Yesterday morning, spur-of-the-moment, I decided to start eating vegan one day a week. I would be a full-time vegetarian if my body could take it, but I mentioned in yesterday’s post that I need a certain amount of high-quality protein in my diet, and I cannot give that up. Since I’m not a big fan of beans (they make me bloated), I didn’t eat any yesterday. Here is a list of what I ate:
Breakfast: Oatmeal with oat milk (because I thought it would be hilarious), coffee, toast with peanut butter, and ICB; it’s not butter spread (small amount of dairy, but I’m not a stickler), banana.
Snack: Lance peanut butter crackers (they contain whey, but again, not a stickler).
Lunch: peanut butter and ICB spread sandwich, bear crackers, jalapeno cheesy poofs (I stretched the rules here, though they are mostly corn and oil and tasty, tasty chemicals, and I didn’t eat very many).
Snack: apple and peanut butter (do you see a trend?) and a handful of mixed nuts.
Dinner: stir fry with squash, cauliflower, broccoli, and carrots. Peanut butter was added for protein, with sriracha and soy sauce (though I would have preferred liquid aminos).
I spontaneously ate *mostly* vegan yesterday and technically got all my nutrients and food groups. But I obviously couldn’t keep up this diet more than once a week. I only had about 39 grams of protein all day (I like to get 80+ grams of protein a day). And, I pretty much just swapped my usual chicken or cheese for peanut butter. I ate a ridiculous amount of peanut butter.
It went well. I felt good all day and wasn’t super-hungry. I wasn’t light-headed or malnourished. I ate dinner at 4:30 p.m. because I was famished, and I was exhausted at 9:00 p.m. (early, even for me), so I fell asleep early.
Next week, I plan to be better prepared for vegan day with tofu, tempeh, or some veggie burger product (it’s hard to be vegan without beans or a bean product.) Or, maybe I could have some quinoa ready to eat. Quinoa doesn’t seem to have more protein than whole wheat bread, but I have read that it’s a complete protein, meaning it has all the amino acids the body requires (I’m not sure if that’s true, but it sounds good).
A complete protein contains all of the body’s essential amino acids. Meat, eggs, and dairy are complete proteins, but you usually need to combine two non-animal food items to make a complete protein, for instance, rice and beans; nuts and beans; bread and peanut butter; or oatmeal and nuts. If it’s true that quinoa is a complete protein, then quinoa will make it easier to eat a balanced vegan diet.
I bought a few plant-based Dollar Tree snack items that I plan to eat next week on vegan day.
I find it interesting what a creature of habit I am. After one day of eating *mostly* vegan, I woke up today and don’t crave my usual foods. I’m craving oatmeal with nuts. I would love to hear how other people can eat a vegan diet and stay healthy. Let me know your thoughts!