Vegan Week: Preparations

In college, my roommate once told me she didn't think I could make it a week as a vegan. I immediately said something along the lines of "challenge accepted," and then ate nothing but peanut butter and jelly sandwiches for the next two days. On the third day, I really really really wanted a candy bar. That sweet milk chocolate was the end of my foray into being a vegan.

Until now.

I do believe it's possible for a carnivore like myself to go vegan for a week (otherwise I wouldn't have kept it on my Life List!). I think the problem with the first time I tried to do it was I had zero plan going into it. I didn't have items to snack on that were vegan-friendly. I didn't know what I was allowed or not allowed to eat. I tried to subsist on my normal food and just cut out whatever animal products didn't fit into the vegan diet without replacing them with other things, so I was hungry the whole time.

But not this time. This time, I made a plan. And starting on Sunday night, I'm going to attempt this again!

• I chose six vegan recipes and figured the seventh day would be a leftovers day. (The recipes are: Peach Gazpacho, Balsalmic Veggies & Quinoa, Barbecue Tofu, Portobello Hero Sandwiches, Pesto Minestrone [using veggie broth instead of chicken broth] and Greek Salad Sandwiches [hold the Feta].)
• I plan to eat leftovers for lunch, and if there are not enough leftovers, I will make a salad with beans and veggies. (Question #1: Are salad dressings vegan? If not, it's okay, I ate a lot of lettuce sans dressing as a kid.) I suppose if worse comes to worse, I can always make peanut butter and jelly sandwiches.
• Breakfasts will be cereal with soy milk, which my dad used to drink, so I know it tastes fine.
• Question #2: What do vegans eat for dessert? I really need to have a plan for dessert, because it is my Kryptonite.
• My everyday snack is popcorn. I will just buy some that doesn't have butter in it. If they don't make butter-free popcorn, I will get pistachios or mixed nuts. I might do that anyway.

Have you ever tried eating vegan? Do you have any tips for keeping on track?

P.S. I'm not trying to make any kind of statement with eating vegan. I just want to know how people do it, how it works and how I feel while doing it. I've had stomach problems for most of my adult life, and have always had people suggest I might feel better if I cut certain things out of my diet — like gluten and dairy — but none of them have ever worked. And I've never legitimately tried to eat vegan. So it's purely a personal experiment.