Day 8: Food Does the Body Good

I finished an entire cereal box yesterday. And I still refused to add soy milk to it.

Breakfast: Orange Juice and Fitness cereal

I'm back to eating fruit!

Lunch: Grape leaves, Mountain Dew and a mango

I don't know if grape leaves are as widespread as they are here, but they definitely should be. And, hands down, our house makes the best ones. Which is saying a lot since I usually refuse to eat so much stuff that we make.

I feel like the sentence above didn't make sense, but I can't bring myself to change it.

After lunch, we went to my grandfather's house, where I ate...

Dinner: three pastries

There was nothing else I could eat! But then I went home and I managed to...

Snack: Eat cereal until the box was empty

Hey, at least I'm off the candy.

My New Candy: I forgot to add in the picture yesterday the Henrik Ibsen book I also bought.

I'd read his plays just for the 'do he has going for him

He writes a lot about social issues, and his plays are pretty short, nothing really epic, but they are all really good. I've read three so far (A Doll's House, the Master Builder, and An Enemy of the People) and I've enjoyed all of them.

Day 7: Awesome Saturdays, Tomatoes, and Books

One week down!

Breakfast: Fitness cereal, no milk (still haven't got the guts to drink it alone :S)

After "breakfast', I went to the bookstore! YAY!!!

I've been wanting to read Leo Tolstoy's War and Peace for such a loooonnnngggg time, so when I found out that the bookstore had it, I reserved it. And, after an incident where some other girl named Farah took the book instead of me, I finally have it!

Also, that means that I went to the bookstore twice this week... This is the loot I managed to bag.

Books (top to bottom): War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy, Girls Night In by a compilation of authors,  Shadowland by Meg Cabot, Frankenstein by Mary Shelley, Mr. Darcy's Diary by Maya Slater, No Logo by Naomi Klein, Pride and Prejudice and Zombies by Seth Grahame-Smith, Every Boy's Got One by Meg Cabot, The Hobbit by J. R. R. Tolkein, The Horse and His Boy AND Prince Caspian by C. S. Lewis, British Women in the Ninteenth Century by Kathryn Gleadle, The Magician's Nephew & The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe by C. S. Lewis, The King's Speech by Mark Logue and Peter Conradi

Doesn't it seem that I just wrote a lot more for the description than I normally write for entire blog posts? Huh...

Anyway, today (well, you know, yesterday) was my family's gathering, first one I've been to since I became a vegan!

Lunch (at my grandma's house): Rice and Salad w/ water

I tried tomatoes for the first time, too! And I found out why I've been avoiding them all my life!

they do NOT taste good and have caused me psychological damage
...
I mean, more than I already had.

No, here is a point of contention. Usually, rice is cooked in (rough translating here!) chicken water. So basically, a chicken had already been boiling in it or whatever (I'm not very clear on the details) and then they fry (how do they cook rice, anyway? Fry, broil, bake?) the rice on it.

I am allowing myself a free pass here... I didn't ask my grandma how they made the rice, and I don't think I want to. But I do know that here in our house, that's how we do it, and I think I'll allow myself a free pass on this one, because no one is going to agree to make a rice just for me.

Dinner (kinda sorta??): Carmel Frappuccino (soy milk FTW!), Chiplets and a Mountain Dew

So I left the gathering with my cousin and we stopped by Starbucks. I got myself the awesome carmel frappuccino that I've been denying myself for a while.

And then went home and ate junk food.

Life is good.

My New Candy: If you live in Kuwait and want to go to a good bookstore (which we are somewhat lacking here, or at least one with good prices), you should definitely go to the used book store in Kuwait City.

Visit: www.q8books.com for a small list of the books they offer and also for directions!

If you do go, tell the storekeeper that I sent you :P Maybe I'll get a discount if I generate more customers :P

Day 6: Junkie

I am not cut out to quit so many things at once.

Still haven't broken the vegan code. Threw the healthy food one out the window, though.

Brunch: Peanut Butter and Jelly Sandwich (x2) and Cocktail juice

A meal... I think. Not sure what it actually is though: Chiplets chips (I'm almost too scared to write this: x6), Apple juice (x2), Lime Freez, Mountain Dew, Tic tac, Fruit roll-ups.

So, over a period of five hours, I consumed all of that. And then woke up feeling disgusting and disgruntled. Like I said, I'm writing on a seperate notebook all that I am eating so that I can keep track. I can't look at that paper right now.

I keep saying that I want to be healthier, eating habits-wise, but I am not managing it too well.

But I will persevere. I am definitely not giving up the vegan/trying to be healthy thing, but I should definitely try harder.

Day 5: My Faith is Tested (and MEAN GIRLS!)

I went to a restaurant yesterday... and I still survived. Woot-woot!

Brunch: PB&J sandwich, mango juice, and potato chips

No OJ, which was kind of sad. I had another orange juice gif that I haven't busted out yet.

Dinner: (at the restaurant) Hummus, Bread, Baked potato, grape leaves, lemonade w/ mint

Usually, I'm all like:

But this time I actually managed to control myself and eat properly so:

I went to eat at Mais Al- Ghanim with my family, and I think that that was the first time I have ever been there and did not eat the chicken tikka. It's sooo good. But I had my grape leaves to console me, so it was fine.

I thought it might be harder to resist eating at resturaunts and, well, I won't say it wasn't hard, but all it takes is self-control. For example, my baked potato had nothing in it. Just a plain ol' empty potato. Seeing as one of my great romances began with me and cheese, not adding any condiments to the potato was very hard.

But, it was all good. I ate a good healthy meal, and I had a good time.

However, I ate no fruits today, so that was bad... I need to drink orange juice tomorrow, at least.

My New Candy: Watch any movie/tv show/sketch/anything that Tina Fey has been a part of. She's awesome!

Most importantly, watch:

And a Harry Potter version:

Aaaaand The Beatles quote Mean Girls, too:

Day 4: The Wagon

I've fallen off the wagon. Not the vegan bandwagon, mind you, but the 'healthy food-only' bandwagon.

Yesterday, I ate a bunch of food that can be clumped into a breakfast/lunch/dinner (brunner?) combo.

Brunner: 3 Potato chips bags, 2 Mountain Dews, 2 Tutti Fruttis

This is supposed to be me crying and distraught over the food choices I've made

Maybe giving up all dairy and meat products and candy and soda was just too much. I should focus on something that I do want to stop eating, which I guess in this case is only going to be animal products.

Not to say that I won't try to stop myself from eating junk, it's just that I will realize that the human body cannot take it if so much was removed from it, and might crack under the strain.

Or not. I just made that thing up to make me feel better.

My New Candy: None. I ate so much candy yesterday it's not like I'm going to need any more to eat...

Day 3: (Poems about) History!

YAY! :)

Breakfast: Falafel, hummus and the ever-present OJ

A good meal all-around. Seriously, I feel like, now that I'm a vegan, I've been expanding my food choices, instead of being limited in what I eat.

It's been awhile since I've eaten falafel, but now that it seems that I kind of have to eat it, or I'll have nothing to eat with my orange juice, I did eat it. Yes, riveting story, I know. Alert the NYT.

Lunch: Peanuts and Mountain Dew

Can we just agree that there has to a meal a day where I completely throw away my 'no junk food' promise and eat an unhealthy meal with no value whatsoever? Thank you.

Although, peanuts.. I guess that's sort of healthy. Good source for protein, anyway.

Dinner: Peanut butter and jelly sandwich and Mango juice

This is the first time I've ever had a PB&J sandwich..

No milk, though

My New Candy: I've had a book of Robert Burns' poems for a while now, but never read it. The first poem of the book was written in very Scottish, I guess is the right word for it. Ex: old was auld and over was o'er, stuff like that. As soon as I saw that, I put the book back in the shelf immediately. I get enough confusing 'Ye Olde' English from Shakespeare, thank you very much. Yesterday, I was looking around my books, and started leafing through my copy of A Night Out With Robert Burns: The Greatest Poems and stopped at this poem:

There'll Never Be Peace Till Jamie Comes Hame

By yon castle wa' at the close of the day,
I heard a man sing, tho his head it was grey,
And as he was singing, the tears doon came -
'There'll never be peace till Jamie comes hame!'

'The Church is in ruins, the State is in jars,
Delusion, oppressions, and murderous wars,
We dare na weel sayl but we ken wha's to blame
There'll never be peace till Jamie comes hame!

'My seven braw sons for Jamie drew sword,
But now I greet round their green beds in the yerd;
It brak the sweet heart o my faithfu auld dame -
There'll never be peace till Jamie comes hame!

'Now life is a burden that bows me down,
Sin I tint my bairns, and he tint his crown;
But till my last moments my words are the same -
There'll never be peace till Jamie comes hame!'

Meaning of unusual words:
wa'=wall
greet=weep
yerd=kirkyard
sin I tint=as I lost
bairns=children

Burns, Robert, and Andrew O'Hagan. "There'll Never Be Peace Till Jamie Comes Home." A Night Out With Robert Burns: The Greatest Poems. Edinburgh: Canon Gate, 2009. 191. 

I really liked it! Very patriotic!

Robert Burns

Day 2: Summer Jobs and Jon Stewart (SJ and JS!)

I HAVE A SUMMER JOB!

More on that later; for now, here is what I ate for my second vegan day:

Breakfast: OJ and cookies

Orange juice is awesome, and the cookies were just there so I ate them too.

I ate all that after I went to the doctor's to get my blood checked up on. Hopefully, I'll have the results in a couple of days.

Lunch: Strawberry soy milkshake and popcorn

I don't need to write if everything I'm eating is soy or vegan, right? I mean, that's kind of a given..

Okay, so popcorn may not be the healthiest of lunches, but I really had nothing to eat and I didn't feel like eating the burger just yet.

On the plus side I drank the soy milk!

Jon Stewart is happy for me

I was still a little too hesitant to drink it alone so I had to make it into a milkshake (added frozen strawberries and sugar, and Ta-DA!). I liked it, I really did. So far, the vegan experience had been good for me.

Dinner: Mountain Dew and Veggie Burger

Yes, I did drink Mountain Dew.. As a vegan who said she'd like to be healthy, I don't really seem to be doing that today.

And now Jon is disappointed

On the plus side.. The burger was really good.

Any who, dinner was after I went to LoYAC and got myself a job! Details as soon as I manage to work them out :) Woot-woot!

My New Candy: I think it just makes sense for me to recommend Jon Stewart's The Daily Show, because it's awesome and he's just so pretty. And because I just unleashed all the relevant Jon Stewart gifs I could find.

Day 1: And So It Begins

So apparently, the way I'm going to be doing this blog is just blogging the day after about what happened the day before. That seems easier for me, as there is less pressure at night to get the post out. And, also, what if I decide to have a little midnight snack at 1 A.M.? No, this way is better:

For my first day, this what I ate:

Breakfast: freshly squeezed orange juice (henceforth, and forever will be called, OJ) , a few handfuls of Kellog's Fitness cereal, wheat baguette, and KDD's Lemonade juice.

I usually don't eat breakfast because it's morning and my brain is not fully functional at the time, and is unable to digest food, but I actually had a fulfilling meal for once. Props for me!

After I went to school and did my last exam (whoo-hoo!), which officially ended my Junior year, my mom and I went to The Sultan Center and picked up some stuff for me to eat like popcorn (no butter.. sad),  cereal, veggie burgers, soy milk (normal and chocolate flavor!) and cookies.

Lunch: Lemonade juice, a Amy's Kitchen veggie burger on wheat bread, and Tutti Frutti candy (x2)

For lunch, I had lemon juice to drink, again, and a veggie burger. I was a bit hesitant to eat the burger, though I had promised myself that I would be open to trying new things, now that I'm a vegan. It was actually really good. I liked it and would probably have it for dinner tomorrow, too.

And of course, I ate candy. I know, I'm supposed to quit but... well, I have no excuse. I'll just sit in the corner and cry.

Dinner: Corn, Hot chocolate milk

Unusual (disgusting?) mixture, but I didn't eat them together. I ate 1/3 of a can of corn for dinner, then felt completely full. A few hours later came the hot chocolate soy milk. It's been a while since I've had hot chocolate without marshmallows, but seeing as the marshmallows we had at home contained fish gelatin, I had to pass.

Again, I did like the hot chocolate. Maybe tomorrow I'll try the soy milk.

My New Candy: The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins. I read them last summer, and I'm rereading them again. SO GOOD! For a post-Harry Potter world, THG might actually be the new 'nerd' fandom :)

Day 0: Oh, Rapturous Day!

*** Sorry, I should've posted this last night, but I fell asleep. :( Last posts, already, I know...

This is it, the moment I give up my non-vegan ways.

At the moment, with me pigging out with my Nerds and Mountain Dew (my elixir of life), this seems a little impossible.

Because that's the thing: I'm not just going to be giving up eating anything non vegan (meat, dairy products, etc.) but I also want to give up eating anything that is unhealthy. So, no candy and preferably, no caffeine products. I'm borrowing a phrase from Fat Cat here when I say that there are some people who live off candy and soda because there are no animal products in them. I don't want to be like that.

However, if I start rolling on the floor, fainting, and foaming at the mouth (as I enivitably see happening), yearning for a single drop of Coke, well, then I suppose I just must have some.

The Big Bang Theory is awesome. That is all.

How the blogging thing is going to work is like this:

I will spend the entire day eating (like a vegan), drinking (like a vegan), and excesing (like a human being), all the while writing it in a notebook (because I want to have cold, hard evidence of all that I'm doing, and to keep track of things). After that, I'll transfer the information into the blog.


I'm going to the doctor to get my blood check out, and any other things that I think might be necessary (BMI, weight). At the end of the experiment, which it to day, by the end of the summer, I'll see what my weight, iron, BMI, cholesterol and all the other things are, and compare them to what I had when I was eating junk and meat and dairy.


NEW LINGO:


Since I won't be eating candy, which to me, should be on the food pyramid, probably at the base, I've decided that I'll make something up, something that I'll call 'My New Candy' at the end of each blog.


It'll basically just be things that I'm enjoying right now, which are drawing my attention away from my love of sweet, sugary, amazing, beautiful food.


I think I'm backing out of being a vegan already.

Where To Begin...

I suppose that the best place to start is at the beginning.

Here are the basics: my name is Farah, I'm a 16 year-old girl living in Kuwait, and this summer, for myself as well as for a school [CAS] project, I decided to be a vegan.

I got this idea from reading a book called Fat Cat by author Robin Brande.

Isn't the cover great? LOVE IT!

It is about a girl who decides to eat like a caveperson (Homo erectus, to be exact) for seven months for a science project, documenting the entire experience in a notebook.

I'm taking it a step further. I am becoming a vegan for the summer, and I will be blogging the entire experience.

I will also be monitoring my blood activity, weight, and body mass index to see what the differences will be after eating vegan for 3 months.

I hope you enjoy the blog! :)