This experience was different than I expected. I definitely expected this experience to be very difficult. I thought it would be tough to change my diet for a week and cut out all animal products. Even the first day, I was worried I wouldn't be able to eat a vegan diet for an entire week. After a few days, it became much easier. 

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I also highly expected to miss eating meat or certain foods. There wasn't honestly that many foods that I missed. I didn't miss eating meat very much and I don't typically drink or use milk very often anyways. However, I did miss cheese. A lot. The substitutes for cheese were the only vegan alternatives that I wasn't exactly a fan of, maybe if I had lower expectations they would have been better. 

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My parents were also surprised by the experience. They expected me to be hungry all the time and not get to eat food that tasted good. At first, they weren't that into trying new foods and recipes with me, but then they gave in. They also loved a lot of vegan alternatives. My younger sister and my parents thought it was wild how much the butter alternative tasted like actual butter. 

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I had to do quite a bit of research prior to starting this experience, but I was shocked at how interesting I found it. I loved reading stories, watching videos, and listening to podcasts from current vegans. I also found it so interesting to research the impact the animal agriculture industry has on our environment and how much transitioning to a vegan diet can impact our environment in a positive way.