Nice to Meet You!

Hello everyone! My name is Emma, and I'm a 19 year old college student. After being the devoted reader to many a vegan food blog for several months, I've decided to start my own. I have to warn you though - you won't find many pictures on this page. As a college student, I am on a meal plan, and so I only get to cook on rare occasions, and I won't be able to get snapshots of a lot of the meals I eat, but I'll try! Hopefully this summer, I can get some up. I will, however, be posting some of my recipes from time to time. In addition, I have not been diagnosed by a doctor with an Eating Disorder, but it has been mentioned several times. I don't have a network at college in which I feel comfortable seeking help, and my hope is that the blogging world will give me the support I need to overcome, or at least fight my ed. From what I have seen, there are so many strong, beautiful people (inside and out), and from them I have been inspired to start this blog in order to help me deal with my weight, body image, and eating issues.

I have been a vegetarian for many years - I started when I was in middle school. Since then, I hav cut more and more animal products out of my diet for various reasons. I was forced to give up all dairy last summer when I suddenly became lactose intolerant (it was strange). I don't eat eggs by themselves, and so cutting those out was fairly easy. The only non-vegan thing I sometimes enjoy is honey, but only when its in things - I don't cook with it, and I don't eat it by itself. I try to eat primarily fruits, veggies, whole grains, and other non/very little processed food. I'm currently struggling to eat certain foods - nut butters in particular - because of my fears of gaining weight, but I try to get some in every day.

Today's Eats:

Breakfast consisted of a lovely bowl of 1/3 c oats, 1/2 c Kashi Heart to Heart, 1/4 c soy milk, 5 strawberries, water, and some cinnamon warmed up to melty goodness. I also had about 1/3 c melon and 1/3 + a little soy yogurt on the side.

Morning snack: 1 grapefruit

Lunch ... about 1 cup sliced strawberries, 1/3 c Puffins, 1/3 c soy yogurt layered, a large carrot with 1/2 tbsp Better N' Peanut Butter.

Snack: another carrot and some salsa.

Dinner: Tonight was shabbat, and I ended up eating more than I feel like I should have. I feel rather guilty about it - and I couldn't measure anything. I always have a hard time going to meals like this, because I'm afraid of how people cook - not only if things are vegetarian/vegan, but I'm afraid of all the oils that people use without thinking about them. Tonight, I ate some challah, a salad consisting of lettuce and tomato - no dressing (I'm not a dressing girl - this doesn't have to do with my ed. I've never liked salad dressing on lettuce), some soba noodle/cucumber/edamame salad (this is where the whole "I'm afraid of oils and fats" thing comes into play), some (vegan) angel food cake, and some sweetened strawberries. I'm so full, and I feel so guilty. I know I shouldn't but I do.

Anyway. Let me know what you would like to see on this blog. I'll be posting more about myself in the future (near future, hopefully). Glad to meet you all, and I hope to get to know you!

<3 Sweet dreams.