Six weeks ago, I followed a Paleo diet; four weeks ago, I ate according to the Mediterranean diet; and last week, I finished a vegan-inspired diet. All of this was for a diet experiment, in which I followed three popular diets that have always intrigued me—not to fully understand each diet, but to get a taste of what they’re about to inspire my cooking creativity. Today, I’m sharing my pseudo-fail, yet enlightening week-long journey on a vegan diet.
Like the first two diets, I sat down and planned a week’s worth of meals and then bought all the goods. Below is what I got prior to going vegan-ish.
I say ish because after having such a difficult time simply going Paleo, I didn’t see the need to suffer through what seems to me as one of the most restrictive diets out there: veganism. Despite this, I DID try some things I don’t usually (or ever) have: tofu, sweet potato, coconut milk, almond milk, lentils, soba noodles, and more. Unfortunately, I didn’t quite prepare enough because when I tried my best to be 100% vegan, I always wound up hungry.
So while I think various diets like this have great qualities, I’ve learned you need to be very prepared (or even more motivated to make things constantly) to get through it in a healthy way. I had to supplement the vegan thing with a lot of non-vegan-friendly foods because I needed some extra umph to get through the day. However, I did eat way more vegetables and fruits than usual, so I definitely benefited from trying to follow the diet. So there’s that, at least.
Here’s a good look inside what I ate that actually was vegan:
- Wide variety of fruit (basically all that were featured in my how to tell if fruit is ripe post)
- Smoothies
- Strawberry Banana “Ice Cream”
- Banana nut quinoa breakfast bowl (cooked quinoa, almond milk, nuts, banana, and cinnamon)
- Nut & Seed Bars
- Chocolate avocado pudding
- Hummus
- Peanutty Quinoa Bowls with Tofu
- Cold Soba Noodle Salad (more on this in Friday’s post)
- Curried Red Lentil Soup with Goji Berries (ditto from above)
- Veggie and sweet potato skillet
- Veggie sandwich (celery, avocado, mushrooms, green pepper, carrots, and lettuce)
- Lettuce wraps (basically same as above, but with a spicy almond sauce—aka almond butter + Sriracha)
I knew how this would go before I even started it. It was difficult, and I don’t quite understand how people can follow such a restrictive diet every day of their life. But kudos to them for having such self-control and drive. If anything, I definitely think what vegan’s all about (aka no meat, fish, dairy, or other animal products) is a great emphasis for a diet, but I personally would never want to follow it.
So do your thing people. Now you know what it was like for me to follow the vegan diet, as well as Paleo and Mediterranean diets.
I tried going fully vegan 3 years ago and now I call myself a “flexitarian” which basically means I cook vegan and vegetarian at home, eat mostly vegetarian out, and occasionally eat meat. It is definitely a challenge to be fully vegan and takes a lot of creativity at first! But once you get several recipes in rotation that work for you it’s doable. But I’m with you – being 100% vegan is not for me but I appreciate much of the vegan diet.
I like your version of flexitarian! I’ve always heard it as a joke for “I’m vegetarian, except when I don’t want to be.” Yours seems much more legit. Haha. And I could definitely see vegetarianism or veganism being way easier once you get some go-to meals in the rotation. Seems like a good system you have though. 🙂
I am a lifelong vegetarian and could never be a vegan. I need cheese and yogurt and personally find that it is too hard to get enough protein and calcium without dairy and eggs. Fun that you tried them all. Which one are you going to ultimately stay on?
Although I didn’t try the different diets to pick a permanent one, I think my goal will be to attempt a Mediterranean-focused diet. So an emphasis on fresh goods and seafood, with some poultry, and keeping red meat to a minimum. 🙂 Glad you enjoyed my journey!