22 November 2009
Vegan Week in Review
Hey Winter Shape Uppers!
How did Week 5 go for you?
Vegan Week was a partial success. I say “partial” because I became un-vegan on Friday. Why? Well, I had intense stomach pain all day Thursday, and even though I doubt it had anything to do with my vegan diet, I didn’t want to risk it. So I unveganized. I think I easily could have kept up the veganism through today, though.
The overwhelming thought that I had while vegan was, “This is really not that hard.” Hands down, the hardest thing to give up was cheese. Meat? Take it or leave it. Milk? Almond and soy work just fine. But cheese? There’s nothing like a sprinkling of parm on pasta or soup, or a bit of goat cheese on salad or a sandwich. I also missed eggs a bit, too.
Really, the biggest lesson from my five days of veganism was that I don’t NEED animal products in my life. I can cut wayyyy back on them and barely notice the difference. And you can bet I will. Cheese is going to stay in my life, as are eggs. But my meat consumption has already been dwindling, and it will continue to do so, as will my dairy milk consumption. I’ll try to follow Mark Bittman’s Vegan Before Dinnertime plan as much as I can.
Remember, any amount that you can cut back on meat and other animal byproducts is helpful not only to the environment, but also to your body as well (see: Cowboy Rocco). No eating style or diet plan has to be all or nothing, and that’s something a lot of people forget. Every time you have a plant-based meal instead of an animal-based one, you save about 2.5 pounds of carbon dioxide emissions. There’s a whole campaign based on that idea. So don’t think you have to go extreme to help save the environment, your body, and your wallet.
Anyway, how did your Week 5 go? WSUppers, send me your Week 5 progress and new goals by 11:59pm EST tomorrow (Monday, 11/23) to stay in the challenge!
