Steemit... I am going vegan! -.-

As part of an amazing contest hosted by @heart-to-heart, I am taking on the challenge of a strict vegan diet. For the next 22 days, no meat, no fish, no eggs or cheese (ugh kill me now), no milk, honey, and a plethora of other animal products. Because at the end of Day 2 I am already realizing how much animal products are in almost everything. E V E R Y T H I N G ! Which is kind of weird when you think about it. I chose to do this challenge because 1. I like challenging myself (I'll be totally honest here), 2. Contests make it fun and a little competitive, 3. I'm a (decently) healthy eater and have always wondered what it would be like to go full vegetarian or vegan (or if I could), 4. To make myself a little more aware of what it means to be vegan (paying more attention to what goes into my body), and most importantly - 5. To be a more active participant in advocating for fair treatment of animals.

Here we go!

Day 1

So yesterday I had a brunch planned and my friend picked the place, so when we arrive I immediately scan the menu and see only one vegan option on the breakfast menu (typically my favorite menu;p). My friend that I was having brunch with was ordering my go-to dish: an avocado and poached eggs pile of deliciousness so it was a HARD FIRST DAY to start the challenge.

The vegan option was actually very tasty - a rhubarb and berry porridge and I also had a tea to drink. And I was so cognizant of the ingredients from the first thing. Simple things like the cafe didn't have almond milk (so no milk for my tea), and they served the tea with this little chocolate flaky stir stick and it just felt like I was having to say no to everything (saying no to chocolate is torture)! I felt the effects of this challenge RIGHT AWAY - and it is going to be HARD! So anyway, I documented my meals yesterday, however I didn't see this post asking to write the dates and username (we are supposed to for the challenge), so I hope its ok bc I can't go back in time. This is why Day 1 doesnt all have post-its and Day 2 has them. To prove that they were yesterday's meals, I had a picture taken of the brunch table yesterday and you can see the date of it being posted. Hopefully that doesn't disqualify me right off the bat (and if it does, I guess I'll just go back and get my poached eggs...temptation is REAL;p)! So....here goes:

Here is my vegan rhubarb and berry porridge from the brunch. You can also see my milk-less tea beside it >.<

Since the breakfast was very small compared to my normal brunch meal (it was the only vegan breakfast option!) I was starving by the time I meandered back home after a day of walking around exploring different parts of Manchester.

This is my temporary verification proof (you can see my porridge in the back of the photo where Im sitting, and it was posted yesterday morning:))

By the time lunch rolled around I was starving, after walking around and exploring new parts of Manchester (mostly because I'd usually have a much bigger meal than the porridge dish but it was the only breakfast option that was vegan (again, learning how to cope on Day 1!!!). So by the time I made it back home I was starving and threw together things I had in the fridge:

This was a green veggie soup I had that was remade, and I added in cooked mushrooms, cauliflower rice, and some bean sprouts (I use these ingredients a LOT - so be prepared to see them scattered in all my meals ;p). It was really tasty and I started eating it before I remembered to take the photo;p (You can also see the current painting Im working on as I'm using it as a placemat >.< should probably try to avoid that ;p - but if you want to see more of my art check out my steemit blog!)

I also had a spinach, tomato mushroom and falafel salad that I was originally going to cook and decided to eat as a salad instead.

I typically don't eat large suppers (every once in a while), so later on the day I sliced an avocado in half, put some of the falafel balls i still had around it with some tomatoes and salt and called it a day.

Overall it was a successful day of veganism, but not without some struggle! I think the biggest challenge I am going to have is to get used to reading labels to make sure there isn't any sneaky cheese/cream/milk/egg products and also remembering to document the food properly is going to take some work! Whew, what a work out! But I like a good challenge, so on to Day 2!

Day 2

The second day was already much better than the first because I was home making my meals, although the down side was that it was raining and I could not make myself go grocery shopping. So first thing in the morning I was really missing my granola bowl of cereal since I havent stocked up on almond milk yet. I opted instead for a bowl of oatmeal (I am going to be sick of porridges and oatmeals pretty soon if I keep up at this rate;p). I added a little cacao for flavor, only used hot water, and its a simple easy breakfast:)

Since I'm a big breakfast eater (I usually eat larger breakfasts and lunches, but have smaller dinner/suppers), it only took another hour or two until I was hungry again haha. I still had an avocado that was perfectly ripe, so I sliced it up on toast, threw in some tomatoes and bean sprouts and a dash of salt on top, and it did the trick. Paired with a glass of OJ it was a perfect midday brunch at home:)

At some point I had some mixed nuts and fruits as a snack, and later in the day I made a large spinach salad, topped with sprouts, mushrooms, beets, and tomatoes. I didnt have any salad dressings, so I used a bit of olive oil and garnished with a tomato chutney I had and it actually turned out delicious!


I realized how bad the first photo was so I took another with a better angle and lighting.

You can read more about the challenge here:
https://steemit.com/contest/@heart-to-heart/eatlikeasuperstar-100sbd-giveaway-challenge-starts-now

Are you vegan? Have you ever thought about being vegan? I would love feedback and to know that I'm doing right or any improvements I can make, or suggestions for recipes. I'm not big on cooking but I will try to do a few things for this vegan challenge :)