Kim,
It is bad enough that I am 50 and have less years ahead of me than before me. It now seems that those precious years are to be exponentially less enjoyable. Why, you may ask? Cholesterol and my aversion to taking medicine. Since I won’t let my doctor prescribe me meds to control said cholesterol, my only other choice is to be on a low-carb, plant-based diet. What does that mean? It means that I am now a vegan. No joke.
Don’t let anyone tell you otherwise, being vegan isn’t kind, at least it isn’t being kind to me. I’ve become acquainted with kale chips (this is nothing even close to a potato chip), miso paste (what are the Japanese thinking?), nutritional yeast (don’t ask), and millet (still not quite sure what I think about it). I’ve given up bacon, cheese, eggs, butter, chocolate, pasta, and God’s perfect creation- pizza.
Of course, one is going to lose weight on a plant-based diet. No one in their right mind thinks puréed tofu and mushrooms can ever be fooled into thinking that is a delicious imitation of Stroganoff sauce or that tempeh could in anyway be confused for meat. One serving of shepherds pie, where the meat is replaced by lentils and cauliflower purée is a substitute for mashed potatoes, is more than enough for me, thank you very much.
Low carb also means that bread is a thing of the past, sugar is a dirty word and fruit is limited to berries, apples and an occasional piece of melon. With my limited acceptable vegetable tolerance, I’m screwed if there is another ecoli outbreak with spinach.
My only saving grace is if I can get my weight and cholesterol under control, I can start to gradually add back in some animal protein – but not more than 3 oz per day, and some more complex carbs – hello sweet potatoes.
Getting old sucks eggs – sorry, make that fake egg substitutes. Real eggs have too much cholesterol.
If you have any good vegan recipes, (is there even such a thing?), shoot them my way. I’m pretty desperate.
Hungry and hankering for a grilled cheese sandwich.
carbloversgovegan.com 