The Vegan Experiment: Days 4 & 5

I have to admit - I was a little lax these last two days of this experiment when it came to documenting my progress. The reason will become clear momentarily.

Day 4

I mentioned before that I had an event to attend this evening. I was looking forward to it, but I knew it would be a challenge to stay with my vegan diet. Challenge?! I had no idea...

Breakfast - Since I had a feeling dinner would be spare (at best), I decided to indulge myself a little by starting my day with an Amy's Tofu Scramble pocket. To be fair, I had eaten these before. I recommend them to ANYONE - carnivores and herbivores alike! Srambled tofu may not sound too appetizing, but it is amazing (and 100% vegan).

Lunch - I had been waiting all week to try a sandwich from Uncle Marky's Organics, a nearby sandwich shop that caters to vegetarians. I figured there was no time like the present, so I ordered a tofu BLT (grilled tofu, tempeh "bacon", lettuce, tomato and vegan mayo on multi-grain bread). It was surprisingly fantastic! I was dubious when I placed the order, as I had tried tempeh before and found it to be...well, honestly, gross and really dry. I was relieved to be wrong!

Dinner - I filled up as much as I could before leaving work for the event at the library. Almonds, fruit, some Pop Chips.

I got to the library, found my co-workers sitting with Frank (who had abandoned the vegan experiment for the evening) and sat down. The appetizers and drinks started to circulate - foie gras, caviar, cheese balls, and little mounds of thinly cut roast beef circled the room, but I sat tight with my white wine and sparkling water (eyeballing Frank jealously the whole time, as he mowed his way happily through every appetizer that passed our table). When we finally moved to the room where the dinner was to take place, I was already starting to feel...well, I'll say it - a little tipsy.

Upon being seated, I noticed there was a small dinner roll waiting for at each of our places. I tore into it while our appetizer course was being served - tomato, mozerella, and basil salad. Sigh. I tossed my mozzerella over to Frank (he gave me his tomatoes, mercifully) and had some more wine. The wait staff was very accomodating - when the main course was served (salmon! my favorite!), they provided me and the other vegetarian at the table with the veggie dish, which consisted of a handful of string beans, some carrots and a lovely corn souffle (yes, cheese and cream, had to skip that). Also, the Wine Fairies circling the place had managed to refill my glass several times on the sly, so by the time I had eaten my 5 beans and 3 carrots, I was thoroughly pickled.

Staggering out of the lovely, classy New York Public Library (with the help of Frank, who gallantly kept his "I told you so"s to himself) was not my finest moment. I had held fast to my guns, but ended up shooting myself in the foot with them (in this particular case).

Day 5

This day was a bit of a blur. After the evening's events, I was feeling, ahem, a little under the weather. I did not waver, though. Instead of ordering a hangover remedy (I have to admit, a bacon, egg and cheese sandwich sounded really good), I sucked it up and ordered a salad for lunch. Even though I was feeling less than stellar, Frank and I had decided to cap off our week of veganism (AND our 2 year anniversary!) with a special dinner at Candle 79, one of the best vegetarian restaurants in the city.

You can read about our wonderful experience at Candle 79 here, my blog with Frank (we did a recap on our vegan week).

It's now been a full week since I went vegan, and I've gotta say - I'm sticking with it! I embarked on this experiment to see if I would experience any positive health benefits and I can say without hesitation that YES! I have! I have more energy, and I've lost a couple of pounds. Plus, in doing this, I've learned a lot about the icky things that go on in factory farms. It's gross, and it's bad for the environment. I'll refrain from stepping on the soapbox, but if you're curious, definately make a stop here - Frank's dad makes a very good case for going vegan in today's blog entry. Cow farts and burps! Damaging the environment! Read for yourself!

The Vegan Experiment: Day 1

Exhibit A: The Fuzzie-Wuzzies

For most of my life, I equated veganism with an image of an under-nourished, over-educated, smelly population of preachy hippies/militant activists. Over time, my worldview has expanded somewhat (although I am still annoyed by preachiness...and smelliness), and I now realize that there are some perfectly normal, healthy vegans out there. Today, I am becoming one of them.

My reasons for attempting this experiment are twofold: First, I'm interested to see if I experience an improvement in my overall health, and second, because I watched the latest episode of "30 Days" and got upset about the treatment of the fuzzie-wuzzies. So, for the next week (at least), I am setting aside my deep attachment to cheese and all things cheese-related (oh yeah, and all other foods originating in or having anything to do with animals). I will be documenting my efforts here for the education and/or amusement of the masses. Bon appetit.

Day 1:

Breakfast - Stood with my coffee (with soy creamer), examining the ingredients list on a box of Life cereal before realizing I had no soy milk at my disposal (and hazelnut-flavored soy coffee creamer might not blend well with the delicate flavors of Life cereal). Abandoned Life completely for instant oatmeal (prepared with water).

Snack 1 - Around 11, start rooting around the snack cabinet at work. Find some raw almonds and a plum. Eat them while thinking longingly of my usual snack (string cheese).

Noon - Realize with no small amount of horror that chocolate is made with milk and thereby is decidedly not vegan. Fight the urge to weep.

Lunch - Mixed greens salad with cherry tomatoes, alfalfa sprouts, cucumber, and tofu. Yes, tofu. Tossed with enough balsalmic to disguise disappointing blandness of tofu.

Snack 2 - Am distraught to learn that my favorite flavor of Pop Chips contains milk. Exchange them for the much-less-flavorful (but still satisfying) "original" version. Eyeball the Babybel cheese mini-wheel in the fridge covetously, but resist. Must...think...about...the...fuzzie...wuzzies...

After work, I walked home and perused the contents of our fridge while having some pita and olive hummus. Other than that, there wasn't much in the way of vegan food in our place. When Frank came home, we took a field trip to our local health food store and loaded up with...SOY! Lots and lots of soy. Soy ice cream. Soy yogurt. Soy cheese. Soy milk. Some of it is going to be necessary to get through this week, other stuff we thought sounded cool and just wanted to try (vegan cookies! why the hell not?). We came home, inspected our pile of vegan booty with satisfaction and dove in. I had an Amy's Indian Burrito for dinner (weird, but good - spinach, tofu and Indian spices). I was thinking earlier that I might cap the night off with some soy ice cream, but I'm kind of all set with soy right now.

So far, so good! We'll see what tomorrow brings, but tonight, at least, I can sleep the sleep of the morally superior (Ha! Just kidding! Not preaching! No preaching here!)...