Glad to Be Back...in more ways than one

I'll get to more of my Ireland holiday soon -- but here are a few photos...

Let me jump ahead to the last couple of days were I felt so much better after eating healthfully again!

The end result after this vegan quest, and a holiday eating closer to what I had done for 10 years prior was exactly how I was expecting it to go. I was not dying for meat, and when I had it it was good, but was not so good that I would ever consider going back to my old way of life -- same with the fish, and same with the drinking.


If I ate unhealthfully I felt "off" and craved fruits and vegetables. If I drank too much I felt bad in the morning and was quite angry with myself.  I felt 10 times better after a round of golf lugging my clubs up and down hills for 4 hours than if I sat in a pub for 4 hours drinking Smithwicks and munching on a sandwich.

I ate eggs and they tasted good, not as good as when I ate 3 per day almost every day, but not terrible at all. However, when I got back to the States I craved my oatmeal with peanut butter and bananas. I walked past big tray of eggs and bacon today and thought, well, I thought nothing -- went and got fruit and oatmeal not like I was honoring my quest, but because I wanted to!

And that is what it was all about for me. To totally dedicate myself to a vegan lifestyle, then test the waters to see if it "took." Well, I am thrilled it did -- I want to eat healthfully! If I have a decadent meal, I realize it was a rare occassion and go back to my diet of the last 6 months - not becasue of a "quest" now, but because I want to for my health, and I feel so much better!

I want to eat a healthy diet of mostly plants. I want to eat some chicken without any sauces, etc, and I want to eat fish. I am not craving, nor do I have any real curiosity about having a hamburger, or a steak, or a cheese pizza. But the thought of it does not make me cringe either.

My goal now that the quest is over, and the big vacation is over is to do two things - lose the remaining weight and keep it there. And live a healthy lifestyle!

You know, I don't feel totally different as a person, but I feel much much better about how I fuel my body. I'm still the same person for good or ill, and I am happy to live a life void of excess. I really did not have that much cheese, or beef, or milk in Ireland so I cannot say how specifically things tasted differently. And the fish I had was either a bit oily, or fried, or in a chowder.

When I started this vegan quest was to have a big steak dinner to 'reward' myself -- not anymore. I am just glad I have total control over my urges, and my education about nutritian.

I am overall very happy with what I want and don't want, and look forward to prepare to live the rest of my life!

Don't worry, I will keep writing about my trip, and the current foods I am eating.