Oh boy, the machine is revving up. My imagination is in overdrive. I keep coming at it from all angles, and from every side, this is workable. But there’s no way it’s not going to take a while. So a certain amount of my energy is going to be spent keeping myself motivated. Pounds coming off will of course be the best motivator. But that’s going to take a while as well. Hell, I’m not even officially starting until Monday—Gramma’s birthday, in hopes that I live at least as long as she did. In the meantime, I’ll imagine all the tasty ways I can combine vegetables, all the soups I can make and consume a whole freaking gallon of in a day if I feel like it, all the smoothie recipes, all the watermelon I’ll eat next summer. Yeah, the more I think of it, the more I realize that going vegan has made this possible. I was not enthused about giving up fat last year. In fact I don’t think I could imagine doing so. Going vegan conditioned me for this, thank god.
There are things I’m a little anxious about, though, mainly giving up caffeine and reducing my salt intake to the bare minimum. But I will ease into it. Hey, I gave up bacon, chicken, cheese and eggs. I can do anything!
What else will keep me motivated is all the research I’ll be doing. I need to get a super-blender. I need to stock up on different kinds of seeds and seasonings. I need to collect recipes. I need to refine my produce preparation workflows. I need to read up on all the vegan tricks to make things delicious. I need to find all the best produce places nearby. I need to look up the salt content of things I want to eat. I need to look up success stories and criticism. I need to plan my diet to be as varied as possible. I need to start buying herbal teas again. Etc., etc.
The bottom line is, I’m doing this instead of bariatric surgery. Either way I’d have to watch my diet like a hawk for the foreseeable future. This way I get to keep my internal organs intact.
Eat Like a Giraffe 