeks since I touched soda, and already my stomach revolts at the thought of all the high fructose corn syrup, modified vegetable oils and artificial colors.

So what does this mean for me? It doesn’t mean that I’m going to stick to a vegan diet permanently. There are too many foods I want to be free to enjoy . . . such as when we head to EPCOT for the Food and Wine Festival this week. But I think I’m going to stick to a vegan diet about 4-5 days each week.

And I would encourage anyone who has been considering making adjustments to their diets — just do it! If you know your diet is adversely affecting your energy levels, your mood, or your overall health, cut out the things you know are unhealthy and start focusing on whole foods that you love and make you feel great.

~ Laura