Week #1 Assessment

{PLUSES}
In the first week of my Vegan diet, I went from:

-having coffee or Red Bull almost every day... to having none. I feel full of energy as soon as I wake up and green tea works wonders for an afternoon kick.
-pressing the snooze button on 3 different alarms for a billion times in the morning... to waking up without an alarm. I wake up as early as 8 a.m. even when I go to bed at 4 a.m. and I feel wide awake.

-experiencing morning sickness every day (all my life) to... never feeling sick to my stomach in the morning.
-eating fruit once or twice a week... to having at least 2 pieces every day! This is big for me.
-eating cake, cookies, chocolate or ice cream daily... to having one of these every few days. I never seem to need a "sugar fix" anymore.
-sometimes feeling sick from overeating... to never overeating because now I get full quickly from all the fiber-rich veggies and beans I eat.
-having overly-dried cuticles on which I had to rub vitamin E every day... to perfectly-looking nails effortlessly.
-taking prescription-strength migraine medication to... no medication and pain free. I certainly don't want to jinx this, but it's huge for me! I've been fighting migraines for the last 5 years or so. A couple of acupressure practitioners told me over the last few months that, based on some points that hurt in my body when I have migraines, the migraines might be caused from excessive dairy fat (I did love my butter, what can I say?!). I'm starting to think they were right...
-struggling with insomnia... to being able to fall asleep whenever I want. In fact, I've taken some of the best naps of my life over the last 3 days!
-fighting blackheads and occasionally acne... to having the best skin complexion I've had in years! (No, not perfect, but definitely better than over the last few years.)

{BONUSES}
I've also...
-lost 3 pounds in the first 3 days of the diet.
-learned that I can have certain dark chocolate because cocoa butter is vegan!

{MINUSES}
-had to come to terms with the fact that now I can't eat gelato. This is a bit heart-breaking!
-had to re-define feasting. So long, grilled-meat-with-cheese-risotto! Hello, rice-with-broccoli-and-beans and hummus-with-pita-and-strawberries-on-the-side! It's not actually bad; it's just different.
-felt constantly dehydrated. (My body is eliminating lots of toxins?) I drink at least 8 glasses of water/tea a day and my lips are constantly dry. So I push myself to drink even more water, which has improved the look of my skin drastically.

All in all, I'm doing better than I expected. But, in case you are wondering, sometimes when I think "dinner," I still wonder, "Is it time to have a juicy steak yet?" :)