Mad Cow Disease?

I was ready to quit on day two.

I was hungry and I was out for after work drinks on the patio with work friends on Friday night, ready to order the veggie burger. This was my meal chosen for me by elimination. I had eliminated meat, dairy and eggs from my diet and thus 98 per cent of the average chain restaurant's menu was not an option for me.

I had decided I was going to go vegan for a 28-day experiment. Not for health, not for politics or a new set of animal-friendly beliefs, just curiosity mostly. Will I feel better in some way? Will I drop a dress size? Will I turn into a chickpea from eating too many lentils? Don't know. Will report back on September 29 or so.

I was happy to see a veggie burger on the roster. It came dressed with a slice of mozza cheese, but I figured that was an easy nix request.

"Oh, are you vegan?" The waitress asked.

It felt weird to say yes to this new label. Suddenly I had a new angle to my identity. I've been asked many times before if I was vegetarian, I don't know, since I happen to like vegetables and don't bring chicken legs to lunch regularly I s'pose. I could have still been that person, ordering the veggie burger, but perhaps wanting to skip the cheese that night to save 100 calories or maybe I just don't like mozzarella or maybe I'm trying to take my Reiki therapist's advice and eliminate cheese from my diet. I spared the poor girl the identity crisis speech though and just said, yes.

"Oh, well the burger actually has cheese in it, so is that okay? I know just because I just went through this with another person who's vegan. There aren't really many options, unfortunately."

She pointed out a rice dish, the hummus and a green salad. All I'd been eating for the past two days was chickpeas, hummus, variations of greens and fruits and breads and cereals. I missed cheese. I missed eggs. Why was I doing this stupid experiment again? Curiosity cured! Vegan diets are no fun! And they're expensive and they draw attention to you as a picky eater! Maybe the withdrawal was making me cranky. My head hurt too.

I looked at the menu again and settled on the bruchetta--without the cheese melted on top. I'm pretty sure there was parmesan in the tomato mixture but given the fact that this was a pretty casual place, I was pretty confident that cheese was fairly far removed from any true dairy content.

Yesterday Lisa invited me to join her at her friend Alison's place to watch the football game. The game ended around dinner time and we got invited to stay and eat barbecue food which included chicken, salads and cut up veggies. The chicken looked so good and everyone was raving about it. I was pretty happy with my veggie plate that included a particularly yummy, garden fresh tomato. Dessert was an apple pie, another no-no because the pastry had part of an egg in it. Lisa doesn't do eggs but even she ate a slice. I gutted the beautiful, flaky crust and enjoyed the apple filling. People admired my will-power and I again questioned my logic.

Going vegan isn't easy as pie (and let me tell you, pie ain't easy). But I'm sticking to my 28 day challenge anyway. If anything, I've reintroduced carbs into my diet, which I'd previously been trying to keep at bay, and I think I was really really missing them. My prediction is that this will be another experience that shows the value of balance.