Capstone Personal Challenge--- Veganism

As my personal challenge, I decided to go Vegan for one entire week. Now, on the surface, this may seem like a simple task, but let me tell ya, Veganism is hard core. By being vegan, one can not only not eat meat, but also any other animal by products. Do you like milk? Well too bad, you can't have it if you're vegan. This includes yogurt, milk chocolate, some soups, creamers (so coffee's out), cheese (goldfish? I don't think so mister), and sooo much more. Do you like eggs? Whoops, can't have those either. Muffins? nope they gave eggs. Cookies? humm yep they have eggs too. Veganism is hard; it takes a lot of dedication, especially if you're a food lover like myself.

But I found that throughout the week, Veganism wasn't that hard. If you take yourself away from the food that you can't have, you're not tempted to cheat. As long as its not staring at you, tempting you with it's delish smells, veganism is tolerable. Heck, it's even somewhat enjoyable. There's something refreshing about putting natural food in your body. Your body responds differently; you have more energy, you feel lighter. And yes, if you don't take the necessary precautions, veganism can be quite unhealthy. But supplements and vitamins take care of that; I started taking a multi vitamin which can make up for some of the nutrients my diet may lack.

Now, I'm not gonna lie. I could have never done it without the support of my roommate and friends. 4 of us made the decision to go vegan together and throughout the week we relied on each other for support. Having that type of buddy system in place really helped me succeed in my goal. I'm also happy to report that all 4 of us made it through the entire week :)

Now that the week is over, we've all had different responses. Natalie decided to stay vegan; she loves it. Krystin is now a vegetarian, I think. My roommate Alexis went back to meat, but light meat only. I think she'll eventually cut down to just vegetarian. And myself? Not gonna lie, the day after I had the best patty melt I've ever eaten. I also enjoyed that Twix bar. And the Goldfish. Oh and the baked ziti. But after my day of gluttony, I realized that veganism wasn't all that bad. I felt sick after gorging my body with the things that I had deprived it of for a week. My body was used to the vegan way, so I went back to it. I'm now back to veganism, for the time being. I don't know how long it will last, I guess I'll just have to see where my vegan journey takes me :)