Vegan Challenge Recap
Yesterday I ate:
– 1/2 banana with almond butter and small handful fresh raspberries
– Bowl of steel cut oats with a half scoop calcium/magnesium powder, 1 tsp chocolate protein powder, 2 tsp PB2, 1/2 banana, cinnamon, and a splash of unsweetened vanilla Almond Breeze. I had never had steel cut oats before. Now I know why everyone raves about them!
– A few sunflower seeds and a sandwich with 2 slices multigrain bread, mustard, hummus, 3 Tofurky slices, green pepper, broccoli sprouts, and delicious tomatoes from Westwood’s garden
– 1 apple, carrot sticks, 1 tbsp almonds and a couple beanballs
– Shiritaki noodles with black bean salsa (I used the recipe in Tosca Reno’s Eat Clean Diet for the Family as a guideline and discovered that I really do enjoy black beans when they are mixed in with other flavourful ingredients), and 1/2 banana plus 1 fig with almond butter for dessert
– Bowl of air-popped popcorn (a real single-portion-sized amount! Victory once again).
The Vegan Challenge comes to a close
Today is the last day of the vegan challenge. The very last day! I’m not sure quite how I feel about that.
Let’s recap what we set out intending to learn back at the beginning of the month, shall we?
1. Spreading awareness about animal products
From lip balm to toothpaste to alcohol to condiments to pasta, animal ingredients seem to lurk everywhere. Some restaurants were nearly impossible to eat at; the people who worked at Cafe 22 couldn’t even promise that their salad dressing was vegan. Consequently, I was unable to have anything other than an Alexander Keith’s beer and a “salad” (aka romaine lettuce with tomato chunks) for dinner that particular evening.
But the interesting thing is that even though there are animal ingredients in so many of our products, there are also many products which do not *have* to have animal ingredients in them. I found vegan versions of lip balm, toothpaste, alcohol, condiments (well those I like to make myself at home), and pasta. Sometimes it required extra effort on my part to really hunt down these products, but they’re out there. This leads me to wonder why it’s so necessary for us to use animal products at all. If animal ingredients aren’t necessary to make toothpaste, why don’t we stop using them and use plant-based ingredients instead? Or is this even an issue that needs to be brought up? You tell me. Does it bother you at all that there are animal ingredients lingering in nearly everything we put in our mouths? Is it a bad thing or does it not really matter?
2. Decrease my carbon footprint
As I noted earlier in the month, I eat plenty of foods which make my carbon footprint the size of a small country, I’m sure. Fresh fruit and PB2 are the big ones, I think. Eating “meat replacers” such as Tofurky defeats the purpose a little bit because it’s still contributing to a larger carbon footprint, what with all of the manufacturing and packaging that goes on behind the scenes. Even so, eating a meat-free (and egg-free, and dairy-free…) diet this past month has, I think, likely cut down on what my footprint might otherwise have been.
3. Increase my knowledge and understanding of different diets and lifestyles
My words a month ago: “I don’t ‘get’ veganism. I’m skeptical about how nutritious it is.”
I also said this: “I don’t want to knock it if I haven’t even given it a shot… There are all kinds of controversies over how healthy veganism is and I’m on a mission to find out from personal experience.”
I have certainly learned amazing amounts over the past month. Veganism can be a very healthy way to eat- just the same as nearly any other diet. It is dependent on what’s right for your body and it’s also dependent on how much variety you get and how much attention you pay to consuming the right amounts of all the nutrients. Balance is essential.
My body reacted very well to veganism. I had very few real difficulties with cravings and my energy levels didn’t change. My weight stayed the same and my mood didn’t fluctuate either (as a result of the veganism, I mean. I might have gotten a wee bit stressed out a few times over the past week or two from the heavy work and school load, but I attribute that to taking on too much at once. And that has been rectified).
Tomorrow I will post my eats for my final day of this challenge. On Friday I’ll recap the reality of what my personal struggles were this month. And this question will also be addressed on Friday: Are you going to continue eating vegan after the challenge?
Have you learned many new things this month (vegan-related or not)? What are your thoughts about the vast amount of products that contain animal ingredients? What are some things that you do in your daily life to decrease your carbon footprint by a notch or two?
Don’t forget to please give me more suggestions for the 21 Foods List! I’ll make some choices of what to add over the next week before finalizing the list.
well, as we’ve previously established Im not a vegan 🙂 and I dont play one on the ‘net BUT I have tried to make it a fun game with my daughter to live as gently as we can EVERY DAY.
to see how tiny a mark we can leave each 24 hours as, over time, I know that will add up to something bigger.
I dont think she “gets” it now (shes almost 4) but I want her to grow up just “knowing” that the goal is to live gently and leave the earth for others.
I think you definitely have opened my eyes to all the random places where animals exist in our foods…it’s crazy. I know I eat meat, and will never give it up, but I feel that my intake is quite limited and I do a good job of limiting my intake and buying organic animal products. I will start to become more aware of the product ingredients that I am buying to see where animal ingredients may be hiding from me. I will make an effort to cut down on those, for sure.
You have revealed a lot to me, and made me aware of how I am impacting the environment, not only with food choices, but with other choices as well.
Thanks Sagan!
Yay Sagan! It sounds like your experiment was a success! I’m so glad you liked it and it went well. Too true about restaurants tho. Can’t wait to read what you’re going to do with it next.
This has been so interesting for me Sagan. I feel like I’ve wanted to go completely vegan for a while but I have been very intimidated by the effort that needs to be made. You are an inspiration 🙂 great job! Like I said on my blog, in a comment response to you, I basically can’t wait for your full Friday recap!
I focus on eating plant foods every day, occasionally supplementing with fish but I also strive to make those choices wild ones, in order to have a more positive effect on the environment.
MizFit- small steps make all the difference.
Gina & Diane- I’m glad that you’ve both learned something, too!
Charlotte- very much a success. It surprised me!
Danielle- I think that oftentimes the awareness is the biggest hurdle. And then we can consciously make decisions about what we want to include in our nutrition plans/lifestyle.
I think you did great this month! Well done!
I’m glad that you did such a thorough job of your vegan experiment. It made for an interesting read!
As far as the animal ingredients in so many products where you wouldn’t expect them to be, one must remember that the ingredients in question are by-products from animals that have been slaughtered for food. The fats have been rendered in order to use them in lip balm, for example. This is not necessarily a BAD thing – if those things were not used in such a manner, they would be going into the landfill, so to speak, and would be wasted.
(read the next part in your old granny voice…)
In the old days, nothing was wasted. If we lived as our ancestors did, we would grow our own food, grind our own grain, slaughter our own animal – cut it up, render the fat for cooking (and slathering on our poor, chapped lips), grind the bone to add to our gardens, tan the hide to wear, etc……
Perhaps your next challenge should be to live as our ancestors did – without any modern conveniences. To reduce your carbon footprint in that manner. That would be very interesting!! (And I know you are up to the challenge!) 🙂
I’m glad the challenge went so well for you. Thank you for making me more aware of all the products that contain animal products. I am quite conscious of the carbon footprint that I’m leaving (but I know that I could do a better job…). I look forward to hearing more about what your personal struggles were.
Congrats on finishing the month – I am anxious to read Friday’s post for the summary.
Hanlie & South Beach Steve- thanks, my dears!
Bag Lady- OOOOHHHH I love your idea! Can I come live with you and we can cook together? 🙂 And you’re right about the animal ingredients- and I agree, it’s not necessarily a bad thing. But it’s definitely interesting how much we rely on animals for all kinds of products!
Andrea- We can all always do a better job, methinks! But we’re making steps in the right direction.
great post girl! I’m definitely not a vegan nor ever could be but you did so good 🙂 I’ve definitely made a conscious effort to increase my veggies intake 🙂
Sagan – you can come and live here any time!! We’ll build a little cabin out in the bush and try to figure out how to cook over an open fire…..
oh, wait – I already know how to cook over an open fire! 🙂
I’ll teach you a few old-time survival tricks – how does that sound?
Julie- more veggies is always a plus!
Bag Lady- sounds perfect. I vote we do it during a time of year with no mosquitoes or snow. We’ve got about three months grace period out of twelve… now THAT is a challenge 😉