The Gluttonous Vegan?
I’ll be brutally honest- I can’t live without cheese. Lactose intolerance doesn’t stop me. My body may suffer but my taste buds rejoice. Exercising is known to lift endorphins, but for me, it’s food. Over the past couple of weeks, my body has been in transition mode to prepare for this week.
I love food so much, my life literally revolves around it. I had a friend tell me a few months back she wanted to save money by not going to eat out as much. I haven’t seen her since. I had a friend tell me recently she was going on a diet. Phone calls have been made but actually spending time together is lost. Food makes for great conversation. My friendships revolve almost around food. Yes, call me a bad friend, but I absolutely love biting into a fork-full of fettuccine alfredo pasta while my friend is telling me about her life. It just sounds so much more delicious (pun intended).
Over the summer, I took a free lance job for photography. I got a job taking photos for a menu at a local cafe. The owner asked me what my rates were. Since it was one of my favorite cafe’s in my neighborhood, dollar signs did not come to mind. It was more like what they had on the menu. I asked them to pay me in food, and to have access to all the cooks at my stomach’s desire while I was on duty. They would make the dishes for me, and I would eat them. It was amazing.
These are just a few ideas of how much I love food. One of my favorite blogs is The Gluttonous Vegan run by Naomi Rose, a friend and blogging babe I know. I’ve made one of her recipes before and it was incredible. The experience alone was memorable, and don’t even get me started on how it tasted. I made an agreement with her to try her recipes for one week. Just one week. Seven days. Not a big deal, right? Well, I’m scared. Not just scared, but like scurrrrred. It’s also a troubling awareness how much I can’t control my appetite. I don’t have a right to even love food this much. With child bearing hips as it is, my body is reaching it’s third decade and in the last few years I have gone from a size 4 to not a size 4. Time for a change before the first heart attack hitsFor the next week, I’m going to be trying Naomi’s healthy recipes, and next week, I’ll report back with how I feel, what I’ve tried, photos of delicious cooking, and how a regular eater like myself can covert to veganism and how easy or hard it will be.
Oh darl! you most definitely will NOT be hungry, I can guarantee you that, and you know I'm on the other side of a screen if you need me! xxxx
Oh Diana I SO know what you mean! My favorite thing is to meet a friend for lunch or dinner, it's basically all we do…eat and talk, talk and eat! I am so excited to hear how this goes for you!!
by the way, those photos are gorgeous.
Good luck! I think vegans are amazing! I'm a vegatarian, but I know it's an inconsistent position. But I also know that I could never become vegan for life. I'm just not that committed, and like you would miss cheese and milk desperately. You have inspired my to try vegan cooking more though – I'm off to check out Naomi's blog!
Fantastic writing in this post, Diana! I love the pace and the candidness. As one cheese-lover to another, I salute your brave brave move. The lifestyle change will be tough but I'm sure you'll look back and realise it was worth it. BTW, I have long forgotten about my friends who have gone on diets…we just don't seem to have in common anymore after that point. Dieting girls are such…cliches, don't you think?
i just had dinner, now im hungry againvegan, cows and chickens are begging to be eaten
those pics are so yummy…i adore food..i adore cooking…
mmm, looks tasty!
These are making me so hungry! Wow. You definitely captured the tastiness quite well. I don't think I could handle being a vegan, but good for you for trying
Very looking forward to seeing your photos – you've made me feel very hungry just reading your scrmptious post here – will have to go off and have a good feed now!!
It looks tasty !
i LOOOOVe the bit about food being your endorphin-maker, not exercise. you are too funny. best of luck with the vegan challenge! i cant wait to read all about it.
I think i love food as much as you do. And for some reason i felt always tempted to try out different diets (not in the 'loose weight' meaning, but more like what different people, cultures eat). I never got around it, so i'm so curious to see how your week turns out. Vegans have some delicious recipes and dishes, so i'm sure you'll be fine. I'm kinda nervous for you too! So hold on there and good luck
Maybe a week from now i'll be encouraged to try it too!
sounds like a plan and now i'm seriously hungry.i was a vegetarian for years but i'm allergic to soy and it was kind of miserable. veganism would kill me, literally:( pllllease find some soy free vegan recipes. pretty please.
Food has definitely become a comfort thing for me, but as I get older, I realize I can't get away with eating as much as I do without risking a slow slide into the diabetes that runs on my father's side.
Good luck with the vegan thing! I am a pescatorian, but started out initially as a vegetarian in '94 before switching over to incorporate fish in my diet. I think it's a nice way to transition your body from a meat-heavy diet to one that is more balanced… 
This is such a good idea. If it works out for you don't be surprised if I follow suit haha. Good luck!
just wanted to say hi & thanks for stopping by my blog! enjoying your blog very much too, will add you to the list of blogs i heart. xoxoallison burt-tilden
i'm totally the same way….food is such an important part of my life!!!! good luck to you, i can't wait to hear all about it!
I wish eating wasn't so freaking fun. I really look forward to my meals.. But I'm with ya.. it's hard to eat healthy. bad food is sooooo stinking good! xo
oh i'm excited for you! those pictures look delicious btw, mmmm. time for lunch.i've been wanting to each MUCH healthier lately. if we are what we eat, then i'm french fries, burritos, chicken nuggets, and lattes. that is literally my diet. not good.i'm trying to eat more salads and sandwiches lately, but i'm just about the pickiest eater in the entire world.maybe i will join you in eating better this–not being a vegetarian, but eating LESS meat and more vegetables! way to go diana!
Oh my, you're my hero!!!I can't live without cheese either.Really looking forward to hearing more about it.Those photos look stunning! Great job!
yummmm! I don't think I could give up cheese either! I mean look at those pictures?!
Best of luck! I need to get on track myself. Think healthy, live healthy, be healthy!
I had a friend who wanted to save money as well – we have YET to meet since!!Dinner with gf's is one of my fav things – next time u are in NYC we have to munch together ok!!Shout out posted love!XOXOAmy
oh yum. i love food so much. and my stomach is grumbling looking at these beautiful food photos. i pretty much think food tastes better and smells better and looks better to me than to anyone else on planet earth! nobody could possibly enjoy it as much as i do! hahahah. i am making a risotto tonight and i can hardly wait. ahahhahahaa. and i wish you the best with your new food venture. it should be interesting!
Ok, loving the food porn! We are so alike in the food aspect. Cheese, yes please. Can't wait to see how the week goes for you! Going to check out Naomi Rose's blog now…
everything looks.. delicious..
Now I'm hungry, damn it that looks good. Why is my fridge empty..
I love food too, so no worries there. All of those dishes look so delicious! It is always fun to get together with friends during delicious meals, two great things at once! Lol!
Yummy photos Diana!! I want to ask what restaurant it is so if ever in your part of town I'll know where to eat!
Also your weeks challenge sounds exciting! My brother is a vegetarian and I'm ok with cooking veggies and tofu every once in awhile, but that's as good and as complicated as I can get… will definitely be tuning in to see how it goes and for some tips/inspiration!
one of my favorite things to do with kiwi is to turn on the music, cook dinner, and have a glass of wine. heaven. can't wait to see the results of your cooking adventure! if only i could be paid to eat and take photos. p.s. i received my beautiful photo from the giveaway in the mail this week! thank you again!
that looks so good! I'm a total foodie, constantly snacking on all sorts of goodies. I don't know if I could go vegan for a week, the lack of dairy in the baked goods sounds a bit scary.-indigo
Best of luck, Diana! I'm not sure I could ever go vegan. I do love me some cheese, dairy, and other not so vegan friendly foods, hehe. Kudos to you for putting yourself up to this challenge! I look forward to hearing your results
great photos! thanks for the blog link…i've always wanted to cook something for my vegan friend
Everything looks SO YUM!Good luck with this new project, and let us know how it went!
Wow, this is a great project! I'd love to undertake something like this but having absolutely no cooking skills whatsoever is one of my many obstacles. I really am taking advantage of the metabolism I have now because I know it's not going to last forever. I eat really unhealthy food and I'm hungry all the time, which means I eat all the time! I can learn a thing or two from you, missy.But again, this is a really great project you're undertaking. I can't wait to read your opinions on it.Also, that freelance job sounds awesome! Paid in food?! And to take pictures?? Sounds so perfect!
YES! Another cheese fiend! Food is the best unifier, don'tchathink?Delicious photos (I remember seeing one or two from twitterland a few months ago). ^__^
This is mega awesome, what you're challenging yourself too! I do strongly believe it is possible to be vegan yet enjoy delicious food. At least in America! Hahaha!Just like everyone else, i'm SO excited to hear your journey and how you and your body feels after one week. Go girl!
eek im going to meet up with a girlfriend for dinner tonight and woot look at all this yumminess i have found on this here blog today! makes me want to rethink out choice of restaurant! but dude you will do great! i think that herbs and spices do so much for everything we eat that meat or not meat it can be scrumpticous!!
Mmmm, your food photography has done it's job. I am now officially hungry and I hear ya on the cheese, looooove it!Good luck with your experiment, be strong, haha!
Sounds like an exciting experiment! Good luck with it!! Robert and I are that type of people who always turn down invitations to go out to eat… often a diet is the excuse, but to be honest – we make such better food at home!!
Perhaps you can get some of your dieting friends in on the experiment – have a little dinner party of sorts! I always mean to do that, but I'm sort of unmotivated.
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