My husband Rob and I just wrapped up 30 day vegan diet. That’s right, the month of March we cut out all animal products. No meat. No dairy.
Over the past few weeks, I’ve done a few posts on how things were going. Someday soon, my husband plans to write a post about his experience because it was a much bigger shift for him.
That’s because he generally eats meat and/or dairy at every meal. A standard day for him included a cheese stick for breakfast, some kind of sandwich or salad with meat and cheese for lunch, and fish or chicken for dinner.
For me, the change was a little easier. Most weekdays I was eating vegetarian until dinner anyway. While I like meat and cheese, I don’t love them the ways others do. I was a little worried about the ice cream situation (I have a massive sweet tooth) but I found cashew ice cream and I really like that, so the swap was easy.
Many times people focus on what they can’t eat when they go plant-based. I wanted to highlight in this article the things we did eat.
Breakfast
My weekday breakfast was generally steel cut oats, flavored with cocoa powder and pumpkin spice, and topped with a sliced banana.
Rob had avocado toast (vegan bread of course) and berries.
Lunch
For lunch, I’d generally make a bowl the night before that included ¼ cup quinoa, ¼ cup of beans (chickpeas, black beans, etc) and the rest was roasted veggies (carrots, sweet potatoes, asparagus, or whatever I had). Also added Heidi Ho Cheese, which really kicked up the flavor, and then I seasoned the whole thing with Trader Joe’s Seven Season Salute. I put it all in a microwavable bowl, and heat it up at work.
Many times for lunch Rob would be at a restaurant for a work meeting so he’d just figure out what he could eat. Most restaurants either have a few vegan options or you can make a menu item vegan by simply cutting the meat and cheese.
Dinner
We were together most nights for dinner so we tried a ton of different things. A big help was the Engine 2 Meal Planner. It’s a monthly subscription for $14 (you can get a year subscription for $99). You can sort recipes by difficulty (easy, intermediate, advanced) and total time to prepare. From Mexican Polenta Bowl to Flat Bread Pizza, we enjoyed some amazing meals.
Dessert
I’m dessert person so I kept a sweet treat most nights. From cashew ice cream to peanut butter cookies (the girl scout ones are even vegan!), I didn’t feel deprived. As the month went on I also started to really dig having an apple and almond butter. Rob would sometimes indulge, but he usually ate more dinner and less dessert. But he did really enjoy the cashew ice cream, as well.
Results
So how did we fare? Well, Rob did much better than me. In fact, it took a few weeks for my body to adjust. Two weeks in, I was actually up a few pounds. At the end of that month, I’ve lost that weight and more. In total, I’m down four pounds from 30 days ago.
Rob, on the other hand, did amazing right from the start. In total, he lost 15 pounds in 30 days. Pretty remarkable considering he never once worked out.
More importantly than any number on the scale is how we both feel. I won’t lie, the first week was rough. I was bloated in both my stomach and my hands. It was really uncomfortable. Rob felt the same. Plus we were super gassy. It was unpleasant, to say the least!
Ten days into the diet was the breaking point for me. I started to feel way less bloated, my energy popped way up, and the digestion issues (gassy, etc) went away. I think Rob hit that point a little earlier than I did.
By week three, the scale went down and those four pounds of bloat/water retention came right off.
By week four, I felt amazing. I was down three pounds from my start weight despite having to take the last two weeks off from running due to re-spraining my ankle.
My skin cleared up and I’m starting to get a feel for this plant-based eating thing. I’m actually really liking it.
Moving Forward
Come Easter Sunday (so the end of our 30 days) I was still feeling the vegan thing. A week later, I still feel the same. I’m not committing to a life of no meat and dairy, but at this point, I don’t want to give up how good I feel for some chicken or cheese.
Rob did order up a large open-faced pastrami sandwich at Easter Sunday brunch. But at dinner, he was right back to vegan. He’s thinking an 80% vegan diet might be his thing. He jokingly calls himself a reluctant vegan.
For me, I like keeping an open mind. A lot of people say you are what you eat, but you are so much more than that. Getting obsessed with labeling yourself so you can fall into a category doesn’t have to be the point. Vegan, Paleo, Keto or everything in moderation – I say, whatever is your gig, enjoy it and be kind to those who eat differently than you.
We are all just doing our best and hopefully enjoying some amazing food along the way. Speaking of, time to savor a few sweet potato fries!
