The much anticipated numbers are in. I have finished my three-month vegan diet experiment to see if I could lower my cholesterol numbers by changing to a plant-based diet. I would be lying if I said that it has been easy.
I also confess, I did “cheat” a handful of times. (Once at a French restaurant with a heavenly cheese omelet) and sometimes I made up my own “loosey goosey” guidelines like eating Italian bread or dipping some eggplant in egg batter before frying. (Hey! It was just for a second!) Occasionally I treated myself to a cup of tea with milk and sugar. I was reminded of that scene in “Harold and Maude” when Maude coaxes Harold into trying wine for the first time by saying “Don’t worry. It’s organic!” I can rationalize almost anything.
Going out to eat when you are a vegan can make you a real pain in the butt. “Do they serve quinoa?” Or going to a friend’s house for dinner. “No, this head of lettuce is just fine. Well, how could you have known that chicken is considered meat?” I wish I had a dollar for every time I scrapped the cheese off a slice of pizza and then cried.
On the positive side, I do have more energy; I have rediscovered my joy of cooking; and I lost weight (12 lbs.). It gets easier with time and feels much less like deprivation than it does a lifestyle. So I am going to continue doing the best I can with this new way of eating, without becoming too obsessed with the “rules.” I think a small indulgence into the world of dairy products once in a while won’t kill me and as for that cupcake I am going to eat on my birthday…Don’t worry. It’s organic!
So here are the results:
Before
Cholesterol-209
LDL-143
HDL-54
After
Cholesterol-197
LDL-120
HDL-54
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