Well, today is Sunday, and I made it through the week! Excluding a bite of chicken nachos and that corn dog from the Mumford & Sons concert (which I cannot honestly say with 100% certainty that it contained meat) I have followed a vegetarian diet this week. It’s okay to tell my dad now, he read my blog.. his brain didn’t explode, so I think we’re going to be okay! Maybe he’ll learn how to cook black bean burgers! I bet he would be an amazing vegetarian cook!
This week, Skinny Bitch says to give up something new in addition to the last vice I purged from my diet (animal protein). I think this week will be refined sugars. Chapter Three of Skinny Bitch is titled “Sugar is the Devil.” They say refined sugar, a simple carbohydrate, has been linked to hypoglycemia, yeast overgrowth, a weakened immune system, hyperactivity, attention deficit disorder, enlargement of the liver and kidneys, increase of uric acid in the blood, mental and emotional disorders, dental cavities (duh), and an imbalance of neurotransmitters in the brain. Freedman & Barnouin, Skinny Bitch, 29 (citing “Sugar Blues,” National Nutrition.) If that wasn’t enough to select sugar as my week two vice, refined sugar = fatty fat fat; the excess sugar is stored in the liver as glycogen and when the liver is too full the excess sugar is returned to the bloodstream as fatty acids that go straight to the hips, stomach, thighs, and butt. Pass. Unfortunately, refined sugar is found in EVERYTHING, so it is going to be a rough week.
On the bright side, I already use stevia as an alternative sugar substitute so that is easy! and Skinny Bitch provides a plethora of suggestions for vegan alternative sweets: Uncle Eddie’s vegan cookies, Tropical Source or Terra Nostra chocolate bars, Oreo knock-offs by Back to Nature or Country Choice, organic Fig Newmans, and all the cookies by the Sun Flour Baking Co. and the Alternative Baking Co., just to name a few. So wish me luck! Here is to a week without refined sugar and meat!
Sweets by Lamb 