In recent months, young adults have been experimenting with veganism in order to feel healthy, lose weight or to try something new. Although, veganism sounds like a crazy diet fad that is impossible, everything is worth a try!
If you do try it out, you are guaranteed to experience these eight stages during your first week:
1. The decision.
After weeks of research, you decide not to stop eating animal products, meaning no meat, no dairy, no eggs (plus no gelatin and no honey)! You have finally decided that you are going to go vegan! You’re going to do it! It will be great! But no cheese?!? Hmmm … you can do it!!!
2. The WHY DID I DO THIS?! NOOO! stage.
The first few days of veganism are down and you are MISERABLE! Who knew that you couldn’t eat your favorite foods anymore? Since when is there milk in candy and gelatin (which is made by boiling animal skin, bones and connective tissue) in marshmallows? WHY!?! You’re clueless on what you can eat and slowly tearing apart your kitchen to find something vegan-friendly. Maybe instead you can try out the new restaurant that opened downtown! Oh wait … you can only eat a salad.
BTW, it is completely okay to have a cheat day while making huge diet changes, especially during the first week.
3. The starving spender stage.
This is the part where you go crazy at the grocery store in hopes of finding and experimenting with new foods and flavors so that one day you can replace sweet, sweet, cheesy pizza. Yum! You load up your shopping cart full of fruits and vegetables and other natural goodies. You will probably spend your entire paycheck. By the time you make it home and make dinner, you’ll be lucky if your family or roommates don’t sarcastically ask you if you want some of their meaty, cheesy, delicious dinner. Stick to cooking your greens!
4. The FEAT stage.
You try any tofu and fake-meat (FEAT) product available at your grocery store. Aaaaaand then you end up throwing half of them away because some of it is actually disgusting no matter how hard you try to disguise it.
5. The 20 question stage.
Your friends and family constantly ask you "Is [food/drink] vegan?" After hearing this question enough your responses go from telling everybody how much you miss classic desserts like cake and cookies ... to a little something like this:
6. The ZZZZs stage.
The end of your first week of veganism is coming to an end, and you feel healthy, but somehow you feel tired and weak at the same time. You begin to wonder if you’re not eating enough calories, proteins, nutrients or vitamins and freak out a little bit, but you keep on truckin’! Don’t worry, your body is only adjusting to the drastic dietary changes that you are going through. You WILL feel better soon!
7. The superhuman stage.
Ta-dah! You wake up one morning feeling refreshed, energetic and ready to take on the world, almost like a superhuman! You could run a 5K (okay ... maybe not that far). You might even take a step onto that forbidden scale and see that you’ve lost a few pounds from eating so healthy for only a week!
8. The spread the word stage.
By the end of your first week you begin to plan out your groceries and meals for the next week of veganism. You might even be a little excited to try some new things. Be prepared to buy more food and small ingredients this week so you always have snacks! Now you'll start to tell everybody "how easy it is to go vegan ... after the first week."
Fun fact: Beyonce is vegan too!
Although you might be devastated that you can’t eat your favorite, home-cooked meal anymore, there are always new options online to help you find a favorite vegan dish that you can always go to when you’re craving something tasty!
Truly, like any major lifestyle change, once you trudge through that first week, everything seems normal and you will be back into a diet routine yet again. You'll feel healthier too ... bonus!
This article was written by a long-time vegan/vegetarian who suggests you consult a doctor before experimenting with major diet changes.
