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Vegan Challenge

This month is a special month in our house.  Yesterday, Elizabeth and I started a month-long “Vegan Challenge“!

That’s right, Elizabeth and I are going to eat a vegan diet for the month.* Just in case, that means we’re cutting out all animal products – including meat, eggs, dairy and even honey.

The obvious question is “WHY?“

The standard reason for a vegan diet are:

• ethical concerns about the mis-treatment of animals;
• worries about the environmental effects of raising animals for food; and 
• health reasons

Although the way animals are treated and processed at factory farms is pretty disgusting and I do believe that raising animals for food has all kinds of nasty environmental effects, such as deforestation, and water and air pollution, I’m probably too selfish for those concerns alone to cause me to make a wholesale change to my diet. Proponents of veganism cite studies claiming that a vegan diet helps people lose weight, keep blood pressure and cholesterol under control and stave off heart disease. Honestly, though, none of those are big issues for me right now.

For me, it’s mostly a health experiment.  I’m very curious, especially when it comes to health, fitness and diet.  I’ve done research and have been finding out about all kinds of people who are vegan (including incredible athletes like Rich Roll, Scott Jurek, Brendan Brazier, Mac Danzig, Mike Tyson, Carl Lewis, etc. etc.).  I want to see how cutting out all animal products affects my energy and mood and endurance and general well-being. One big vegan diet claim is that people have higher energy levels and feel “lighter”. I want to test it for myself and see how I feel. And, if nothing else, eating more fruit and veggies (and being conscious about it) is definitely a healthy thing. This is part of the reason I’m initially only doing it for a month.

I’m not very concerned that the “Vegan Challenge” will be too much of an actual “challenge” for me. I already maintain a generally healthy diet. I already eat a lot of fruit and vegetables. I stopped eating red meat a few months ago and while I eat poultry, I think I mostly eat it because it’s a convenient, easy source of protein. I don’t eat much dairy and really only have eggs once or twice a month. The main thing that I’ll miss is seafood; I really like salmon and I love sushi. I enjoy the occasional cookie or ice cream (what really hurts is that Coolhaus is opening a brick-and-mortar shop in Culver City, right around the corner from my office).  But I know that I can live without those things. Weekday lunches will take a little more thought; I’ll adapt when eating out and I’ll have to find vegan options for my occasional craving for sweets. Getting enough protein will be a challenge initially, but there are so many vegan options that I already like (tofu, tempeh, quinoa, nuts, lentils, beans, etc.) and I’ll just have to get used to eating more of those.

There are a few exceptions to the vegan diet that I already know I’m going to make.  First, I have a cheeseburger with bacon for dinner most nights… ha!  For real though, pretty much every day for the last three years, I’ve taken Metabolic Diet Joint Support IV.  It’s a mulitvitamin/supplement that promotes joint and soft tissue health and controls inflammation.  Each serving has a little fish oil and shark cartilage, so therefore is not vegan.  I know there are similar supplements that are vegan, but I believe in this product, so I’m going to continue taking it.  Also, my bike “mix” from Infinit contains 3.22 grams of whey protein per 280 calorie serving. I average 3-4 servings per week.  Infinit works great for me and I’m not going to give that up. Elizabeth has a few of her own small exceptions.

We’ve been doing our research and collecting recipes and vegan food ideas, but if you have any suggestions or resources, please send them my way!

*True veganism actually includes cutting out animal products for all purposes, including clothing. I don’t have much leather clothes, but I’m not getting rid of my belts or dress shoes. For me, for now, it’s just about the diet.