The Verdict
So the big question... will I stick with it? You better believe it! I plan to remain a vegan, or"modified vegan" might be more appropriate. The biggest challenges for me have been Sugar and Leather. When cooking with sugar at home I have complete control over my sweeteners and I choose to use Agave Nectar or Turbinado. (Don't even get me started on why everyone's going to die from artificial sweeteners...) The refined sugar comes into play with condiments, sweets, bread, etc. that have vague "sugar" listed on the ingredients. I plan to do my best to keep sugar out of my diet, but I need to have a little wiggle room. I might not be perfect but I can take a stand when it comes to meat, dairy, and eggs.
Leather is the second big issue in my life. I own A LOT of leather shoes that I love and cherish, they are the best part of my wardrobe. Financially and emotionally I cannot justify getting rid of all of these items. I plan on no longer purchasing leather goods, but everything in my closet will be slowly purged from my life. I just don't think I can do it cold turkey.
Favorite Dankos , Favorite Aerosoles
Losing It
When it comes down to it, being Vegan for a month was actually pretty simple for me. I started making small changes to my diet about four months ago which made it a relatively easy transition. I've lost weight, quite a bit actually, but I can't contribute it all to being Vegan. I've been running, watching my portions, and saying no to junk food - it makes a big difference! I've lost about a pound a week for the month of August, which is exactly what I was losing before I made the decision to become Vegan. If you decide to go Vegan for the weight loss you might be making a poor decision. It is easy to be a junk-food Vegan, and on the flip side you can be a healthy meat eater. Veganism is not a miracle diet, its a lifestyle. If you are not dedicated to doing it for the welfare of animals, the environment, and your body, Vegan is not for you.
New Finds
A few things that I'm proud of - I went an entire month without wearing leather. That is surprisingly hard to do when all of my belts, shoes, and purses are leather. This required me to purchase replacements which was fun because shopping always is, and yet really challenging! I've found that most items that aren't leather are just cheap and poor quality. It's sad that high quality equates to leather when there are so many other Eco friendly options out there.
A few of my favorite finds;
Crocs Havana Wedge , J-41 Madrid , Kenneth Cole Reaction Hide N Peek
Cheater
To be honest I must admit that I knowingly cheated a few times. First of all, we drank a bottle of wine from Brazil in celebration of our move. I'm assuming this was not vegan friendly, but it was a gift! I also ate bread at a BBQ without asking about ingredients, maybe it was vegan, maybe not - I get carb crazy sometimes. Although I nixed the leather, I continued to use my cosmetics, hairstyling products, etc. without really knowing what was in them. I'm working on replacing these slowly. Worst of all...I bought a bag of rawhide chews for the puppy. My dog will probably never be vegan. There, it's out in the open!
Blogging
The experiment is over and I can finally take a rest from 30 days of blogging. Ive discovered that it takes a lot of effort to blog every day while you're dealing with the challenges of drastically changing your diet, vacationing, moving, and the daily grind. I've never been much of a writer but fortunately Architecture school could care less about your writing skills. Writer or not, I've decided that I LOVE blogging, I love sharing little parts of my life with whoever wants to read it - even if it's only my mom. So thank you Vegan Experiment, you've brought out the blogger in me. You've also convinced me to invest in a nice camera, is it Christmas yet?!
New Inspiration
I've learned to thoroughly inspect every item I put into my body (other than the Soy Joy mistake) and this has made me so much more aware of what I consume. I've started focusing a lot more on where I buy my groceries, where they come from, what chemicals were used to produce them, etc. I want to support local business, I want to be a smart consumer in every way possible. I find it to be interesting most vegan eateries I frequent or products I purchase are by default supporting local business - awesome!
Goodbye 30 Days Vegan blog - Hello new blog! My new blog will be focused on becoming a responsible consumer. This will cover all things that I consume in life - it's so much more than food! It's still in early schematics - check it out! Consumed With Responsibility
-Katie
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