Week #6: The Vegan Diet

So earlier this year, my sister and I decided to do a New Years Resolution challenge. We would both go completely vegan for 2 weeks. Now, this was a pretty big step for me as I went from a week in Dallas, Texas over winter break where I spent every meal face first in Texas style BBQ, ribs, chicken, sausage, and t-bone steak to absolutely no animal products whatsoever.

Fortunately, I ate so much meat and cheese in the anticipation of not eating any, that in the coming weeks that I was actually sick of them, making my transition much more smooth.

Wine and cheese platter ❤

Mostly, my sister Dana and I decided to do this because we had both gained some holiday weight. Dana had already been vegetarian for 2 years, but our equally tantalizing fascination with cheese (and wine) was really making us pack on the pounds.

If I were on The Biggest Loser, my fridge would have goat cheese spread across crackers (or any other cheese), cheese pizza, cheesy artichoke dip, 4-cheese cheesy bread and pretty much any other cheese product. I could just feel how unhealthy I was being. After realizing cheese was our main vice, Dana and I felt the only way we could cut the cheese out of our diet successfully was to cut all dairy products out and make it a real challenge.

Dana and me being animal friendly

Surprisingly it worked really well. I was able to say no to some of my favorite (and most unhealthy) meals “because I was vegan”, and it was nice to be successful at a challenge I was monitoring myself on. I ended up loosing 15 pounds and I actually enjoyed being vegan.

After 2 weeks without fail (except for the one time I made meat chili, which I could have sworn it said bean chili, but it said NO BEANS!, and just happened to be right next to the one that said NO MEAT!), I treated myself to some pizza. But, ever since, I have tried to eat more healthily and only have one meal or snack a day that is completely non-vegan. I have kept the weight off and I plan to try being vegan again in the coming weeks because I really think it helps cleanse the body, and it also made me feel 10 times more healthy.

One thing I learned about veganism is that there are a lot of really good recipes that can completely satisfy your hunger.I have used other blog websites to find recipes and learn more about other people’s experience being vegan. Abby’s blog mentions how she uses other blogs to find fun recipes she hasn’t thought of before. I use other vegan blogs to learn about foods that are accidentally vegan (like oreos- hehe) and recipes other people that have challenged themselves to go vegan for a week have tried.

Like The Long Tail and The Search suggest, the internet is a source of endless information on absolutely any topic which addresses everyone’s needs.

From Vegan Food Mashup

It is so easy these days to google search any topic and find the answer at your finger tips. Before the internet existed it would have been so hard to find information about veganism because the idea of it was so foreign. If you didn’t have an extreme passion for preventing animal cruelty of being healthy, you wouldn’t have any reason to try it let alone have any clue what to eat or what the general consensus in the world on the theory of veganism was. Now, all of that information is readily available, people like me can have multiple interests and learn a little about each one and try it for themselves. I love the fact that I could look up what being vegan entails on Wikipedia, find other people sharing their stories online, and look up fun foods and recipes to make this vegan diet a food adventure and a fun learning experience.

Blogs and websites like PETA where you can pledge to be vegan for 30 days are great sources to make your transition much more simple and help you to be successful in completing your goals. In the coming weeks, I plan to take this pledge once again, and blog about my experience.