Alright, so, I went vegan for a day but I’m not going to be patting myself on the back too hard.

I’ve given up coffee and alcohol for forty plus days before (never at the same time, though). I’ve done the Whole 30 diet. So, eating a vegan diet for a day is really not that big a deal.

One of the things I learned is that it’s more accurate to say that I didn’t eat any animal products today. Some vegans pointed out that it’s more than just a diet. I wore a leather belt today. My book bag has leather on it. I can’t really call myself vegan with that stuff. Also, one day is not enough to feel like I’m contributing less harm to the world through my tacit support of commercial meat and dairy production.

I did, however, learn a few things from my one day.

Eating vegan is not that much different than how I eat now

I put milk in my coffee but switching to almond milk is just as good for me (I can taste the difference with soy milk, though, so, I rarely use it). I usually eat eggs or yogurt for breakfast but oatmeal and an apple is just as good. Instead of chicken, I can try to substitute tofu. These aren’t exactly huge sacrifices.

I think I’ve slowly made changes in my diet over the past few years and I’m sort of drifting this way anyway.

I can’t eat as much crap

My office is big on candy and a few co-workers like to bake. Plus there’s leftover conference room food every now and then.

If I’m following a vegan diet, I can’t eat any of it.

Today was the first nice day of spring and I saw a soft serve truck outside, then I realized I couldn’t have any. This brings up two thoughts. One, what animal would I be exploiting by having soft serve? How much actual cow milk is actually in that? This led to thought two which is, if it’s that far removed from a cow, should I be eating it?

Again, this has nothing to do with the ethics, it’s just an ancillary benefit of the diet.

I can’t just grab anything when I’m out

Once a month, I try to meet my two oldest friends who live in Westchester for a drink or some food around Grand Central. I did that tonight and couldn’t eat anything in the place we chose. There was one sandwich with falafel and vegetables but it had pesto. Pesto has parmesan. I had to pass.

On the way to improv rehearsal, I wanted to grab something from Pret and my good pal Pret let me down. Every veggie sandwich had a yogurt dressing or some mayo or something to screw up my vegan day. There was a Morroccan lentil soup but I wasn’t in the mood. So, I grabbed a banana, a fruit cup, and almonds. Not the heartiest dinner. I need to plan ahead.

I’m most motivated by health and environmental reasons to eat a vegan diet. I could probably do this a few times a week and it could help on both counts.

Well, it couldn’t hurt.