Wow apart from my rant a few minutes ago it has been months since I last posed on here!
Many things have been happening & I am hoping to put some of that on my blog Debbie's Deliberations. What is important though on this site is the vegan journey.
I began in Sept to be very intentional with the amount of fats & added oils I put into my body. So I began counting them & finding ways to cook without added oils.
I discovered 'roasting' using only water or tamari & water or water and spices/herbs. Amazingly I soon found I did not miss the oil. I discovered that making salad dressing with just some Balsamic or cider apple vinegar with maybe a touch of argave on the days I craved a sweeter dressing was far fresher tasting that ones made with any oil. When I did use oil it was a very small amount of flax oil. I also made some low fat tofu dressings which then also got uses as a dip & once I mixed it with some puréed chickpeas to make a different hummus.
So with cutting added fats my weight shot down around 12 kg from September to Christmas.
I was very careful over Christmas, making sure my days of indulgences were interspersed with very healthy eating so over the 3 weeks I was a way I only gained about 2 kg - which I lost quite quickly once I got home to Calgary.
While I eat vegan most of the time my one small indulgence was Udi's gluten free bread - unfortunately it has a small amount of egg white in it. I had a blood test in November that showed my allergy to eggs is far worse than my intolerance to gluten. The blood test also revealed a rise in my blood sugar. This is also often caused by fats in the diet and processed grains. So no more Udi's & double checking the amount of fat grams in store bought goods. This has helped as even more healthy processed grains and yummy vegan gluten free treats like muffins, smoked tofu etc have high fat contents & so tend to slow my weight loss down.
However this past month has been incredibly stressful and I have craved bread (comfort food..) and thus more fats. I have tried to make these more healthy - i.e. choosing spelt bread which doesn't affect me the way wheat does and has no egg added & using low fat Veganaise or mashed avocado instead of margarine or higher fat vegan mayo. But the struggle with weight began again & the 2 kg lost has returned.
So I have discovered a couple of things I need to be vigilant over fats and refined carbs in my eating. I have the equivalent to an addiction, when I allow myself to eat processes grains I crave more and almost cannot help myself from gravitating to the bread section of the store. I also think it affects my blood sugar or satiation response, for I feel very full immediately after & somewhat bloated but then when that subdues I feel hungry for ages even after a good healthy meal later.
2013 promises to be a year of major changes in my life so here is the skinny - I am going to continue with the 'no added fats' way of eating, go 'cold turkey' off the addiction to processed grains and look more into food as addictive substances.
Please let me know if you have experienced food addictions, what is going on with your journey to eating more healthily and any recipes you find that are delicious, no added fat & vegan.
May your life be filled with good things and blessings. D
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