Such a lot has been happening, and much of it has not felt particularly blog-able.
Probably the most life changing thing that's been affecting the family over the last month has been the ongoing change to our diet and the business of educating ourselves about Veganism and nutritional issues related to such a radical departure from what used to be normal.
It's about 7 weeks now since I resolved to go Vegan and it's been quite an interesting learning curve.
I'm finding that I spend quite a bit more time thinking about food of course, but given that I didn't think about it at all before, that's not really surprising. What HAS been a surprise to me is that I'm actually finding the process very fulfilling.
The girls have been following me with this pretty much. At first, Daile was cautious, being concerned that both she and Matilda have low iron levels by and large. She feels that the girls should be eating meat, at least some of the time. However, they're both really not wanting to eat it, even Matilda, who was more of a slob than I was about food has taken this idea and run with it. Phoebe was already a bit of a foodie so I didn't expect that she'd have any issues and she's been very positive.
What it's meant is that I'm doing a LOT of cooking from scratch. It's pretty much the ONLY way to ensure that you're not eating hidden ingredients that you don't want to eat. What that's meant is that we've been finding out what is actually in our food...and what should be, but isn't. I must say, it's all a bit of a shock to me that as a society we're all eating such nutritionally compromised food by and large, and that companies that produce it are not required to tell us what they're using or not using in any really meaningful way.
I mean that it's accepted by people that care about food that if it's produced within the industrial farming industry, chances are it's not what we expect from our food. Carrots for example, absorb nutrients from the soil very efficiently, and we need those nutrients and micro nutrients. The soil they grow in is therefore very important, and organic soil is likely to be more diverse in terms of what's in it, than the industrial kind, which has been treated with chemicals that unbalance and simplify the composition in favour of things that make growth happen faster but without much regard for nutrition. On top of that, it seems that non organic carrots are much higher in nitrates from fertilisers. These can become nitrites which have been implicated in the development of carcinogenic cells. So we are encouraged to peal the things because that's where the nasty stuff is...but that's where the good stuff used to be!
Anyway, it's a minefield isn't it! I knew NOTHING about any of this, having been completely disinterested in food before. So now we're thinking that we're going to do a course in growing organic vegetables ourselves! How radical is that? I mean I'm a chocolate eating, fag smoking, wine drinking, swearing, belching and farting animal! Gone are those days now... and I don't miss it. OK I miss the swearing (which I relapse into quite often), and I still burp, but that's it! There has only been one day that I've eaten anything non vegan since the 5th of Jan, and that was at Matilda's party where I had vegetarian pizza and a bit of cake. Oh... actually there have been a couple of other small 'trying's' that would have been awkward to insist about... but nothing to speak of really. So, quite a success so far. Not to mention that I've lost 12 kg to date. I'm finding it really easy to control my weight, and can predict quite well what my weight will be, up or down, based on what I've eaten. It doesn't take much more to go up, and I do feel hungry if I'm going to lose some, but nothing uncomfortable. I'm just thrilled to know that I'm making good food choices now and eating healthy stuff, unless I'm eating something that I'm not in control of.
Lastly, it would have been Dad's birthday yesterday... Happy Birthday Dad. I miss you.
