Welcome to day two of my summary of my experiences on Marco Borges’ 22-Day Revolution. To find out why I started this vegan diet challenge, and to begin with day zero, click here!

(Click here to be taken to the Amazon page to purchase your own copy, through my affiliate link: The 22-Day Revolution: The plant-based programme that will transform your body, reset your habits, and change your life.)

In the interests of not turning yesterday’s post into a novel, I decided to save my discussion about the cost of this diet for today. Cost is always being bandied about as a major factor in rising obesity levels, as people claim that healthy food is unaffordable. Personally, I’d argue from a slightly different angle: that unhealthy food is just pretty cheap and easy. And, let’s be honest, if you’ve had a crappy day at a crappy job, a plate of chips is a much better treat than a salad. That’s just human nature!

Anyway, the first week’s shopping list is clearly laid out and gives you not only the perishable goods to purchase for those meals, but also the store cupboard items you will need for the majority of the three weeks. To be honest, I had quite a lot of these things already, but the things I did have (spices, brown rice) were cheap compared to the cost of the things I didn’t (coconut oil, maple syrup – mine’s run out!). So, all together, including a trip to Tesco and a speciality shopping trip to Holland and Barrett and Rice Up Wholefoods for things like brown rice flour and vegan chocolate, the first week cost £100. (And, looking over the recipes, I’m not even sure coconut oil and vegan chocolate are needed!)

Because of the snafu with the portion sizes, it’s difficult to say whether this really counts as food for one, two or more people. I’m going to make dinner for my husband and myself throughout the challenge, but I don’t blame him if he wants to eat something else. Many of the breakfasts are single servings, but some of the dinners are clearly for four. So, the cost per head for this is anywhere from around £30 to the full £100, depending on how many people you live with, how much you already have, and how many servings you get out of the recipes.

I am completely confident the second week will be cheaper, and I’ll be sure to report back about the costing for that nearer the time!

One thing I didn’t get was coconut aminos. I would have liked to have tried it, but I couldn’t get a bottle in time for yesterday’s dinner, which is what it was needed for, so I substituted for soy sauce. However, for the record, let it be known that soy sauce is not necessarily vegan. During the process, isinglass (fish gelatin) is sometimes used to purify the product. I’m sure there’s a combination of reasons including some added health benefits and lack of vegan status that means coconut aminos is better than soy sauce, but alas, I couldn’t locate any in time! Instead, I purchased some liquid aminos from Rice Up, and I’ll report back when I’ve used it.

Anyway, onto today’s meals! Breakfast was Lean Green Juice – kale, spinach, Granny Smith apples, a peeled lemon, dates and frozen banana. I’d argue this is not a juice, but rather a smoothie as it’s not strained – but I really enjoyed it anyway. It was sweet and zingy and very refreshing. I didn’t quite end up drinking it all; it did make a lot. The calorie count came to 370, and I took the recipe as one serving, because I only left about a fifth of it.

I was looking forward to the Spanish Beans over sweet potato – I made the full batch of beans but froze half of them, and only ate half of my monster sweet potato (which was over 400g in total). The beans were delicious – the addition of the balsamic vinegar at the end really lifted them. And, as seems to be typical, they’re livened up with the addition of avocado and tomato. The calories here were 561.

Finally, a delicious Artichoke, Tomato and Avocado Salad. This was a mix of canned artichoke hearts, Kalamata olives, tomatoes, avocado and lemon, with a dash of paprika. This was 294 calories, and the recipe served one. I loved this – the salty olives, juicy artichokes, creamy avocado and tart tomatoes were the perfect combination. This would be an awesome summer salad if you wanted a light but filling meal. Like the Spanish Beans on sweet potato, and yesterday’s raw walnut tacos, I would make and eat this again very happily. Total for the day was 1226, a much more realistic number for weight loss, although I hold my hands up to 100 calories of hemp milk and a sneaky soy macchiato at Starbucks!

So far I’ve had no problem with feeling hungry or unsatisfied on the diet, and I’ve not missed meat or dairy. In fact, I’ve had no cravings at all – but it’s early days yet!

A note about exercise – I’ve had an awful cold for about a week, and so today was the first time I’ve exercised since Monday. I did 45 minutes on my exercise bike, as the plan stipulates certain exercises every day. Unfortunately, I didn’t get any in yesterday, but I’m taking it easy and getting better is my main priority!

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