7 Day Vegan – Day One

My family and I have been vegetarians for the past 3 and a half years.  The transition from meat to meatless was easier than I expected.  We eat most of the same meals that we used to (stir fry, pizza, enchiladas, chili, soup, sandwiches, salads, cereals, egg dishes, tacos and burritos, etc.) just without the meat.  Recently, I’ve been listening to a few podcasts (No Meat Athlete Radio, and The Rich Roll Podcast), reading a few books (Finding Ultra, Eat and Run, and Thrive – The Vegan Nutrition Guide), and exploring a few blogs (nomeatathlete.com and zenhabits.net) that have pushed me to want to give veganism a shot.

So today is the day.  I’m wading into the waters of veganism for a 7 day experiment.  The big things that I’ll be removing from my current diet are:

• Cheese – I load a bunch of parmesan cheese onto every salad I consume and I top many of my dinners (stir fry, burritos, soup, chili, etc) with a small handful of shredded cheddar.  
• Yogurt – I have yogurt about 2 times a day – once with some berries and protein powder for a midday snack and again in a smoothie after dinner.  
• Whey Protein – I eat whey protein like it’s candy.  I put it on my oatmeal in the morning on my yogurt and berry mixture later on, then in my evening smoothies.  I’ve go for the cheap Costco sized bags of it even though I know this has artificial sweeteners in it.  In preparation for this vegan week, I picked up some hemp protein and some rice protein.  Neither of them tastes bad but they aren’t nearly as sweet as my saccharine laden whey.  I’ve heard that I will get used to the milder flavor as my taste buds change.  I’m skeptical so far.
• Milk Chocolate – I sometimes have some pretty serious chocolate cravings.  I don’t really even try to resist.  I’ve got to get this figured out.  Perhaps vegan dark chocolate or carob??
• Eggs – We’ve got our own backyard chickens so I know that the eggs I eat are local and that the chickens are well-cared for.  Even still, for this 7 day experiment, I’ll be going without eggs.

I’ll figure I’ll give this a shot for 7 days then reevaluate.  Maybe it will stick.  Maybe I’ll find out that it’s too much for me.