June 11, 2014
Week one of this June vegan challenge is complete and I am beyond crying. This is MUCH more challenging than I thought it would be.
I am a major seafood and meat eater, major.
I don’t dislike veggies or anything like that, but I definitely have a more limited palate when it comes to vegetables than with meat.
As you know, the official start date was June 1st, the day after my birthday dinner. My last supper was a plate of Steak tartare AND Sea bass. Yes, you read correctly, I had two entrees.
I woke up Sunday morning feeling amazing, (aside from wine headache) until I remembered; my continued birthday celebration of brunch would consist of rabbit food.
Thank goodness for orange crushes.
The first few days I felt awful, and ate nothing but kale, black beans and avocado. Thursday morning I woke up full of zest and decided to make my lunch. Unfortunately, my short attention span kicked in and I only made it as far as boiling water.
I never actually added the quinoa. This epic fail resulted in me going to Wegman’s and trying tofu for the first time and Yams. Yes, I ate a Yam. It was not bad, the tofu or the yam. In fact they went nicely paired together.
The next day I decided to up the ante’.
I went out to lunch with coworkers on Friday to celebrate a few birthdays and I decided to try the portabella mushroom burger. I am not a huge fan of the mushroom, but felt a burger version could be good.
The waitress forgot to put my order in, which in retrospect was an omen of things to come.
Maybe she was secretly trying to save me from eating the thing or setting me up for failure and sabotaging the challenge by forcing me to eat outside of my diet restrictions? We will likely never know.
The mushroom was slimy, like an uncooked fish. It was not good. I nibbled on a French fry and called it a lunch.
Friday I was tested by a night out with my friends at one of my favorite restaurants. The pressure really had escalated at this point to slightly cheat. Yes, slightly. I believe there is full blown cheating, cheating and slightly cheating.
I made sure the bubbly was really flowing and I soon forgot about my desire to eat grilled octopus.
Now Saturday was an entirely different situation.
It was my best friend’s wedding. I was actually nervous. Was I going to stray from my vegan challenge or stay loyal?! The inner debate raged on the entire ride to the ceremony.
I thought, “It’s her big day! This day, experience, and fabulous meal will only happen once.” I must admit, I did cheat.
I am sorry, this was not a proud moment for me, but I swore to be honest.
Despite my stumble, I am back on track and ready to finish the challenge. Sunday I woke up and made a nice vegan smoothie filled with kale, berries and vegan protein powder!
Stay tuned for more trials and tribulations with this challenge!