Day Twenty-One: The Three Week Goal! (AKA carbo loading and epic fail)

Back on January 5, I began a 21-day committment to a vegan diet. Because I've had 4 minor slip ups - 2 accidental bites of things I thought were vegan (almond cheese, guacamole, and caramel popcorn) and my mom's unavoiadable marinara, which does not have meat in it, but which is basically a jacuzzi for various cooked meats while it simmers on the stove, I've decided to add 4 days to my "sentence."

I'm certainly not going to log in everything I eat today, nor am I going to count calories, as I'll be heading to the Asbury Park Beer Fest at 6 PM. I'm sure I'll be drinking my weight in beer and I won't be able to keep track of my nutrition.

I am, however, extremely worried about what food options will be available to me. While Asbury Park is basically the Brooklyn of the Jersey Shore and it seems to be a pretty vegan-friendly town, I don't know what they will be offering at this event. Needless to say, I will have tortilla chips, almonds, and pretzel necklaces packed along with several bottles of water - I just hope they let me in with all this crap (quick: I'm suddenly hypoglycemic! That should work, right?). None of the food vendors appear to be particularly safe and I know it will be very easy to say "ahhhhhh, screw it! gimme a pizzaburger" after a few brews.

I proctored the SATs this morning so for breakfast I packed an apple and a 100-calorie pack of lightly salted almonds. It was incredibly hard to avoid the allure of the dozen Dunkin Donuts provided for us in the mailroom. Although I obviously hadn't started imbibing in booze by 9 AM (or, needless to say, at any point during the exam), it was already easy for me to say "ahhhhhhh screw it! gimme a strawberry frosted/jelly/chocolate glazed.) I resisted and settled for a black coffee. Nancy was also super kind enough to text me and tell me to eat the leftover vegan cheese leafy kale chips that were in our office fridge. (Note: I think these would be awesome sprinkled on top of a salad or soup, too. They taste just like Cheez-Its!)


* Disclaimer:All phone activity took place during SAT breaks! :)

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The rest of this is being written on day twenty-two, and I come to you with a very heavy heart. 

When I got home from the SAT, I took a quick nap and then realized that I had to load up on food if I was going to attend a four-hour drinking fest. I had an amazing sandwich made up of a Boca chik'n patty, a slice of Tofutti American cheese, which was no more gross than a Kraft single, and ketchup on a Trader Joe's multi-grain sandwich thin. OMG, as I'm writing this, I want another one. I've never gotten over the heaven on a cafeteria tray that was the chicken patty sandwich and fries at the Busch Dining Hall, all coated in ladles of cheese sauce. Even my eight-month stint as a vegetarian revolved around those cheese fries.

Anyway, I also ate two vegan cookies, threw some make up on, and went to Siobhan's, where she made us pretzel necklaces. I also had almonds stashed in my tote. 

Get out the way, Blurry Man!

All was going well for a few hours. Most of the 2 oz. beer samplings were delicious and I hadn't tried most of them before. Finding a bathroom was another story.

And finding anything I could eat was impossible. Siobhan literally had to drag me away from a table for the Puerto Rican food truck, El Lechon de Negron, where I took a business card "for later." I ate my pretzel necklace and, seemingly, most the yarn it was strung on. I ate my almonds. When you're sampling IPAs with an 8% ABV and American Strong Ales with 12% ABV (I'm looking at you, Super Kitty, you delicious brew, you), you need some food!!!

We headed to the one bar inside Asbury Park Convention Hall, Anchor's Bend, and ordered what appeared to be safe(ish): hush puppies. We were unaware that said hush puppies contained andouille and crawfish. You know what I thought at this point? "Ahhhhhhhhh screw it, gimme some hush puppies." I ate three, remoulade and all.

Me, Siobhan, Briele, post-hush puppies. I look reaaaaaaal guilty, huh?

Now that I've looked into it, I realized that some of the beers I drank last night were not even vegan (I'm looking at you again, Super Kitty, with your honey!). And hush puppies are not in fact vegan anyway - they contain eggs and buttermilk. I still feel pretty distraught that I messed up big-time and ate actual meat (and couldn't I have nixed the remoulade?). And couldn't I have asked for a rice and beans burrito at Pop's Garage?!

So for these flubs, I'm hereby pushing back my "sentence" all the way to the Super Bowl.

According to this map, I only recall hitting up 24 locations

Must I even post this estimation of debauchery? (yes, I did count calories anyway)

Totals	2,061	257	50	48	2,540	90
Your Daily Goal	1,200	150	40	60	2,300	45
Remaining	-861	-107	-10	12	-240	-45
	Calories	Carbs	Fat	Protein	Sodium	Sugar

P.S. Meat tastes preeeeeeeeeetttttttty freakin awesome when you haven't had it in 3 weeks. 

P.P.S. JK, I'm still pretty much hating myself right now. Give me some love, please! And if any other vegans have ever fallen off the wagon, please send me some words of advice and encouragement!