Experimenting With Veganism: A Meat-eater’s Tale

This last week I became a vegan, not for ethos or pathos, but because I wanted to see what it was like. I did it somewhat on a whim, and with no preparation. Cold Turkey if you will. I admit I broke edge once or twice mostly because I’m an idiot and forgot what butter and yogurt is made out of but, for the most part though, I was pretty good. This is what I learned:

1. It’s hard, but not that hard.

 The first few days were pretty miserable. I didn’t prepare, which didn’t help. I should have stocked up on vegetables, but I decided to wing it. If you don’t want to spend a lot of money at vegan restaurants, you have to get creative. Nuts are good, but pack a lot of calories. Fruit or raw veggies are a great option. Bagels are typically vegan. More places have soy milk for coffee than you’d think. You have to think on your toes.

2. People give you guff

I wasn’t going to tell my parents, because they didn’t really  need to know. I generally tried to keep it quiet, but when I ate with my parent at one of our favorite Italian restaurants, shit went down.  They knew something was wrong when I wasn’t animalistic-ly wolfing down calamari and toasted ravioli.  I told them that I was trying to be vegan for a week, and my Dad just gave me this look of utter shock and confusion followed up with a lecture. My friends similarly said I was dumb. There was a lot questioning too. I’d imagine if you choose to be a vegan forever this would get pretty annoying.

3. Coors light is vegan.

Didn’t know that. Apparently some beers aren’t.

4. Facon is gross.

I found that a  lot of food made to mimic meat missed the mark and were nasty. Vegan meals that eschewed the idea of pretending to be meat and focused on what it actually was tended to be much more delicious. Also some Vegan cheese is a little weird because it doesn’t melt. If it’s vegetables or tofu that you’re eating, the meal should celebrate that.

5. I felt good.

Even after only a few days, I noticed a difference. Personally I think the fact that I wasn’t gobbling down mountains of cheese was the kicker here, but it also changed everything about the way I ate. There was nothing fried, I was eating more and smaller meals, I was actually eating vegetables,  how I looked at food changed. It became more of a necessity than a preoccupation.

Before I tried this experiment, I didn’t think being a vegan made sense. It’s still not for me, but my mind was definitely changed. Obviously there is always more incentive for people who do this because of convictions they have, but for those who don’t I would still recommend trying it.