So many food plans, so much information.

There are so many different types of vegans. The "I'll eat whatever I want as long as it's vegan" vegans, the no-salt-added vegans, the oil-free vegans, the raw food vegans, the macrobiotics vegans, the vegans who emphasis drinking green smoothies and green juices, the vegans who say it's better to chew your greens than to drink them, the "the only sugar I use are dates," vegans, the gluten free vegans, the wheat loving vegans, the vegans who say the only supplement you need to take is vitamin B12 and you'll get the rest from your food, the vegans who advocate still talking supplements beyond vitamin B12 ...and then, there are the handful of doctor-writers (Furhman, Hyman, Campbell, Esselstyn, McDougall) who I admire and trust but who have varying opinions on eating animal products, consuming gluten, or cooking with added oils... and I recently learned about the Whole30 Plan from a friend who's currently doing it (the 30 day plan basically advocates eating meat, eggs, tons of vegetables, fruits, nuts, seeds, and healthy oils. no sugar or artificial sweetners, legumes, or grains) and I am intrigued by it.

Sometimes I don't know exactly who to believe and I do alot of jumping around/ moving on to the next thing instead of sticking with one plan consistently and for a reasonable amout of time to find out if it really works for me. A little over a year ago I decided I wanted to be vegan. And even though I have been far from consistent in living that out, it was one of the best decisions I've ever made because I've learned so much about what it means to eat well, and truly be healthy. I've reached a point where while my aspiration is still, to be vegan, I don't know how long it'll stay that way. If I ever decide that I want to make meat a consistent part of my diet again 99% of the time it'll be organic, grass-fed meat from animals who were humanely treated and I probably wouldn't eat it more than once or twice a week. These "meat eating boundaries" are important to me because 1.abstaining from meat isn't just about health for me. It's also very much a moral/ ethical issue. I don't think it's inherently wrong to eat animals. I do think factory farming is wrong, evil even, unnecessary, and unhealthy for all involved, and it is a well-researched fact that the vast amount of meat we eat has a severe negative impact on the environment. So having those beliefs and knowing those things would really compromise my integrity if I were to just casually pop a piece of meat in my mouth. 2. once or twice a week is probably all I'd be able to afford lol; when it comes to meat, going the sustainable, ethical route can be pricey! (it would be less so however if more people demanded a change!) Anyway that is the distant future, if it even happens at all.

For now, I am sure that I want to abstain from the following things 99% of the time, for the forseeable future: dairy in every form , all refined grains and refined grain products, refined sugar, processed foods and snacks, refined oils. For the short-term future, i.e the next 6 weeks, gluten and any sugar at all (except for the natural sugars in whole fruits) is on that list. After I get through 6 weeks straight of not having any of those things then I'll make another decision about where to go next.

I'm going to log everything I eat for the next 6 weeks on here! It'll be fun for me and make it less likely for me to make bad food decisions. I look forward to posting my "Day 1" log later today!