Day 100!

I am done.  I did it.  I stayed (mostly) vegan for 100 days, gave up caffeine and diet soda, and stayed away from alcohol for most of it (it made a reappearance around Day 75).  Some of the time I loved being vegan, and I enjoyed finding new and delicious things to eat.  Mostly, I found it frustrating and isolating though.  My family was very supportive of my challenge, but they had no interest in joining me, and it often got lonely only cooking for myself after making everyone else a meal that looked more appetizing.  I think I would have enjoyed the experiment more if I had had someone beside me also excited about trying a new diet.  My favorite meals as a vegan were almost all in restaurants, where I could feel like I could indulge and still share in a meal with my family.

I've talked a lot about my health and improvements I have seen, but I do have to say that overall, I don't feel much different.  It's possible it's been such a gradual change though, that I just really haven't noticed.  I will be curious to see what happens next.  Other than my improved numbers from my physical, I've lost about 12 pounds, and my joint pain has improved.

What happens next is the biggest question I've been batting around for the last 100 days.  At first, I thought maybe I would end up wanting to stay vegan (that did not happen), and then I assumed that I'd probably at least want to remain vegetarian (that didn't happen either).  I don't feel like my diet was bad before I started the challenge, but I do think it got better.  I'm hoping that if nothing else, I have expanded my options for dining and I will continue to eat a more plant-based diet even if I'm still a carnivore.  I've also learned that I can still make positive changes to my health and body.  That may seem to be a silly realization (because of course we all can, duh!), but after years of not really seeing any measurable results no matter what my efforts, it was both comforting and frustrating to see for sure that with enough patience and persistence, there will be results...even if they're small, and those small things will eventually add up to something big.

Today was my 100th day.  I planned to eat vegan today and then have my first "free" day tomorrow, possibly celebrating with a dinner out.  Well, Jack has a baseball game tomorrow night, and Dax's best friend is flying into town that evening too.  Wednesday is Mazzy's birthday, and we'll be going out then too.  So I thought about what I would want for my reward meal,  and if there was any food I missed above all other.  What I found out was that I really didn't miss any one food all that much.  What I missed the most was the community of sharing a meal with my family.  Tonight for dinner, I cooked a belated Easter dinner (time got away from us yesterday), and chose to celebrate my 100 days being vegan by having my reward dinner one meal early so I could enjoy Easter dinner with my family.  I had baked ham, mashed potatoes and gravy, and peas.  It was really yummy, but sharing it with my family was even better!