So far So good.

Moving from vegetarian to vegan has been an easy move so far. Just cut out the cheese and butter -no problem. :) It's really not that hard. Of course I have my Earth Balance butter-like spread.


I'm going on a Woman's Retreat with my church this weekend where we'll be having 5 meals. I'm a tiny bit nervous about it (food-wise... I'm TOTALLY pumped about it otherwise. We're talking about prayer and I'm really excited about it.). It's just that I'm used to getting questions about vegetarianism and being gluten-free. I've never been asked about being vegan and I know I'll be sitting at a table of 6 women, 5 times... there's bound to be questions , there always is. And people always have opinions about it.

This is actually a really good thing! I really welcome questions. How else are we going to educate/be educated?

Maybe it's just the attention thing. I don't choose my diet to get attention but I'm bound to have all eyes on me at some point during the meal. And I wonder what people think about me.

I'm sure someone will think I'm crazy. Someone will think that I only do it for attention and that I really eat meat at home -when no one is looking (haha!). Someone will be super genuinely interested. Someone will think I have an eating disorder (hahaha!!!). Someone will feel bad for me. Someone will think that I am judging them as they eat. And someone will apologize for eating meat in front of me (I always get a kick out of that).

We'll see how the questions about veganism go... it'll be a new challenge for me. I wish I had Becky there with me to tag team on the questions. She's been vegan for 7 years. She's actually just taken up the gluten free diet as well.

Ha! We'll see how eating goes. That's the real challenge. I'll be bringing a lot of my own food though. I could never expect the camp cooks to be prepared for my diet. Last time I brought some of my own food and they were super accomidating and very nice. :)

It's a done deal.

I have declared veganism. "I am vegan!" As of yesterday evening. :)

I used a couple of weeks to really get used to the idea, stock up on just a few dairy-free products, and had my grand finale this weekend. I had two days of gluten. (Of which I have mixed feelings of excitement and disgust.)

[The reason for gluten and not cheese and eggs is that I really, really, really am not going to have any more wheat days -ever. (I have a wheat day every couple of months so that I have something to look forward to and don't give in on my glutenous cravings.) What would the point be of having a wheat day once I'm vegan? What's a pizza without the cheese?]

I indulged in a few faves -which left me feeling bloated, tired, headache-y, filled with "air," and quite plump:

Macaroni and Cheese
Veggie Corn Dogs
An entire foot long Veggie sub at Subway
Mozz Sticks
Buca (Eggplant and Penne Pasta)
Pizza


On Saturday night, I ate my last bite of pizza and said "I'm done." I felt nasty. And so ready for an exciting change in diet.

So yep, today I was a vegan. Ha! This is crazy.

Going Vegan

I've been a vegetarian for nine years.

It started as a presentation/report in a high-school health class. The topics were assigned randomly. So basically, vegetarianism was not something I sought out or was even interested in.

In my research I found so many benefits of eating a meat-free diet and learned about what eating meat for the rest of my life would do to my health. I couldn't ignore it and making the switch was actually really really easy. I started the very next day and haven't missed it.


I guess I've always been health-minded and pretty "aware" of what I eat. But last year when I found out I was pregnant food become super prominent in my thoughts and I was even more aware of my nutrition. I haven't been able to get becoming vegan out of my head ever since.


I'm so excited to just do it and feel better about it! I know there are things that
I will miss:
Butter
Espresso Coolers at Caribou
Whip and Drizzle! and Caribou
Everything Caribou... I really hope their soy drinks are tasty!
Cheese on my tacos
Sour Cream
Dairy Queen
Provolone on my veggie burgers.

and I know
I won't miss:
Milk -I haven't had a glass in ages. (Besides right after Sully was born -I craved it and it was really weird.)
Eggs -I sometimes can eat them, but if you think about it, dude, they're chicken periods. :-0



It's not like I won't get to eat the things that I want. There are some awesome substitutions out there! They just aren't as readily available and they are a bit pricier.


Ryan is all for it. I'm so lucky that my husband supports me in this! He agrees that it's healthier and all, he just isn't motivated to make any changes in his (already very healthy) diet. That's cool with me. :) (Maybe someday!?)

I'm going about the transition pretty slowly. Making immediate changes has worked well for me with vegetarianism and going gluten free, but I just bought bulk cheese (shredded cheddar and provolone slices) at Sam's Club. :) So I told myself that I'll just make changes until the cheese is gone and that'll be it! Vegan!



For the past week everything but the cheese has been vegan -oh, except for on Easter. I couldn't bare to tell my grandma that I was taking eggs and dairy out of my diet. She makes the best holiday meals... oh man, I don't want to have to tell her.

My new name. :)

Today I was telling Ryan that Sully has a new run of "words" he likes to say. "a-NaNa (NaNa-a-NaNa-NaNa...)" He's been saying this all day. Ryan realized pretty quickly that this was Sully's "Momma."

Isn't that great?! I finally have a name! I'm so happy! He's been saying DaDa for months. And then about a week ago Ryan had him saying "Book."

Dude! I'm seriously with this kid 24/7. I've been waiting for this for quite a while. How did a book get ahead of me?!

But it's all ok now. I've got my new name.

a-NaNa

Contest! Giveaway!

To celebrate my new website going live (woohoo!), I am holding a contest!

(I am so uber excited...)

Here's the dealio.

1. Visit my new photography website at http://www.blogger.com/www.kimkaslphotography.com.

2. Count the veils. (Good luck!) Don't try to count the number of actual of brides wearing veils... count the number of pictures that have a veil in them... make sense?

3. Click onto my photography blog in the bottom left corner of http://www.blogger.com/www.kimkaslphotography.com and click into the "Leave a Reply" comment box.

4. Tell me how many veils you counted. Be sure to include your name and email address so I can reach you if you are the lucky winner!


Wait! What what does the lucky winner... win?
An hour with me! And it's all about you!

A one hour photo-shoot anywhere in the Twin Cities Metro Area!
Engagement, Family, Children, Pets, or, of course, just You! Whatever you like. And you get all the pics on disk!

***Update!*** So counting the veils is a bit tough. :) How about this: Just post a comment on the website's blog for one entry and count the veils for two entries in the drawing! Sound good? Good Luck!♥
***Update***



So count the veils and leave your answer in a comment on my blog. I'll take all of the correct answers and put them in a drawing which will be held on Sunday, April 19 at midnight. The winner will be announced the following Monday

Get counting, commenting, and good luck!

www.kimkaslphotography.com

Kim Kasl Photography

My website is finally live and ready for action!
Check it out! Let me know what you think!


www.kimkaslphotography.com