Labels! And how Stacey is coping.

It was fun to go to the grocery store with Stacey (live-in boyfriend) and to really read the labels on everything.

For once, I didn't care AT ALL about the calories, fat, fiber, anything like that. All I read was ingredients. And not only was it eye-opening (did you know that nutrigrain bars have milk ingredients?!), it was liberating.

I have always, always, always focused on calories. Since June of 2009, I've also focused on fat and fiber, to calculate Weight Watchers points.

It was very nice to be free from all of that. Now all I care about is whether or not something has animal ingredients. And it's not always clear. Glycerin can be animal or plant derived, so I consider it an animal ingredient since I'm not sure. A lot of foods had "calcium" in the ingredient list, but I was unsure whether or not it was an animal ingredient, so I avoided it.

For the most part, it's best to get whole foods, that only contain one ingredient, and are 100% natural, like whole grains and fresh produce. But to be honest, I'm not to the point where that's all I buy yet. Plus Stacey has no interest in going vegan, so I scanned the backs of all of his questionable selections to see if I could join him in a bite or two.

Verdict? Most "food" that Stacey likes, I can no longer enjoy with him. But he did find some kettle korn flavored chips that were vegan. Score!

It was nice to suddenly no longer even crave to eat one or two of his chocolate dipped ice cream cones (yes, he eats stuff like that on a regular basis) or half of his Totino's pizza. I still indulge in some baked french fries with him, and make both of us big bowls of airpopped popcorn with EVOO and sea salt, so we're not missing any bonding over food or anything. Just bonding over different foods now.

Plus, he loved whole grains. He prefers to tear up little slices of deli ham into his quinoa, and melt some shredded cheese over it, too, but he likes it. He hates beans, though! Which I wish he didn't, because they are becoming more and more of a staple for me every day.

He's very supportive of my decision to go vegan. He loves me, and wants what is best for me and my health, and since he now knows that's veganism, he's supportive and happy for me. Do I wish that he would become vegan, too? Of course. Do I think that he ever will? Nope. Will I pressure him into trying all of my vegan dishes? Yes, except the ones with beans, since he's expressed his dislike. Will I tell him WHY I went vegan? Yep. Will I judge him for eating meat and dairy? Not at all.

I believe that we are all on our own journeys in this life. Mine is now a vegan one, and Stacey's isn't. No judgement here.