No Rumblies in This Tummy
After suffering a bout of diverticulitis I now appreciate why old people are obsessed with their bowels.
I SWORE to myself that I would never be one of those people, but now I have become one. Relax. I promise to keep it to myself though. I know that I really don't like hearing about other people's bowel habits, so I vow to not inflict this discomfort onto anyone else.
What I can talk about is the diet changes I feel that I am now forced to make. I was already on the road to eating a more vegan diet. Now it seems more critical that I stay on this path. I have been vigilant about limiting meat to once a week, and then only a serving about the size of a deck of cards. Eggs are okay but cheese brings on the same problem as meat. I cannot allow anything to "dwell", as it were. So far this has been working out okay. I was seriously very ill when I had diverticulitis. I couldn't get off the couch for days. The infection wiped me out. It wasn't all that painful, I just felt like I had a bad case of the flu. Who knows how long it had been festering. It's probably one of the reason I'd been feeling so draggy and tired for such a long time.
So now I'm hypervigilant about any twinge in my tummy as it might be a sign that it's coming back. In the process of figuring this out they did uncover a small ovarian cyst. That little bugger gives me little pokes and twinges but it's nothing I can't live with. So once I realize that the pain is coming from there I calm down a little.
I have managed to compile a nice selection of vegetarian dishes. Some of them are a bit vexing but with time and practice I can throw things together more easily. The biggest problem I had with the diet is finding things that have a more home-cooked feel - hot, "meaty" and thick with lots of heft that sticks to the ribs. Years ago I found that steaming root vegetables provided that - carrots, squash, potatoes, turnips, beets. When steamed they are thick and meaty but I was growing bored with it. Then I found this create your own vegan loaf program that is easy and fun. I made my first loaf this week and it was out of this world! I could not belief how tasty it was. Mine was a little too moist, but according to the site's author I need to reduce the liquid and add more binder and I should be okay. Anyway I've been playing around with it and today shopped for ingredients for another loaf that I plan to make this weekend.
I have also been teaching myself to shop for ready-made vegan products - Boca burgers, tofu crumbles, tempeh patties, Tofurkey and so on. It's a bit pricey but if I use them sparingly I haven't noticed much difference in my grocery budget. I was vegetarian once for a year a long time ago but gave it up because it was too high maintenance. Since then the market has come a long way with providing products that are more convenient and taste better.
It's nice to know that vegan doesn't mean tofu and brown rice for days. I've managed to put together a diet with lots of variety and color that pretty tasty. The experiments will continue, but now maybe I can cut back to one new recipe a week and enjoy what I've learned so far.
I SWORE to myself that I would never be one of those people, but now I have become one. Relax. I promise to keep it to myself though. I know that I really don't like hearing about other people's bowel habits, so I vow to not inflict this discomfort onto anyone else.
What I can talk about is the diet changes I feel that I am now forced to make. I was already on the road to eating a more vegan diet. Now it seems more critical that I stay on this path. I have been vigilant about limiting meat to once a week, and then only a serving about the size of a deck of cards. Eggs are okay but cheese brings on the same problem as meat. I cannot allow anything to "dwell", as it were. So far this has been working out okay. I was seriously very ill when I had diverticulitis. I couldn't get off the couch for days. The infection wiped me out. It wasn't all that painful, I just felt like I had a bad case of the flu. Who knows how long it had been festering. It's probably one of the reason I'd been feeling so draggy and tired for such a long time.
So now I'm hypervigilant about any twinge in my tummy as it might be a sign that it's coming back. In the process of figuring this out they did uncover a small ovarian cyst. That little bugger gives me little pokes and twinges but it's nothing I can't live with. So once I realize that the pain is coming from there I calm down a little.
I have managed to compile a nice selection of vegetarian dishes. Some of them are a bit vexing but with time and practice I can throw things together more easily. The biggest problem I had with the diet is finding things that have a more home-cooked feel - hot, "meaty" and thick with lots of heft that sticks to the ribs. Years ago I found that steaming root vegetables provided that - carrots, squash, potatoes, turnips, beets. When steamed they are thick and meaty but I was growing bored with it. Then I found this create your own vegan loaf program that is easy and fun. I made my first loaf this week and it was out of this world! I could not belief how tasty it was. Mine was a little too moist, but according to the site's author I need to reduce the liquid and add more binder and I should be okay. Anyway I've been playing around with it and today shopped for ingredients for another loaf that I plan to make this weekend.
I have also been teaching myself to shop for ready-made vegan products - Boca burgers, tofu crumbles, tempeh patties, Tofurkey and so on. It's a bit pricey but if I use them sparingly I haven't noticed much difference in my grocery budget. I was vegetarian once for a year a long time ago but gave it up because it was too high maintenance. Since then the market has come a long way with providing products that are more convenient and taste better.
It's nice to know that vegan doesn't mean tofu and brown rice for days. I've managed to put together a diet with lots of variety and color that pretty tasty. The experiments will continue, but now maybe I can cut back to one new recipe a week and enjoy what I've learned so far.