I Tried To Be Vegan for a Week, and This Is What Happened to My Body

Let me start by introducing myself: I'm Talisa, a fashion, beauty, wellness & health blogger who cares about health, exercise, and wellness. It's practically part of who I am. With that being said, I'm also a person who indulges in dishes that have meat and carbs sometimes. I'd even go so far as to say meat is always the pièce de rèsistance when I sit down to eat.

Here, I can talk to you all, with no judgment whatsoever, and I also talk with my cousins as well about their food choices in a way that just makes sense. I've gone out to meals with both of them and questioned my allegiance to meat every single time. That and the night I spent watching Netflix's Okja (watch it; you'll cry the whole way through and swear off the meat industry by the time the credits roll), I decided to experiment with a plant-based diet… for a week.
Before embarking on this (very out of character) journey, I spoke to Kourtney, one of cousins, about her experience and why she decided it was right for her. "At first, my veganism (I do feel the need to clarify that technically, I identify as 'plant-based' while I use 'vegan' as the more colloquial term, my entire routine is technically not vegan I still own leather, for example) was basically a progression from being a nondairy vegetarian: After giving up dairy, I was so astonished by how great I felt that I decided to go all the way and eliminate all other animal products, too. (I hadn't been eating meat for a few years at this point for personal moral reasons.)"
"But my 'aha' moment came a year later when I took a college class about food, animals, and the environment. While diving into the ethics of our food system and animal cruelty certainly cemented my reasoning for avoiding those products, I was even more struck by the horrific environmental ramifications of factory farming, which is one of the leading causes of climate change. It inspired me to read a ton of literature on the subject, and I feel passionate about my role as a consumer in the fight for our planet.
"But physically speaking, I also know that my body thrives on my plant-based diet. (I also recognise that every body is different, and some people truly can't get the nutrition they need. But it works for me.) I try my best to eat sustainably, and I love the experience of buying my produce from the farmers market. It makes me feel connected to the planet, and I think that's a huge part of my health as well."
Inspired by her words and excited about the new vegan restaurants in the area, I prepared myself for a week without animal products. Below I lay out the play-by-play and explain how it all went down.

                          MY MEALS

                                  DAY 1: VEGGIE BURGER

MY THOUGHTS

After all was said and done, I ate well. It just so happens that when I pitched this experiment, a ton of new, aesthetically pleasing restaurants had recently opened, and I was jonesing to try them. What I learned, however, is how I'd have to completely restructure my eating habits to make my mind (and my body) happy as a vegan. Usually, when I'm trying to eat healthily, I stick to grilled chicken, vegetables, and salads with cheese. Take the dairy and meat out of that equation, and you're left with… lettuce and vegetables. I wouldn't have been happy or satisfied if I just ate that. So instead I went to the other extreme and gorged on vegan tacos, burgers, fries, and noodles.
I spoke to Amanda, my baby cousin, about how I was feeling, and she put it into perspective. "It takes a lot of research and reworking what you've always considered healthy eating, it's a commitment for sure." Kourtney her mom agrees that going vegan isn't always inherently healthier. "Fun fact," she says, "Doritos are vegan. So are Oreos. My favorite restaurant in Brooklyn is a Southern-style vegan diner that specialises in gut-busting comfort food, my usual order includes sweet potato fries and curry 'mayo' with a banana split for dessert."
To be honest, I'm happy to give it another go. This time with more research to equip myself with when all I want to do is order roast chicken for dinner. FYI: Yes, I did go to dinner one night during this week and get the roast chicken. I broke. But the rest of the week I held strong, and I'm good with that.

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