<p>I used to eat a 100% vegan diet for a little more than 4 years prior to attending college...since then my diet has gone downhill, I've gained more than 27 lbs, and I feel like <strong><em>--exhausted, irritable, moody, and every inch of my body HURTS like hell! My athletic endurance (I used to be a hardcore runner and swimmer) has been depleted, despite the fact that I'm binging on more than 4000 calories (AT LEAST, nowadays) every day. Plus the *</em></strong> I eat is EXACTLY that, pure ***.</p>
<p>For those of you in college who are raw foodists, vegetarian, vegan, on a diet, or even just have gluten or dairy intolerances, how do you go through life refusing the social pressures of college eating?</p>
<p>I just want to offer strong support for your efforts and empathy for the difficulty of your situation. My DH is a vegan who travels for his job about 50% of the time and is also a dedicated rower. It is very difficult. His philosophy is that you have to separate the food from the social. Eat on your own before everyone else or settle for pasta with marinara 'cuz you can get it about everywhere. Pizza without cheese is pretty readily available too. Keep canned beans on hand and invest in a small rice cooker. Certainly being in an urban area would help too–then you’re not the only vegan around.</p>
<p>Vegetarianism and veganism is really common at my school, like REALLY common. My residence halls “theme” is actually vegan so there is at least one vegetarian and one vegan dish served at every meal. Usually there’s actually several.</p>
<p>Its annoying to be the odd man (or lady) out. If I do go out with friends I make sure to ask them about going some where vegan friendly. People tell me that it must be so hard being a vegan. I rarely ever find that to be the case. Non-vegan chocolate cake, meat, cheese, etc. no longer are food to me. They’re just things, no different than a desk or a pillow, but certainly not foods. When out to eat I’m never tempted to eat things not within my diet because I don’t say to myself “You shouldn’t eat that” its “You CAN’T eat that.” Shouldn’t leaves room for swaying my opinion, can’t does not. I used to be overweight and this is how I taught myself to resist indulgences. I used it when going vegan, and now I never have any type of craving problem. :P</p>
<p>Good tasting food also helps, I love having my own kitchen off campus to cook in. The dining hall was an annoying ordeal.</p>
<p>@ParadoxUnknown Your experience is completely the placebo effect. The foods you eat that are “pure ****” are extremely high in energy. Eating well, for you, has benefits other than what the diet can give alone, e.g., believing you are healthier and feeling better about yourself as a consequence, acting in more accordance with your morals, and feeling successful at accomplishing your goal of a healthier lifestyle.</p>
<p>For me, since I didn’t put enough effort into my vegan diet, I was very nutritionally deprived. (I did more research and discovery of things I had to avoid than alternatives to replace them.) I also met a few other vegans, exactly like myself, who looked pale and sickly, but who assured everyone that they felt great because of their diet. Compared to the average American, they were completely lethargic.</p>
<p>Where do you go to school? Are there any health food stores around? At my son’s school there are lots of vegans. Many of the restaurants in town cater to the vegan population. The dining does as well. Most schools have vegan and vegetarian options. Look into what resources you have around you.</p>