Lo, on the Very First Vegan Christmas

Only 347 shopping days to go!

So don’t dismiss this as a column about last Christmas (though that’s what it is!) but as possibly the first on the planet about the next one.

Luckily, I quite like nut roast. But it is very much “quite” like. I don’t like it enough to want seconds. Going for thirds used to also be a distinct possibility!

It’s the first Christmas ever that I didn’t overeat!

OK, my sprout intake was probably up, but that’s always been my favorite part of the traditional British Christmas lunch.

In the last few years, as MS took more and more of my capabilities away, part of me just gave up.

I like Cheese Footballs — a very British nibble snack that was big in the 60s. The taste memory of that decade when I was a kid has stayed with me. I presume you can buy them somewhere, but they only turn up in our shops during the festive season. Full of E numbers and undoubtedly terribly calorific, I’d begun eating vast quantities. Not this year.

I’m also pretty sure for the first time since my MS stopped me from walking that I might be losing weight. I can’t check, as there’s no way (certainly no safe way) for me to get on a pair of domestic scales. But I can now lean out of my powered wheelchair and pick up stuff off the floor with my hands rather than utilizing my varied array of grabbers.

I’m pretty sure it must be. I can maneuver my usually unmovable body much better. I even managed to actually lift my dead right leg in the shower the other day. I haven’t been able to wash the sole of my foot on my own for years.

Either I’ve suddenly gotten stronger or my leg is lighter.

I have no idea if veganism is doing anything else to help my MS. I went for it, as it seems to reduce inflammation. Anything that even does a hint of that is worth trying. I’ve also been working away at my microbiome for a number of years now. I obviously can no longer consume kefir — a cultured, fermented milk drink originally from the mountainous region that divides Asia and Europe — but the vegan diet changes the microbiome anyway. Also, anything fermented will aid in this. I’m half Austrian, so I actually like sauerkraut!

And for four miraculous days in a row, I delivered (without mechanical or pill help) my own enormous Yuletide logs.

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