Yesterday I successfully completed a 10 day vegan diet. This morning I woke up and promptly fried myself a pair of eggs and smeared a bagel with cream cheese. It sure tasted good.
What began the 10 day diet was simply the fact that I hadn’t been feeling myself for a while. I had a good 3-4 weeks where I just was feeling run down and tired, and always on the verge of a cold or other bug that never really matriculated. I just felt off. I kept thinking to the August issue of Eating Well magazine, which had a feature on green soups, and how they’re energizing and cleansing for the body. Then I watched the documentary Forks Over Knives and the idea was born to spend 10 days on a vegan diet to try to give my system a reboot. Green soups would be the basis for my diet- I would have a big bowl every day at lunch and then fill in with other vegan dishes as needed.
The day I started the diet was the same day I planned it. I woke up on a Monday morning and just decided I needed to do it- without proper grocery shopping or planning even! I figured I had a garden bed loaded with kale and swiss chard, and I had a pile of winter squash on my screen porch, and a pantry well-stocked with all sorts of dried beans, lentils, and grains. I just needed to do it. If I waited, I would chicken out.
So that first day I made my first Basic Green Soup. It was good, but it was much better the second and third days as the flavors really had a chance to meld. A few days later I made the second green soup, Very Green Lentil Soup, and this one was spectacular. I added some diced fennel and fennel fronds to it, and it was so hearty and satisfying. I was happy with the green soups. For other meals throughout the ten days I found it really wasn’t hard to adapt what I was making for the rest of the family. I did make up a hearty black bean, pumpkin, and kale stew to have in the fridge in case my planning did not work out, but for the most part, it was very simple to keep the dairy, eggs and meat separate from my meals. Pasta night, for example. Instead of simmering meatballs in the marinara, I cooked them separately and they could be added to the pasta as desired- same with the Parmesan. On stir-fry night I cooked the veggies first and then left my portion out as I cooked up the pork and added it to the veggies. On tostada night I made up a chicken and bean mixture for the rest of the family, but I cooked some pinto beans up into delicious refried beans and had that instead.
On pancake night I hunted down a recipe for Vegan Pumpkin Pancakes. I made my regular pancakes because I knew Zander wouldn’t like these at all, but then I made a double batch of the pumpkin pancakes. They were delicious, and as it turned out, they were even better fresh out of the fridge with a smear of peanut butter. These became my staple snack for about a week.
It really wasn’t difficult to eat vegan at all. My energy did come back- I felt really good as early as the second day on the diet. I also kept track of my weight, and lost about 3 pounds over the course of the ten days as well. What I didn’t do, and should have, is measured my waist, because I definitely lost a few inches there- and that’s pretty remarkable. Weight loss was not a motivating factor at all, but I was curious if there would be any benefits in that direction. By about day seven though, I was craving cheese. I really wanted a slice of cheese. I’d managed to avoid temptation earlier at a birthday party when presented with pizza and a giant chocolate chip cookie, but cheese kept calling to me! I resisted, though, attempting to satisfy my taste buds with peanut butter apples. They weren’t fooled.
Along with the vegan eating, I also had to decide to cut out sweets, because I didn’t want to go the route of a junk-food vegan. It would have been real easy to go to the natural foods market here and stock up on vegan snacks, but I just wanted to do it for real- clean eating if you will. The only “vegan” food that I purchased was a single carton of almond milk- which I would use anyway, so it’s not really a special purchase. For breakfasts I would have myself a bowl of cream of wheat with some homemade blueberry jam stirred in, or a bowl of oatmeal with raisins and almond milk. They were both delicious and very satisfying.
The difficult part of the challenge for me, really, was that I was hungry All. The. Time. I would eat my meals, and eat until I felt physically full. But I never really felt satisfied. Last night was the best example of that as I ate a HUGE pile of veggie stir fry for dinner. It was delicious, and I ate until I felt full. But a half hour later my stomach was singing the all-too-familiar song of Feed Me once again. Deciding whether or not to continue the diet was an easy one for me.
The health benefits of my brief excursion into exclusive vegan eating is undeniable for me. I felt really good and healthy. And I ate very, very well. Everything I made was delicious, and something I would look forward to eating a second or third time. But this morning as I dove into my fried eggs and bagel I felt even better. It’s been a good hour since I’ve eaten my breakfast and I don’t feel hungry for the first time in quite a while. I still haven’t decided whether I’m going to go back to normal eating or take a brief dip into vegetarianism for a few days first. Just getting the cheese and eggs back into my diet is going to be wonderful, I think. We’ll see. Last night I was thinking that some burgers on the grill might be in order for today- and we’re definitely having homemade pizza tomorrow.
Overall, I thought it was an excellent experience. I think it would be difficult to be a vegan with an omni family long term though. While I chose simple meals that could be adapted simply- how do you adapt a long simmering beef stew or a roast chicken night? A lone person could do so easily enough, but with a family in tow, I just don’t think it’s entirely do-able long term. But, that doesn’t mean I won’t revisit this in the future when I feel I need another system re-boot.
I enjoy reading your blog! I didn’t take thectime right now to view the green
soup recipes, but wanted to give you an absolutely
delicious green recipe that my husband and I love. I make it, and freeze it also so we have it to enjoy. It is not difficult, but takes time in the chopping veggies and cooking time but
oh so worth it! It is called Green Velvet Soup, and
when you Google it you will find several versions, but the best
and original is from the cookbook… The Peaceful Pallette…
This book has other wonderful recipes too.
Check it out and here’s to your health!
I love eggs and cheese too. Not eating much beef at all any longer, which has helped us.
Wow. Sounds tough. I’m with you. Not sure it would be sustainable with a houseful of kids…
Thanks K! I will search for the Green Velvet Soup. That’s one thing I’ll definitely be keeping from my experiment- green soups are energizing and delicious!
Sheila, it would work if they started out as vegans, I suppose. But to suddenly say we’re cutting cheese, eggs, milk, and meat would cause a mutiny. 😉