Happy Veganuary!
I’m going to be honest, I had no clue what Veganuary was before starting my 5-day vegan journey. Basically, Veganuary is an annual challenge in the UK, that promotes and educates about veganism by encouraging people to follow a vegan lifestyle for the month of January.
As a Canadian, 1-month sounded a little too long so I opted for a week, minus the weekend because, well I want to enjoy my weekend. Sorry!
However, for this week I put my attitudes aside and got to it-
5 days of Veganism
A little background here, I was one of many teenage girls who go through a vegetarian phase in high school. I was vegetarian for 2-3 years of my life, so I have an idea of how to cook meat-less foods. However, eggs, cheese, even honey are staples in my diet, so I definitely had a lot of learning ahead.
I woke up Monday I had committed to this challenge, I grabbed an egg in a delirious 7 am state, thank god something clicked in my brain because that would’ve been a horrible start to my week.
My first vegan breakfast was pretty good! I know tomatoes can be controversial, but with some salt, pepper and lemon – mwah chef’s kiss! The only main difference was normally I’d have butter on the bagel, but Earth Balance did the trick.
The breakfast was decently filling, for little to no protein or fat content. This became a common theme as the week went on, filling myself up with carbs. Which leads me to something I discovered about veganism. There seem to be two main types of vegans.
The Animal Lover <3
These vegans choose not to eat animal by-products on ethical principles. These vegans are often the ones to be stereotyped as self-righteous or “in your face.”
Pigs are animals?#vegan #GoVegan #Veganuary #Veganuary2022 pic.twitter.com/cdismPSkSb
— Follow the Vegans Ⓥ (@vegan_v_vegan) January 22, 2022
Clearly, they’re very passionate and my philosophy when it comes to food is, whatever makes you happy. I think guilting yourself into eating a certain way is a recipe for disaster.
This is the biggest qualm I have with veganism. Anyone can be guilted into eating a certain way, this doesn’t make you a better person. This cult-like veganism is a toxic community that gives people a certain self-righteousness. Disordered eating and cultural differences don’t matter to these vegans, as long as your “killing an animal” you’re are bad. It’s sad that people can see the world so black and white, but I think it makes life easier for people who feel lost in the complexity of the world.
I do want to acknowledge, there are definitely animal-loving vegans who aren’t like this, just, unfortunately, the aggro vegans take up a lot of space under #vegan.
Instagram Health and Wellness
The “health” focused vegans aren’t necessarily “animal lovers” or sustainabili-Teens, they just believe that veganism is the healthiest way of eating. Think LA, Erewhon, Wholefoods culture. These vegans don’t really care what you’re eating, they’re just trying to treat their body like a temple; lots of smoothies, protein powders and supplements.
@biancataylorm As requested! Lmk if you want more❤️ #28XTREMES #vegan #veganfit #veganfitnessjourney #healthylifestyle #fitgirl #vegangirl
Health is wealth, and if a vegan diet suits your health and fitness journey then that’s awesome! A healthy lifestyle is a far better motivator than guilt and self-righteousness.
Neena’s a vegan?
You know the joke where vegans introduce themselves with “Hi I’m vegan!” before mentioning their name. To be honest, it was kind of fun to tell people I was vegan for a week. I get it. Even better, was complaining about being vegan,
“Aw there’s nothing for me to eat wahhh”
– Me, every ten minutes
Snacks were the hardest part. I could fudge together some decent meals, but when it came to snacking I was limited to hummus and crackers pretty much all week.
I definitely could’ve gotten more creative, but I wanted to be budget-friendly and realistic. Most of us can’t afford to go out and buy out-of-season fruits and overpriced vegan snacks every week, so I worked with what I already had.
One of my favourite meals of the week was this udon noodle and fried tofu bowl. I topped it with green onions, sesame seeds, soy sauce and sesame oil. This was a super balanced dish in comparison to my chips and salsa meals. Everything was super flavourful so I don’t want to hear any of that “vegan food is bland” bs. The tofu provided some good protein, so I didn’t miss the meat at all. I’m definitely going to whip this up again in the near future!
My tofu noodle bowl was a hit, but unfortunately, I am a busy and at times lazy college student, so as the week progressed my motivation dwindled.
I definitely required more coffee throughout the day, likely due to the lack of protein in my diet. That’s nobody’s fault but my own. Maintaining a balanced vegan diet requires more time, money and work than I thought. Tons of my meals weren’t even photographable, how sad and lame they looked.
One of the reasons some of my meals were so rushed and boring, was because I was so hangry leading up to a meal. Once it was dinner time, I wasn’t wasting any time making some vegan homemade falafel. I was popping something in the microwave and calling it a day.
Vegan hanger is next-level people. I kinda understand why vegans can be so rude on Instagram.
I abused the hell out of my favourite food, which just happens to be vegan. This may surprise people but my all-time favourite food is oatmeal.
I’ll admit I had oatmeal for breakfast, lunch and dinner.
It’s easy, microwavable, tasty and filling. So after 2 days of trying to be innovative with my recipes, I reverted back to my comfort meal, oats.
The oatmeal gave me a decent amount of energy throughout the day and it’s something I genuinely crave, so it didn’t make my diet feel restrictive.
Final thoughts
Pros
- I normally have a really sensitive stomach and I had no tummy aches on a vegan diet.
- Didn’t eat out at restaurants, so I actually ended up actually saving money.
- No junk food
- You get to call yourself vegan.
Cons
- Hangry – Moody, out of it, tired
- Poor sleep? Likely due to drinking more coffee to compensate for lack of energy
- Restrictive
- Not convenient – time-consuming to prepare tasty meals, tricky to grab food out
- Not a social eating experience – Not eating the same food as friends and family
Did this mini Veganuary convert me to veganism? No.
Where I’m at in life, veganism doesn’t work for within my lifestyle, but I definitely learnt a lot that I’m going to carry out into my regular way of eating. The fact that I didn’t get experience any digestive issues like, bloating or indigestion was amazing to me. I’m going to incorporate a lot more vegan meals into my diet now that I know they are “safe” on my digestion.
Even though I’m not a vegan convert, I’m glad I tried this out and got a glimpse into what veganism would look like for me. If you have the time and money to try out your own version of Veganuary, give it a shot! It’s easy to judge other peoples lifestyles from the outside, but when you’re in it, you now have