First week of veganism
Day 6 of 28
Feeling healthy rating: 8 out of 10
Feeling frustrated rating: 7 out of 10 (and rising with this BBQ going on beside me)
Weight: 76kg
Well, I'm still alive. No apparent weight loss or signs of malnutrition yet, and I'm feeling pretty good with all the healthy eating that seems to go side-by-side with a vegan diet. Plenty of dried fruit, nuts, seeds, pulses (mostly hummus) and good, fresh, organic stuff.
I don't think it's a bad thing at all to be forced to be so conscious of what you're eating, making sure you're filling that food pyramid.
Occasionally stepping back and re-thinking a big aspect of your life (such as what you eat) is quite a challenge, but a rewarding one.
Definitely avoiding dairy is the hardest part. Sandwiches, pizza, pasta are all a bit lacking without cheese, and so many baked products and snacks are out of the window without milk. So that's quite difficult and frustrating.
Meals of varying success so far:
Day 1 - came home to a DIY pizza workshop that Charlie had set up, at which I made myself a colourful veg-fest of a pizza topped with onion, pepper, olives and spring onions. It was a bit sad not to have any mozzarella, but a worthy meal nonetheless:
To my horror, most beer isn't vegan. It's settled in vats which use animal derivatives such as isinglass (fishy) or gelatin (meaty) as fining agents. Luckily, Meantime ale (one of my favourites) is suitable for vegans, as are all these.
Day 2 - got home late from work, and made the mistake of trying to get something quick from the worst Tesco Express in the world. As they didn't have baking potatoes I ended up having Baked Beans with Gnocchi. Not really recommended:
Day 3, lunch - asked the confused waitress in Miso Noodle Bar about ten different questions about whether the vegetarian ho-fun stir fry contained any egg (no), milk (no), was made with rice or egg noodles(rice), or was cooked in butter (definitely not, that actually got a laugh from her!) then when it arrived felt compelled to confirm again whether this was tofu or omelette. Ahh, vegan paranoia!
Day 3, dinner - time to get serious. found a whole bunch of great vegan recipes on BBC Food. I made Spinach, Aubergine and Chickpea curry, with plenty of freshly ground coriander and cumin seeds. Very successful and went down quite well with everyone:
Day 4, dinner - discovered to my great delight that Wardour St is really kitted up well for vegans. I had an absolutely delicious and extremely mega-healthy-tasting hearty meal from Vita Organic. Got a scoop each of mashed pumpkin curry, spicy noodles, chickpea stew and apple and beetroot salad. It's all vegan and wholefood, and even cooked at under 46 degrees Celsius to preserve all the vitamins. Extremely satisfying, fully recommended, and proof that vegan food can be extremely good:
Day 5, dinner - another late night at work, which meant that dinner was a falafel sandwich in the train station on the way to the pub, where I drank some organic cider as none of the beer was certified vegan.
Day 6, BBQ - right now I'm sitting writing this with the smell of smoky BBQ meats enticing me from the garden. I've managed to resist some awesome-looking Colombian Chorizo and the next challenge is lamb koftas. Going to get some caramelised taro on the go soon!
If you want to see me keep this up for a full 28 days, please please please give what you can on my sponsorship page - http://www.justgiving.com/borneoforthis
All donations are going to Raleigh, who are working with The Princes Trust to provide underprivileged kids in the UK with personal development opportunities that inspire them to see that there is a way out of whatever difficult situation they may be tackling.
A huge thank you to Murray, Susie and Flor for your donations so far. And to Connie for volunteering to ship some home-made hummus over the Atlantic!
Labels: borneoforthis, kinabalu challege, vegan
posted by Dan @ 2:39 PM
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