Day 7

I will have been vegan for a week at the end of today. I weighed myself this morning and I weigh the same, which I'm totally okay with. I feel fine physically; no drastic changes. Aside from my sweet tooth, which I've had long before going vegan, I haven't had any extraordinary cravings. Lauren, my friend from the newsroom who is also a vegan, told me that when she went vegetarian for good she had a ton of natural energy. I don't have that yet, but that's not surprising with my lack of sleep.

Chris came over to help me with my Chapman application, and I asked the picky eater if I could make him some vegan Mexican food.

"I'll try it," he said, his skepticism palpable.

I made some more vegan taco meat, threw it in a tortilla with the soy cheese and grilled it up.

He took a bite... chewed... swallowed... took another bite. That's a good sign. He ate in silence.

I couldn't take it any more. "How is it?"

"Honestly..." he said, followed by a long pause, "I can't tell the difference." Nice! This proves that vegan versions of your favorite meals can be just as satisfying and delicious.

For dinner I made some spaghetti and roasted veggies, which is super delicious and easy to make. I had bought an apple spice bread mix from Trader Joe's. The mix itself was vegan, but it called for non-vegan additives. I subbed almond milk for milk, buttery spread for butter and an overripe banana for two eggs. In the past, I've also used a single serving of applesauce in lieu of eggs, and you can also use 1 Tbsp ground flaxseed + 3 Tbsp water to = one egg; the flax acts as a binding agent. This spice bread was delicious and moist, and I spared myself upwards of 500 mg of cholesterol in the whole loaf.

All in all, this has been an interesting first week. Avoiding food with animal products has not been difficult (except for when they're hidden inconspicuously inside seemingly legitimate eats). Phasing out animal products altogether has proven to be more difficult, and wasn't even in my mind when I decided to conduct this experiment. The moral issues of consuming animal products is still something to pore over, and I'm sure I'll get many more opinions on the subject before this month is through. So far I've abstained from animal products (as best I could), and survived. We'll see what happens next. Until then, happy (and humane) eating everyone!