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The Chronicle Lifestyle Becoming Vegan is Harder Than it Sounds One week of Veganism was too difficult to continue on with by Faith Schaefer Head Lifestyle Editor For a week straight, I rivaled Declan Boyle’s 4,000 calorie diet with a Vegan Diet challenge, and it was anything but normal. While he was eating more food a day to get those calories, I was eating less because of my limited options.. Most people assume that being vegetarian and vegan are the same type of lifestyles, but they are in fact totally different. Veganism, or being a vegan, is a type of vegetarian diet that excludes meat, eggs, dairy products and all other animal-derived ingredients. While a vegetarian is less strict and only relates to the exclusion of meat or other animal products from their diet. The everyday snacks I eat were restricted and I could not enjoy things such as meat-filled meals at dinner, and instead, I had to turn to different ways to find protein. Beans were my go to for an easy solution to the lack of protein, but quinoa also became a staple throughout the best friend to help me find meals that I did not try and come up with new plans for the week. Yes, it was tempting to try and resist eating meat at the end of the day because of how hungry I was, but the vegan meals made me feel a little healthier. The week was definitely photo by Faith Schaefer Continuing with the Vegan diet, on Tuesday April 2nd, I prepared Zuccinni Noodles, or Zoodles, for dinner and it was a surprise to find out that they were good. week due to its high levels of not only protein, but iron and fiber as well. For breakfast throughout the week, I stuck with smoothies and vegan muffins that I made in prep for the diet. I also had to stay away from eating a yogurt in the morning, which proved difficult for me because of how much I loved eating them. Though it was not my typical bagel and cream cheese or butter, these alternatives were easily just the same deliciousness. Lunch became more difficult as the week passed because I was limited to options. Sometimes I would eat leftovers from my dinner the night before; when I had Cava for dinner, I made sure to pack my scraps for lunch the next day. Salads were also a go to for lunch because they were quick and easy and they didn’t require any planning the night before. Dinner started to become experimental as I ran out of ideas. Pinterest became my difficult for me to accomplish because I kept wanting to go back to my regular eating habits, which was hard to resist. The more active I was, the harder it was to stay away from my typical meals, but I successfully avoided them and stuck to the Vegan diet. Though I was excited to start a new lifestyle for a week, I quickly realized that it would be harder to maintain it for so long. Those who are strict in upholding the diet obviously have their own personal reasons, but if you are a meat lover looking for a change, this challenge is not for you. All in all, I enjoyed the diet and I liked how healthy I felt throughout the week, but you will not catch me, anytime soon, going on another vegan diet. Ruining the Summer Body in One Week Eating 4,000 calories a day for a week will ruin your body by Declan Boyle Head Features Editor Cheeseburgers, pizza, fries, the ideal bulking diet, right? Unfortunately for me, not exactly. Lifestyle Editor Faith Schaefer and I took on two drastically different diets for the first school week in April. Faith went vegan for the week, while I doubled my calorie and protein intake. I started planning this diet without fear. However, Sunday night, I realized the behemoth I was about to conquer. For this diet, I had to unfortunately, day; it consume 4,000 calories every had to be clean. I originally had planned to simply eat whatever I wanted in large quantities. After speaking to Coach Whisenant, the life fitness teacher, I evaluated my plans for the coming week. The diet I would come to attempt, began taking form, and it was increasingly imitated. I was looking at eating the healthiest I ever had in my life. For breakfast, I had planned pancakes slathered in peanut butter, which was roughly 780 calories, paired with a cup of fairlife chocolate milk, a carnation instant breakfast, and a cup of coffee. My lunch was planned to be a burger (438 calories) and Garlic Quinoa and Rice (240 calories) in an effort to save time for Monday. Every other day I meal prepped Limon Chili Chicken (195 calories per chicken), Arborio Rice (260 calories), and two PB&J sandwiches (each 189 calories), as well as various carbs. Dinner was the variable that consistently changed. I typically ate either whatever my mom cooked, or whatever I got to eat at work. The difficulties of this diet were broken down into two separate problems. The first was simply how long it takes to cook. For the ten pieces of chicken I made, and the boxed rice, I was cooking for over an hour. I ended up staying up much later that night than I had intended. Not only did it take time out of my evening, but the mornings I made a strong breakfast were incredibly problematic. The first Monday, I spent 20 minutes attempting to make pancakes, until I realized that I did not know how to make pancakes. Tuesday, I learned how to make pancakes (the trick is to cook them small) and was the first day I met the calorie goal. Tuesday was also the first day I was late to school. Throughout the week, I cooked breakfast every day, and was late every single day excluding Monday. Unfortunately, this was only the first of my problems. The second problem I faced was much more tedious. In general, it takes me longer than most people to eat meals. What I hadn’t realized was that doubling my calories for the day meant doubling the time it took me to eat. Despite breaking the day into five or six meals, it still took quite some time to finish eating. The aforementioned Monday, when I had a burger with quinoa, I was eating my lunch for roughly an hour. This was exacerbated by the fact it was my third burger in 24 hours. I also quickly realized that I could not stand quinoa. Despite the side of primarily garlic rice, I had struggled to eat the large portion of quinoa I made myself. This not only impacted my work ethic in school, but also at my job. Certain classes, primarily lectures, the meal plan wasn’t a problem. But in classes that I wasn’t allowed to eat in or had to be much more on-task, it was a challenge. This is simply in school, where I was given much more leeway than at work. I had a dishwashing shift during my diet, and am typically given a meal for no charge. I was given a hefty pasta dish covered in meats, cheese, sauce, and mushrooms, and took me quite some time to finish. Even including the problems I faced, I still enjoyed this diet on the whole. I felt amazing, due to the healthiness of the diet. My original expectation for the diet was that I would quickly gain weight; however, I did not. At the beginning of the week and the end, I had seen no weight difference; however, my weight distribution was very different. I had lost inches in my stomach and gained inches in my arms and abdominals. I would recommend something similar to this diet to many; however, it was unfortunately strict. I had not expected the severity and the struggle to reach 4,000 calories every day. I was constantly having midnight snacks just to meet my calorie goal. All in all, if I had better budgeted my time, and wasn’t generally so busy, I would have fared much better. I am glad I attempted this diet; however, I will not be continuing it simply due to how demanding it was. April 2019 What foods can you not live without? by Elisa Dass Staff Reporter “I would definitely not be able to live without sushi, chocolate chip cookie dough ice cream, cheeseburgers, and chick-fil-a .” Emma Gray junior “I could not live without bacon, anything coffee related, donuts, taquitos, burritos, cucumbers and pasta.” Jack Tessier senior “I can’t imagine life without bread, pasta, chocolate, pizza and especially double-stuffed oreos..” Carly Herbert senior “I could definitely not live without peanut butter, any red meat, chicken wings, tacos from Taco bell and french fries.” Declan Boyle junior Lifestyle 11

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