I Went Vegan for 2 Weeks! Here's What Happened.

So I decided to set a goal.

The goal was to be a vegan for 2 weeks. 14 days. Something something hours.

Why? I like hitting goals to make myself happy. Also, I want really glowing skin. So there's that.


The rules:

1. No meat whatsoever.
2. No dairy (high inflammatory and this stuff hates good skin. Get this bish out of here.)
3. Limit soy or man made vegan food (e.g. packaged/processed vegan food made in a factory like fake chicken strips.)

Preparation (2 days before):

I do what every woman does when she wants to make a lifestyle change. Create a pinterest board and pin her life away and suddenly it's 3AM.

I pinned a shit ton of recipes. Wrote out which meals were for breakfast, lunch and dinner for one week. Stir-fry, soups, salads and Mexican dishes were my favorite to make.

My big tip here is to plan 1 week at a time. It's easier to manage and grocery shop.

Week 1-

I commute by train to work and get in the office super early (6:30 AM) so I pack breakfast and lunch and a snack every day. I love coffee but since I was vegan-I cut out the creamer. I don't do the coconut milk or almond milk creamer because they clump up and look weird. So I would drink my coffee black with a little sugar. My breakfast for week 1 was cut up oranges and a banana. I would cut up 3 naval oranges and put them in a container. Always cut up your fruit because it's so easy to eat and looks more appetizing. I would be less inclined to eat 3 oranges that I had to peel at my desk one by one each morning. My snacks would always be either some almonds or cashews. Check out "Meals for Your Fine Ass" section on this blog to see what I ate for lunch and dinner each day. The big tip here is only cook enough to make about 3 meals. Otherwise you will get so tired of eating the same meal over and over and then be tempted to fall off the wagon.

MEAL PLAN-

Day 1	Day 2	Day 3	Day 4	Day 5	Day 6	Day 7
Breakfast- 3 chopped naval oranges and a banana	Breakfast- 3 chopped naval oranges and a banana	Breakfast- 3 chopped naval oranges and a banana	Breakfast- 3 chopped naval oranges and a banana	Breakfast- 3 chopped naval oranges and a banana	Avocado toast and a banana	Avocado toast and a banana
Snack-Almonds	Snack-Crackers and hummus	Snack-Almonds	Snack-Chips and Salsa	Snack-Almonds	Snack-steamed edamame with kosher salt	Snack-white bean dip and Melba toast crackers
Lunch-Chickpea salad sandwich and a salad with Asian sesame miso dressing	Lunch-Chickpea salad sandwich and a salad with Asian sesame miso dressing	Lunch-Quinoa salad	Lunch-Vegetable soup/salad	Lunch- Vegan ramen	Lunch-Pesto Pizza with tomatoes on top	Lunch- Vegan ramen
Dinner- Black bean tacos	Dinner- Black bean tacos	Dinner- Stirfry noodles and veggies	Dinner-Stirfry noodles and veggies	Dinner- Pesto pizza with tomatoes on top	Dinner-Vegetable soup/salad	Dinner-Stirfry noodles and veggies
Day 8	Day 9	Day 10	Day 11	Day 12	Day 13	Day 14
Breakfast- Chopped papaya and a banana	2 pieces of toast with hummus and a banana	Breakfast- Chopped papaya and a banana	Breakfast- Chopped papaya and a banana	Breakfast-rice and veggies	Breakfast-rice and veggies	Breakfast- 3 chopped naval oranges and a banana
Snack-Almonds	Snack-Almonds	Snack-crackers	Snack-Almonds	Snack-chips and salsa	Snack-chips and guacamole	Snack-Almonds
Lunch-Vegetable soup/salad	Lunch-Avocado and cucumber sushi roll	Lunch-Vegetable soup/salad	Lunch-Vegan cajun pasta	Lunch-Vegan cajun pasta	Lunch-Bean and rice burrito with avocado	Lunch-Bean and rice burrito with avocado
Dinner-Mashed potatoes and roasted veggies	Dinner-Mashed potatoes and roasted veggies	Dinner-Vegan cajun pasta	Dinner-Pesto pizza with tomatoes on top	Dinner- Stuffed Veggies and broccolini	Dinner-Pesto pizza with tomatoes on top	Dinner-Fried Rice and salad with Asian sesame miso dressing

Challenges During Week 1-

1. We had a potluck at work and I didn't want to be anti-social or seem too bougie and not eat. Something about telling people you are a vegan makes them want to push meat on you (that's what she said). Lucky for me we had a variety of salads with cheese separated in addition to what I  brought-a fancy bruschetta and rosemary bread.

2. I went out to eat with non-vegans. It's easy when you prepare your own vegan meals. It's a whole new ball game when you have to rely on a restaurant to do it for you. The tip here is to pick the restaurant and look up the menu ahead of time. Most Asian or Mexican restaurants can do their dishes without meat or dairy. Pizzerias are also surprisingly in this boat. Just have the pizza sans the shredded cheese and add lots of veggie toppings. We went with a location that was known for their pizzas.

I was still on the wagon by end of week 1 and my digestion was on fleek. My body adjusted to all the fruits/veggies I was eating and it didn't hold on to them very long if you know what I mean. I felt light and my skin was looking better. I don't think it was noticeable to anyone but me but hey, it's only been 1 week. Chill TF out.

Week 2-

My breakfast would rotate between avocado toast or chopped up papaya and a banana for breakfast. More black coffee and sugar; hold the skin hating creamer. I started getting the hang of it. It wasn't so bad and I knew that proper planning on Sundays were the key to a lot of my success to attaining this goal.


Challenges During Week 2-

1. I got a little more fatigued by the end of the day. I would be so tired/sleepy and ready for bed by 9:00 PM. I looked up initial vegan transition symptoms and one of them was being tired easily. It said I should eat more. Say no more! I will! I increased natural carbs like potatoes and rice because they aren't as processed as packaged carbs. They look similar to how they did when they came out of the ground.

2. I had a Cycle Bar class. (Think the Groupon version of Soul Cycle.) 45 minutes of pure sweat. The vegan breakfast almost didn't stand a chance. Word of advice here: Drink water throughout class and eat a banana immediately after. You will be depleted so this definitely makes a difference.

3. Super Bowl Sunday. I mean, come on. I want some cheese dip or something. Ended up ordering pizza without cheese. It was a kind of sad looking pizza next to the pepperoni and cheese I ordered for the non-vegans but I also made some vegan fried rice. Random for a Super Bowl dish but bomb.com nonetheless.

I ended my last night of this vegan challenge feeling great. I hit that goal and even went an extra day being vegan because I prepped extra meals that I didn't want to go to waste.

Here's some summations I made post challenge:

1. Being vegan can be done easily with proper planning.
2. It's cheaper to be vegan. Splurge on the organic veggies.
3.You do not even know you are currently weighed down now. You will feel light as a feather being vegan but not hungry. Hope that made sense.
4. Your skin will glow.
5. You will miss cheese. But just remember it creates mucus in your body and it's hard to digest. But just know the longer you go without something; the easier it gets to go without it. (I really could go on about how bad dairy is for you but that's for another rant, I mean, blog.)

So what happens now?

I don't think I will be vegan full time. It's not a horrible way of living. It's all about balance and I think I can balance with organic or wild caught fish every once in awhile to be realistic. But it's the cleanest lifestyle you can adopt. There's not a negative side to it. I will definitely take a lot of vegan recipes with me. I can see the 80/20 rule applying here. 80% plant based and 20% other :)

Have a great day. With your fine self!

-T. Singleton