First Insights on Veganism

Behold, my first-ever meal in college:

Not very healthy, but very, very good. 

This continued being the norm for at least four meals of the week (give or take a couple), and I knew that I had to jump-start my healthy lifestyle somehow. Hence, for my first "diet", I went vegan. What better way to get over the fear of change than by taking the plunge, right?!

Here's a quick run-down of my initial experience with being vegan:


What is it? 

Veganism is "the practice of minimizing harm to all animals" (source), and I was focused mostly on the dietary implications:

• No meat
• No dairy
• No eggs
• Nothing that's a product from animal "labor" 
• This includes honey
• And gelatin
• And white sugar
• And most red dye 
• And basically everything college students eat

I had no idea what being vegan entailed, so I did some research, and the PSU Dining website has got some excellent information about every day's vegan and vegetarian specials:

You can add the vegan filter! 

The vegan options exist!!!

I was pretty excited to start this diet, mostly because of the variety that the website touted.

The first couple of days, being vegan was the most fun I'd had so far in college: I was forced to look at the dining commons in a whole different light, focused on all the creative vegan combinations that it had to offer, as opposed to the typical "all-you-care-to-eat" approach that was my custom. Whereas before I had mindlessly chomped through plate after plate of food, I was now forced to examine my meal, and step out of my comfort zone (steamed brussels sprouts, anyone?). This, in turn, made me adopt better eating habits: eating slowly, for example. Taking the time to find the most flavorful and nutritious food in the commons.

Cutting out the dairy has made me less bloated, and made me wonder whether I have slight lactose intolerance, and the extra fiber I was consuming throughout the day helped me keep my gastrointestinal movement strong and steady (a nice change from before). I've also noticed that it can be exceedingly hard to find variety with all the restrictions that the diet imposes, but it can be done with a little research beforehand (the aforementioned PSU Dining webpage/app). I also want to try a couple of products that have been touted as the maxima of veganism: nutritional yeast, Simply Asia soup bowls, and Daiya cheese products. I'll be visiting Target in the following days to stock up on some vegan food that I can have from the comfort of my own dorm room.

Some facts:

My weight remained steady for the first week, and my hunger levels too. I do admit that I expected to feel a bit more nirvana when I ditched all of the processed, fat-laden, rich animal products, but to be honest, I didn't feel that big a difference from before.

My caloric input dropped from before to a range of about 1,800 to 2,100 calories per day, and my caloric output (approximate) went from 2,000 to 2,500 calories per day. My exercise routine remained the same: three sprinting sessions a week (6-7 sprints per session), and jogging throughout.

The first week has been a relatively smooth transition from omnivorism to veganism: the only minor disturbance has been having to plan ahead, and finding variety within the limits of the dining commons. I'll keep on going for the second week, and try to report some product reviews and conclusion in the next post.

Happy eating!