After school, I walk home directly to the cabinet in the kitchen. I open the cabinet in hopes of a snack. The choices: Goldfish, Hot Cheetos, and Pop-Tarts. I reach for the Goldfish. I suddenly remember, I am temporarily vegan. This happened twice a day during the three days I attempted to be vegan. During my three day attempt, I avoided foods which contained any animal product. That included, meat, egg, and milk. As part of a family of carnivores, it proved to be difficult.
For my daily meals, I had pasta with tomato sauce, cereal, and salad.
The positives:
For the three days I followed the vegan lifestyle, I did not breakout as usual. On a normal diet, I would constantly break out after eating and it was a pain! After eating vegan, the effect turned opposite. My face got clearer and clearer as the days passed. I was not only glad, but it made me feel less insecure about my acne. I have even found a study conducted by the Harvard school of Public Health in 1998 that concluded that milk produces hormones that actually allow more acne to be produced. “I ate vegetarian for a long time and avoided greasy foods. But I have noticed that there are less pimples and stuff on my shoulders,” Sr. Jared Wiseman said. For the past four months, Wiseman had begun to eat vegetarian, about a month ago, he transitioned to veganism.
Not only had this lifestyle provided clear skin, it provided me with more energy. Before, I dreaded waking up and getting out of bed, as any normal human would, but with veganism, I felt more energized than ever. I usually wake up and lay in bed for 20 minutes. On the second day, I was up in two minutes. Even my mother was surprised to see me awake, ready to start the day. “Do you know that slow and heavy feeling after eating a big meal? Like you need to lay down for about an hour? Well that stopped once I made the switch,” Wiseman said.
Following the vegan lifestyle allowed me to be more attentive to what I ate and what was in the food that I ate. The sugar count, whether something has GMOs, and what ingredients are in foods is what I pay attention to more often.
The negatives:
There is so much work that needs to be put into this lifestyle. I had to constantly check the nutrition label for every food, condiment, or snack. This really hit me on the second day. My family and I had decided to go to Subway for dinner. In the car on the way to the sub shop, I looked at the menu in hopes of a vegan dinner. There I found it: a veggie patty. I was excited to try vegan-friendly meat. As soon as I looked at the ingredients, my happiness diminished. There was egg whites in a veggie patty. Who knew. Yet, my integrity stopped me from just not caring. I had to do these three days right, even if it frustrated me.
The second most irritating obstacle was the variety of food. With a normal diet, I am able to have a variety of foods at an instant: hamburgers, hot dogs, even milk and cereal. With veganism, I had to eat basic foods. Yes, I know there are many variety of vegan foods at stores, but I tried to cut down costs during the three days.
One of the cons of eating vegan are the prices. Even a simple trip to the grocery store cost me about $30. I tried to buy everything organic, or else I felt as if I would not be living up to the lifestyle.
Moving forward:
On Thursday, the day after my vegan diet, I reflected back on the previous days:
- Always look at nutrition labels, even if it bothers one. One never knows what is in the food one eats.
- Never poke fun at vegan because they are brave for following a lifestyle that is difficult.
- Try to always buy organic foods, as they are the most healthy.
This experience was great and even though I love animals, I could never eat completely vegan. I have the upmost respect for those who do go through and follow this lifestyle. I have forever changed based on the fact of knowing what is in some foods. After following this lifestyle for a short period of time, I found myself looking at the ingredient categories on different foods.
