Hello from Seattle

[FITLaur]

Hi there! I'm Lauren. I'm 22 years old.

I have been vegan since the beginning of this year. I started in the middle of January 2009. So far I love it and I'm honestly surprised I've made it this far. I've had a few downfalls though. I suppose everyone has-we're all human. This summer I did a lot of traveling which made things difficult at times to not stick to a vegan diet completely.

 

When I traveled in the Midwest (Indiana) to visit family, there were never any vegan (or even vegetarian for that matter!) choices on the menus when I ate out. On most occasions I had to resort to a salad and be creative with toppings, and let me tell you. Salads got old-fast!

 

In Seattle, I feel pretty blessed to have a friendly vegan community (at least in the city). There are numerous restaurants that offer vegan options and here on the west coast, I've found that there's always (at least) a vegetarian option on every menu at every restaurant. The west coast is very progressive compared to parts of the Midwest. I feel like after returning from my trip, I realized that I had kindive taken this for granted-the amount of vegan/vegetarian options around here.

 

I'll be honest, it's been about 4 months since I've set foot inside a gym and when I got back home, I found myself turning from a vegan into a lazy vegan and then a vegetarian! Ack! There were a few nights where I would come home after being out all night and get the drunk munchies for a... dun dun dun! quesadilla made with REAL cheese! Bad vegan. Bad bad bad!

 

BUT! <--- there is always a but

I started to consciously realize the habits I was starting to fall into and today made a pledge with myself to get back to eating vegan and being strict with myself. After all, when it comes to making drastic changes in your life, you're nothing without self discipline.

 

When I first went vegan I had a few tough first days, but then I got myself familiar with the lifestyle and got it down pat and that allowed me to stay strictly vegan-that lasted for about... ooh i'd say 6 months. I want to get back to having that stance. I want to be able to turn down the mozzarella cheese sticks when my friends and I do a late night Jack in the Box run, I don't want to gorge myself with a cheese quesadilla (where you can visibly see all of the oil running off the plate after cooking it in the microwave-ew!) to cure a hangover, I want to start embracing the vegan lifestyle and philosophy again.

 

This forum looks like a good place to start! You all seem like, like-minded souls.

 

http://i81.photobucket.com/albums/j235/LaurLaurLove/IMG_4702.jpg

pic is me at burning man this year! Any of you get the chance to go?

 

~Lauren

 

PS. Sorry for a freakin' novel. Sometimes I get way way waaaay ahead of myself. It was good to vent, though.

[CollegeB]

Instead of being so focused on the vegan diet, get into vegan ethics. From the many examples in the world of vegans gone bad, I have yet to see someone who is ethically vegan falling off the wagon. Good luck with your goals.

[Vegan Joe]

Wecome!

Have fun with your exercise routine!

Have you watch the movie Earthings?

Here is a link.

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-8655541224775286050&q=Earthlings#

It is a very sad but eye opening movie for me.

[xjohanx]

Welcome to the forums. A lot of people "fall off the wagon" so to speak and for most it takes time to adjust. I had a hard time going vegetarian at first because I really loved the taste of meat but once I fully made the commitment I never looked back. Going vegan was real easy for me because I never liked dairy or egg except for some fake meat products they were in. But I sorta faded it out by first going vegan in school, then at home, then when eating out/at someone elses place and whoops I was vegan. Don't feel bad about it, no one is 100% but if everyone would try their best it would be more than enough

 

Again, welcome!

[Marcina]

So how long have you actually been vegan? Since you went back to lacto-ovo vegetarian after January.. How long have you been eating strictly vegan foods?

[FITLaur]

So how long have you actually been vegan? Since you went back to lacto-ovo vegetarian after January.. How long have you been eating strictly vegan foods?

 

I made the switch from Omni straight to vegan (no vegetarian lifestyle in between) in the middle of January this year and stuck to it, being pretty strict until the end of June when I started traveling and it became no longer convenient due to location. :-/ So I was a strict vegan for 6 months.

 

Today, actually... is my first day going back to a completely vegan lifestyle, no animal products at all. So far so good. This forum has helped with the tough love'

[MaryStella]

Awesome to have you here.

[lobsteriffic]

Welcome!

 

I live in a very vegan un-friendly location and it does make it tough, but not impossible. Congrats with getting 'back on the wagon'

[Octopussoir]

hey welcome. Hope you can find a date!

[FITLaur]

Welcome!

 

I live in a very vegan un-friendly location and it does make it tough, but not impossible. Congrats with getting 'back on the wagon'

 

Thanks! You have beautiful blue eyes, btw. I would kill for eyes the color of yours.

 

Aha! No dates so far, but for now I've just been kinda taking some time to really focus on doing a lot of research on the vegan diet for athletes (THRIVE Diet) and focusing on training at the gym again!

[Im Your Man]

Hi and welcome !

It has been easy for me to become vegan thanks to this forum.

When you are travelling, you can look on happycow.net to see if there is any vegan restaurants nearby or some health food stores. If not, you can go to a grocery store instead of the restaurant and there is always plenty of vegan food.

[Aaron]

and get the drunk munchies for a...

 

Do you guys have awesome foodcarts up there like we do in portland? We've got a whole corner dedicated to 3am munchies and it's mostly got a ton of vegan options. Fries, crepes, stir fry, burritos, pies... Yum! And 24 hour vegan donuts @voodoo

[FITLaur]

PDX IS WHERE IT'S AT

Edited October 1, 2009 by FITLaur

[FITLaur]

and get the drunk munchies for a...

 

Do you guys have awesome foodcarts up there like we do in portland? We've got a whole corner dedicated to 3am munchies and it's mostly got a ton of vegan options. Fries, crepes, stir fry, burritos, pies... Yum! And 24 hour vegan donuts @voodoo

 

seriously though... 3AM vegan munchies?! That MUST be heaven. We have quite few vegan options up here, but not nearly as many as you do down in Portland. Someday I want to move there, me thinks...

 

We have this place called Pizza Pi, an all vegan pizzeria in the University District, it's great! but only open till 9. :-/

 

Just a hop and skip away from Pizza Pi is the all vegan convenience store called Sidecar for Pigs Peace. Odd name a bit, but it makes sense when you learn that 100% of the proceeds from the store go to funding for a pig sanctuary, here in Washington. I actually learned about it while attending the Seattle veggiefest this March.

 

We have other vegan-friendly restaurants that I haven't sampled, such as Chaco Canyon Cafe (right off of university and 45th in-again, the University District), there's also The Wayward Cafe (sister restaurant to the Pizzeria-Pizza Pi), haven't been there yet, but I do want to go!

 

Oh! Oh! Almost forgot.... in Fremont, there's Silence Heart Nest which is a restaurant based on the Buddhist philosophy and every year it closes for the second and third weeks of April (to attend a celebration of Sri Chinmoy’s arrival in the West), and the third and fourth weeks of August (to attend a celebration of Sri Chinmoy’s birthday).

 

It's really fascinating stuff, here's an excerpt from their website:

 

" All of us who work here are students of meditation, and study with the Indian Spiritual Master Sri Chinmoy. The restaurant is a reflection of the impact Sri Chinmoy has had on our lives, and it is inspired by him. His philosophy encourages a sincere inner life with an active outer life. By meditating on the spiritual heart, he teaches, the seeker can discover his own inner treasures of peace, joy, light and love.

 

Our name is taken from a poem written by Sri Chinmoy on our opening day March 18, 1986.

 

Silence-Heart-Nest

Eternity’s silence: The silence that embodies vision, light and delight.

Infinity’s heart: The universal heart that expands and expands.

Immortality’s nest: The nest of birthless and deathless nectar-delight.

- Sri Chinmoy "

 

Students of Indian meditation or not, they served up the best post-drunken Sunday morning breakfast in the world: vegan sausage with biscuits and gravy, probably the best sausage and biscuits and gravy I've ever had, vegan or not!

 

Ah yes and then we Seattlites have ourselves Mighty-O donuts, some of which are vegan.

 

Still... I have been to PDX numerous times and Seattle doesn't even cut corners to the amt of vegan options in Portland. But next time I go there, after my habitual stop at Powells, and a night of drunken fun, I will actively seek out these vegan foodcarts at 3am. Crepes and pies and burritos... you're making me hungry. Guess it's time for breakfast!