Eating Habits

This month, April 2017, marks six months of eating a mostly plant-based, gluten-free, dairy-free diet. I didn’t want to say much until six months had passed, since my history says that I try something for a few weeks and then stop, but I think six months is a good start and enough time to say that this has been an incredible journey.

It all began with a fall detox that was vegan and when the two weeks were finished, I had lost my taste for meat and was feeling great, so I just kept it up. I still eat the occasional egg or piece of cheese (especially when I’m traveling), and I do have real milk in my black tea, but at home in my regular routine, I’m mostly vegan.

It has been less about what I don’t eat and more about what I do. My mind now searches for what kind of plants I can get into my body rather than focusing on protein, carbs or calories. Eating seasonally has delighted me with flavors that are in sync with the weather outside. I am discovering the therapeutic benefits of chopping vegetables at the end of a long day. I sit down without screens or books at nearly every meal and my goal is to eat devotionally – grateful for the food that I am eating and the gift that it is offering me.

Having the habits of my mind catch up to the desires of my body is taking awhile. When I do have the occasional food with gluten or dairy (again, travel is the biggest struggle), I feel less satisfied and it’s honestly more for “old time’s sake” than an actual treat. I’d much rather just have a piece of fruit or a piece of dark chocolate (there is some awesome raw and vegan chocolate out there).

I’d love to say I’d lost 20 pounds, but I haven’t. However, I am so satisfied most days that I don’t mind too much. I know I’m putting beautiful, nourishing food in my body and that’s enough.

I can only imagine what my meat-packing grandfather would say! And to him, I would say that I hold this way of eating lightly. It may not be forever but it is for now. It is nourishing. It feels in sync with the earth. I like the ethics of it. In a world of violence, it is a daily practice of peace.