I'm a Junk Food Junkie (and vegan is no guarantee...)

I've decided that the self-pity train has basically run its course, so I will try not to subject my vast readership to too many more updates on my broken body issues (like forced left-handedness, potential theological or other issues, or graphic descriptions of my injuries, because it's kind of time to move on), but since I just took the time to link to those posts, you should read them if you haven't yet!  

No, it's time to get back on the original track (see how I did the train reference again?) of this blog - the things I struggle with eating and exercise-wise.  Nathan and I have been working together at the bike shop a lot this summer, and yesterday we went out for breakfast before he started his day.  We ended the day with the family getting Jimmy John's at 9:30 p.m. due to our weird schedule, and this morning he and I are paying the price, so to speak, so I thought of this post that's been knocking around my head for a while.

I'm a fan of convenience foods because, well, because they're just so darn convenient.  And I'm pretty sure that folks my age and maybe a little older were kind of on that cutting edge of prepared, boxed, bottled, frozen, and otherwise "look! you, too, can have it all, and it's so easy" kind of things: breakfast cereals of ALL varieties, chips, candy, pop, etc.  (I know these all existed prior to my knowing about them, but it seems like my generation was the one where they really entered the mainstream.)  My mom actually owned a waffle iron.  I never saw it in use, because we could go buy Eggo waffles for the toaster.  And they were delicious!  (One of my earliest memories of "maybe I have a problem" was one Saturday morning when mom went to work and I was up early.  When my dad woke up and came to check on me in the family room, his first words were, "what the hell are you eating?" as he looked at the potato chips and can of Pepsi next to me on the floor.  Hey, it was Saturday morning cartoon time!!  Come on, Doc!  Give me a break here...  I was about 11, I think.)

Know what, though?  That breakfast was VEGAN.  Yep.  MMmm, Pepsi and chips.  I was vegan before I even knew what the word was!

Here are some other vegan items, in case you were wondering:

 

I know I said "other," but these are my favorite!

Mmmmm...  Breadsticks.  (If they're made with eggs, they're not vegan, but you can easily do French bread without eggs.)

OK, Pop Tarts without frosting suck.  But they're vegan.

EVERYTHING'S better when it sits on a Ritz.

OMG!!!  FRITOS ARE VEGAN?????

I haven't tried these, but am not against the idea :)

So.  "OK, just what the heck is your point?"  Hang on, I'm getting there.  The thing is that pretty much everyone (I learned that statistic in a non-scientific survey entitled "what do you think about the vegan diet" that I pretty much asked myself the question for) figures that the vegan diet is a healthy diet.  I'm here to tell you as a lifelong fan of convenience foods that nothing could be further from the truth.  Like ANY diet, food plan, lifestyle, or whatever you call how you get nutrients into your body, vegans can be subject to the same problems and issues that caused the problem in the first place!

Wait, what?  That sucks.  You mean I have to watch what I eat even if it's free of all of those nasty animal products that cause high cholesterol, increased weight gain, etc.?  Yep.  And sugar?  Dude.  Sugar is vegan!  It's a plant!  Wooohoooo, get my spoon and bring my box of Froot Loops (mhmm - also vegan).  Wow.  This could get ugly again.

BUT...  All is not lost!  I've mentioned that I'm a lifetime member of Weight Watchers, and I learned lots of great things from them.  The first leader I was fortunate to be acquainted with, Nancy Bruins, had several great little sayings to remind us of things.  (My favorite, though it doesn't fit what I'm saying, was "true fact?"  She would ask that when she said something obvious, like "if you eat three elephant ears at the fair, you'll be off your plan for the day. True fact?"  And we'd nod and chuckle.  Nancy passed several years ago, and the world lost a very cool person.)  One of the other things from WW - "if it's icky, be picky!"  Sometimes, when craving something sugary, I'll grab for almost anything.  And sometimes it's not so good!  And yes, sometimes I'll eat it anyway because I want the sweetness.  Icky?  PUT IT DOWN and walk away.  It's not worth it.  (I do understand that the obverse of this is to go find something you do like, like a bag of m&m's, but still...)  

Here's the best one, though, and it works for me most of the time.  I don't know if "red light foods" is a WW term or if Lisa came up with it herself, but it really works.  She talked about levels of food based on health, cravings, points, etc.  For me, the "cravings" category was the strongest.  And she would have us rank them - "green light" foods were things that were in the program, that we could eat without getting out of control, and that were considered healthful.  So veggies, fruits, and many other obvious things went in that category.  Yellow lights were things that we knew could potentially cause trouble but weren't the highest risk.  Red light foods?  Don't even start them.  I have a whole list of red light foods.  There are things I should never even start eating, and I try to keep them out of my house.  Friends of ours have a little candy dish in their kitchen that is always filled with m&m's.  RED LIGHT!  "Oooh, look, m&m's!  And moments later a half-pound bag is gone.  So I try to keep away from them, because I know it will end badly.  How do people keep those in the open, out of the bag, and not just devour them?  Clearly not a red light food in that house.

Now I find out that there are vegan foods that have to be red lighted.  I'm not sure how many others out there can demolish the above-pictured bag of Fritos in a single sitting.  I can.  And I'm not even breathing hard.  Unfrosted Pop Tarts would be a green light food for me, because I'd maybe eat one.  Not a fan in general; take off the frosting and there's no point to the thing at all.

And my journey of discovery and health continues on the path that I've chosen.  The foods you choose, be they vegan, paleo, vegetarian, or omnivore, are up to you.  Any or all of them can cause weight gain or other problems for your body and health, though, so you need to know the potential for anything that you try.  Yesterday's meals for me did include eggs and cheese (call me a non-vegan or whatever you want, I still love the occasional egg and don't plan to give them up), and I even had some sausage in my hash brown omelette.  THAT I can easily give up, but it's still something that I enjoy eating.  

Back on the wagon today!  The best about doing all of this is realizing that 1) I don't feel as good when I don't eat well; 2) I know that I can be satisfied, even full, when I do eat well; 3) because this isn't a "diet" I don't feel like I've cheated per se.  I know I can readjust and get back on track easily (whoa, another train thing, though I used "track" again...).  Maybe #3 is just a different mindset or outlook for me, though.  I mean, I still cheated, but maybe I've decided a more positive thought for what happened.  Those who really know me are wondering if I had to actually look up the word "positive" to check how it's spelled...  (I didn't, by the way - I can be very positive  that something will go wrong, after all.)  

So there you go.  Please forgive the rambling nature of this one, but sometimes I don't really have the time to connect all the dots; you'll have to do that yourself today!  I'm off to do some stuff for the day, like go to school, have a coffee with a friend, and then PT, bike ride, and chiropractor, so the blogging has to be done.  See you soon!  I'll leave you with this, from some point in my past: