TWENTY EIGHT DAYS LATER

I've been dying to post an entry with that title for some time now; mostly because it reminds me of this beautiful Irish face. 

The day has come when I have stated that I will officially renounce my vegandom (it's technically Day 29; I'm a day behind). I have since decided that I am going to maintain a vegan diet at least 6 days a week or whenever it's not extremely inconvenient (because today is the Super Bowl, I may consider today to be a day of "inconvenience." Technically, I already have. Read on.).

Back to Friday (briefly) - when I went out with Jen, I ended up going way over (like > 900 calories over) my calorie goals again. This is mostly because I did not use my smoothie as a meal replacement, but rather as a pre-dinner snack, and I helped myself to a restaurant-sized portion of roasted red pepper hummus, pita, and carrots/celery at the bar. Who am I kidding? It was the 3 pints of beer that put me over. 

On Saturday, I had to wake up early to help administer the freshman entrance exam at school. Although breakfast and lunch were going to be provided for us, I had the feeling that I would not be able to eat many of the offerings. 

I woke up way too early and had a coffee and almond milk before I left the house. I packed - and ate - a 100-calorie pack of lightly salted almonds and a banana for breakfast. I also snacked on a half serving of reduced fat Triscuits in the office since that was literally all that we had left in the box! It was either that or a calorie-loaded bagel (which I learned are vegan!).

Our wonderful culinary arts teacher catered our lunch: cheese tortellini in carbonara sauce with mushrooms and bacon, and a chicken and vegetable jambalaya (I think). I held back tears and retreated to the office fridge for my arugula, carrot, red cabbage, and tomato salad with balsamic vinegar. I helped myself to two slices of warmed Italian bread and worried that I looked completely rude and ungrateful for not eating the amazing food he prepared. I almost broke down and tried a single cheese tortellini, but I resisted. Mary also got an omelet flipping lesson, which provided our lunch time entertainment! 

After the exam, I had to go to the hospital for an MRI of my cervical spine. The salad was not holding me over and luckily, our dance program was holding a show shortly after the exam. Since Mary was nice enough to drive me to the hospital and wait for me during my MRI, we stopped at the refreshments table and I picked up a bag of original Sun Chips for a snack. 

I guess you can say my real snack was the 2 Xanax I needed to calm myself down pre-MRI. Waiting for my turn felt like sitting in some bunker for the Dharma Initiative in Lost - I knew I was surrounded by a giant magnetic field and the noises were relentless. Also it was dingy and the TV was playing figure skating on mute - I felt like I was going to go as crazy as Danielle Rousseau. Now, getting hooked in to the MRI made me feel like I was being put into some sort of Hannibal Lecter restraining device. By the time the test started, I was so zonked out, I imagined all of the noise as a bunch of beats. I almost had to resist toe tapping. I could totally picture Danny Brown or someone rapping over a bunch of MRI clanks (I was thinking of someone so much more on point while I was in the machine; alas, the Xanax has wiped my memory).

Apparently, I was weaving more than walking after the MRI, so Mary decided we should go to Broadway Diner before I could drive home (good thinking, Mary). First things first: Black coffee. I ordered a pain-in-the-butt panini, which was basically half the ingredients from one panini and half the ingredients from another - it was all vegetables though - and fries. Once I felt good enough to drive, I headed down the Parkway to hang out with Steve and Briele.

Well, they had gone to Harold's Deli earlier in the day and were still working off a $30 20-lb. (not really) sandwich. As I got ready for real dinner, I found myself eating spicy brown mustard, tomatoes, onion, lettuce, and pickle on rye. RIGHT?! RIGHT?! This simply would not do.

As midnight approached and a DiGiorno pizza was placed lovingly into the oven, a thought came over me: the Super Bowl is close enough. I will have a slice of pizza and 3 Fudge Stripe cookies. I mean, for all I know, those diner fries were soaked in animal fat and the panini was (probably) pressed with butter. 

So, I caved and had my first deliberately non-vegan food: frozen pizza. Was it worth it? 

I probably went about 1,000 calories over yesterday again. I am not going to count calories today, as I will be worshipping the commercialism and gluttony that is the ultimate American holiday: Super Bowl XLVIII. I bought guacamole hummus to bring to the Super Bowl party I'll be attending (more on that ambrosia later) and I will try to be as vegan as I can (which probably won't be very). 

The next two weeks will include: serious gym sessions, resuming and finishing my cleanse, and going back to a strict vegan diet.

Happy Super Bowl, everyone!