So at the end of January I decided I wanted to change some things about my diet, so I tried going vegan for 21 days and I loved it! I also decided that during these 21 days I was going to drink 3-4 liters of water everyday. You’re probably wondering why I chose 21 days instead of just doing the full month, well I’ve always heard it takes 21 days to build a habit so I thought why not!
When I was in college my bestfriend and I, who was also my roommate at the time, decided to go vegan together. We saw great results and did it for about six months. So this time around, I decided "Hey, I’ve done this before and it’s a new year so why not try again!"
I started off by going through my pantry and getting rid of everything I knew I would be unable to eat.
I’m the type of person where if I don’t have access to it I know I won’t eat it. Vegans do not eat anything that comes from an animal, this means no: meat, fish, eggs, milk based products, honey, and the list goes on. I already gave up meat about four years ago but I did eat fish from time to time to get some extra protein so unfortunately this meant I needed to get rid of any fish in my fridge. The next biggest thing for me was going to be….EGGS. I absolutely love eggs, I could eat them all day if I could.
I had thought about removing eggs from my diet for a while because I read that although not scientifically proven eggs may make your hormonal acne worse. Hormonal acne is something I struggle with big time so I was excited to see if I would see any results taking eggs out of my diet.
My first seven days were pretty tough,
I realized I had to get use to reading food labels again. Simple products that I ate everyday would be made with milk based products which meant I couldn't have them. I went to the store and completely revamped my kitchen with lots of fresh fruits and vegetables. I made sure that everything in my kitchen was vegan and healthy, not only did this keep me on track but this eliminated the possibility of me wanting to have cheat days. I didn’t notice any huge changes my first week, my energy was up a little bit more but that was about it.
My second week was not as bad as my first, once I got the hang of vegan meal prepping I noticed that everything was a lot easier for me. Black Girl Workouts has some great vegan recipes, some of my favorite to make were vegan asopao soup and buddha bowls! I will link them in this blog!
Week two was also when I started noticing how less bloated I was and I even began to see improvements in my skin! This was the week of the month I would normally breakout pretty bad before my period and I noticed that my face barely had any pimples. I think this could have been the result of increasing my water intake or eliminating eggs from my diet. I also had a lot more energy in the gym as well which was amazing. I started running everyday which is so uncommon for me because I truly hated running growing up.
The last week really shocked me the most, my skin looked the best it had in months! I have pretty sensitive skin so if there is something in my diet my body does not like my skin reflects that.
I think cutting out so many processed foods and eating strictly plant based was an amazing detox for my body.
It felt like I was glowing, inside and out! As far as physical changes in my body I would say the biggest thing I noticed during my 21 days was that I was not nearly as bloated. I also noticed that my nails had become a lot stronger and were less prone to breaking. This was huge for me because I have been trying to stay away from acrylic so seeing my nails
so healthy and strong was a blessing.
Overall I would say going vegan for 21 days was amazing for my body. I completely kept dairy products out of my diet and I still eat about 80% plant based, I occasionally eat fish for the protein. If you’ve ever thought about going vegan for a couple weeks I would highly recommend it. I had tons of fun recreating vegan recipes I saw online and developed a liking for so many new foods. In these 21 days I was able to really learn my body and get an amazing detox!
Find your worth and Stand on it,
Myanna Kelly