This is a man who has put up with a lot. And even though it’s not his birthday anymore why not celebrate him one more time?

Pete Sawochka is my husband. There should be reason to celebrate right there with having to put up with me and my….well let’s say feisty ways.

When I went vegan in February 2012 Pete wasn’t for it at all. He was hoping I would finish my project and go back to my old ways of eating animals and animal byproducts. Pete told me things wouldn’t be fun anymore if I was a vegan. He said it wouldn’t be fun to cook or prepare any kind of food for me, it would be hard to find places we could eat at together and he just went on and on.

After 6 months of being a vegan, I’m happy to report that my frustrated man has actually become supportive of my decision to become a vegan. It’s become very important to him that when we go out to eat that we go somewhere that has vegan options. We’ve also started cooking together. I knew Pete liked stir fries and they have a lot of vegan options/alternatives you can do on their main dishes (like substituting tofu for chicken and eliminating egg altogether) so we’ve been cooking and eating the same dinners. He’s even come to love (hopefully) the avocado, tomato, hummus and sprout sandwich on vegan bread for lunch.

Did I mention breakfast? Poor Pete has a fit if he doesn’t get his “morning shake” as he calls it: almond (or coconut milk), chia seeds, 10 ice cubes, 3 bananas, strawberries, blueberries, blackberries, raspberries and cocoa powder is Pete’s breakfast (and mine too). It’s very good and I highly recommend it.

If it wasn’t for his snacking, there are some weeks where Pete would eat 100% vegan. Pete snacks a lot on cheese. He always says that giving up meat wouldn’t be as hard as giving up dairy milk and dairy cheese would be. He’s obsessed with the cheese station at the Whole Foods we go to every week at Lincoln Park.

Pete has lost weight. If you see a svelte, slim figure pass by you, it might be Pete! He’s lost a lot of weight by cutting down on a lot of the meat and dairy in his diet. He eats way more vegetables and fruits than he ever did before. He even likes fun vegan recipes like the spiced banana pancakes we make.

Pete is a good husband by showing his support of his vegan wife. However he reaps some of the benefits of not eating a strong meat and dairy based diet he’s lost some weight, his clothes fit better and he has that vegan glow (even though men don’t really glow—he still has the glow)!

I’m sending out a big thank you to Pete for adapting to my lifestyle and not condemning me for staying vegan. You have no idea how much your acceptance means to me. It means even more to me that you participate with me and try to understand why I do what I do. If it wasn’t for you, I wouldn’t be where I am today with my veganism.

And this was all from a man that said, “Well I hope you don’t stay vegan at the end of your Very Vegan Valentine’s Day blog project.”

Support is always important when you are trying to do something. I hope you have someone by your side supporting you through whatever endeavors you may be going through.

Sara Sawochka