My husband and I have always struggled with our weight. So, when he decided to do something about it last summer, I was all for it. The diet was meat, fruit and vegetables, and the catch was he could eat as much as he wanted as long as the food fell into one of those three categories. For some reason eggs were allowed as well, something I never really understood. The problem was there wasn't enough money in the bank to buy quality foods AND keep up with the amount he was eating, which was a lot. We resorted to mostly ground beef, pork chops, dark chicken, bacon and sausage, and were going through 36 eggs a week. By the time October came around he was having major pains in his stomach, was sick every time he ate and the area around his belly button was swollen and hard. We didn't know what the problem was and I was scared. Most people would say, "Why didn't you just go to the doctor?" Well, we can't afford health insurance. Too poor to pay for it, but too rich to get help from the state. It's the story of our lives, but back to this story. After doing some research of our own, we decided the pain was probably coming from his gall bladder. Hoping we could fix it, we began experimenting with the foods he ate, writing down what made him sick and what didn't. We decided to find a clinic when his pain didn't get any better. They recommended he have an ultrasound of his stomach to help determine what was going on. We were able to get signed up for a discount program, we call it our hospital coupon :), and he had the ultrasound. It turns out he has non-alcoholic fatty liver syndrome caused from incredibly high cholesterol and a very fatty diet. Again, we did our research and found that cholesterol comes from animal fat (eggs, cheese, meat, etc...). It was strange, but his body was sort of telling him to go vegan, so that's what he did.
Through this whole process he has lost roughly 120 pounds and continues to lose more every week, of course I have only lost 10, but that's one of the differences between boys and girls isn't it. Because he isn't eating nearly as much as he was before, we are able to afford a healthy vegan diet on our limited income, and he is feeling much much better.
ALL this being said, I am not a vegan every day of the week. However, I am finding that when I eat non vegan things, like the pizza I had last night, I get sick. So here I am, in the middle of this vegan/animal by-product eating lifestyle, and these are my adventures.
