And This Is My Confession

So I've gotta confess something to you: I haven't been a good boy this past week with my diet.  Womp womp.  I'm not saying I strayed too far from it, but I was slammed with alot of overtime work and just didn't really have the energy to make my meals from scratch.  I know, I know, excuses.  I tried to make up for it though by being as vegan as I could!! 

I found myself this past week eating out alot; some asian, some tex-mex there, but all as vegan as I could make it.  Sometimes I'd slip up.  Ie - I'd have a whole wheat veggie burrito, but would forget that cheese comes on it.  If I was trying to vehemently stick to my diet, I would've sent that food back; after working in restaurants though, I know what they do to the souls of returned plates: hefty bag it!  I'm not willing to throw away a plate of food because of my mistake when there are people around the world who would kill for some of that cheese I forgot to scratch; don't worry though, my tummy got me back every time I veered off course.

Taking this eating out path/faith in fresh foods in establishments, not only did I rack up a bill for the week, but also my carbs!!  I'm sure I burned them all out or most of them during martial arts or some other workout, but the behind-the-scenes facts are scary.  For example, since I was pretty much rushing in and out of work I had to depend on places like Moe's and other joints to keep me going.  Well with Moe's I kept it all as vegan as possible: only veggies, tofu and whole wheat tortilla.  Harmless right?  Think again!!  I just found out this week that yes, the burrito was only 650 calories, but with 102g of carbs and over 2000mg of sodium!!  Outrageous!!  If you don't believe me, go to their website and create your own burrito and you'll see.  Needless to say, I probably won't be eating there again... EVER.  God knows what the nutritional facts are about the asian place I get my steamed rice, veggies and tofu cooked in peanut oil from.  Unfortunately I can't claim ignorance after my Moe's discovery, so with some tears I'll probably have to wave my Asian meals goodbye as well.

After learning these facts one question came to mind: how can harmless veggies (fresh supposedly) be so incredibly unhealthy?!?!  And why do food establishments fail to mention this??  Since I've only been on this diet for a little over a month, I've got much to learn obviously, and this situation has taught me an invaluable lesson: fresh food (veggies) in establishments does NOT equal even remotely healthy.  Honestly, when I found out the nutritional facts of my rushed side venture, it makes me feel like I've back tracked on my whole diet, even if it was unintentional. 

The whole topic of fresh and processed foods is one I haven't given much time to because ever since I started this vegan path, my meals had been made fresh and by hand.  However now when facing shocking facts like this, the topic of fresh and healthy demands its space.

  This will be my time to check up on the facts about this, but in the meantime, no matter if I only have a few minutes every night, I'll have to make up something, or be doomed to pay for overpriced salads. 

In the end though, lesson learned!  Now a not so subtle change of subject... I'm getting my cholesterol tested this upcoming Wednesday.  I'm pretty excited to see if there's been any change, but at the same time anxious due to my recent findings on eating out.  I guess it's all part of the learning curve with changing your eating habits.  Stay tuned and I'll tell you how it turned out and how this diet has affected me overall.  Will I continue to stay on it?  Will I go back to a more vegetarian lifestyle?  Will Tom ever catch Jerry?  Just wait and see!  ;-)