Friday, 02 March 2012
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My Lenten Fast: 10 Things I Learned Being Vegan for a Week
By Amy at Make Me a MaryI’ve never done this in my life, but I decided to try it for just seven days. I actually learned quite a bit by going vegan for a week.
1. There are more animal products in every day foods than you might think. I mean, you even have to be careful with salad dressing because so much of it is made with eggs. And all the processed stuff I usually eat? There are too many ingredients I can’t pronounce for me to be sure they have nothing to do with animals. And honey—now I drink my morning tea without it (by the way—I quit coffee, too, since I don’t like it without cream).
2. Even harder than doing without meat or honey or eggs is doing without dairy. It’s been really hard breaking up with my milk and my cheese. I would say I was passionately addicted, and I’ve consumed it in limitless quantities for my entire life.
3. My kids won’t dream of going vegan unless I resort to bribery. We have this really cool restaurant in Fort Worth called The Spiral Diner and Bakery. I had to tell the kids I would take them there if they would go vegan for seven days. My boys wanted no part of it, and my girls said sure. However, Big Sister forgot on the very first morning and accidentally put creamer in her coffee. Little Sister lasted for five entire days and then gave up when she went to Mimi’s house for the weekend because Mimi always has lots of good animal food. I ended up going to The Spiral Diner with a friend (who, incidentally, isn’t vegan either).
4. One can eat a vegan diet and still not lose weight. I think this is because you can still eat lots and lots of chips and salsa and guacamole. And bread. And smoothies sweetened up with lots and lots of bananas. And Spiral Diner’s cake balls, which are heavenly. I went the whole week and did not lose a single pound.
5. If a vegan forgets to take her lunch to work, she is pretty much guaranteed to starve until she gets back home. There is absolutely nothing to eat in a public school cafeteria that is completely devoid of animal products.
6. I made no changes in my sleep habits, but I felt more energetic than normal. Honestly, this amazed me. I truly noticed a huge difference in how I felt. Is it the dairy? Is it because I’m eating less gluten? I’m not sure, but something in my regular diet is making me feel worn down.
7. Cutting out all animal products is easier for me than simply saying “I’m going to eat less calories” or “I’m going to eat more healthfully”. I’m not sure why this is, but for some reason, with a stricter diet the line is drawn more clearly and I’m less apt to cross it.
8. My headaches completely disappeared during my week as a vegan. I still find this hard to believe, but I did not take one solitary pain reliever all week long. And I’m at least a once-a-day Advil popper. And many days, I have to take meds way stronger than Advil. It may have been coincidence, but it leaves me wondering if maybe something in my diet is causing me to have migraines.
9. I look into the faces of my dogs and feel a little less guilty than normal. I can’t explain this.
10. All these strange observations have given me a burning desire to continue this experiment for longer than one week. I felt so much better eating this way in only a matter of a few days that I’m now overwhelmed with curiosity to know if it’ll just keep getting better and better. So I’ve decided to extend my fast from all animal products from seven days to forty days.
That’s right–I’m going vegan until Easter Sunday. I’m scared.
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About the Author
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- From: makemeamary
- Name: makemeamary
- About Me: The title of this website was born out of a prayer I began to pray when I became widowed: "Lord, please help me love you more". Over time, I grew to deeply admire Mary Magdalene for the way she loved her Saviour and was completely sold out to Him, and my original prayer evolved into "Lord, make me a Mary." I long to be at the feet of Jesus, too, learning from Him and taking Him in. I also aspire to be like Mary the mother of Jesus, because she exemplifies a total trust in God and in His sovereign plan, even in the midst of frightening circumstances.
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Comments (20)
This is awesome!! There are substitutes for a few things you mentioned- like cream, you can get non-dairy creamer. Msg me if you'd like any help/advice. Very happy for you and I wish you luck.
Yea go find some vegans and collaborate. There is tons of vegan stuff you probably don't know about. Oreos are vegan :). Soy milk, almond milk etc is different at first, but manageable. You should also collaborate on protein sources. The biggest mistake a new vegan can make is to eat everything soy. There are so many more options. Whole grains(this includes oatmeal, whole grain rice, etc), lentils, beans, even spinach has a ton of protein. That being said I do enjoy soy milk over the others...
The Biblical vegan:From Daniel Chapter 1: "
11-13But Daniel appealed to a steward who had been assigned by the head of the palace staff to be in charge of Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah: "Try us out for ten days on a simple diet of vegetables and water. Then compare us with the young men who eat from the royal menu. Make your decision on the basis of what you see."
14-16 The steward agreed to do it and fed them vegetables and water for ten days. At the end of the ten days they looked better and more robust than all the others who had been eating from the royal menu. So the steward continued to exempt them from the royal menu of food and drink and served them only vegetables.
awesome, hope you continue
I wonder if you are gluten sensitive? You mentioned no headaches as well as more energy, these were to big tip offs for a friend of mine when she found out she is gluten sensitive. She cut out the rest of the gluten products and started to lose weight and her insomnia went away.
Try cutting out the rest of the products with gluten in it as well. Oh and Almond milk over soy!! Soy is all GMO and not good for any body. Almond milk is also super yummy in coffee and smoothies.What's the connection between Christianity and going Vegan?
Vegetarian and vegan diets definitely increase energy. I went vegetarian almost a month ago, but not a "junk food vegetarian" as some who still eat junk food, lots of bread, processed foods, etc. These are the people who usually don't lose weight or remain overweight.
As I've lost a large amount of weight, I'm very nutritionally aware and ate a whole foods/natural diet as my lifestyle before even going vegetarian. Regardless of my healthy diet beforehand, I still feel a million times better. I'm more energetic, positive, and calm. I tend to be a worrier, but have had less anxiety. Most vegans eat gluten, since it has nothing to do with animal products, so I'm skeptical that it has anything to do with your energy levels. It's definitely the lack of animal products.
I highly recommend the documentary "Forks Over Knives" to everyone. It exposes the truth about animal based protein and what it does to our health, and how much our health trends have changed due to animal based proteins being such a big part of the meals in our culture. It gives proof and studies that show that animal based proteins cause some of the biggest diseases in western culture, and examples of cases where disease and cancers have been completely reversed by switching to a plant-based vegan diet.
Even though I've only been vegetarian for a little less than a month, I've already dramatically decreased my consumption of dairy. I switched to soy, almond, or rice milk and prefer it. Watch some documentaries, and read some books. It'll gross you out enough to not want it anymore. (and that's coming from a former dairy lover!) I don't know if I'll ever go completely vegan as far as reading every ingredient to make sure there are no animal byproducts, but I certainly will stop drinking and eating dairy and eggs intentionally.
It's difficult and requires discipline, but the payoff is huge! Awesome job trying it for 7 days!
@Lovegrove@xanga - Lent is about giving up something you like. I'm a protestant Christian and have never done this.. I think it's mostly Cathloics. This person gave up meat, fish, dairy, eggs, and all animal byproducts. That is something that requires attention and self-discipline.
@eatcleantrainhard@xanga - fair enough :)
I wish I had the will power to do this, but I love my milk and cheese far too much! I did go vegetarian for about a year "just because" though.
wow im inspired. im only doing a modern day daniel fast which is no meat [excluding seafood]. its real easy compared to the vegan fast since ive done it twice before. it was super hard the first time but by now i seem to have gotten the hang of it. i think i wanna try vegan for a couple days at least. sounds real neat. good job.
I've done the Daniel Fast which is basically vegan, but even more strict because on top of being vegan you also cannot have sugar, leavened bread, caffeine, drinks other than water or unnatural products. I really enjoyed it, though, and when I did it for three weeks lost 7 pounds.
edit: well, after reading @kuro_kokoro@xanga - comment I guess everyone has a different interpretation of the Daniel fast. This is what I went off of, though : http://daniel-fast.com/index.html
I'm going pescatarian for lent, which is obviously a lot less extreme, but I feel you! I wish you luck on your journey^^
The energy and headache thing is really interesting. After Easter, definitely consider introducing just dairy for one week, then just gluten for another, some kind of system to figure out what exactly should be kept out of your diet on a more permanent basis. And good luck going with Veganism until Easter!
Woohoo! Way to go, ma'am. I've had similar experiences with the headaches and energy. I've also found that I get indigestion less often (hardly ever, now). It seems like the more you know about the good effects of a vegan lifestyle, the more you'll want to stick with it forever. If your kids have some good vegan "meat," they may change their minds eventually. I'm working on my friends and family to open their minds.
As for the dairy, I know whatcha mean. I used to consume sooo much dairy. I was addicted. But I didn't realize how bad for me it was at the time.
I'll be praying for ya. I hope you stick with it! :)
I was vegan for around 3 months. It was the best I have ever felt in my life. Even when I was sick, I still felt great, if that makes sense. I never felt sluggish, or heavy, or disgusting. It was wonderful. I really wish I could go back, but it's hard to eat vegan at my school, which I'm at around 26 hours a week. I was vegan for a couple weeks while still going to school, and I'd literally eat almost nothing all day, and by the time I came home, I was too exhausted to eat, and I'd just go to bed. I lost about 20 pounds. Not very healthy. So, until I am able to eat vegan again, I am trying to be vegetarian.
But if you can keep it up, good for you! The animals and your body thank you!:)I can't do it in my house, I also can't give up dairy I love it too much.
well you lose weight when eating raw food diet for sure. I lost like 5 pounds, it was not what I was aiming for, but I sure as hell felt freaking great
I'm allergic to dairy. And I don't eat red meat.
Its easier than you think!Congrats and props to you! Keep strong, it's gonna be great for your health!