It’s amazing to me that I successfully completed my 30-day vegan challenge. Even the thought of doing this made me nervous about two months ago. I had considered it a bunch of times but was never brave enough to take the plunge. Turns out it wasn’t bad at all.
I must admit, I didn’t stick to the more strict guidelines of a vegan diet. Caitlin from Healthy Tipping Point wrote about having a gray area when it comes to eating certain foods that don’t technically count as vegan or vegetarian. You can get really specific and technical about not eating certain foods like gummy bears or honey but everyone has a “gray area” where they don’t exactly follow the rules per say.
Mine has been chocolate and sweets. I’m sorry but I haven’t been able to get used to the vegan substitute for chocolate, carob, and no vegan friendly chocolate can replace Green & Black’s Hazelnut & Currant Dark Chocolate Bar. If I’m going to splurge, it’s going to be on the good stuff. Yes, I ate Boston Cream Pie while watching the Superbowl. Yes, it was made with eggs but life is too short to be ridiculously strict. I feel like 90% of the time I’m enjoying a plant-based diet and that’s what’s important. As long as I make vegetables and whole grains the main focus of my diet, having good chocolate or a non-vegan sweet every now and then is ok in my book.
The big question now is if I’m going to keep this up. Absolutely. I feel really good without dairy in my life. The beginning was hard but I think it’s safe to say I’m over it. I don’t even see this as a “different way of eating” it is a lifestyle. I can’t say I’ll never eat another piece of cheese, but I’ll make a big effort to keep it to an absolute minimum.
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