AS THE LIVE lobsters hit the pot of boiling water head first, I know instinctively that I am the world’s worst vegan.

Well, vegan wannabe.

In seven days of trying to follow a vegan diet, I have been successful exactly three full days. The rest of the week has been pathetic, culminating in the lobster feast.

The crustaceans are the worst of it partly because they will also be dipped in melted butter, a dairy product. Following a vegan diet means eliminating all animal products and byproducts. So no milk in my coffee, no eggs for breakfast, no honey on my toast.

And definitely no dipping lobster claws in bowls of butter.

I want to eat better. I really do. And I love animals. Following a vegan diet would seem like a no-brainer.

But then I blow it the first morning after gulping down my berry smoothie that contains protein powder. I realize later that my protein powder is made with whey, a dairy byproduct.

Oops.

But for a person who thinks broccoli is exotic, what could I possibly eat?

That kind of thinking doesn’t help, explains Chantal Coolen, a Tantallon woman who has been a vegan for more than two years.

“I didn’t look at it ‘because I am vegan, what can’t I eat?’” says Coolen. “I thought, ‘I’m a vegan. Now what can I eat.’”

Coolen, 40, grew up in a household that followed the average meat-based North American diet. Before going vegan, she hadn’t even tasted things like kale, which is now one of her favourites. Even her two young children eat kale chips.

The vegan movement has gone mainstream with the help of celebrities such as Ellen DeGeneres and Alicia Silverstone. Famous athletes, too, have adopted its principles. Lance Armstrong eats vegan at breakfast and lunch, allowing himself whatever he wants at supper time.

And the world’s greatest ultra distance runner, Scott Jurek, has just written Eat and Run, about his transformation into a vegan, a diet he credits with helping him get to the top of a grueling sport.

Coolen adopted a vegan diet after being diagnosed with celiac, an allergy to gluten.

“When you can eat everything, you don’t really think about it. Suddenly I had to pay more attention,” says Coolen, who started reading books such as Eating Animals by Jonathan Safran Foer and Silverstone’s The Kind Diet.

The more she read, the more she discovered environmental and ethical aspects of a meat-based diet that disturbed her.

“I thought, ‘Oh my god, what am I doing?’” says Coolen. “I want my kids to grow up to live a long, healthy life.”

With her husband’s support, she cleaned out the kitchen and went vegan.

“There is such a stigma attached to the word vegan,” says Coolen. “(People think vegans are) granola and hippie-like. But now you get just the average person who is experimenting with their health.”

Of course, following a vegan diet does not guarantee health. Or even weight loss.

“You can be a really unhealthy vegan,” says Coolen, who points out there is plenty of processed and junk food that qualifies as vegan.

“Oreos are vegan for pete’s sake.”

Coolen, who studied nutrition, has a website, thekindcookie.com, sells her baked goods at the Halifax Seaport Farmer’s Market and is working on a vegan cookbook. She is passionate about eating a whole food, plant-based diet but not judgmental.

“I believe it’s the right thing to do,” she says. “But I am not a preacher. Each to his own.”

As for my little experiment with following a vegan diet, it has taught me a lot, mostly that I don’t think I could ever be a strict vegan. A part-time vegan, like Armstrong, for sure. That would be the best of both worlds.

Then I could have my lobster and dunk it, too.

(dwiles@herald.ca)

SO YOU WANT TO BE A VEGAN?

Here are resources to get you started:

1. Forks Over Knives: This 2011 documentary follows Lee Fulkerson who adopts a whole-food, planted-based diet for six months with impressive results. Forksoverknives.com
2. The Kind Diet: A 2009 book in which actress Alicia Silverstone shares her decision to adapt a vegan lifestyle. thekindlife.com
3. Eating Animals: Author
   Jonathan Safran Foer explores factory farming and the
   commercial fishery.
4. Eat & Run: By champion ultra-distance runner Scott Jurek. Scottjurek.com
5. Making the Connection: A 30-minute documentary about following a plant-based diet. vimeo.com/15849273
6. thekindcookie.com: Tantallon’s Chantal Coolen maintains a blog with recipes and mouth-watering pictures of her cookies and treats. Also links to her YouTube video recipe series.

VEGAN STRAWBERRY JAM

Craving a little something sweet on your vegan toast or biscuits? Chantal Coolen offers this recipe.

In a small bowl, combine the chia seeds and water. Let the mixture sit while you prepare the berries. Add the chia mixture and maple syrup to the mashed strawberries. Stir well.

Depending on the sweetness of your strawberries, you may want to add more maple syrup, so give it a little taste. Refrigerate for at least 30 minutes before using (overnight is best).

Will keep for one week refrigerated.