The Broke Vegan: Non-Vegan Temptations

The biggest lesson I'm taking away from this experience is that veganism is difficult. It is not terribly hard to find food to eat (in fact there is myriad of vegan websites featuring recipes for delicious nutritious meals as well as tasty desserts), but it is hard resisting my loyal comfort foods that are non-vegan.

Typically, I eat healthy 70% of the time. My nutritious eating habits reign between the hours of 7am to 7pm, when I am busy outside the house with school and activities. However, upon returning after a full 12 hours away, I seek out the sugariest, saltiest, fattiest and most scrumptious delicacies my kitchen has immediately available. I routinely turn to chips, cheese and crackers, leftover pizza, the cookie dough pieces in cookie dough ice cream, the frosting off of birthday cake, pretzels and peanut butter, and whatever other leftover desserts are misfortunate enough to fall victim to my ravenous rampage. This period of indulgence probably composes at least 60% of my daily calories and probably tops me over the 2,000 calorie mark (Sorry, FLOTUS). To call it wild food binge would be an understatement.

However, as a vegan, most of these reliable foods are off the table (except peanut butter and pretzels **lol thx 4 sticking it out w me u guyzzz!! ily <3**). Even preparing a vegan snack takes at least five minutes, and that is another five minutes I must resist diving into the box of White Cheddar Cheez-Its sitting so innocently on the counter. Even when I can find a less tasty vegan but still sugary alternative to mint cookie crumble ice cream, my soul yearns for the full-fat flavor and extra-sweet satisfaction of non-vegan food.

Handling this withdrawal from my unhealthy food addiction becomes especially difficult when I can't remove the non-vegan foods from my environment. My family is a carnivorous, dairy-loving, egg-eating, non-vegan family and I would not dare deprive them of their typical diet by dragging them into this month-long experiment with me. That withstanding, my kitchen is chock-full of non-vegan temptations (see photos below). Even on a recent trip to the grocery store, the overwhelming number of chocolate cakes, decorated cookies, and, my personal favorite, chocolate strawberries for Valentine's Day had me gazing wistfully at the displays.

This month has struck me with a sharp reality for people like vegans or those with food allergies that have diet limitations: you will never escape the food you can't eat. For those with allergies, it may be no more than a minor annoyance to avoid these foods, especially since consuming them would be dangerous to their health. But then there are those that can, but won't. I have learned, as a novice level vegan, you can't give in to non-vegan food temptations because that ruins the point of the experience. Even with the marvelous cheat system we devised, I don't think I will use my cheats this month, no matter how tempting or difficult it is, because that would taint the experience. I don't want to tell people, "Yeah, I went vegan for a month, except for one time when I couldn't turn down a slice of cake or just a little piece of chocolate."

I want this to be the full-fledged real deal, and if that means having to say no to my favorite snacks, I'll do it. It's also a motivational bonus that whenever I do resist a non-vegan treat, it only gives me more motivation to eat healthier and carry on.

Thank you for sticking it out and reading this far. That must've been tough. You deserve an olympic gold medal or at the very least one of those dinky little participant ribbons. Way to go, champ!

On that note: