Welcome back to my life without meat, dairy or eggs!

Day two was defined by the selection of food I couldn’t eat. Obviously, this is true of any diet, but I felt especially restricted at each meal.

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For breakfast, I started the morning by pouring soy milk on my cereal. I buy the original, unsweetened Cheerios. I usually sweeten the cereal up by adding honey; however, I had to forgo honey because it’s a natural product of an animal.

I’ve never tried soy milk before, and it’s sweeter and of a thinner consistency than regular milk. The three main ingredients are soy, water, and cane sugar. It’s not an averse alternative, just different.

Next on the vegan menu was an easy prep meal of soup with saltines. Sounds simple enough, right? Wrong. I needed a water-based soup instead of a soup with a milk base. A water-based vegetable noodle soup I assumed would be safe.

There was also the temptation of freshly baked chocolate cookie brownie cupcakes, thanks to my roommate.

I ate vegan macaroni and cheese with a salad for dinner. The mac and cheese kept trying to trick my taste buds into thinking it was actual cheese. Overall, it was a lot like the soy milk: not impressively tasteful, but not unpalatable.

That evening I was faced with a hankering for hot cocoa, which must have stemmed from the chocolate I missed out on earlier in the day. Thankfully, I also had a chocolate Belvita breakfast biscuit. That was enough to curb my cocoa craving.

While I realize there are long-term health benefits to refraining from eating animal products along with a positive impact on animals, it’s hard to keep that perspective when chocolate is staring you in the face.

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