If you follow me on social media, you already know that I went vegan about 3 weeks ago. My initial goal was to avoid all animal products for one week and see how I felt after the change. I decided to extend it from week to week because my body felt really good!
I have gone meatless before but I’ve never completely cut out animal products. And boy, did I learn a thing or two about myself and food throughout this process. Here are 7 of them.
1. I have a lot of self control
It’s incredible how I’ve been able to stick to this diet. I’ve had many opportunities to fail and came across a lot of temptations. I’ve had to turn down food at BBQs, events and celebrations. I even attended Rib Fest without eating a single thing! And it was all for the best, believe me.
2. Being vegan could potentially destroy my social life.
I love to eat and eating out with friends! It’s one of my favorite activities. I make it my business to either host brunch or go to brunch at least once a week. On my new vegan diet, I’ve found it challenging to find delicious brunch options all the while taking my meat eating friends into consideration when selecting a restaurant. And let’s face it, brunch is all about the eggs!! I’m still navigating this bunching-while-vegan world so if you have any suggestions please share them with me on Twitter.
3. My hormones are jealous.
I’ve mentioned this before but it’s important for me to say it again, here. I have hormonal acne and although, a doctor has never told me to stop eating animal products, I’ve noticed that the more I eat out the worst my acne becomes. I believe that this is caused by the hormones in the meats and in the dairy products I consume when patron restaurants. Since I’ve started down this vegan path, the number of breakouts on my face has significantly diminished! So in my case, it’s fair to say that animal products introduce additional hormones into my body that don’t play nice with the hormones I already have!
4. Watching food documentaries is easier when you’re vegan!
Can I be honest? I delayed watching ‘What the Health’ because I didn’t want to go through the wide range of emotions I usually go through whenever I watch food documentaries. It usually starts with astonishment, then disgust, then guilt, then rightful indignation, then anger and culminates in despair. Since I was already eating a vegan diet when I finally decided to watch it, I was able to avoid the guilt and the despair. In fact having already proven to myself that eating a vegan diet was possible, the feeling of despair was replaced by empowerment and strength. As for the guilt, I had nothing to feel guilty about, on the contrary I was able to nod in agreement with most of what was said in the documentary. And the anger, although it was still there, it was a righteous anger. One that reinforced my decision and motivated me to share this lifestyle with my loved ones some who suffer from several of the ailments mentioned in the movie. It gave me hope that perhaps they could be cured by changing their diets.
5. I love food but I love me more.
My love affair with food started at a very young age. I can still remember eating everything from spaghetti, lasagna, fried chicken, rice to steak and the list goes on. Growing up with 3 older brothers, overeating was the norm for me. My eyes were conditioned to be bigger than my stomach. So I ate and ate until my stomach would grow round and hard. Thankfully, I was very athletic and was blessed with a high metabolism so weight was never an issue.
Needless to say that the thought of never having another juicy burger with cheese and bacon, thank you very much, was unfathomable for me. But then again, was the momentary satisfaction worth being plagued with never ending cystic breakouts, high cholesterol and the other illnesses to come? I had to ask myself that question. And so far the answer has been: no!
If you’re reading this, thinking to yourself: “I’ll go vegan after my birthday or after Thanksgiving or after the holidays, etc. I am here to let you know that sadly going vegan is never convenient. There will always be celebrations, dinners and work functions with very little to no vegan options on the menu! My remedy to this has been to eat prior to attending any event where I knew the temptation and struggle would be real!
When I decided to eat a vegan diet, I thought I would stop eating animal flesh, eggs and the usual dairy suspects such as milk, cheese, yogurt and ice cream. Not so fast, darling! As I began to read labels, I was shocked to find out how many processed foods were made with animal products. For example, foods I never thought would be made with milk such as cereal and chips were. “Chips contains milk?!?! What?!?” I know! That’s what I said! This is obviously making this journey more difficult than I’d originally anticipated.
