My old friend, the Food Coma

We all know the signs....fullness to the point of discomfort, lethargy, laziness, and a burning desire to take a looong nap. That's right, a food coma. And I have to say, I have been experiencing them entirely too much this past week. Usually you can equate a food coma to the aftermath of a Thanksgiving meal, but you don't often notice them in June. Or maybe you are just used to the feeling. I am beginning to think I was.

The past 24 hours I have pretty much been eating whatever I wanted, from a banana bread split (above), cheesy Imo's pizza goodness, to goat cheese spinach and artichoke dip with a side of beer. My old friends cheese and unhealthy carbs have been moonlighting a little too much lately. Honestly, I have been letting my diet slip to "treat" myself and I feel terrible. If I had any questions about trying my vegan diet before, they are gone. The side effects to my old diet are astounding and don't waste any time rearing their ugly head. In one week I have gained back all weight that I have naturally lost in the last month, drained my energy, and have been left with a feeling of absolute disgust after what I just ate. I am not saying I felt guilty about eating dairy, I literally felt disgusting. The worst part is, the feeling lasts for hours. Drew and I commented after downing an Imo's pizza that we felt terrible and we hoped we learned our lesson in eating food that we knew wasn't healthy for us. Lo and behold, the next night we were eating out and taking in whatever sounded good to us and we felt the worst we had in months. I think it is safe to say we have finally learned our lesson.

Being a vegetarian for four years, I never thought I had an unhealthy diet. I thought I was doing pretty good by not eating meat and cooking for myself, even if it was whatever I wanted. Maybe all I needed to do was add some more fruits and vegetables. Maybe this vegan thing is an extreme and I just needed to balance my diet better. Who knows. What I do know is that I now know what it feels like to feel awesome by a few simple diet changes and I need get back to that ASAP.