I have this terrible habit of taking up diets for short time periods to see how I feel about them. But, with my lack of willpower, I hate eating a set-in-stone diet, which makes me awful at dieting. For this reason, I always try to do diets that allow me to choose what I eat.

So, when I decided to spend a week eating only one-color foods each day, it wasn't surprising to my friends that my eating habits—once again—became weird. I mean, it couldn't be that hard, right? Oh, I was so wrong.

Day 1: Green

tea, ice, coffee, beer
Susanna Mostaghim

This one-color day started out surprisingly easy with an iced matcha latte from Virginia Tech's Turner Place (make your own at home: recipe here). But, boy was I wrong about it being easy as the day progressed. Once 2:30pm hit, I was hitting hella hangry status.

Ask anyone who knows me, I am pretty much the worst hangry person on the planet. If you get in my way, I will cut you and roast you on a spit. So when I had to wait 30 minutes in line for my Jamba Juice smoothie I was most definitely not a happy camper.

tea, avocado, spinach
Susanna Mostaghim

As I drank my smoothie, I looked at my friend and stated, "I know what sadness tastes like now." When I finally got home from campus all I wanted was meat. Protein cravings are very real. Unfortunately, green meat that won't kill me doesn't exist.

I felt like a rabbit. I don't know how vegans survive on our campus (despite our handy guide). Heartbroken, I snacked on some pistachios and seaweed while I cooked my dinner: sautéed spinach and some rice dyed green with food coloring to adhere to my rule. I feel like I cheated already.

I went to bed with a bleak outlook for the next day—and a still rumbling stomach.

Day 2: Pink

cream, ice, milk, strawberry, yogurt, sweet, berry
Susanna Mostaghim

I thought I chose this color carefully after my first one-color day experience left me exhausted and all sorts of miserable. There's little green that you can eat that can fill you up for a while. 

I mean, there is all the pink in the world you can eat and still get that protein fix. I could hear the salmon poke from the dining hall calling my name for lunch before I even ate breakfast: yogurt with raspberries. Thank god mixing them together made my yogurt pink.

However, once I got to my poke I was dismayed that I didn't remember it came with a lot of rice and green onions. It took a hell lot of willpower to not eat it all and break my one-color rule. But, I did it and only ate the salmon. 

rice, chicken, teriyaki, pork
Susanna Mostaghim

At the end of the day, I had way more options for protein and filling foods, but after chowing down on a piece of grilled salmon, I was done with fish for a few days. I couldn't do it anymore. At least my dessert of strawberries was healthy, sweet, and—most importantly—filling.

Day 3: Brown

coffee, tea, milk, beer, juice
Susanna Mostaghim

Okay, it's Saturday and the first Virginia Tech home football game is happening. I wanted to cry when I realized I had to eat one-color food today since Blacksburg's unofficial slogan is, "A drinking town with a football problem." We even had these shirts on Amazon at one point, guys.

I started off strong with a lot of homemade chocolate pancakes and some home-brewed beer. I think possibly the most awkward thing was asking for just the burger patty for lunch while watching the game at one of the bars, which I quickly laughed off and just ordered a beer after getting a weird look from the server.

A couple beers later, all I wanted was some wings. 

Unfortunately, that didn't happen, so I settled for some kind of chocolate Frappuccino while discussing pre-gaming downtown with my friends. There was a lot of chocolate today.

Luckily (can you sense the sarcasm?), I got to go home and cook some burger patties to well-done (can't believe I ruined perfectly good burgers). There's a reason I will ask anyone who wants me to cook beef well done, firmly, but politely to leave.

beef, steak, pork, meat, barbecue, pepper, tenderloin, meatloaf
Susanna Mostaghim

Trying to stay true to the brown theme, I drank coke and vodka all night. Never again. That's all I have to say about that. 

I'm not going to lie, I was pretty drunk at the end of the day and may have cheated by eating string cheese at 2:00 am (so it technically was on Day 4 time-wise) to help prevent a hangover on Sunday. It helped.

Day 4: White

tea
Susanna Mostaghim

Today started out okay, my hangover was mild. So, to ease my churning stomach I ate some yogurt. And some more yogurt. Okay, today was a lot of yogurt. And rice. That's pretty much all I ate today: yogurt and rice. But not together, even though it's an Iranian way to eat yogurt.

Day 5: Yellow

milk, cream, dairy product, pudding, sweet, yogurt, dairy, custard
Susanna Mostaghim

Today's one-color choice was all about cheese. I missed it, I craved it. So, I started my day off with scrambled eggs with cheese. At that moment, it was possibly the best thing I ate in the past four days.

After that, the fatty food craze began. I gorged myself on cheese. Gouda, cheddar, pepper jack. I ate so many cheeses. And probably increased my cholesterol ten-fold (worth it).

As I was close to campus, I picked up and ate two large bowls of mac and cheese, and it was delicious. As dinner got closer I didn't feel like I was getting hangry for once and munched on a block of gouda like it was an apple.

I went to bed full—for the first time this week—and with a disaster zone awaiting my stomach the next day. A cheese lover's worst predicament is being lactose intolerant.

Day 6: Purple

smoothie, strawberry, banana
Susanna Mostaghim

I had to cleanse my system after the day of cheese. And what better way to do that than to pick the one-color food that you can only really have in smoothies?

Jamba Juice became my best friend today once I got to campus. And I discovered just how many purple smoothies they have. Three. All of which are super high in sugar for me. I thought I was going to be sick from the amount of sugar I ingested.

Day 7: Orange

tea
Susanna Mostaghim

Alright, not gonna lie. This one-color day was adhered to completely by fate intervening. Because I was sick with a 24-hour cold, all I did was drink a gallon of orange juice and eat a couple mandarin oranges my roommate allowed me to pilfer from her stash.

So, how was my week of eating only one-color foods? Terrible. I would not suggest it to anyone. It was stressful trying to navigate a culture where almost every food you eat has at least two or three colors. I would never do it again.

However, I do have to admit: it was kind of my own fault. This could have been easier on me if I had just planned out my meals and my days. If you'd like a challenge, try eating just one-color foods for a week. Best of luck to you.