Be vegan for a whole week

“One of the most interesting outcomes of my week of veganism was the mental effect of denying my cravings, and I don’t mean the several strange dreams about food featuring my family and friends. By regularly stopping myself from eating the things I wanted to eat and refusing the foods my family offered me, I had unknowingly switched my brain into Ramadan mode, in which I, as a Muslim, fast from sunrise to sunset. I realized this as I sat down with my lunch and thought for a second that I can’t be eating.”

“All these choices caused interactions I wouldn’t have had otherwise. I had to call restaurants to ask about their vegan options. An employee at Panda Express pointed out all the vegetarian options to me when I struggled to locate the Beyond chicken I’d read about online, and I was asked in the Burger King drive through if I wanted to remove the mayonnaise from my Impossible Whopper, which reminded me that mayonnaise has eggs and informed me that it was normally on the burger.”

“Cue Monday 22 January 2018 and the start of my first vegan week. I did zero prep and simply omitted the meat, dairy and eggs from my weekly shop. It was tough. Thankfully my colleagues were better prepared and helped me through by sharing ideas (and some of their food).”