Week Two
It was a LONG week. I think I'm going to have to retract some previous statements from my first post about the first week of this insane experiment. Going vegan absolutely sucks! I don't think I can have another spinach sandwich for lunch without wanting to rip my hair out. Too many times the dining center hasn't had any or some of the ingredients needed to make what I ordered, so they just didn't make anything and I would end up eating salad or another glorious spinach sandwich. And I really don't like having to schedule all of my meals for the day each morning. I guess having to put in so much more thought into every meal has just gotten old, just like eating what seems like the same meal every day gets old. Wow, do I sound high maintenance!
I'll elaborate on what has made me go off the deep end and totally change my position (from "this won't be so bad" to "when can I be done?") on this experiment:
1. Animal products are in EVERYTHING!!!
I'll elaborate on what has made me go off the deep end and totally change my position (from "this won't be so bad" to "when can I be done?") on this experiment:
1. Animal products are in EVERYTHING!!!
Want a nice piece of good old french bread? Unfortunately the dining center, where college students like me eat, only provides one french bread that contains "glycerides", which come from animal fats...and also means that the bread is pretty well processed (it wouldn't look so white if it wasn't). The only vegan bread offered at this school is a whole grain kaiser, which is good, but only for so many days in a row. Now, one would think that marinara sauce would be a safe bet, but more often than not the dining center puts milk in their marinara sauce, so if you want spaghetti for dinner you'll have some very lonely looking noodles. Most nights the only safe bets for food come from the salad bar, and by "safe" I mean "vegan friendly". So it's either a spinach sandwich, plain pasta, or salad for dinner (along with a heaping side of fruits, and veggies if the dining center didn't cook them in butter). And forget about picking up any dessert from the dining centers, because everything contains eggs. I literally have not had anything sweet since the start of this experiment, and I really just want some chocolate!
2. Vegan meals from the dining center leave much to be desired.
So I kind of stopped ordering vegan meals from the dining center. The last time I ordered food I showed up at the time I had indicated and was told that the kitchen (once again) didn't have the ingredients to make what I had ordered over five hours prior, but they had my side of vegetables for me. For dinner that night I was given zucchini, tomatoes, peppers, onions, and cabbage...but only the portion of a side dish (in other words "one serving spoon scoop"). The rest of my meal I had to come up with on my own. I had originally thought that being able to order my own vegan meal was pretty cool and a very handy, helpful option to offer college students. But after attempting to take advantage of the opportunity UND offers students, I feel like the university only offers this opportunity half-heartedly without caring much as to whether the students who actually are vegan are given the proper foods for a healthy diet. I can eat all the lettuce I want at the dining centers, but I'm hard pressed to find cooked greens, lentils (or any beans really), and a lot of the other power foods I mentioned in my very first post.
3. I've been eating the same thing all week.
My plates may not be exactly identical, but it sure feels like I've had the same food at every meal because each plate just contains a variation of a previous meal. Each day I've had an apple or an orange for breakfast. Lunch was either a salad or sandwich and lots of fruits. My afternoon snack is peanut butter and carrots (which is actually an amazing snack, and I highly recommend it!). And dinner is, just like lunch, either salad or a sandwich, probably with a sweet potato, fruit (whatever the dining center has for the day), and maybe some rice. I drink a lot of water throughout the day too, which actually helps make me not feel hungry (but does nothing to stop me from wanting to eat cheese, goodness how I miss cheese!). Eating nearly the same thing everyday has gotten extremely boring, and while getting food takes me a fraction of the time it takes my friends I'm pretty sure I enjoy my meal a lot less than my friends enjoy their meals.
Anyway, I think I've thoroughly complained. After hearing about my fellow classmates experiments, I've decided to implement a weekly cheat day. I'm taking the idea of a cheat day from one of my classmates, but it's also for my own sanity. I wasn't completely joking when I said I just might pull out my hair if I have to eat another spinach sandwich. So one day a week for the last two weeks of this experiment I'm going to allow myself to eat anything (hopefully I'll still make healthy decisions). But on a good note, this experiment is halfway over! In the words of Bon Jovi, and my high school color guard:
"Oh, we're halfway there! Oh, we're livin on a prayer!"
And for those of you that don't know what color guard is, I've done the honor of providing you with a video because even though it has absolutely nothing to do with veganism, color guard is an amazing sport and art that I wanted to share with everyone.
2. Vegan meals from the dining center leave much to be desired.
So I kind of stopped ordering vegan meals from the dining center. The last time I ordered food I showed up at the time I had indicated and was told that the kitchen (once again) didn't have the ingredients to make what I had ordered over five hours prior, but they had my side of vegetables for me. For dinner that night I was given zucchini, tomatoes, peppers, onions, and cabbage...but only the portion of a side dish (in other words "one serving spoon scoop"). The rest of my meal I had to come up with on my own. I had originally thought that being able to order my own vegan meal was pretty cool and a very handy, helpful option to offer college students. But after attempting to take advantage of the opportunity UND offers students, I feel like the university only offers this opportunity half-heartedly without caring much as to whether the students who actually are vegan are given the proper foods for a healthy diet. I can eat all the lettuce I want at the dining centers, but I'm hard pressed to find cooked greens, lentils (or any beans really), and a lot of the other power foods I mentioned in my very first post.
3. I've been eating the same thing all week.
My plates may not be exactly identical, but it sure feels like I've had the same food at every meal because each plate just contains a variation of a previous meal. Each day I've had an apple or an orange for breakfast. Lunch was either a salad or sandwich and lots of fruits. My afternoon snack is peanut butter and carrots (which is actually an amazing snack, and I highly recommend it!). And dinner is, just like lunch, either salad or a sandwich, probably with a sweet potato, fruit (whatever the dining center has for the day), and maybe some rice. I drink a lot of water throughout the day too, which actually helps make me not feel hungry (but does nothing to stop me from wanting to eat cheese, goodness how I miss cheese!). Eating nearly the same thing everyday has gotten extremely boring, and while getting food takes me a fraction of the time it takes my friends I'm pretty sure I enjoy my meal a lot less than my friends enjoy their meals.
Anyway, I think I've thoroughly complained. After hearing about my fellow classmates experiments, I've decided to implement a weekly cheat day. I'm taking the idea of a cheat day from one of my classmates, but it's also for my own sanity. I wasn't completely joking when I said I just might pull out my hair if I have to eat another spinach sandwich. So one day a week for the last two weeks of this experiment I'm going to allow myself to eat anything (hopefully I'll still make healthy decisions). But on a good note, this experiment is halfway over! In the words of Bon Jovi, and my high school color guard:
"Oh, we're halfway there! Oh, we're livin on a prayer!"
This was my high school's 2014 performance at the WGI World Championships.
The pictures didn't exactly line up like they were supposed to. I just wanted to make a note of that.
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