Vegan food diary for one week

Since I’ve gone vegan I get asked a lot what I eat in a day. It’s not a weird question, people who don’t eat vegan have no idea. It’s funny, nobody used to ask me what I eat before I went vegan! Somehow it’s mind-blowing to eat vegan and people want to know all about it. I get it, but of course I hope it’ll be the norm one day. When people ask me what I eat I just say I eat the same as then, only with a vegan alternative for animal products (which is true). But to make it more visual I’ve decided to share my food diary in one random week with you. For one week I’ll share everything I eat! So here it is: my vegan food diary for one week.

Disclaimer

I have a few things to say before I share this. First. Maybe you’re expecting something really special right now. My diet isn’t special at all. It has been a reflection for me too haha. I realized my diet is quite boring at this point. Where I used to be focussed on eating as much veggies as I can, this week has been a week of convenience and a lot of bread. Anyway, I’m learning! I know I don’t have to say this, I don’t owe anyone an explanation. But I just wanted to say this before you expect anything spectacular and extraordinary. The second disclaimer is that am not a dietician and this diary should not be taken as any advice. Now, let’s get to the vegan food diary:

Sunday

Breakfast: two brown sandwiches and a glass of chocolate soy milk (from Alpro). One sandwich with avocado and once with vegan steak tartare (from the Vegetarian Butcher).
Lunch: another glass of chocolate soy milk and a slice of vegan pizza (the leftover form yesterday’s dinner).
Snack: a bunch of gluten free, vegan chocolate cookies I had never had before, but recently found to be vegan while I was buying groceries with dad.
Dinner: een plate of french fries with curry sauce, vegan mayonnaise and fried onions. Zero waste tip: I always bring my own lunch box to the cafeteria because snacks on the side (which dad had ordered, I only had fries) are usually packed in plastic.

Monday

Breakfast: a banana, a kiwi and a glass of juice (kiwi-orange-juice).
Lunch: two slices of Lebanese bread with ketchup, falafel, lettuce, cucumber and peas.
Snack: an apple.
Dinner: a vegan stew with white beans and green beans (in Dutch called blote kinderbilletjes in het gras’ made by my mother in law.
Snack: a bag of popcorn.

Tuesday

Breakfast: two brown slices of bread with avocado and a glass of orange juice.
Snack: an orange, a banana and two slices of brown bread with beet-hummus.
Lunch: a pack of vegetable noodles by Unox, a big hand of mixed nuts and some 85% chocolate.
Snack: popcorn and some sort of muesli bar.
Dinner: string beans, cooked potatoes and some ketchup.
Update 2020: The Unox vegetables noodles are not vegan. I didn’t know this yet when I wrote this diary.

Wednesday

Breakfast: two brown slices of bread with avocado.
Snack: a banana, a piece of 85% chocolate and a hand full of mixed nuts.
Lunch: four brown slices of bread, two with avocado and two with pate (from the Vegetarian Butcher). A glass of orange juice.
Snack: a glass of cranberry juice.
Dinner: a plate with fries, lettuce, watermelon and a vegan burger with a coke.
Note: today I went to visit a business with my class. That’s why I had dinner at a restaurant, Delirium in Amsterdam (not vegan friendly, but I was the only vegan in the group).

Thursday

Breakfast: four brown slices of bread. Two with beet-hummus and two with peanut butter.
Snack: a pack of Skittles and a vegan peanut power bar.
Lunch: two brown slices of bread with peanut butter.
Extra lunch: a sandwich at a bar in Zwolle called Vito’s. It had roasted paprika, rucola, feta cheese (!), almonds, red pesto and even more cheese.
Dinner: two brown slices of bread with beet-hummus.
Note: At Vito’s in Zwolle I had asked for a vegan sandwich. They didn’t have one on the menu so I asked if they could veganize the vegetarian one. They totally forgot about that and I was given a vegetarian sandwich with cheese. The waitress apologized and said they were going to make a new one. I then asked what they were going to do with the one which was given to me. She said they would throw it away. And so, I accepted the vegetarian sandwich and ate it all. I don’t want to food to be wasted.

Friday

Breakfast: three whole-wheat crackers with hummus and a glass or orange juice.
Lunch: a vegan muesli bar, a hand full of mixed nuts, a banana and some 85% chocolate.
Snack: popcorn.
Dinner: a plate of french fries with vegan mayonnaise and some stir-fried vegetables on the side.

Saturday

Breakfast: a cup of vanilla soy-yoghurt with strawberries and a glass of apple juice.
Snack: two white sandwiches (just like the ones from Sunday, but then white) with avocado.
Lunch: a raw chocolate bar, some 85% chocolate, a bag of tomato-flavored Cup-a-Soup soup and a banana.
Dinner: a plate of falafel, haricots vert beans, vegan mayonnaise and a focaccia.
Midnight-snack: a bag of french fries with curry sauce and some chili-flavored Bugels.
Note: Foccacias are usually not vegan, but luckily this one was. The Bugels were a vegan fail. I thought the chili-flavor was vegan but when I read the label it said it contained milk. Better luck next time.

Evaluation and B12

That’s it! Time to evaluate! First of all, I noticed I ate a lot of avocados. It might be better if I eat less of those and switch it up with something else every once in a while. Secondly, I eat a small bit of 85% chocolate almost every day because I read that it might be good for you, this is going well! Also, I want to eat a hand full of nuts everyday but that isn’t going so well yet. I want to improve that. And like I said in the beginning: I ate a lot of bread! I want to lower that and eat more veggies and fruit instead. What I however didn’t mention in this diary is that I also take a supplement, vitamin B12. You have to take that if you eat vegan.

So, this is what an unexperienced (5 months or so?) vegan eats in one random week. I hope it brings some insights! What did you think of this vegan food diary? And do you keep a vegan food diary yourself too?

Yours sincerely,
Romee