My Vegan Journey

A lot of people have different reasons why they go vegan; from heath reasons to ethical reasons, there is always a story behind it. My vegan story is pretty basic.

I first wanted to go vegan because in my senior year of high school my teacher made the whole class watch the documentary Food Inc., and it broke my heart on how the food industry treated the animals and how filthy the environment actually was for those animals. The next day I decided not to eat meat whatsoever. That lasted about two weeks and then I gave into eating meat again. I did not do the proper research so I failed at my first attempt.

It wasn’t until I started college that I did the proper research on what veganism was. It was a diet that consisted of only plant-based foods, with no animal flesh or animal byproducts, including dairy, eggs, honey, or anything derived from an animal. I started my vegan journey slowly by first going fully vegetarian. I couldn’t just cut everything out all in one day; even though some people can and have done that, it just wasn’t in the cards for me. I had ate an omnivore diet my whole life, so it was going to take some getting used to.

First, I cut out cows milk (which wasn’t hard because I hated cow milk). I replaced the cows milk with almond milk. Then I took out cheese and replaced it with a vegan alternative (which took awhile to find a good brand). I replaced yogurt and ice cream with delicious vegan alternatives. Finally, I read every label to make sure there was no dairy, eggs, honey, or any other animal byproduct in anything I bought at the grocery store.

I was a vegetarian for almost seven months until I finally made the full switch to becoming vegan. It was the best decision I could ever have made. I feel good mentally and physically than I ever have in my life.

Now some may wonder how a vegan stays healthy and gets all the nutrients they need. Well, there are plenty of plant based proteins that are sustainable and more healthy then meat. Vegetables are high in all the vitamins and fiber we need. We do, however, have to take supplements for b12 and calcium. To me that is no big deal. I know I am eating a healthy diet and no animals were harmed to feed me or my family.

I do know that a vegan diet isn’t for everybody, but I know I am healthy on this diet and so is my family. My dad used to have high cholesterol and high blood pressure until he switched to an all plant-based diet and within three months of eating vegan he has normal cholesterol levels and a normal blood pressure status. My son and I both had digestive problems until we switched to a full plant-based diet. It only took four days for our digestive track to start running smoothly. My grandmother who has Rheumatoid arthritis would always suffer from inflammation in her hands and knees. When she made the switch to a vegan diet she had very minimal flare ups. She can walk better and grasp things better without being in so much pain. Veganism has a lot of benefits. If anybody is interested in a vegan diet, I would just say do the research on it first before attempting it. For me, become becoming vegan, wasn’t just a diet it’s a lifestyle change I wanted to make for the better. This is just my vegan journey story and how it has helped me and my family, not just physically, but mentally as well.