Yup, as previously advertised, Boomboom Veeg Day falls tomorrow. I wont lie, a good part of me is wondering just what the hell I’m doing. But another part of me is ready for the challenge and interested as to exactly how difficult this is going to be.
Like any intrepid experimenter, I’ve been doing my research this week and found some surprises. As most know, a vegan diet means no consumption of any animal products whatsoever. I should add here for the hardcore types- I’m going to try a vegan diet, not a full on vegan lifestyle. But even if you aren’t going to stop wearing leather or using products by one of millions of companies on the vegan or animal rights hit lists, the diet alone rules out a whole lot of things. Yes there is the obvious- no flesh, no eggs, no milk. Then the less obvious items like honey. Then the even less obvious items like beer- which is often filtered through sea shells or egg products, but the real items giving me alarm are the Stealth No-nos. You’d be amazed how many seemingly plant based and even vegetarian products have animal sourced ingredients.
I thought I’d be bulking up my dinners this week with Quorn. Wrong- most quorn products have some kind of egg white additives as do a whole lot of baked products which seemed fair game to begin with due to a lack of butter. Whey protein, a milk derivative, comes into a ton of products including crisps and crackers and non-butter spreads. Common food additives lecithin and casein can be animal derived and are thus to be shunned for the next seven days. It’s a minefield. I read a horrifying report on the use of bone char in sugar processing and for a terrible moment there I thought I was going to have to cut out anything that might possibly contain white sugar but thankfully it seems this is an incredibly rare process these days so I’m going to risk that one. I do want to do this properly though, so cutting corners will be minimalised, but one look at my usual daily diet shows how much will need to be removed to avoid a visit from the vegan police.
Breakfast:
White coffee
Bran flakes and bio live yoghurtOR
eggs
Lunch:
A salad with ham, cheese or eggs and usually some mayoOR
Tuna or ham salad sandwich
Bag of crisps
Snacks:
Fruit
Ryvitas with marmite and philadelphia
kitkats
About another 3 white coffees
Dinner:
Pasta with veggies and cheese
OR
Quorn chilli
OR
Omelette and salad
OR
Tuna salad pittas
OR
Baked potato with salad, coleslaw and salmon
OR
Kedgerish
Luxuries:
Pizza, chocolate, ice cream, fro yo, sushi, fish and chips
Wowzers. Planning ahead is needed, and the nice man from Tesco tonight will be bringing me lots of starchy veggies, nuts, peanut butter and fruit. If nothing else this should do wonders for my diet! Some things will be easier than others- I can skip the chocolate in favour of fruit or cashews or even a bag of french fries. No, they aren’t my favourite but it’s only a week. I’m quite fond of couscous and roast veg or even some soup- just need to make sure I remember to take time to make up my lunch for the next day every evening. My biggest fear? The coffee. My name is Foodie, and I’m a caffoholic. The machine coffee at work is vile even when doctored with some powedered machiney milk, there’s no way I can handle it black I’d be better off drinking white spirits. This might make the day go faster but wont help to abate my 10am withdrawal sweats, so I’ll be opting to take in some green tea bags or maybe treat myself to a jar of one of the higher end instants. I’ll manage. Somehow.
Thankfully I’m away this weekend on a secret foodie mission (stay tuned) and will be far too busy to worry about not having my scrambled egg breakfast or chicken curry dinner so that’s a blessing but I’m concerned about the potential protein drop, and the higher carb intake making me ratty due to all those blood sugar spikes. And what about when I’ve been to the gym? Will all this vegan gubbins cut it to keep my energy up? What the crap am I going to do about this training course where they put on lunch? Just how many fruit snacks before I turn into banana man? So many questions, so many concerns. The number one comfort? Chips are vegan. It’s all going to be ok.
Food. Boom. 
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