Welcome to day five of my and Jamie’s vegan challenge!  So far, so good.

I’ve known a lot of vegans and vegetarians over the years and for a long time I’ve had some moral qualms about my eating meat, but never once until just a few weeks ago had I considered giving up all animal products for any length of time.  Everything that I love in food life has something to do with an animal product.  After reading Eating Animals (an amazing book) about a month ago, the idea to at least give an animal free diet a try was born.

I have no expectations for this challenge other than wanting to complete it.  I am curious to see if I lose weight, if I feel “better” either psychologically or physically, if I discover anything new about myself, and what I think and feel like after the month is up.  So far the process has been much more transformative than I would have imagined.  It seems stepping outside of myself food-wise is uncharted territory and it’s sort of re-framing some part of how I see the world…like maybe food isn’t everything or food can be something, but it doesn’t have to be everything.  I’m having trouble articulating the idea and it might be old news to the rest of you, but it’s new news to me and I’m interested to see if the idea develops and resonates into the future.

So far there have been no earth-shatteringly great meals and a lot of trying to figure out what to eat, but I haven’t felt deprived and I haven’t found myself craving anything.  As of now, it seems possible to eat this way long-term, but it’s only day 5.  I’m enjoying the challenge more and having fewer issues than I thought, but I’m aware that these feelings may change at anytime and tomorrow a chips-n-cheese or cheeseburger dragon might erupt from my being.  But for now, all is well on the vegan front.