I had always been one to suffer after I ate. I loved greasy pizza, giant slices of cheesecake, cosmic brownies, Hot Pockets, mac and cheese, quesadillas and SO much more, but my body just did not. I was checked for Celiac Disease, had no food allergies, was not lactose intolerant and had unsuccessfully tried to go on a diet so many times that I lost count. I felt stuck and so frustrated—until veganism came into the picture. And the changes I’ve experienced have been incredible.
Vegan is a scary word for so many people, and to be quite honest, it had been for me too. It seemed silly, extreme and really hard to do. But I also had absolutely no knowledge on why people choose to do it and the unbelievable health benefits that go hand in hand with a plant-based diet. Then one day, my cousin came home from high-school after a speaker had come in to talk about the effects animal agriculture has on the environment and in her shock and rage, she sat me down and told me all about it.
I learned that animal agriculture, which is the raising of livestock for the production of animal products (the meat and dairy products we eat every day), is the NUMBER ONE cause of rainforest destruction, ocean dead zones, freshwater consumption, species extinction, and global warming.
I also learned that those products are not as healthy for us as we have been taught our entire lives, as the meat and dairy are loaded with cholesterol, hormones, fat and other things that can cause obesity and health problems.
That alone was enough to make me vow to change. If eating meat and dairy meant hurting the planet, animals, and making me feel sick, I was done. In January I decided to go 100% plant-based. Since then I have lost 17 pounds, gained a ton of energy and found a new appreciation for healthful food.
Living a vegan lifestyle is a very mindful and healing experience because once you achieve the ability to look past the meat-eating lifestyle we have all inherited and see that all life has value, and more importantly that we as human beings do not need to eat animals to get all of the essential vitamins and nutrients we need to survive, (even protein, because all protein originally comes from/is made by plants) I feel that you are more able to stay grounded and feel part of something greater. I do not believe that this planet or the animals on it are here to be exploited by us. I can now see that each living thing is a vital part of a great working machine and that in order for it to work successfully, we all need to work together and learn empathy.
Becoming vegan has not only put me in the healthiest physical state I have ever been in, I also feel better mentally and spiritually than I have in my whole life. It was not an easy task at first, but if you want it bad enough, you can absolutely make it happen. Becoming vegan has allowed my body and mind to heal, and now that I know how it feels and the insane health benefits of a plant-based diet, I will never quit. Now I just want to share this amazing feeling with everyone else and I can only hope that more people give it a chance.