Day 8-11....feelin good

This week has gone by too fast! I am glad though because if I feel the week is going by fast than that means I have been busy and productive which is alot more than I can say about last week. My first five days of going vegan my body was in detox mode and I felt like crap most of the time. This week however I have noticed a marked difference in the amount of energy and overall general lightness or cleanness. In fact I feel like I would love to burst out of the door at times and just run......and I don't run......ever.....unless maybe I was being chased by a killer zombie or something. With temperatures being in the negatives however, running will have to wait.

Overall I have noticed my edema(severe water retention and swelling) is pretty much gone, my belly which always had some swelling (not counting the fat) has gone down and even though I have not stepped on the scale once, I am positive I have lost weight. The one thing that has gotten worse has been my scalp. It is dry and has flaky red spots that itch. My nurse friend says this could be from my body still detoxing a bit or simply the new shampoo I am trying out. If it doesn't improve I will have it checked out but for now I am just dealing with it.

Although I have not slipped and have eaten pure 100% vegan this entire time I have slipped and ate some vegan items that were higher in fat like nut butters and a little oil in my cooking. Of course the amount of fat I have eaten over these entire 11 days has been less than I use to eat in only one or two days so I feel I am making progress anyway. I know I feel better and that is what counts.

I find that mornings are when I crave something sweet the most so I did myself a favor and made me a vegan friendly chocolate smoothie in my new Ninja. It is basically just some bananas, a little vegan friendly sugar, vanila, unsweetened cocoa and ice. Simple but satisfying.

I did make some vegan lasagna this week as well but it was not that big of a hit with myself or the family so I will try a different version next time. One thing that did make a big hit was a yellow split pea soup curry type dish. I got the recipe here. I followed the recipe exactly except I used yellow mustard seeds since I couldn't find the black mustard seeds. Also I used white sweet potatoes by accident. I will say that this soup smells fantastic cooking and simmering on the stove. My youngest was even willing to try it for lunch because she had smelled it for a few hours cooking and thought it smelled yummy. We had a bowl for lunch  and then since I had such a huge pot leftover, I served it over rice for dinner that night. Hubby and son both liked it as well and I have a new found love of yellow split peas.