So IÂ âwent veganâ for 30 days
So I lived a vegan lifestyle for 30/31 days depending on how you count it, from May1st-May 31st. The last time I had meat, dairy (including cheese) or fish, was on April 30th. I was going to write this long blog post but decided to keep it simple and if I feel like going back and elaborating I will, people tend to have a short attention span these days anyway so I broke my experience down by categories with bullet points (youâre welcome).Â
The reason why I chose to âgo veganâ:
It was 98 percent a mental thing, nothing to do with weight loss, it was something that I would often tell myself I would never be able to do âomg I could never do thatâ mentality and I wanted to prove that I could do whatever the fuck I wanted, mind over matter.
The other 2 percent was pure curiosity, experimenting with different foods, different restaurants, seeing what it was like to be the only âveganâ out with my friends at dinner and how I would survive
My main concern was that I would lose muscle, that my body would start to look and feel weak.
I work out a solid amount of time and worried I wouldnât be able to power through workouts, although I workout fasted (99 percent of the time)
I decided around the second week of April that I was going to attempt a Vegan lifestyle in May so it gave me time to research my concerns, watch a couple documentaries, find vegan blogs, apps, find grocery stories that were vegan-friendly, and find recipes I wanted to try. With preparation things that seem impossible become doable.
Since my main concern was not getting enough nutrients to recover from working out knowing I could no longer drink a whey protein shake I researched a clean vegan protein shake (disgusting smells and tastes like dirt and grass had to mix it with peanut butter).
I made it fun on the weekends by looking for vegan friendly places to eat, full vegan restaurants, and also normal âfast foodâ or sit-down chain restaurants that were easy to adjust menu items  to make things vegan i.e Chipotle (I had Chipotle a lot when I forgot to meal prep, sofritas is pretty good).
For the most part, I made food at home because I knew exactly what was in it.
I only about  3 people knew I was doing this, I didnât make a huge announcement. I didnât want any âinputâ or discouragement, eventually as time went on more people close to me knew. Those few people who knew turned out to be pretty encouraging, asking me what I ate and how I felt. ( aww friends )
You canât just eat random food you find in the break room! (you never realize how much random stuff you mindlessly eat when you have no apprehensions)
smelling bacon and not eating it bacon
not being able to eat real ice cream (vegan ice cream didnât cut it, I love ice cream)
no chocolate (not the chocolate I like)
no fish/seafood (had a face couldnât eat it)
Iâm not a huge cheese person so not eating cheese wasnât an issue.
I stopped drinking cows milk for the most part years ago (and yes, I know itâs in cheese) so that was nothing
What I learned/took away from this:
Vegans can have awesome workouts, I actually increased my weights this month
If something has been done before it can be done again, because vegans exist and live like the rest of us, it was indeed possible for me to be successful for one month. Life is truly a series of choices you make every day and you just choose what you want to eat, simple. **people would say âwow, wouldnât have been able last a weekâ yes you can)
Itâs really possible to be a âfat veganâ not in an insulting way, but meaning you can eat fatty vegan foods, BK fries vegan, Oreos, Lays Potato Chips, Swedish Fish, Sour Patch Kids, all vegan. sugar is vegan, depending on how strict of a vegan lifestyle you live.
I am a carnivore so this would not be a permanent change in my life, but I can have a vegan meal and be satisfied.
I feel/felt pretty much the same, a little lighter
my skin is a little brighter
I feel better mentally just because I held myself accountable and I feel dope for that
I did get a little cranky this past week approaching the finish line.
All in all, it was a pretty cool experience, I have some photos of places I ate at. I donât think I took that many photos. I can not wait to eat fried chicken, burgers, steak mac and cheese, but in order to not get sick I will slowly introduce meat back into my diet, so Iâll still be a little bit vegan for a couple of days (Iâm not mad )