7 Day Trendy Diet: Being Vegan

Exploring Trendy Diets One Week At A Time

Hello everyone, for the last quarter of the year I am trying a new diet each week for 7 days to test my emotional and psychological reaction to different dieting lifestyles. I understand the average diet does not take physical effects for 3 weeks to 90 days, but as a foodie, I want to explore how different people eat food on a day to day basis.

My second mission is to test the “wellness” placebo effect. The illusion that changing their diet made a person’s emotional well-being change. Some people report that as they change their diet their focus and motivation has changed. I have yet to find that after losing weight in the past. For week one I tried the gluten-free diet.

Vegan Diet: A diet 100% completely free of animal products . Some vegan diets can fall into two categories 1) the whole food vegan diet consists of produce, nuts and seeds and whole grains and 2 ) the raw vegan diet where most foods are eaten in their natural states.

Why I tried it: Veganism is becoming a trend, so I thought to give it a try.

How much did this diet cost on my weekly grocery budget? Contrary to popular belief, going vegan was 15 dollars more than my average grocery budget. I didn't buy only meat alternatives. I bought a wide variety of vegan foods such as produce ( strawberries,blueberries,kale,spinach,lettuce,brown rice, quinoa) as well as a few vegan prepared meals ( I wanted to compare cooking vegan vs prepackaged), and a few vegan supplements. After buying a weeks worth of these items I found myself spending 87 dollars in groceries. I tend to buy 40 to 55 dollars worth of groceries to last me two weeks with meat. In all fairness there are some vegan foods I can not eat either due to allergies or distaste . I am not a fan of beans, legumes ,I have allergic reactions to soy and tofu products, and I have oral allergy syndrome. So doing vegan the “right” way isn't for me. So I am forced to eat more of the higher priced meat alternatives and would need to buy supplements for longer term vegan dieting. My wallet would not appreciate that. I don’t think my health would either. When people tell me they go vegan to avoid the chemicals in meats, I question how organic the meat alternatives in vegan foods really are, not to mention the amount of supplements that are sometimes necessary to take to get the right macros. I do my best to keep what I eat as clean as possible, and I was not a fan of the prepackaged half of my vegan diet, but I did enjoy cooking my own meals when I could.

Did I experience any emotional waves or feelings?

I did experience a change from being vegan. I lost energy, I didn't feel as motivated to lift weights and hit the gym, and I felt very empty as a result of it. I went through a borderline bout of depression, this is not to say having major depression was probably more related than being vegan, or the fact I am turning 30 and feel unfulfilled,but I can say being vegan definitely made me feel lethargic as opposed to being energetic as some people report. I took way more bowel movements than I ever did in 2018 and I was not a fan. Not to mention, I was always sleepy and tired, one day I slept for 15 hours. I got very tired of eating food that was artificially “spice” flavored as well (no more prepackaged vegan food, I stopped by a few vegan restaurants in the area and noticed everything was pickled, or spicy “insert vegan dish here.” I got too used to the “vegan flavor” too quickly and it all started to taste the same after a while. I can’t say I am a fan of the idea of being consistently vegan.

Keep in mind the biggest limitation to all of this is I only did this diet for a week. Some may be reading this and may want to say “oh you did it wrong” but I don’t think being vegan is for me I appreciate the benefits of feeling lighter, but I have to eat more food just to reach my same daily calorie intake of 1800–2200 calories a day and it was an unnatural amount of eating that worked for me. I have no problem eating 5 vegetables and fruits a day, but one day I even ate 8 times just to stop feeling hungry and fatigued it was exhausting.

Did I cheat?

I cheated twice, which is one less cheat than last week. When I started I visited my friends new house and to be honest I couldn't start the vegan diet just eating chips and dip, your boy needed to eat so I had chicken. Then towards the tail end of this diet I went to Meatball Fest in South Philly and ate 24 meatballs, so fuck it.

Am I addicted to meat/dairy products?

I think its a common misconception that non vegans do not eat vegetables, and are addicted to dairy and meat. I can not account for that population of people, but I do not fit in that category. I am lactose intolerant, when I spoke to peers about trying veganism and people started talking to me about giving up dairy I felt like it was a big fuck you to me. Not only am I lactose intolerant, I can not eat most cheese or dairy products. I hate white creamy dairy filled sauces. I never drank real milk and always go for almond milk, point being I do not get down with the dairy as much as other non vegans.

On meat, I do not feel addicted to meat( protein products) are a part of my daily macros and taking that out of my diet felt rather, empty as I have previously mentioned. I look forward to how I view meat when I try the Keto diet in three weeks, I may start to hate it.

Did you feel superior to non vegans when going vegan? Is vegan always the healthier diet?

No, but I sure do think some vegan eaters feel superior to other non vegans( I think quite a few comedy films in media would also agree, see Scott Pilgrim vs The World for more information). Sometimes I tend to find out someone is vegan before finding out their name and I just think its weird. I can’t really acknowledge or stay vegan is the healthier diet, but I can say other than the biases I have listed there are some things I want to consider about begin vegan. Keep in mind these are opinions not facts and there are definitely possibilities of all of this being debunked.

1. Vegan food may be improving the carbon footprint of our nation, but why are there so many synthetic meat alternatives? That does not sound very organic? I think we need to change all food production and distribution channels to change our ecosystems.
2. Veganism is not exactly as accessible if you do not enjoy beans, soy products, or legumes. And in some neighborhoods you will not be able to find the healthiest or most wholesome foods when produce is not always fresh. Lets not get started on urban farmers markets they don’t exactly have Walmart prices.
3. Veganism lacks iron and b12, I question if it really is safe for everyone, especially as someone who does not enjoy taking pills for my own nutrients.
4. The amount of carbs I ate to supplement my calorie goals while being vegan disturbs me.

With these points being said I think veganism is tight and I will definitely implement more elements of it in my life, but I still think there are some barriers to entry that should be considered. Especially for people who do not know how to cook vs people who can.

Would I do vegan again? Were there any alternatives that stood out?

I don’t think I can be vegan again, but to help our environment I can at least start doing Meatless Mondays in 2019.