So, this past weekend was a bit rough for me, emotionally, and I, being an emotional eater, got a little off-track with the healthy, vegan eating. As in, a friend took me out for lunch Saturday and I had a steak and a loaded baked potato. I felt pretty sluggish and “blah” afterwards. Don’t get me wrong, it was a fantastic steak (filet mignon, actually), the baked potato was perfect, and we even had turtle cheesecake for desert. (Okay, so the food hangover was probably due to the amount of food we consumed, not the content.) I don’t regret the meal the least bit.

But I did make me realize that I need an eating….I hate to say “plan”….style that I can live with long-term, and that is open enough for all occasions and occurrences. Sometimes, I’m going to want a greasy hamburger and fries, but I’ll be better off, emotionally and physically, if I stick to more plant-based foods the majority of the time.

Am I going to be 100% vegan, 100% of the time? Absolutely not! I love cheese too much. But I do intend to make most of my foods vegan, most of the time. I’m going to want Ben and Jerry’s occasionally (like last night). I’m more likely to crave cheese or something fried than a steak, but it could happen. And, let’s be honest, I live in Texas. It’s a little hard to get completely away from steaks and barbecue. (Because, of course, we all live on barbecue, we all ride horses, we all wear boots all the time…).

So, for me, “healthy eating” is going to be mostly plant-based, mostly “clean,” with the occasional exceptions thrown in for good measure.”Healthy” doesn’t have to mean “boring.” Check out this peanut butter chocolate smoothie from Meghan, for example. Guess what I’m having for dinner tonight?