A meat-lover’s guide to going vegan
When I revealed my plans to attempt a vegan lifestyle for a week, I was met with the expected amount of outrage and speculation.
Most of my fellow peers couldn’t wrap their heads around why I would want to cut life’s finest treats out of my diet. I would have to go a week without steak, without pizza, without ice cream. This is exactly why I wanted to challenge myself, however. With veganism being one of the newer trends among millenials, I wanted to test the plausibility of living vegan as a typical college student.
Either way I looked at it, I knew my task would be tough. I was starting to believe my friends when they assured me I would crack before my seven days were up. I would get teased by my friends every time I discussed my plans.
“You couldn’t give up cheeseburgers if your life depended on it.”
Could I live without McFlurrys? Would I be able to resist the temptation of tasting my friend’s hamburger should we go out to eat one night? It was a definite possibility, but this was a theory I’d have to test myself.
Even before I began my temporary diet, I knew preparation would be the key to making it through the week. From what I could tell, almost none of the food in my pantry was touchable (Cheetos? Nope. Ramen noodles? Nada.), which meant I’d have to get creative with eating my share of the food pyramid every day. I decided to base my experiment off of three factors: the plausibility that college students on a budget can afford to follow a strict vegan diet, the challenges surrounding having a dietary restriction and the complications that may arise from it and, perhaps most importantly, the quality of the food I was eating.
Post-experiment, here’s how some of the data stacked up:
Cost-efficiency
One of the more prevalent arguments surrounding the vegan debate is the (very true) fact that it’s a much more expensive route than an animal-based diet. Even PETA, being quite possibly the most outspoken pro-vegan organization, was willing to admit the costly challenges that accompany a plant-based diet. This was, without a doubt, probably the most jarring issue I faced. I currently work one job in which I’m paid a fairly meager stipend. This, coupled with the fact that I’m about as stereotypically broke as any average college student, means that I have to be selective about where I spend my money. I’ve mastered the art of picking out foods in Publix that I know won’t drain my bank account; pizza bagels, boxed macaroni and breakfast sandwiches, to name a few. With these options not in line with my new diet, however I had to search for alternatives.
As far as getting foods that specifically use a meat-alternative, the same amount of food always had a heightened price. I couldn’t fathom (or discover) a reason why, so I just had to live with it.
Cooking foods was also an inevitability for me at some point in the week, which added to the cost. I decided to gather the ingredients for one full meal at Publix: an appetizer (guacamole), an entree (vegan mac and cheese) and a dessert (vegan peanut butter cookies). With everything I need, my total came out to $42.50.
I was almost $50 dollars out after preparing for one meal. This was enough to show me that the costliness of going vegan would be a deciding factor for many college students considering making the change.
Battling the munchies, vegan-style
I like to think of my four years in college as “The Golden Days,” meaning the ability to eat whatever I want and not feel bad about it. I’m nineteen and my metabolism is still in a fairly good and healthy place, meaning now is the time to unapologetically eat all the junk I want. I snack throughout the day, often skipping full meals in exchange for unhealthy mini-meals consisting of Ramen and Oreos, and my new diet would compete with my ability to do that.
The good news is that there are a lot of vegan-friendly munchies out there. Oreos, for instance, are notoriously vegan. While I couldn’t enjoy the pleasure of dunking my Oreos into a refreshing glass of milk (not an almond milk fan), I was able to satisfy my sweet tooth.
Spicy sweet chili Doritos were another snack I was pleasantly surprised to discover were vegan-friendly, though the amount I ate may have burned a small hole in my stomach.
There was also the ever-present option of snacking on fruits and veggies, which was actually a pro of being on a vegan diet. I was forced to get creative with my snacks and often opted for the healthier option of watermelon or carrots, which I would come to find out truly did satisfy my teenage college-student cravings.
The taste
This was my biggest worry when going vegan. I didn’t want to give up all of my favorite foods, and I was nervous about the taste of typical meat and plant alternatives. While I can say that most of the fake meat products I bought were just as tasty, if not better, than the easy-to-make meals I typically buy, the vegan industry has not perfected a tasty dairy-alternative.
I made a box of Annie’s vegan macaroni and cheese that my roommate could only describe as “terrifyingly awful,” and the dairy-free Ben and Jerry’s I splurged on (it was significantly more expensive than regular ice cream) was left untouched in my freezer due to the absence of the creaminess that makes ice cream worth eating.
That being said, vegan foods that don’t require any sort of fake product are just as tasty as any typical meal. My vegan best friend, who helped me stick to a vegan diet all week, whipped up crunchy tofu bowls on my first night as a vegan, and it was probably one of the better meals I’ve tasted since coming to college. For someone who could master the ingredients, there are plenty of yummy vegan options to eat.
Overall experience
With all factors being taken into account, I would say that my week of being vegan, though plausible and not as difficult as expected, isn’t a lifestyle I could carry on whilst in college.
I am making an active effort to cut down on my meat and dairy consumption when applicable. I opt out of meat when I don’t necessarily need it (I’ve stopped putting pepperoni on my pizza) and I’ve learned to browse the meat-alternative section before making a beeline for the dino chicken nuggets in the grocery store. This isn’t nearly as hard as a strict vegan diet, and I do think that I can try again in the future when I have the capability of making my own meals and actually have to be concerned about my health, but I’d like to enjoy milkshakes and pizza guilt-free while I can.
Overall, my vegan experience was fairly evenly split in terms of ups and downs. Probably the most significant outcome was how awful I felt all week. I went into this project with the idea that I would be my best self for a full seven days. I would eat healthier than I ever have before and would wake up each morning with a refreshed and healthy body.
Boy, was I wrong.
What the vegan activists don’t tell you is that there is about a month-long detoxification process — meaning your body works overtime to flush out all the bad foods it’s been used to consuming. I was spending more time than I could ever remember in the bathroom, and when I wasn’t in the bathroom I was planning when I could find time to escape to the bathroom again. I suffered frequent headaches, stomachaches and a flare-up in acne. Perhaps worst of all, I was exhausted 24/7 and couldn’t find vegan coffee that I enjoyed enough to keep me awake.
Truthfully, began vegan had the opposite effect of what I was expecting. As someone who struggles with mental health issues, self-care is an extremely important aspect of my daily life. Feeling constantly hungry or sick, coupled with abnormal exhaustion and the fact that I physically felt icky almost all the time took an almost crippling toll on my mental health. I lost over five pounds in my week of being vegan, but not because I was eating healthy; I simply wasn’t eating.
On a lighter note, I did love accomplishing a task that many of my peers told me I would never be able to pull off. I was bribed with bites of General Tso’s chicken and trips to Dairy Queen.
“Just cheat a little bit! You can lie,” I heard on a constant loop from everyone around me. I didn’t cheat though. I didn’t lie. I went vegan for a full week and blew away the expectations of all who doubted me, which did wonders for my mental health. I found my light at the end of the tunnel by day seven, and I cherish it.
It’s understandable that the vegan industry is taking millennials by storm. There are countless health and society-benefiting factors to transitioning to a vegan lifestyle, and I admire those of us who have the willpower to stick to it. I am not one of those people, however, and I take no shame in snacking on buffalo chicken dip as I reflect on my week of veganism.
Maybe I’m close-minded, or maybe just a little lazy, but one fact rings true: the vegan lifestyle is not for me.
