Going vegan?

Well, maybe. We'll see.

About 2 weeks ago Kurt went to Chipotle for lunch and ran into some friends that we haven't seen in awhile. They invited him to join them while they all ate. He called me afterwards and told me that they had switched to a vegan diet and that they love it and feel great. They also recommended watching Forks over Knives (or something like that).

Now, I am always, ALWAYS, trying to get my family to eat better. And Kurt will always say that he wants to eat better but then he will go to the store for one thing, usually milk, and come home with 10 boxes of cereal. Sugar cereal. And I shake my head and say "where's the guy who wants to eat better?" and he will say "he's over here eating a bowl of Lucky Charms." Or he'll do something like this:

Buying 24 boxes of brownie mix at one time. And I just shake my head because I love him and he loves his sweets.

But he was really interested in this vegan diet idea. So while he finished up his day working, I got on the computer and researched vegan diets. Turns out they are totally free of any and all animal products. Nothing from animals . . . including eggs. I called up my man and told him that eggs (and therefore brownies, cookies, cakes, etc.) were out. He said "well that was fun being vegan." He lasted 2 whole hours =)

But the seed got planted in my brian because 1) I don't eat that much dairy because I am lactose intolerant and 2) I'm not a big meat eater. I have watched some documentaries, like Food Inc., about our country and what is being done to our food. And it worries me.

So then last week I had a dr. appointment with my all time favorite doctor. He is my Nephrologist (kidney doctor). He is awesome and funny and super smart and I swear he doesn't blink - ever! The thing is that I am not "sick" enough to see him regularly, which I soooooo appreciate, but I really like his advise and his outlook on things. He is very proactive. So I try to get in and see him when I can.

So how do I make this simple and not way long? Basically he said that my system shows signs of someday developing lupus, which is bad, so we should try to do everything we can to prevent a flare up. While my other doctors are just waiting for something to happen, he says we should try to prevent anything from happening. During our discussion it came up that I am lactose intolerant. He said "well you should avoid dairy like nut allergy people avoid nuts." Wow. That was pretty serious. He explained that every time I eat dairy, my system has an allergic reaction to it and that causes an inflamed  state. We want to avoid those at all costs. Makes sense to me.

So Kurt asked him about a vegan diet for me, notice he didn't say for "us" =)  The doctor said that it could help me avoid flaring up my system. Oh, and by the way, we were in there because of a kidney stone on my left side, so we talked about diet and kidney stones which he said meat can contribute to those. He explained the scientific process of what happens when meat breaks down but it was way over my head (see, he's smart). So basically, I should avoid meat and dairy. Sounds vegan to me.

So I tried it this last week. I bought a ton of veggies and fruits and tried my best to avoid animal products. And honestly, by Friday, I was STARVING! So I have added some meat back into my diet. I have a referral in to a dietitian so hopefully she will call next week. I am really looking forward to talking to her and figuring out what else I can eat that will fill me up.

So I may not be totally vegan. I may have some weird made up Jennifer diet but it will be interesting to see how it makes me feel. I am very excited!