My First Day Vegan

So, this is a picture of how I am ending my day, not how I started it.

I can actually say that I made it an entire day eating as a vegan! (Applause please!)

My biggest roadblock I thought would be my Half & Half in the coffee....honestly, soy milk is NOT a substitute for my morning addiction. I braced myself to be grouchy should my Starbucks order of a Venti Soy Latte with an extra shot, was not good. I got my drink from the bar, added three packets of sugar, put the lid back on and took a sip. It was actually good. I have to say, it was much, much better than I had anticipated.

Ok, I actually liked it.

The day was going to be ok.

My next dilemma was what to do for breakfast. No oatmeal from Au Bon Pain b/c it had milk in it. No yogurt from Starbucks ( a personal fave!) because, well, it's yogurt. In the end, I went hungry. :(

By 11 am, I was so hungry that I ate my vegan vegetable soup during a team meeting. But by lunch time (an hour and a half later) I was hungry again so I went out to the store to scope my options. I found dried fruit (not my fave, but I was sooo hungry). I also found a frozen Amy's Tofu and Brown Rice bowl...phew! I wasn't going to starve after all. And in the spirit of trying things (I was feeling empowered from my soy latte), I bought a bunch of bananas!

I went back to school and at the tofu and brown rice--I'd had it before and loved it. The dried apricots were also delish. The bananas? They sat there. I couldn't bring myself to eat them.

Fast forward another class and a staff meeting. 5:00 comes and I make it back to my room...again, ravenous! I eye the bananas...they eye me...

And then I take the plunge! I find the most ripe, but still unripe, banana and peel...I did it! I actually ate the full banana! It was honestly, probably my first banana in 10 years. And you know what, it wasn't nearly as bad as I remember them to be!!!

Tonight we went to Whole Foods for dinner. I went for a run after work, but before dinner and by the time we got home, I was HUNGRY!!!! So off we went to the prepared food bar at Whole Foods---tonight's dinner? Garlic noodles (entree) and balsamic roasted brussel sprouts with red onions. FANTASTIC!

We managed to pick up 10 other things from Whole Foods too--one of which is the Coconut Milk creamer. We just tried it. It too, is pretty good...I think this vegan thing might just work out... :)