Well, it’s that time of the year for me again. It’s that period when I become vegan for seven whole days. Now, I’ve been doing this thing for over a decade already. I started this out as a three day experiment just to see if I could actually not eat any kind of meat products for any period of time. It soon bloomed to a yearly thing when I would try to challenge myself to be creative.

This used to a country where everything seems to have some kind of meat in it, it can be hard to find satisfying meals while you are avoiding those things. That was before. Now, there are more people in the Philippines who are embracing the vegan lifestyle. Restaurants that didn’t have any vegan options started making one or two available. There are now even a few restaurants focusing on just seving vegan meals. So, in all honesty, the challenge just isn’t there anymore.

So, this year was different. This year, I really didn’t sweat my being vegan for an entire week because, along with an entire decades worth of experience of doing this, it felt almost natural. Besides it feeling much easier, though, there was something a little bit different this year. And that had to do with an injury I currently have.

Sometime last year, I blew out both my knees. The thing that really gets me is how stupid this happened: I tripped. I didn’t injure them by sprinting at a high speed or jumping down from a tall height. No, I simply tripped! I was carrying something with both hands and the sidewalk was uneven. One of my feet caught the edge of the concrete path and I stumbled forward. I immediately caught myself but I did feel both of my knees twist while landing. It didn’t really feel painful or anything that entire day so I carried on like nothing really happened.

I only felt the discomfort the next day when I would hear a crunching sound whenever I would straighten my legs. It wasn’t some soft popping sound. It was audible to the people next to me! So, I never really went to a doctor to have my knees checked out but both of my knees did heal up using the RICE method, which is an acronym for Rest, Ice, Compress and Elevate.

After around six weeks, my knees felt much better but there was still a slight crunching sound, making me look up what may be the problem. The most probable cause would be a lack of cartilage in my knees, probably because of that awkward landing I had. So, while I don’t think I will be completely healed now because I’m no spring chicken, there were some things I could do, such as some easy to perform leg exercises as well as some supplements which I could take to heal the cartilage.

One of those supplements is collagen. More specifically, Type-II collagen. This is supposedly the collagen that’s in your knees… which I may be lacking now. I have been taking this for my knees ever since. Unfortunately, it appears there are no vegan options when it comes to Type-II collagen! So, throughout my entire vegan week, I had been taking Type-II collagen supplement pills from Neocell. This is the only non-vegan exception I had throughout the week. Everything else was all plant based.

As I’m also exercising and lifting weights throughout the week, I didn’t want to lose any muscle mass. I may not be jacked or anything like that. But I still wanted to make sure whatever muscle I had were still well-fed! So, I also had to take another supplement in the form of protein powder. Thankfully, unlike with Type-II collagen, there are indeed vegan options when it comes to this. I got myself a tub of Orgain Organic Protein Powder, Chocolate Flavor.

Now, this is where I did make a slight mistake. While the label says each serving has 21 grams of protein, I should’ve looked closer at what constitutes a serving. The package says it takes two scoops to get that 21 grams of protein. I erroneously thought that it was only going to be a single scoop to get that and I could get two servings of that 21 grams. Then again, the container does specifically state that it contains roughly ten servings. So, I did have to ration this tub of Orgain Organic Protein Powder to three servings per day to make it fit for the entire week… barely.

Like with every other vegan day, I had to play out three meals for each day: breakfast, lunch and dinner. Breakfast was incredibly easy as I would rotate between corn flakes with soy milk and oatmeal prepared with soy milk. This is where I would also consume the two scoops of Orgain Organic Protein Powder as well. So, one meal out of the way.

For lunch, this is where I have to go to what I mentioned on how there are places here to get vegan meals. To kind of put that to the test, I ordered a bunch of meals from Plant-Based & More. I have ordered a couple of meals from Plant-Based & More during last year’s vegan week. This time, however, I bought five meals and they gave me a sixth meal for free. Each package would give me two servings.

I got myself their version of Pares (which is kind of like a beef stew), Sisig (which is a sizzling crispy fried pork thing), Korean Beef Stew, Beef Tapa (kind of a jerky), Chili Sans Carne (clever name) and Tofu and Mushroom Salpicao. I would say the best among the bunch was the Sisig but that’s mostly because Sisig is one of my most favorite things to eat. Still, I would say every thing I did get from Plant-Based & More were pretty good. This isn’t sponsored but, if you are thinking of trying out being a vegan, their stuff is a good place to start.

I did have to kind of add some bulk to my lunch meal as I was still rationing these meals, so to speak. To kind of fill this out, I had my standard vegan soup via Bob’s Red Mill’s Vegi Soup Mix with vegan bouillon cubes from Edward & Sons. This pairing has been a standard ever since I started my vegan week experience so this was nothing new to me. Just pop all of the ingredients in a crockpot and let it simmer for around four hour to get a really thick and filling vegi soup.

Remember when I mentioned there are vegan options available in most places in the Philippines nowadays? Well, I did put that to the test as I went out in the middle of the week to cool down from the country’s summer heat. I went to Power Plant Mall and I searched for vegan meals there. And I went to SaladStop as it was the easiest option. Although I could’ve gone to the trouble of concocting my own salad, I went with, oddly enough, the only vegan option they had at SaladStop: the Go Geisha. To be fair, the only thing that was making some of the options non-vegan was what dressing they were using. Still, I will say SaladStop’s Go Geisha salad was surprisingly filling and good.

The only time I really got to cook was for dinner. For that I did a bulk meal prep and what I did was a combination of something old and something new. For the old, I prepared a whole mound of Bob’s Red Mill Textured Vegetable Protein, hydrated it with some of the Edward & Sons vegetable bouillon, soy sauce and tomato sauce. So, my main protein source is done.

Next, I got myself some shitake mushrooms, sliced them up and saute them for a while with some spices. I then dissolved another vegan bouillon cube in a cup of hot water and added that to the mushrooms and I also mixed in the rehydrated Textured Vegetable Protein. Finally, I boiled some penne pasta and mixed that in as well as some of the pasta water to create… something. I dunno what it’s called but it’s essentially a mushroom and fake meat pasta dish. Unfortunately, I didn’t take a picture of it because, honestly, it didn’t look all that appetizing. Tasted good, though. I made enough for five days and, for the other two days, I had some of the Pares and the Beef Tapa from Plant-Based & More.

So, that was my entire week of being a vegan. As I’m extremely practiced with the process, this year didn’t really feel like a hassle. But what did amaze me is my knees felt great throughout the entire week! I mentioned how I injured my knees earlier and, while they are healed, there would be times when I could feel something wrong with them. That didn’t happen a single day during my week as a vegan. Now, I can’t really say if eating plant based foods cured them or it could just be a coincidence. But I’m not ready for a long-term study on this matter. For those interested in losing weight, take note that I lost two whole pounds during this single week. Not sure if some muscle was lost and not just fat. So, yeah. I do think I have to go back to a non-vegan diet. If the knee pain comes back, it’s nice to know that I may have found a cure? Maybe?

Have you tried being a vegan ever? What was your experience like? Let me know in the comments section below!