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I Survived the Vegan for a Week Challenge

Published on February 13, 2011 By Emily. Updated on February 13, 2011

A week ago, I started the Vegan for a Week Challenge, vowing to give up meat, eggs, milk, and butter for 7 days.  Here’s my thoughts, in summary:

The Good

  • Everything I ate this week was really tasty-who says vegan has to be boring?
  • My body felt good and I had energy.  Which is to say, I felt normal.  Not awesome, just normal.
  • I tried some new foods including agave, Ezekiel bread and seitan.  Agave and Ezekiel bread may join the list of regular purchases for our household.
  • I gave a lot of thought about what my food contains, which I think is always a good thing.
  • My lunches were awesome.  I really need to work harder towards making hot meals for myself for lunch.

The Bad

  • Eating out was hard! We couldn’t just stop at Dunkin’ Donuts for a snack or coffee (we don’t do black).
  • I really missed my morning tea with milk and sugar.  Almond milk and agave just aren’t the same.
  • No cheese.  ‘Nuf said.
  • Label reading can be exhausting.  It was hard work to double check everything I wanted to put in my body.
  • People looked at me like I was nuts when I told them I was going vegan for the week.  Why would someone give up animal products?!

Conclusions:

Veganism isn’t right for me.  In order to make such a drastic change in my diet, I’d really have to feel strongly that it was the right thing to do.  I don’t feel that way.  I believe there are serious issues with our industrial food system, I believe homemade is better than store bought and I believe that we don’t need to consume meat or animal products at every meal to be healthy.  But I don’t believe that consuming animal products is fundamentally wrong.  I don’t think that animals are on the same level as people and I’m okay with eating meat occasionally, especially if I know where it came from.  Maintaining a vegan lifestyle with no emotional/moral/intellectual conviction is simply not feasible.

I have a lot more respect for vegans than I did a week ago.  I used to think that going vegan would be easy: a simple matter of getting rid of butter, eggs, milk and cheese but there are animal products in so many things.  Being vegan is work.  This week wasn’t too bad because I only had to plan a week’s worth of meals, we ate a lot of leftovers and I was too busy to think too much about snacking.  But if I was going to become a full time vegan, my pantry would need to undergo some serious changes.  I think I’d have to spend a lot more time cooking and spend more money on substitutes in order to keep some of the flavors I enjoy in my diet.

All that said, I really appreciate the awareness the past week has provided me.  I’m going to try to continue thinking carefully about what I’m eating and including more vegan options in my diet.

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Filed Under: life Tagged With: vegan, vegan challenge

« Dining Out Vegan (Vegan, Days 5 and 6)
I’m Not Dead! »

Comments

  1. Carrie (Moves 'N Munchies) says

    February 14, 2011 at 4:23 am

    it sounds like it went rly well for you! and that you learned from the experience, which is most important!

  2. Jessica @ Black Cat Kitchen says

    February 19, 2011 at 12:12 am

    I totally agree. I’m doing it for the month for health reasons – basically an elimination diet – so I’m focusing more on cutting out dairy & eggs than anything else. Personally, I don’t like replacing something like butter, which I know where it comes from and can buy locally and organic, with a processed substitute. It’s a really hard balance. I will definitely eat more vegetarian/vegan meals though. :)

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Emily
Last week Brian and I finally got around to hiring Last week Brian and I finally got around to hiring a sitter for a rare night out. We went to dinner at @publicna and took advantage of the opportunity with drinks, appetizers and dessert.

Pictured:
- Citrus Braised Beef Tacos
- "Chicken and Waffles"
- House Fries with Garlic Aioli
- Fried Chickpeas
- Blood Orange Cheesecake
It was no surprise that Public was close to full on a Wednesday night - everything was so good. 

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#igers413_food #igers413 #BerkshireFoodies #InTheBerkshires #EatLocal #WesternMA #WesternMass #Berkshires  #VisitTheBerkshires #NorthAdams #NAmazing #PublicEatAndDrink
New year, new theme word! This year's word is "enr New year, new theme word!
This year's word is "enrich" and I'm really excited about it.

I've written more about this year's theme on the blog. Click in the link in my profile or follow the link below to read the post.
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https://www.relishments.com/blog/my-2023-theme-word-enrich/
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#YearlyTheme #MyOneWord #2023 #enrich2023 #NewYearsResolution
It's not New Year's Eve without a Top 9 post. It's It's not New Year's Eve without a Top 9 post.
It's almost all #Berkshires content this year, which is great.
1. A pasta salad reel that took longer to create than the recipe took to make.
2. A reel from North Carolina where I could have watched birds all day.
3. The @thelazygenius book giveaway.
4.@plantconnector 
5. @berkshiremuseum 
6.@sculpture.now at @themountlenox 
7. @massmoca 
8. @mountainviewfarm413 
9. The #AshuwillticookRailTrail
New on the blog: My 2022 reflections on last year' New on the blog: My 2022 reflections on last year's theme word - resume. 

I was able to get back to many activities that were meaningful to me this year and I'm calling this theme a success. Follow the link below or click the link in my profile to read more.
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https://www.relishments.com/blog/reflections-on-resuming-in-2022/
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#resume2022 #newyearsresolution #myoneword #yearlytheme
New on the blog: My Favorite Recipes of 2022. For New on the blog: My Favorite Recipes of 2022.

For the fourth year, I've recapped the best new (to me) recipes I made this year in the hope that they'll give you some new dishes to try. This year's list is short, but delicious. It includes @budgetbytes My Favorite Recipes of 2022
Published on December 30, 2022 By Emily. Updated on December 30, 2022

It’s hard to believe that 2022 is basically behind us. Though overall this year found me getting back to the person I want to be (post-babies and “post”-pandemic), I did not try nearly as many new recipes this year as I used to. In fact, I was pleasantly surprised to see that I’d made note of any new-to-me recipes I wanted to share in this post. This year’s list is short, but delicious. It includes recipes from @budgetbytes, @smittenkitchen and @howsweeteats.
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Read the post by visiting the link in my profile or 
https://www.relishments.com/blog/my-favorite-recipes-of-2022/
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#RecipeRoundUp #BestRecipes2022 #FavoriteRecipes
@coastalmainebotanicalgardens continues to be one @coastalmainebotanicalgardens continues to be one of the highlights of all my return trips to Boothbay and their annual Gardens Aglow event continues to impress. It was great to be back to walking the gardens instead of the pandemic drive through and there seemed to be more lights than ever.  I'm already looking forward to next year.
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#Boothbay #BoothbayMaine #CoastalMaineBotanicalGardens #GardensAglow #BotanicalGarden #MidcoastMaine
It has been a while, but there is finally a new CS It has been a while, but there is finally a new CSA menu plan on the blog! Visit the link below or in my profile to see how I plan to make use of some of the @mightyfoodfarm produce seen here.
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https://www.relishments.com/blog/welcome-to-winter-farm-share-csa-menu-plan-148/
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#MightyFoodFarm #EatLocal #EatSeasonal #VermontGrown #CSApickup #CSAshare #KnowYourFarmerKnowYourFood #MenuPlanning #MealPlanning #igers413 #igers413_food #BerkshireFoodies
Fall in the Berkshires is always incredible, but t Fall in the Berkshires is always incredible, but this year we've had weather that has also been outstanding. The past 2 weekends have included time at Jaeschke Orchards, the Greylock Glen, and the Ashuwillticook Rail Trail as well as stopping to photograph any random foliage I see. 
Check out the last slide for video of some feathered friends we saw on a walk.
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#igers413 #InTheBerkshires #EatLocal #WesternMA #WesternMass #Berkshires  #VisitTheBerkshires #FallFoliage #FallColors #autumn #AshuwillticookRailTrail #JaeschkeOrchards #GreylockGlen
@freshgrassfestival continues to be one of my favo @freshgrassfestival continues to be one of my favorite events each year, and it doesn't hurt that it's just minutes away from home. Enjoying the festival with my kids is definitely a different experience than without, but it's still a good time. The weather was especially cooperative today which was great for all the laps I did around the @massmoca campus pushing a stroller. I'm already looking forward to next year.
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