October Vegan Challenge: The final weigh-in

Hello there wonderful people!

I hope you are having a fantabulous day. Why  am I in such a good mood you ask? Well the October Vegan Challenge is officially over and your girl can eat meat again!

Okay I’ll be honest, being vegan was not that bad. I actually enjoyed it for the most part. I am excited that it is over though, so that I can officially start a healthier lifestyle that isn’t driven by rules from a challenge. This month of veganism helped me to curb my insane craving for meats and unhealthy food and feels like I “cleansed my system” in preparation for a new dietary leaf.

What were some cons from this challenge:

I decided to start with the cons so that I can continue the rest of this post on a positive note. To be honest, there were not many cons during this month. It was a struggle when I had insanely busy weeks and my meal prep did not hold me over for as long as I had hoped. Other than overpriced salads, there are not many practical vegan lunch options by my job, and I unfortunately have had many long nights at the lab followed by a 1.5-2 hour commute so skipping lunch was not much of an option. That presented a challenge to sticking to my strict diet, but I did not break! Also, dairy sneakily finds its way into many unsuspecting dishes, which I learned the hard way.

Another con was the difficulty ordering food when out in large social gatherings. For example, 2 weeks ago I attended a friend’s birthday dinner and because it was a large party, there was only a prefix menu available which of course did not have any vegan options. People seem to think vegetarian and vegan are interchangeable for some reason so say yes to having vegan meals when it is in fact a no. The way the prefix was set up, every person has to pay the prefix price, even if you don’t eat. It was a pay per head kind of deal. Luckily the manager was very understanding and the chef brought me out vegan options and did not charge me extra for it. It was a Mexican restaurant so they basically took everything out of the tacos except the corn tortilla, corn, lettuce, tomato and guacamole. They just went super heavy on the corn as a substitute for the meat and all the other side dishes. Oh and then dessert happened. 3 birthday cakes were bought and the temptation was REAL. Yes, I said 3… and they all looked so delicious. So that was tough but once you don’t cave you feel so much stronger afterwards.

What were some of the pros:

I am not going to lie, at first I did not see many pros. Aside from not feeling tired after eating, everything was literally the same or slightly worse. For example, I was hoping to loose some weight and tummy baggage during this challenge and my scale kept reading the same exact weight week after week. That was frustrating. I also was in the very early stages of an eczema flareup so I was hoping it would end or stay as-is with the removal of diary and meats from my diet. Many believe dairy and meat makes it worse, especially the dairy. But that did not happen for me of course, it kept getting worse and spread to different parts of my body, which it normally does around this time of the year. Oh and I got 3 pimples on my face after being pimple-free for majority of the year. That was unexpected. A third disappointment was that I did not get a boost of energy that all the vegan blogs and websites promised me. I was still the same tired CoCo who can barely keep her eyes open as she heads home every workday. But then things changed during the end of the month!

I noticed my tummy went down just a bit and a pair of jeans are fitting very loosely! Finally! So the whole scale weight thing really confused me. I am not only strictly vegan but I am eating mainly healthy foods, along with smaller portion sizes, so surly I should have lost at least a pound. I borrowed a scale from a friend and it turns out mine was broken the whole time [insert embarrassed smile face]. I lost approximately 9 lbs, yay! And as for the eczema, it did continue to get worse but it is not as bad as it has been in the past so maybe the vegan diet had something to do with that. The pimples are gone so I cannot complain about that anymore either.

Another pro is that I got to be creative with my food and force myself to make time to cook again. I have been so busy previously that I made ordering food a normal occurrence. Having to read ingredients lists, cooking healthily, and planning your meals helped me be more picky about what I put into my body. See my post HERE where I shared the recipe for my portobello fajitas, which I had many times this past month. Or HERE for my creamy vegan pasta recipe.

What’s next:

Now that it is over, I do not plan on slipping back into the unhealthy eating habits that I had before. Even though I will not be vegan, I will try to be mainly vegetarian during the week and limit my intake of red meats. I will also prep my own meals more often so that I know what I am consuming and make an effort to bulk up on the vegetables.

I also plan to do this challenge again sometime soon. I may do it periodically to clean give my body a rest from the junk I ingest, especially after big holiday months like November and December. I am looking forward to this journey of healthier living and more colorful foods! If you want to participate in the next vegan challenge, shoot me an email or comment under this post and we can make it happen!

Now, it’s time to get into a gym challenge so that I can trick myself into going regularly and not skipping as often as I do. Who is with me!

If my personal recaps of this past month did not convince you to take on the challenge (or lifestyle change), please enjoy the testimonials below from some of the lovely ladies who also participated in this October Vegan Challenge. They consist of good friends and dope Instagram pals.

“I can honestly say that I was skeptical at first when it came to trying something new but I was honestly surprised! I obviously love food, who doesn’t, but trying vegan foods put a spotlight on dishes I would never have imagined trying. Great way to kick-start a healthier lifestyle!” Ariel M.

 

“I embarked on a vegan journey around three months ago, mainly to clear my skin, it’s been hard, but in am sticking to it. Smoothies are amazing at helping with my cravings and i have discovered many interesting dishes along the way.” Nathalie S.

 

“As an oxtail lover and all around carnivore a Vegan Challenge was the farthest thing from my mind, but thank goodness I joined! My skin has gotten significantly clearer (also the result of me drinking more water ?) , and I’ve noticed my hair texture has even changed a bit. I’ve also discovered one of my (now) favorite restaurants, 3 Brothers Pizza Cafe, which has a whole menu filled with vegan delectables! I should mention that I did lose a couple pounds going from 118 to 111 and then to 113 – all this month!! I’m not completely sure why because I was eating double portions of everything, but it’s something to think about if you’re planning to take on this challenge. Overall the Vegan Challenge was a success and made me super aware of my food choices. I’m definitely leaning on the healthier side now and would absolutely do the challenge again! ?” Carolyn D.

“Saying “I love meat” is a vast understatement. In fact, if chicken proposed right now I’d not only say yes in a heartbeat, I’d be on the first flight to Vegas in search of the nearest chapel. I’m basically the last person you’d ever expect to try vegan meal let alone embark on a month long challenge. Yet, here I am!  And 31 days later, I can honestly say this has been one of the most challenging, eye-opening, and rewarding experiences of my life. While not all of my expectations, albeit unrealistic, were met (spoiler alert: I still do not have Beyonce’s waistline and my skin isn’t a natural highlighter), I have seen some positive changes in my body, my mood, and my energy, that were absent prior to the vegan shift.  Not to mention, I’ve discovered so many healthy and tasty vegan alternatives to some of my favorite dishes!  Like have you guys tried vegan cream cheese cause I promise you won’t go back to regular! All in all, I have zero regrets and though I will be rekindling my relationship with meat, chicken will now be relegated to more of a ‘side chick’ who I’ll occasionally see when I need a fix :)” Crystalee F.

“So what I can I say about being V E G A N!!! It was def a (short) journey, but otherwise very interesting to try new things out of my comfort zone aka no chicken, bacon (real ppl not no turkey bacon), beef, did I mention chicken?! Ok just checking lols…Alright so overall the (very) few things I tried were actually decent, and of course spicing it up helped with the flavor and taste! I wouldn’t lie to you and say it was easy, but I would say don’t knock it till you try it! #speakingtoallthemeatloversoutthere #butdonttakeitfromme #lol – Kiby C.

 

“So some of you close to me know that I’ve been doing a month long vegan challenge with some of my closest friends and it has been the most challenging but yet rewarding experiences I’ve been been through. So when I started vegan life it was hard to say the least it involved lots of planning! I mean planning out your daily activities and know what vegan friendly places where around in case you forgot to prep Your Food at home. I used pet.org to help me whenever I didn’t get to plan properly so I wouldn’t starve all day but most importantly my friend Crystal held me down with some of her delicious vegan friendly meals! I quickly learned through this experience that there are 2 types of vegans 1. Strict plant based (no processed foods) or 2. Just a Vegan that still consumed processed foods like canned beans etc. & that you can be vegan and still be unhealthy! Nevertheless I still ate good did t work out my skin got better lost 10lbs all while being vegan. I’m not sure if I can be vegan forever but I don’t think meat will be my first choice anymore … pescatarian maybe?” Victoria E.

“I was very skeptical about doing this vegan challenge but I embarked on the journey despite. This challenge taught me about discipline and focus. It was not easy but worth it .My main benefit was no menstrual cramps for this month. I suffer from serious cramps but cutting dairy out which tends to cause inflammation worked for me.” Khadija L.