Have you ever wanted to….become a vegan for a day?

As a meat lover, I have never even considered becoming a vegetarian let alone a vegan. I wanted to challenge myself, though, and become a full-fledged vegan for twenty four hours. Although this may seem like an easy challenge, it was much more difficult than I had planned.

The whole meat and dairy-free vegan diet did not sound too appealing to me, but I wanted to see if I could do it, even if it was just for a day. I have a few vegan friends who always rave about how great they feel all the time. I wanted to see just what they were talking about. I knew I could never be a permanent vegan but twenty four hours seemed harmless. I also love finding nutritious recipes, so I was really excited to try it.

For breakfast I had homemade blueberry yogurt, but not just any kind. I had to use coconut milk instead of cow milk, and it was surprisingly delicious. Coconut milk isn’t too expensive, but I did have to make the extra trip. The consistency of the yogurt was much lighter and just tasted healthier all around.

As for lunch, I went with the salad bar and topped my leafy meal with tons of veggies and low-cal dressing. The salad was light and healthy, but I had to snack on a few power bars I had in my locker as I found my stomach grumbling by mod nine. The salad bar was really the only vegan-friendly option I saw in the cafeteria. I found it difficult with all of the limitations of the diet, but I did find myself spending less on lunch then I normally would.

Dinner was the hard part. No chicken, no steak, no nothing. I had to be a little more creative when it came to this last meal. I decided to look up some easy vegan dishes online and found one that looked manageable. I decided to try the tomatillo squash sauté. As easy as it was to cook, it was not as easy to enjoy. I do love vegetables, but the dinner itself did not turn out as planned. My stomach was empty and craving some sort of meat. When I first tried this dish, I found it was lacking a lot of flavor. My family played along and willingly tried the dish I had created. They all nodded their heads and pretending to like it but when my mom suggested we go out to dinner, I knew the meal was a failure. The dish was missing some concrete flavors and turned out to be just a mush of vegetables.

Although becoming a vegan is definitely not in my future any time soon, I had a good time pretending to be one for a day. l actually found that I felt better at the end of the day because I knew I had eaten healthy portions throughout the day. I loved the breakfast I made and will definitely save that recipes. As for lunch, I am glad I saved some money and went for a tasty option. Even though dinner didn’t work out, I am sure there are plenty other vegan options I am willing to try in the future. But seriously, I can’t wait to have bacon for breakfast tomorrow.

Hanna LeBuhn is a Lifestyles Editor for The Patriot and jcpatriot.com.