First Vegan Thoughts

The first thing to be aware of with a vegan diet is that a surprising amount of junk food is vegan. Not cheese doodles or milk chocolate, obviously. However, most corn chips and salsa are vegan, kettle corn and caramel corn often are vegan, 99.9% of potato chips are vegan… you get the idea. Manufacturers of prepackaged snacks avoid dairy for cost reasons, so pita and pretzel chips, many crackers and other simple carbohydrate goodies are all "safe" for vegans. That doesn't translate to weight loss.

Obvious non-vegan junk foods? Milk chocolate, most commercial baked goods, and a shocking number of vegetarian products. I thought I was pretty safe with Amy's Soy Cheese Pizza but I failed to notice the warning that milk protein was used to make the soy cheese. It all depends how scrupulous you are about your definition of vegan. Later this week I will discuss the controversy over honey, which may or may not be vegan depending on which vegan you ask.

Things I wish I hadn't figured out because they tempt me:

Whole Foods non-dairy walnut baklava (yes, it has honey in it) is to DIE for. I'm seriously considering making a pan of baklava later this week just to get precise nutrition information.

Dark chocolate? Often vegan. One example would be this Signature Dark Chocolate Mint Bar from the vegan-friendly Lake Champlain Chocolates. A search for "vegan" on the site produces a whopping 39 results. The dark chocolate mint bar has mint flavored sugar crystals that crunch and I've found one square (55 calories) to be extremely satisfying.

How to get started:

Go to Whole Foods or your local hippie Mecca and ask the first person you see who works there about vegan products. I tried this and it turned out I was talking to a vegan with 6 years of experience. I'll give more details later, but I was tickled by that incident and had to share.

Review of the "Jared" Diet

This diet is pretty simple. You don't need special tools or lots of time and energy. You don't have to know how to cook. You just need money and a bottomless enthusiasm for Subway subs. This is an ideal diet for bachelors, bachelorettes or anyone who wants to lose weight but isn't sure where they left their kitchen.

Cost:

For one person, 18 inches of Subway can cost as little as $6 per day. Baked chips and soda are extra and naturally, buy those in bulk if you are trying to save money. If you already eat a lot of restaurant meals, you may actually save money with Subway.

Nutrition:

As previously mentioned, the diet described by Subway and officially endorsed by Jared is actually 850 calories per day. However, several Subway employees have confided in me that Jared admits to a much more generous 1800 calories per day. While following my "Jared" diet, I ate a largish breakfast, a 6 inch sub or wrap with cheese and baked chips for lunch and a 12 inch sub for dinner. I started out with the low fat menu and branched out to low carb wraps and the occasional premium sub. I had a modest snack or even dessert a few hours after dinner. I kept calories between 1700 and 2000 and fat fairly low, although I ate a bit more protein than I imagine Jared did.

Nutritional recommendations:

Breakfast - eat it, duh. Oatmeal and fruit is classic and fast. A whey protein supplement is a nice short cut if you don't have time for eggs in the morning, although I won't lie about the taste comparison - eggs win.

Avoid dressings but add cheese - this is a low calorie plan and you are adjusting it up to your personal needs. For me, 1800 was still low enough that I lost almost 5 pounds. (Moving a two bedroom apartment concurrently helped but I don't recommend it.)

Switch Baked Lays for a different chip - I recommend Kettle Baked Chips or Quaker Soy Crisps in White Cheddar. Kettle baked chips are baked slices of potato, not reconstituted potato pap. I haven't tried a Kettle baked chips I didn't love. Quaker soy crisps are more rice than soy, but they do pack extra protein into this diet which gives the bready subs more mileage.

Eat fruit or vegetables in your after dinner snack to add volume.

Pitfalls:

Boredom - again, duh.

Cost - you could eat a sandwich at home for cheaper, but would you bother cutting up a cup or three of assorted vegetables to put on it? Me either, which made the money worth it in my life.

Final thoughts - this is a good diet for taking off a few pounds or maintaining during a move but would not work as a long term strategy unless you are actually employed by Subway.

Next time I will begin discussing my adventures in veganism, including the contentious honey issue, eating in restaurants (do you like salad bars?) and how to deal with the static you will invariably get for even playing at it for a week.

I've been somewhat remiss in updating due to the move, but I will be back on track this week. Meanwhile, please peruse this half-assed review of the Subway diet.

Really people, how hard is it to go to Subway.com and add up the contents of Jared's stomach as clearly listed on the site and in advertisements for several years?