{"id":2327,"date":"2016-09-12T11:45:29","date_gmt":"2016-09-12T15:45:29","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.bu.edu\/comblog\/?p=2327"},"modified":"2016-09-12T09:04:51","modified_gmt":"2016-09-12T13:04:51","slug":"hanna-a-vegan-senior","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.bu.edu\/comblog\/2016\/09\/12\/hanna-a-vegan-senior\/","title":{"rendered":"Hanna: A Vegan Senior"},"content":{"rendered":"

Here are two things I didn\u2019t think would ever happen to me:<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 1) I would become a senior.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 2) I would become a vegan.<\/span><\/p>\n

Senior year of college was inevitable, but that did not make its arrival any easier to believe. To make the transition even more bizarre, I found myself having a strange burst of inspiration to try this new route to healthy living. I have had my fair share of food-related health goals in the past. I have gone weeks of cutting out bread, pasta, and other carbs I convinced myself were satanic, only to falter after a night out ended at T. Anthony\u2019s. I tried Isagenix, a 30-day intensive eating system that provided meal-replacement shakes, guided cleanses, specific snacks, and a very serious limit on which foods you can and cannot consume (the only unlimited items were celery and cucumbers, basically crunchy water). This summer I tried a hip diet called starving-intern-living-in-New-York-City-by-herself-for-the-first-time. My internship provided enough of a salary for me to cut my parents slack and pay for my entire existence, but as soon as I excitedly headed to the store to buy ingredients for all the healthy recipes I had found on Pinterest, I learned the true agony of what it really takes to be healthy: lots and lots of money.<\/span><\/p>\n

For example, every recipe I found on exercise-related sites suggested I incorporate chia seeds into my diet. Stick \u2018em in your shake, in your oatmeal, in your salad, in your birthday cake (they did not suggest this but I\u2019m sure the health icons of the internet wouldn\u2019t shy away from doing that. If they even eat birthday cake). Do you know how much a small bag of chia seeds costs? DO YOU? Guess. Nope, more. At least where I was shopping in hipster little Brooklyn, those suckers were about $15! My resentment toward chia seeds has yet to shy away.<\/span><\/p>\n

Needless to say, I took advantage of the free food in my office and ate a whole lot less due to my fear of losing all my money. I would suggest that others avoid this lifestyle.<\/span><\/p>\n

Some of the diets were great. I lost some weight, I felt energized, but they certainly took a hit at my enjoyment and my wallet. Plans are expensive and the mindset they require was difficult for me to maintain. Everything was an uphill battle to reach the end of the 30 days, to win the internal war of \u201cI shouldn\u2019t eat this but I want to\u2026\u201d every time something tempted, and to fight off the guilt when I cheated. I was constantly struggling to stick with whatever I was trying at the time, and while my usual habits are inherently healthy (I am an active person who enjoys a good run on the Charles and the Warren Dining Hall salad bar) none of the plans became my lifestyle.<\/span><\/p>\n

About four weeks ago, a new co-worker named Alex mentioned she was vegan. Yikes,<\/i> I thought. How can a college student with a meal plan and zero income pull off being vegan and healthy?<\/i><\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s such an awesome way to keep up your ideal health in college. And it\u2019s cheap!\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

That chick read my mind. I had always thought veganism, and even vegetarianism, would not be worth the costs; I\u2019d resort to eating unhealthy snacks and too many carbs, I\u2019d spend too much money, or I\u2019d go hungry due to limited options on a college campus. But suddenly a person with my lifestyle was raving about it.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI have so much more energy, and my body has been able to regulate itself in terms of eating enough, eating enough of the right things, and adjusting to the food I avoid now. There are vegan alternatives to everything, too, so while most of my diet is the right protein and nutrients and stuff, I can still have great food. Oreos are vegan!\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Oreos are vegan<\/i>? Sold. Alex, my vegan spirit guide, encouraged me to start small with just a few meals for a week, but after that I was hooked. All of the mental struggles of previous diets disappeared when I didn\u2019t even have the option to debate certain temptations. I didn\u2019t feel a huge void without meat, and I felt way less bloated and gross from cutting out dairy (Sorry. TMI). Excessive vegetables became a great source of protein and fruit became a perfect dessert. Every now and then I allow myself to \u201ccheat\u201d out of convenience for others or, again, a late night ending at T. Anthony\u2019s, but because my daily habits are so much more naturally healthy, I don\u2019t feel the same guilt I used to whenever I slipped in a slice of pizza.<\/span><\/p>\n

Alex was nice enough to share a little guide she\u2019d made for how to keep it up in college, and I thought I\u2019d share some of it here!<\/span><\/p>\n

Breakfast<\/i><\/b><\/span><\/p>\n

An essential start to your day! This should be full of carbs to power you through a workout or busy morning.<\/i><\/span><\/p>\n