In the past month, I've begun to move my diet towards a more healthy vegan diet after reading the books, The Food Revolution and Skinny Bitch. This has been years in the making. As a graduate with a bachelor's degree in Environmental Science, I've known the consequences of the Western Diet on the landscape. And I've always been sensitive to the idea of an animal dying just so I could enjoy a chicken nugget or scrammbled egg. But I'd never really been taught how unhealthy eatting meats and dairy products were for my body. These two books were wake up calls for me. I know that it was entirely possible to live a life without consuming animal products, so why was it so necessary for me to keep consuming it. Was eatting a burger so necessary to my life that I was ok with some cow being killed over it? Was I ok with that cow being killed so I could eat a burger that actually was dangerous to my health?
There was a section of Food Revolution that talked about how intelligent mother cows were. That when their calves are sold to veal farms, the mother cow will actually try to escape and locate her calf. And there have been recorded incidents of farmers finding the mother cow and calf back together, even if the mother cow had to venture miles away from the farm she was on. None of this sat well with me.
Or that gallons and gallons of water and tons and tons of feedstock goes toward raising 1 cow...wheras, if we were to eat a vegan diet...those resources could go towards supplying the many more people with way more vegetables, grains, fruits and water. Countries are destroying their lands so that they can sell their meat to the United States. This did not sit well with me either. Not to mentions all the unnatural things we pump into our "meat"...the hormones, the antibiotics, the steriods...just so that the animals are able to stay alive long enough for us to kill it. I was eating meat that had been an animal that was deeply suffering from the conditions I had allowed it to be put in.
I thought about this deeply and tried not to allow by stuborness to make any decisions for me. I asked myself, "why is it so important to me to eat meat?" and "why am I hesitating to do this?". I realized it was because I had associated so much happiness with eatting a burger, chicken nuggets, ice cream, omlettes, cheese etc. Chris and my friday nights had been centered around going to a restaurant and gourging ourselves with some form of animal product. That food wasn't just food to help me survive, it was what I thought I needed to be happy. This revelation tore at me. It all seemed like such a horrible addiction. Here I was as a person, going out, delighting in my hamburger and fries and cheesecake to follow, and then feeling heavy, nasty and lazy. It made me want to sit on the couch and do nothing. Then the next day, I would go for a run to burn off the unhealthy food I had just eatten. I allowed an animal to be killed and in the ended, didn't even want it in my body. Heartbreaking.
So I changed my diet, and it has been the greatest acheivement in my life.
Chris and I barelly ever go out to eat anymore as a result of how unhealthy all the food is. Chris was getting heartburn and I was feeling sick to my stomach after we would eat something from a restaurant. It wasn't worth it anymore. How many times do you have to do something unheathly, make excuses, and do it again? As humans, it common to make a mistake, learn from it, and not do it again....but this was a mistake we were constantly making over and over again.
This new diet has been a gift.
I think that I have become obsessed with baking/cooking. I grew up with a template in my head of how food was prepared. I followed recipes to a T. I never thought about what each ingredient adds or if you could substitute ingredients. But when you chose to go vegan...if you want to eat similiar meals you were eating before, you have to substitute them.
I'm learning so much about food. My cookbook is filling up with so many amazing recipes. Last weekend, Chris and I discovered that we could make pancakes without milk and eggs....and they were actually 100x better! Chris even pulled a leftover one out of the fridge, took a bite and said, "OMG this is amazing!". Now think about it. Have you ever eatten a refridgerated pancake the next morning without warming it up? It's dry and nasty with no flavor. This pancake was amazing! And when we were making the pancakes, I said to Chris, "Hey! We should make our own strawberry syrup!" Before I changed my diet, I would have never thought to just make something from scratch, but here I was making my own syrup and it was easy and tasted INCREDIBLE!
Before, I had gotten myself caught up in the flow of things. How could you possibly bake something without and egg or milk? How could I eat this without cheese? Guess what, I can! I enjoy food more now than I ever did. Every meal is a science experiment. I think to myself, what would be good in this meal? What can I add next time to make it better?
And I've lost weight and have more energy. BONUS. Although, to be fair, I've changed multiple things in my diet. I sub white flour, sugar, rice for brown when I can. I only drink coffee now when Chris and I go to a coffee shop to read (I've discovered English tea with almond milk and moroccan mint tea make me feel lighter and my mood has perked up more) and if I can make something from scratch instead of buying it processed...I'll take the time to make it from scratch (hummus, beans, bread, etc). I also got rid of my phenylalanine /aspartame gum and switched to mint life savors...which I actually think are yummier anyway! And lastly, I check labels for high-fructose corn syrup and make sure to a avoid them....probably the leading cause of obesity in the US :)
I know I still am doing things that may not be the best for my health, but as I learn, I learn to remove things that aren't any good. Because I don't want to be someone that makes food my friend. Giving up a food should not be the end of the world when we live in a world that has a ridiculous amount of other foods to chose from. Awww can't have your gum anymore Gwen?!?! COME ON! haha. If you start talking about giving up your limbs or friends and family...that's one things, but being subborn about giving up a food should make you stop and think about what you're doing.
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