Veganism on the Road

It has been a month tomorrow since I became a vegan. A vegan that does not eat dairy, or oils or meat, fish or fowl. This has been a challenge in and of itself but when I am eating in restaurants it becomes an even greater challenge.

Thank goodness the plan we are on encourages the eating of potatoes since baked potatoes have more than saved me a number of times.

I don't envy restaurant chefs and owners today with people being allergic to nuts and fish or lactose intolerant or needing to be gluten free. It must drive them crazy. It drives the customers who do not suffer from any of these a bit crazy when dining out with people who do have these diet restrictions. But add a vegetarian or a vegan to the mix and it can become pretty annoying I am sure for everyone.

The non V people may feel as if they are being judged by the holier than thou V folks while the V folks do not want to upset their friends and families enjoyment of their favourite foods. Reminds me a bit of the times when some of us were giving up smoking and others were not. 

I didn't really pay that much attention to folks choices unless they had a serious allergy which I am always careful to be mindful of both at home and when eating out with them. But watching a vegan or vegetarian scanning a restaurant menu can be painful. I was in that category on a bike trip to Cape Breton last week.  The people with us were wonderful at basically ignoring our plight as we tried to put together something that would be tasty and vegan.

This is what I have learned thus far:

1. Restaurants like to smother vegetarian food in cheese ( much like some do to all food)
2. The items that are cooked to mimic meat are not good. They shouldn't try to make tofu look like chicken or use a recipe that usually has a meat base and substitute squash for the meat and leave the remainder of the ingredients the same.
3. A simple veggie stir fry or a medley of roasted vegetables made up fresh can be an excellent choice for the vegan diner. We don't feel sorry for ourselves if we are missing the Beef Wellington or the bacon wrapped scallops.

Four months after Arian Foster tweeted that he had stopped eating meat, eggs, and all other animal foods, the Houston Texans running back was grinding out more yards on the field than nearly any other player in the NFL. By early November, he had amassed 168 carries – for 659 yards – and nine touchdowns.

Read more: http://www.mensjournal.com/magazine/going-vegan-in-the-nfl-20130123#ixzz3oUfop1ZJ 

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Veganism has become a challenge both in the kitchen and in the restaurant but at this point I am feeling lighter and have more energy. I biked 70 km in two days with little practice beforehand and I have never been able to do that for years. That is reason enough for me to keep going.