Going vegan was honestly the best decision I could have made for my health and my environment! I have been vegan for almost six months and was a vegetarian for three months prior. My reasoning for going vegetarian was simply because in the area I was studying abroad I simply did not like the meat there or the vast amount of it at each meal. Now the reason I went vegan is a topic for another article but simply put it was to improve my health and to do my part in bettering the planet.
Now what exactly does it mean to be completely vegan? Well it purely means to eat items that comes from plants, avoiding animal product completely. When a lot of people hear that they think, “Oh so that just means not meat, right?” and the answer is no. Animal product means anything food that use any form of the animal to create. This includes…
· Cheese (which is a big one for a lot of people)
· Butter
· Mayonnaise
· Egg
· Milk
Those are the staples but there are a lot of food items that fall into the grey area such as most desserts, candy, all dairy yogurt and ice cream, some chips, salad dressing and the list goes on. Let’s just say I’ve gotten quite familiar with reading the ingredient list of all my groceries. Although there are a lot of restrictions there are still an endless amount of options and food variety to choose from.
Let’s talk about the benefits!
Since I became vegan, I’ve never felt so energized even after I had a large meal. If you don’t know what the itis it the drowsy sleepy feeling isyou get after eating a large meal. I’ve noticed personally that consume more vitamins, minerals, phytochemicals, and fiber then I ever had before. I’ve also noticed that increasing my intake of vegetables has made my skin healthier, shiny and much clearer. It also led to me losing weight due to the decrease in fatty meats and cheese. Becoming vegan has also made me feel a part of a community that has the same goal of being healthy and helping the environment. In the beginning it was hard, but I stayed true to the reason I became vegan which kept me motivated. I’ve never looked back and I can’t wait to see how I continue to benefit from this lifestyle change.