Conquering Self Doubt + Vegan Food Pyramid

The last couple of days I was starting to struggle with self doubt. Probably because I gained a pound. ;-) Well today I lost a pound so I feel good and Im back on track! 2 months in and down 11 pounds overall!

I was starting to question eating grains due to some of my research into the Paleo diet, which is the opposite spectrum of Veganism. Very interesting how so many experts can have such opposing views. Interestingly, the Paleo diet cuts out the bottom half of the American food pyramid and a Vegan diet cuts off most of the top half of the food pyramid. Well I did more research and feel good about eating grains in moderation. I think it is important to keep in mind how much a serving size is.

The picture above is the Vegan Food Pyramid, to make it easy I am memorizing it as the 123456 Diet with 3 being the # of times to exercise per week. ;-) AND I took oils down to 1.

So 1 FAT, 2 FRUITS, 3 EXERCISEs, 4 VEGETABLES, 5 PROTEINS, 6 GRAINS

A friend asked me how I was going to eat enough Iron and I had no answers because Iron has not been a focus as much as Protein, Calcium, Vitamin B12 etc. Went home and Wiki'd Iron and found- 

"Good sources of dietary iron include red meat, fish, poultry, lentils, beans, leaf vegetables, tofu, chickpeas, black-eyed peas, fortified bread, and fortified breakfast cereals. Iron in low amounts is found in molasses, teff and farina. Iron in meat (haem iron) is more easily absorbed than iron in vegetables,^[26] but heme/hemoglobin from red meat has effects which may increase the likelihood of colorectal cancer.^[27][28]

So I am a little concerned with my Iron intake (even though my vitamins give me 333% of my daily value). I will continue with my diet + vitamins + added focus on eating foods with Iron. I may decide to allow Salmon 1-2x month if I notice problems.

All the questions I am asked have also given me self-doubt. Do I have the ability to watch what I eat and make sure I am eating nutritiously?  Is this something I can maintain forever? Won't I miss eating scrambled eggs and cheese enchiladas? And it is hard.

I sooo wish Matt was doing this with me. He is better at being an outsider. And I do feel like I cut myself out of every circle. I do need to focus on the positive and realize that almost everyone has been extremely supportive, understanding, and accepting.. so for that I am amazingly lucky!

Oh and Matt announced to his drawing class that he is cutting dairy out. Sooo proud of him, because I feel that DAIRY is the 1st thing should be cut out of the SAD diet (Standard American Diet) even Paleo agrees with that! Somebody please ask me why Dairy is so bad... Actually nevermind that will be my next post, dedicated to my past favorite food group!