Because The Big-O Said So...

So, I decided that I'm going to try a Vegan diet for 4 weeks, starting this Monday.  I say Monday because I have this weird thing about starting diets over the weekend.  And, come on, tomorrow's the Super Bowl.  I'm not giving up my mama's chili cheese dip.

And yes, I was influenced by Tuesday's episode of Oprah where she had her staff at Harpo do a Vegan diet for a week.  It seems like a pretty decent challenge that'll make me more cognizant of what I put in my body, and I'll probably lose a bit of this weight in the process.  However this is going to mean no animal products at all for the next almost month.  No Chick-Fil-A.  No Starbucks.  No Mac and Cheese.  No Blue Bell Caramel Turtle Cheesecake Ice Cream...

Oh, f*** this s***.

OK, I'm just kidding.  I can do this.  Granted that on day 29, I'll probably celebrate having the willpower to stay on a Vegan diet for a month by running to the nearest Houston's and ordering a Hawaiian Ribeye with a loaded baked potato with extra butter (Hey, I never said this would be a long-term thing), I think this will be a good experience that'll help me make better decisions about eating.

This being said, today I did some "starter" shopping for this whole Vegan thing at Whole Foods today.  I don't think I've ever in my life spent more time in a grocery store than I did today.  But it was interesting sifting through aisles and sections of stuff, looking for that little "V" on the label or just using my common sense.  I seriously stood in the middle of an aisle debating whether or not pure maple syrup was Vegan or not.  I decided that it was, because it comes from trees, but then after all that, I forewent the syrup because then I had to ask myself "is there a Vegan way to make pancakes?"  Then I was like, "not if you want them to taste good".  I'm pretty sure there will be more of this inner turmoil in the aisles...

Being a guy, one thing I'm concerned about is this whole soy thing.  You may have heard that soy somehow increases estrogen levels, therefore rendering us guys slightly physically emasculated.  I bought some tofu, some "ground beef-like" crumbles, and some Tofurky for sandwiches.  So, will I be fine, or should I just go ahead and buy some Man Spanx?

Coming up: My first day as a Vegan on Monday.