Doing a one-month vegan challenge had always been a bucket-list item for me; I was curious to know if I could handle it and how my body would respond to it. I decided to take this challenge from Feb 10th to March 10th of 2014. After spending a month with my parents over Christmas break, I realized I was showing signs of some food allergies, especially to dairy, so veganism seemed like a good way to detox and try to reset my body a bit.
I wasn't sure how I could plan a vegan menu as a broke graduate student with limited time, money, kitchen space and cooking utensils, but it turned out to be easier than I expected. In the Twin Cities we are blessed to have many options for grocery shopping, including organic stores like Whole Foods and Trader Joe's (I strongly prefer Trader Joe's, which is much more budget-friendly!!), but I also found good options at stores like Rainbow Foods or Target Grocery. A few of my favorite options:
Breakfast:
Green Smoothie: Spinach, pineapple and/or frozen blueberries, a banana, almond milk, and protein powder all tossed into a blender. It's packed with nutrients, and it was easy to pour into a to-go cup and drink it as I was driving to student teaching or walking to class!
Oatmeal: I bought some instant packets of organic oatmeal from Trader Joe's- I usually add a handful of raisins to add some sweetness.
Lunch:
Salad: I usually use spinach as the main element of salads and throw in whatever raw veggies I can find- carrots, cucumbers, broccoli, etc- and add a handful of nuts (cashews are my fave!) for protein. I experimented with some dressings (I normally looooove ranch dressing, but that's not a vegan option!) but didn't really find any that I liked, so I normally just ate the salad plain.
Peanut butter and honey sandwich (honey technically isn't vegan, but seeings how it's perfectly healthy and can be obtained without hurting the bees, I decided it was worth cheating!), a piece of fruit and an organic fruit bar from Trader Joe's.
Supper:
This was the hard part for me- as I mentioned, I'm in graduate school and have very limited space in my kitchen, so storing tons of ingredients or cooking utensils isn't an option. I ended up going with mostly frozen meals for dinner- the good news was, there were a TON of vegan options in the frozen food sections of every grocery store I looked at. They are usually in a section marked with some sort of label. Also, check the ethnic frozen foods- a lot of Asian-inspired frozen meals are vegan-friendly.
Some guidelines that I followed:
My priority was HEALTH above all else, not just sticking to veganism for the sake of sticking to it. That meant if my body was telling me it needed a certain nutrient or if I hadn't gotten enough calories and there were no vegan options available, I had to eat/drink something else! I noticed about halfway through the month that I was experiencing a lot of muscle weakness and I knew it meant I wasn't getting enough protein. I started adding protein powder to my breakfast smoothies even though it wasn't "vegan" (there are vegan protein powders available, but there wasn't time for me to search all over the Cities for one or wait for an online order to be filled).
I did allow myself 1-2 "cheat days" per week. These days didn't mean "pig out on junk while I have the chance!!" but they were a chance to enjoy foods I might be craving during the week. I tried to time these days if I knew I would be going out to eat or eating at a friend's house, so I wouldn't have to ask them to prepare a special meal for me or get stuck eating a side-salad.
Some results that I saw:
I did loose a little bit of weight, maybe three pounds max. I feel like it was probably my body getting rid of excess water and toxins. Of course, weight loss wasn't my goal- this was just nature running its course. I did see some of my acne clearing up (I'm turning 28 in a month, and my skin still behaves like I'm 13 sometimes!), however, it still flared up pretty badly a few times. This was actually more or less a good thing, though- if I was still breaking out after a month of veganism, I knew a poor diet wasn't the cause of my breakouts. I was able to sit down with a doctor and dig a little deeper on this one and start looking for a better treatment regime.
The main thing, though, was that my body just felt better. I felt more focused on my teaching and my classes, was able to shake the grogginess faster in the mornings, had less stomach discomfort and joint pain. I definitely had some junk-food cravings, but they wore off with time. Even after the month was up, I noticed really crummy foods were far less appealing to me.
In addition, veganism forced me to remember the real purpose of food: to fuel my body and give me energy, not for therapy or a cure for boredom. This past January marked ten years since, by God's grace, I was healed from an eating disorder, and I have not had any episodes of actual disordered eating since then. However, it is a daily battle to remember the purpose of food- I still have days when I find myself using it as an escape and feeling guilty, and other days when I have to force myself to eat because I'm scared of calories. Of course, it is only by Christ who gives me strength that I am able to fight this battle, but following a healthy diet is something He uses to keep me focused!!
I admit, I couldn't wait to have a cheeseburger and french fries as soon as the month was up, but I'm excited about the new recipes I learned and the foods I learned to like, and about the new perspectives I have. I don't ever expect to commit to strict veganism for life, but I do hope to maintain many of the healthy habits I developed during this past month!!
