5 Weeks later

I have been a vegan for the last 5 weeks and I loved it! It was hard at first to completely overhaul my eating habits but it was so worth it.  Michael and I weren't ever unhealthy but after really looking at what I was cooking I realized all the room for improvement.  I lost 4 pounds, and even more importantly I feel so much better!  I don't overeat, my stomach doesn't ever get a sick feeling after a big meal, I am fuller longer and overall my body is working better than it ever has before.  I would recommend this to anyone that is even a little curious about the benefits.
Tomorrow Michael and I board a plane headed for Utah.  My mom and Dad will come pick us up and we will spend the next two relaxing weeks in "the mother land" as Michael likes to call it (mormon joke).  Because we  will be on vacation and also because I could only mentally handle 5 weeks of a crazy new lifestyle, I will not be a practicing vegan for our trip.  I will still be vegetarian because, well lets be honest, meat is kinda gross now that I haven't eaten it for so long.  And when we get back from Utah I will pick up being vegan again.
Full disclousure,  I did cheat a little over the last 5 weeks.  I had a bit of ice cream, and some cheese a couple times but I think that is the way to keep something going.  I will be what is called "mostly vegan" for the foreseeable future.  That means I will still have a little bit of dairy but not very often and not very much.

People always ask the same questions when they find out I have been vegan.  They always ask "how are you getting enough calcium, and how are you getting enough protein?"  Its actually easy to get protein and calcium from plant based sources.  The Soymilk that I drink has 50% more calcium than regular milk and protein can be found everywhere!  Its not about the quantity of protein you have in your diet, its about the quantity.  I get all the protein I need from sprouted bread, quinoa, tofu, and nuts to name a few sources.  These are proteins that are extremely low in calories and also are high in quality.  A vegan lifestyle is not unhealthy be any stretch of the imagination.  I realize it isn't for everyone but for me it is and I plan to continue with it for a very long time!

5 week vegan challenge

Last week I watched a movie called Vegucated. It is a documentary that follows three people on a 6 week challenge to eating a completely vegan diet.  All three of these people formally ate and enjoyed meats and cheeses.  Just to be clear, a vegan diet is one that consists of no animal products.  No meat, cheese, eggs, milk, dairy of any kind.  The three people they followed had an interesting experience changing their diet and after the experiment was over they all stayed at least vegetarian (no meat, but go ahead and eat cheese, eggs and such).  The participants all lost weight, all lowered their cholesterol and blood pressure and all had better relationships with food after.  It was a very interesting movie.  If you have a free evening, watch it!  Its even on Netflix.
That gigantic lead up is all for this next sentence.  I have decided to go on a 5 week vegan challenge.  It isn't about weight loss, it is more just to feel good about food.  I hate the feeling you get after eating a greasy meal, you feel weighed down and your stomach hurts.  I don't want to feel that.  I want to be kind to my body and give it natural fuel it knows what to do with. That is my biggest motivation.
Why 5 weeks?  Well in 5 weeks Michael and I will be getting on a plane to visit Utah and I want to be able to eat at all my favorite places, my mother's kitchen is one of those favorite places.  So far the transition hasn't been too difficult.  We only ate meat about 2-3 times a week before.  The biggest thing for me is cheese.  I love cheese and dairy.  There is vegan cheese, but its just not the same.  Vegan ice creams is actually really good, when I found the ice cream I knew I could make it through.  I plan on keeping this up for longer than 5 weeks (excluding our vacation),  maybe not totally vegan but at least being more mindful about the food I eat.
Michael is not doing the challenge with me but he is being very supportive.  I will keep you updated on this challenge.  It is good to be accountable to someone, even if its just myself on this blog.  Wish me luck!

Catching up and a Yuma wedding

I am sorry I haven't blogged in so long.   A lot has happened since my last post.  I finished this semester with A's and am now enjoying summer.  Michael is back from training and we are both so happy he is home.  He has been working long hours, but that is no change from his normal routine.  

We are planning a trip to Utah this summer, in July.  We are still waiting to get approval from the military.  We are really excited to see friends and family!  Ok, now you are up to speed.  

So Yuma, AZ is the hottest place on earth.  That is a made up fact but when you are there in June and you feel like you are trapped in an oven it doesn't feel so made up.  Michael and I went to Yuma for a wedding.  One of the marines that Michael works with was getting married and we went to support.   The drive is a little less than 3 hours so it wasn't a huge deal.   We drove down Friday, went to dinner, saw the movie "After Earth" and got dessert.  Typical date night.  The movie was really good!  Lets be clear,  I think that every movie I see is good, I possibly thought Labyrinth was good when  I first saw it, so don't look into my critique too closely.  On Saturday we checked out of our hotel and had a few hours to kill before the wedding so we went to see another movie.  Honestly there isn't a whole lot to do in Yuma and when it is literally 108F outside the last thing you want to do is wander around window shopping or trying to kill time.  So we went to see "Now you see me"  that movie was also really good.  It was especially awesome because the theatre was air conditioned and it didn't feel like the sun was coming in for a landing on top of your head.  

The wedding was nice, we had dinner, watched the couple dance, had some cake, typical wedding reception stuff.  We drove home that night and were happy to be back in California.  Thank goodness for the ocean, keeping us cool!  It was a really fun, short vacation.   

Was not exaggerating about the 108F

These were our "try and not melt in the heat" activities

 

3 weeks

During a random interaction at school yesterday a girl asked me if I had ever lived alone.  My response was no at first but after a little thought I said yes.  I am currently living alone and have been for the last 3 weeks.  And will continue to live alone for the next....  who knows.  The really convenient, nice, and helpful thing about having a spouse in the military is they don't really tell you when your spouse will be back.  I will probably see him at the beginning of May but who knows? 

Living alone, even for a little while is a very good learning experience.  There is a lot of time to just think.  A lot of time to be alone and discover if you really like yourself.  I have really enjoyed this small chapter in my life and am finding that I do in fact like myself.  

It has been lonely at times but far less lonely than I had anticipated.  I have a really stellar group of friends in California that have been so kind and giving of their time.  And even though the one person I want to spend time with is gone for now, I have still really enjoyed cultivating new friendships.  

For those that are interested Michael is doing well in training.  He has to work ridiculous hours, and when I say ridiculous I do mean ridiculous.  He works from 6:00am to 1:00 am (on the worst of days) and works 7 days a week!   He does get a random day off every once in a while but for the most part he  is doing at least 100 hour work weeks.  Despite the long days he is enjoying the training for the most part.  I get to talk to him on the phone everyday which helps a lot, and every conversation we talk about how we are one day closer to him being back home.  I can't wait for that!

a frank conversation about deployments

Michael has to go on trainings a lot for his job and usually he is only gone for a few days at a time.  A few days is perfect because I get time to do homework, be alone (which is a necessary thing for me), and miss him without feeling lonely.  Last year he had to leave for a month which was hard but we got through it.
At the end of next month he has to leave again for a training deployment.  Just to clarify, the word deployment sounds scary but it technically means any amount of time that the person is away from his duty station.  Our duty station is Camp Pendleton in San Diego.  He is going on a training deployment to Yuma, Arizona for six weeks.  Six Weeks!  Any military spouse that reads this will probably think, "pshhhh, 6 weeks is nothing."  Which is true, in the grand scheme of things 6 weeks isn't that long.  But no matter how long that person is gone for you worry about their safety, worry if they are happy, and worry if you can ask for help.
That is the biggest worry, that is the worry that the military community doesn't really talk about; asking for help.  We live around so many men and women that have been through months and years of training and conditioning to be strong, independent, and fearless.  And because spouses are surrounded by these ideals it starts to get really hard to ask for help.  I don't mean help in changing the oil or fixing the broken faucet, I can pay someone to do those things.  But help in friendship, help in not feeling so secluded and lonely.  I have made some really great friends out here, people I could call at any time and they would drop everything to help me.  Some of those people have moved to other countries, other neighborhoods and some are still close by and I am grateful for all of them, but what happens when the mental rolodex is used up and no one is left to call?  How do you ask someone to come over and sit with you on the couch, no conversation necessary, just be with you?
This is why deployments are hard.  This is why life in general is hard.  Any amount of time away from the people you love seems like eternity when you are living it.  Something needs to change. Everyone, military or not, needs to learn how to ask for help.  Learn that being alone is ok, and that asking to not be alone is ok too!  His next training will be my training, I am going to learn how to ask for help.

Calculus

Normally I hate it.
Normally I don't understand it.
Normally the lack of numbers and abundance of symbols annoys me.
But this semester has not been normal.

My test is on Wednesday, we will see if I my slight, timid, approval of this class continues.

I got accepted!

I got accepted to CSU!!!  I will be studying chemistry and will hopefully graduate in 2 years, with my bachelors degree.  Yes, I have been out of high school for almost 5 years and yes I don't have my degree yet and yes that kind of makes me a slacker but none of that matters because I got accepted!  California is kind of annoying about transfer college credits and getting into school so I have had to jump through hoops for the past year and a half but it is all worth it now!
I will start in the fall and go to school full time so that I will have my degree before Michael's contract with the marine corps is up.  I am not sure how all the timing will work out but for now I am not worried about it.  Wish me luck!