School is going well, I have one student each on clarinet, saxophone, and flute now. My students are doing well, I'm enjoying it, blah blah blah. Let's talk food.
In the past year, I've started making changes to my diet. Some have been more successful, some are important to me, some are convenient, and some most have been failing miserably lately. The most important change for me has been cutting out dairy and finding non-dairy replacements for foods I still really want. Another important shift for me has been the move towards a vegan diet. Without fail, any (non-vegan) person I talk to about veganism (is that a word?) says "Oh I could never do that," "It's so hard," or "I just couldn't - I love cheese (or bacon, or whatever) too much."
Which is true. But also not.
If you know me, you know that I LOVE bacon. And cheese. And meat. And ice cream. I love pretty much all food. Despite all this, eating vegan has been reasonably feasible for me. How?
First of all, I know that really I can't do cold turkey (pardon the pun). I have to work my way into a new habit or routine. If I tried to wake up one day and cut out all animal products no questions asked - I would never be able to do it. Instead, I started making smaller, feasible changes. I replaced my cow's milk with almond milk. I started increasing my veggie count, decreased the amount of meat. I tried Daiya vegan cheese (which is surprisingly amazing. You should try it sometime.) and have really enjoyed.
Along with allowing myself the time to switch, I've also given myself flexibility. I know that some days I'll be totally happy to have a tempeh sandwich with vegan everything. Other days, I really just want a burger. And that's okay! If I've been eating a standard American diet (full of meat, cheese and sugar) for some 25 years, then it's fine if it takes me a little bit of time to change my habits and cravings.
Now, if I allow myself to slip a little whenever I "just want a burger," how do I keep myself from falling off the bandwagon? I don't stock non-vegan foods in my house. The only time I eat non-vegan is when I'm eating out. By not stocking non-vegan foods, I keep myself on track (generally). Plus, eating out is more special because I don't to do it very often.
I'd highly recommend that you try out at least a little bit of a vegan diet, even if you just try Meatless Monday. If nothing else, it's kinda fun to try these new things! Also, there are some really yummy meat substitutes.
I plan on talking more about this topic later, but let me know if you have any questions about anything I've talked about!
In case anyone was wondering, I did not fall off the face of the Earth - I swear! Truthfully, I just haven't been focusing my attentions like I should have...
Classes started today - my first "first day of school" NOT being the student! I'm definitely excited and looking forward to turning over a new leaf. I spent a fair amount of time wrestling with the Blackboard system and there is a glitch in the school email at the moment, but I did manage to get everything I need up for my online class.
I've missed 4 days
of playing this quarter, which is not the perfect record I was aiming
for, but I'm glad that I got myself back going again. I think the first
day I missed was an honest mistake. It had been a really busy day and by
the time I realized I hadn't played it was after 11:30 and I was
already in bed. Lame excuse, but hey, it happened. I've definitely gotten back in the saddle and have been chugging along!
I am still
preparing for the recital, and it has been going very well. I have to
pick a date and find a pianist, which I'm going to try and do in the next week or two. I have someone in mind to ask about collaborating with me, and I'll be seeing them on Wednesday. I think I'm going to aim for mid-February, maybe the week after Valentine's day.
It was so great to be able to spend today working in music and it NOT feel like I needed to be doing other stuff. I just feel so much less stressed about my life. I have high hopes for 2013.
