Vegan Experiement Day Seven: Dinner Dates

February 12, 2011

I'm on day seven and so far so good. I just ate a whole wheat bagel with peanut butter, banana, and chia seeds, and I swear I feel like I can fly around with the angels!

Okay, not really, but I do feel good.

I guess I should start out by saying telling admitting to you all that I had pizza last night. I'd been planning a pizza date with a woman from work for the past three weeks, and every time we talked between then and now, I made sure to tell her how very deeply I loved pizza.

Obviously, pizza isn't vegan, but I decided at the start of this challenge that I'd eat the pizza anyway. It was good, but I could have done just fine without it. And to balance it out, I ate a garden salad with vegan dressing, half the amount of slices I'd normally eat, and skipped dessert.

No guilt. No feelings of failure. Last week I drove through McDonald's (twice) after my long run. This is definitely progress.

Buuuuuuuuutttttt.........we're going to a friend's house for dinner tonight. She's super Southern and cooks like Paula Deen. I have no idea what's for dinner, and no idea how I'll handle it. We've only known this couple for a month or so, and I don't want to seem all picky and rude. I'll let you know how it goes.

She asked me to bring dessert. I decided to go with apple crisp. If you switch the butter for margarine (or a vegan 'buttery' spread), it's vegan and still normal food for normal people. I haven't picked a recipe yet, but once I do, I'll post it.

So far, I think social situations are the trickiest part of eating a vegan diet. For some reason, food and judgement kind of seem to go hand in hand (people judge, worry they're being judged, or a combination of both--this includes me).