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:

1. Always look at nutrition labels, even if it bothers one. One never knows what is in the food one eats.
2. Never poke fun at vegan because they are brave for following a lifestyle that is difficult.
3. 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.