I went vegan for a month at Ohio Northern University.
You might be thinking, Why would you do that to yourself?! and the answer isn’t exactly simple. The heroic answer is to say I did it in the name of ethics and the moral reprehensibility of eating meat. The collegiate answer is to say that I did it to avoid writing another 18 page research paper for my final Honors Major Contract project. The human answer is to say that I was deeply curious about veganism and I’ve always felt vaguely guilty about eating meat and animal products.
Regardless of the reason, on February 1st, 2025, I woke up and put my life of shameless meat-eating and animal product-consuming behind me for good (“for good” meaning the next 28 days).
It’s difficult to describe what exactly happened to me or within me those fateful 28 days of February. The only way I have ever been able to describe this experience to others is by following the five stages of grief (denial, anger, bargaining, depression, and acceptance). These stages embody the experience of going vegan with a concerning amount of accuracy. This article concerns the first stage, denial.
I need you to understand how good my life was before I grew a moral conscience. I could eat anything. Meat, dairy, gluten, peanuts, soy, shellfish, you name it and I would try it. I have zero allergies, and I’m not necessarily picky about my food either. I loved trying new things without worry.
I used to be so young and free.
On February 1st, I threw it all away. The first day of my veganism journey was weird to say the least. I legitimately did not consume anything until after 3pm. I was nervous that I would mess up, I was unsure about what I could eat, and maybe I was ultimately in denial that I would need to eat at all.
It doesn’t hit you the first couple of days that you’re actually a vegan. It just feels like you’re choosing these funky foods to eat. It’s like the first mile of a marathon.
You think to yourself: Maybe this won’t be so bad. Maybe I won’t even notice a change. Maybe it’ll go by quickly. Maybe I’ll enjoy it.
Wrong.
Both for the marathon runner and for me.
It’s all denial.
My first vegan meal was Chipotle which is quite literally the epicenter of vegan denialism. Chipotle, the heavenly entity that it is, can make anything seem possible. And unfortunately, it fooled me into believing that veganism wasn’t going to be a major life change.
Denial.
For better or for worse, I survived my first day as a vegan. The next few days were somewhat exciting. I was trying Starbucks, Taco Bell, Mac, WOW, and Viva Maria’s as a vegan for the first time. I was telling myself that it wasn’t so bad. I was convincing myself that this was a fun choice and not self-imprisonment. I was denying the hardship while actively rowing that ship.
This lasted for about the first four days until something dramatic happened. If you’re a student at ONU, you understand the general dissatisfaction with Mac. If you’re not a student here, trust me, it sucks. I regret every single time I complained about Mac as a nonvegan. If I would have known the trials and tribulations of being subjected to the McIntosh dining hall as a vegan, I would have saved those complaints in order to complain even more about Mac as a vegan.
Genuinely, what the heck. That’s my only remark.
There was not one day of February that Mac failed to disappoint. Between the Everyday App being consistently wrong and failing to provide easily accessible nutritional labels, the lack of options and physical labeling throughout the dining hall, the plant based station serving the the worst foods known to man, and that one day they promised vegan chocolate cake on the app and just blatantly didn’t serve it, I’ve unfortunately witnessed it all.
Listen, I love all the employees at Mac. But Mac is NOT, and I cannot stress this enough, NOT suitable for a vegan diet.
Anyway, the happy-go-lucky denial I was experiencing was crushed up, spit out, stomped on, and thrown in the dumpster by the McIntosh dining hall.
On day 4, the plant based station in Mac was serving what appeared to be fake meat. I have a 4.0 GPA, and it amazes me that I fell for such an obvious trap. Despite knowing deep down that this was not a wise idea, I put the meat-looking substance on my plate and ate some of it. It was disgusting, but that wasn’t even the worst part.
About an hour later, in class, my stomach started to feel weird. I trudged on, but as I was trying to enjoy some study time with my friends in the Honors House, I started to feel seriously sick. I made the walk of shame from Affinity to the third floor of Roberts Hall doubled over in pain until finally collapsing on my dorm room floor.
I only messed up as a vegan two times, and here’s one of them: laying on the floor, I took like four Pepto-Bismol for my upset stomach, and the pain finally subsided.
Turns out, Pepto-Bismol isn’t vegan.
The dreamy denial stage came crashing to an end. I was angry at the world. Actually, I was just angry at Mac. A new stage of veganism was quickly approaching. Tune in to my next article to continue my veganism journey and hear about the second stage: anger.
If you want to watch my struggle in real time, follow @sunnygoesvegan on instagram. It won’t disappoint.
Editor’s Note: This article has been updated (5/7/2025) to correct the spelling of the word “dairy” in the fifth paragraph. The author apologizes, she has dyslexia 🙁
Most fake meat isn’t disgusting it actually tastes good. Not that you have to eat it when there are lots of healthier options available. Seems like another article with an agenda to discredit veganism
As someone who was vegetarian for two years, this is a refreshing perspective within this topic! While veganism is one of the most selfless decisions one can make, the difficulties of such a lifestyle change typically go unrecognized. The tolls it takes mentally and physically deserve mention. Thank you for being a voice to not only the animals, but to those of us who navigate the difficulties of seeking to be better.