I remember the last time I went 100% vegan (lasted about 2 months), the first thing I noticed was my huge jump in energy. I was working a lot then, but the same hours every day so none of this erraticness I work now. I was having trouble getting up in the morning before going vegan, but the most marked change was that after a few days vegan I would just jump right out of bed, ready to go. And I was going to sleep at like 1 in the morning because I had so much energy and getting up at 6. I felt amazing.

I know its only been 3 days, but I haven’t really felt any changes yet. Except my wonderful poos. I’m not complaining, I’m sure my weakened immune system is to blame for it. Just noting my observations.

Also, prompted by a comment on reddit which made me research the average food stamp allowance, I have decided to drop my weekly amount from $50 to $30 dollars a week. I was a bit mistaken, I confused what I had received when I had been on food stamps a few years ago to be the average. I was allotted the full $200, which is believe is the maximum amount given in most states. After doing some research, I have found the average to be about $4/day. I am editing my earlier mission statement and feeling super challenged now, as I was beginning to think that $50 was quite a bit more than necessary.

Anyway, today is my day off. I started out the day with some coffee and coconut milk ($.25) and a smoothie. I have almost used up all my fresh and frozen fruit, so today’s smoothie was just an orange, about 1 1/3 cup pineapples, 2/3 cup coconut milk and 1 tsp flax oil and bee pollen ($1.20).

I headed out to do laundry, and popped into Big Lots while it was washing. That store is always surprising. I scored some whole wheat pita chips for a buck, 5 organic vegan granola bars for $1.25 and Kashi granola for $1.50! Amazing. I was pumped, but the whole outing wore me out.

I wanted to note really quick that my sickness is still dragging on. I’m not coughing my “tuberculosis” cough (as my boss coined it) anymore, but my nose is so stuffed up. It’s like a thick snot too, so its hard to blow out of there. I’ve been breathing through my mouth for 5 days. My lips are chapped, my mouth is dry, I just feel uncomfortable. I really want to start my bikram yoga classes but am waiting until I can breathe fully to begin. Then I will be going 3-4x a week. I’m really excited.

While I don’t need to go grocery shopping yet, my roommate talked me into heading to Walmart with her after I got back. We popped by, I ended up getting a netti pot and some other staples. I got almond milk this time, ingredients to make homemade bread and a few odds and ends. I wanted to save the real shopping for Whole Foods later this week.

And after this outing, I was really pooped. I decided to try my netti pot-AWESOME- and then started on dinner. Black beans($.25), kale ($.25), onions ($.25) and japonica rice ($.35) stuffed and baked in a green pepper (2 for $.65/each). I also threw a dash of some spices in it, and a few pinches of nutritional yeast for extra flavor. The beans needed to cook a while, and the rice needed an hour to cook, so I decided to multitask and run a bath.

This time I added baking soda along with my epsom salt. I soaked until the rice was done, mixed my rice and beans with the other veggies and threw them in the oven to bake. I realized that I couldn’t really smell (side effect of the netti pot or maybe I haven’t been able to smell all day? I’m unsure.), so dinner was a bit hard. I could barely taste anything. I only ate half my pepper and saved the rest for tomorrow. I gave the other pepper to my roommate. She loved it. The whole meal cost $2.40, but there was leftover filling to do something with (I’m thinking an awesome burrito to take to work tomorrow!). I gave the other pepper to my bestie, so I’m saying today I just consumed about ($.50) worth of the goodness. I ate half the bag of pita chips earlier ($.50) and a V8 veg and fruit juice ($.70) I got at Big Lots when I felt my energy plummeting. If I wouldn’t have gotten the juice, my day’s total would be a lot better. I need to be better prepared about eating- bringing snacks, eating before I go somewhere, ect. I also munched on a small portion of leftover curry ($.40) earlier. Which brings the days grand total to…….

TOTAL FOOD EATEN TODAY: $3.55 – within my new goal!

I’m tired, I work early, and my body just needs rest. Have a blessed and healthy day!!

TheFrugalVegan