Is My Goal Achievable?

Came across this inspiring website:

http://www.nomeatathlete.com/iron-for-vegetarians/

It's written by Matthew Ruscigno, MPH, RD, athlete and long time vegan.

It is speaks very positively to getting enough amounts of iron from a vegetarian diet.  This website actually advocates for a vegan diet, saying iron levels are higher for vegans than vegetarians.

Big Question:  This website claims that iron levels bounce back quickly [from deficiency] when following the advice laid out on the Non meat Athlete website.  I wonder?  After speaking with many women who have been suffering with low iron for years, and it is still not bouncing back, I'm very curious to see if this claim is correct.

Basic Principals summarized: (See website above for more details)

1. Eat many foods with high iron contents: (lentils, soybeans, tofu, tempeh, quinoa, oatmeal, fortified cereals, pumpkin & sunflower seeds, cashews, tomato sauce, swiss chard, black strap molasses, prune juice, for complete list, see website above).
2. Cook with cast iron skillet  (My Mom bought one for us when I was twelve and first became a vegetarian (technically a pesco-vegetarian).  I still cook with one today).
3. Take iron with vitamin C.
4.  Small amounts of iron throughout day are superior than one big amount once a day.
5. Avoid coffee and tea.

I am sticking to these principals.  Let's see how quickly my iron bounces back.  I'm optimistic!

My menu today:

Breakfast:

1/2 iron pill
1/2 vitamin C pill

almond butter
Shreddies with almond milk
Blueberries & raspberries
Spinach & orange smoothie

1/2 iron pill
1/2 vitamin C pill

Lunch:

salmon
Tuscany bean salad
coleslaw
lettuce salad
squash
cranberries
pumpkin pie
camomile tea

1/2 iron pill
1/2 vitamin C pill

Dinner:

broccoli & raisin salad
cranberries
olive bread
chickpeas in sauce
smoked oysters in oil

1/2 iron pill
1/2 vitamin C pill


Note: So far my tummy is fine- I'm now up to 2 iron pills per day.