It has been nine days since I decided to become vegan. It has been mostly ups, a couple of mistakes, and plenty of hard conversations.
I decided Tuesday, July 11, 2017. I had just finished watching “The best speech ever” and follow up Q and A by Gary Yourofsky, when my little sister came into my room. I turned around on my exercise ball and looked at her.
Best Speech You will Ever Hear- Gary Y
Q+A Gary Y
“I think I need to go vegan.” I stated as she sat on the edge of my bed.
She looked at me, “Why?”
It had been a long time coming. I had casually thought of vegetarianism for years. Occasionally an animal cruelty video, a documentary, or a friend would have me reading up on it with mild interest.
In the fall semester of 2012, I took a Nu
trition class. For the first time I really saw my diet as the key to long term health, not just weight loss. For three months I cut out chips, candy, and chocolate. I made it through Christmas and new years. The beginning of 2013 was filled with confusion, fear, and sadness. I turned to my old snacking ways to try to find comfort. I became depressed. I had a hard time getting to class, let alone out for a walk. My diet took a hit and I was back to my old ways.
The following summer (2013) I became interested in making smoothies with veggies in them and trying to replace processed snacks with healthier options like dried dates. At the time I was following Freelee the Banana Girl on YouTube. She interested me with her weight loss story, tales of high energy, and the amount she ate. I was looking for that energy and love for life. Being around my family that summer was my biggest healer. Being outside and eating a little better probably helped too. Back at school in the fall I went back to my old snacking habits. The smoothie making did stick and smoothies were my favorite breakfast. Banana ice cream remained a favorite snack.
https://www.youtube.com/user/Freelea
The winter of 2014/15 I was reeling from a break up and met a new friend. We saw each other probably four days a week. He was and is a very generous, health conscious friend. He introduced me to spiralina, vegan protein powder, real maple syrup, amazing dark chocolate, dehydrated fruit, veggie sandwiches, and many documentaries. He also became a hiking buddy and I once again was spending more time in nature.
The summer of 2015 I began my Bruce trail journey. Hiking almost every day that first month made me feel more alive. I would get up in the morning and NEED to do something. I was itching to move, learn, and create. I also worked in an older couple`s vegetable garden that summer. It was through time with them that I heard more about seed companies and the commodification of life. I began to realise how GMO seed companies were pushing their monopoly onto farmers who couldn’t keep up or afford to fight a big company. Seeds that would not reproduce: something seemed very wrong about that. And of course with talks of economics and farming, talk of organics and the environmental impacts came up.
Winter rolled around again and I made a new friend. His part in this story actually did not occur until much more recently. About a year after meeting him, this friend had a new girlfriend; and she, was vegan. He too became vegan: at first for her and then, quite quickly, for himself. We had several conversations over the months about iron sources, nutrients in general, feelings of health, animal cruelty and of course environment impacts.
In the beginning of 2017 I went to a sustainable diet talk. The speaker was not promoting veganism but did show that increasing the amount of fruits and vegetables in your diet was a more realistic way of feeding everyone. The speaker touched on many things: buying locally (depending on practices used), growing your own food, field use, luxury of meat, the use of fertilizer to enable regrowth in previously dead land. I also began following Raw Alignment on YouTube. Because of her I did a one week cleanse where I only ate fruit and vegetables. My memory and energy hadn’t been great and I was hoping to improve it. I made up the challenge for myself. I honestly did not notice much change in myself.
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCzLQ_5hu5fuVSEHkMGEq7Vg
I then found Ellen Fisher’s vlogs. Her life inspired me. From there I found Mic. The Vegan. His channel was a treasure trove of information and reviews of research. On Mic’s recommendation I watched the documentary ‘What the Health’ and shared it on my Facebook page. On Ellen’s recommendation I watched ‘The Best Speech” and shared that as well. And that leads us back to the conversation with my sister and her simply question of “Why”
I looked at her, slightly apprehensive, still inspired and shocked by what I had watched, and tried my best to explain.
https://www.youtube.com/user/MangoIslandMamma1
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCGJq0eQZoFSwgcqgxIE9MHw
Part TwoI walked and chatted with my younger sister about the Gary video. Neither of us agreed with all he said and the conversation helped me develop more of my own ideas and solidify my resolve. My sister was positive and happy for me.
Eating has been surprisingly easy. On the first day I labelled the yogurt, feta cheese, and parmesan in my fridge as free for others to use. I didn`t see the point in throwing it out when my housemates will continue to buy it anyways. The cheese was a bit hard to give away but I reminded myself of Gary`s story of the bleating mother cow and that helped.
It’s summer time here in Canada which means lots of fresh fruit. I’ve been eating watermelon and cantaloupe for breakfast. I have vegan protein bars to fight my chocolate cravings. I also bought a bunch of seeds to snack on. Dinners have been homemade sushi (not well made), rice noodles with avocado and soy sauce (love!), potatoes with salsa, salad with avocado and salsa, and the like.
The next person I told was my boyfriend. I had been worried to tell him. He messaged something about pizza and I replied, “no more pizza for me, I`m vegan now“. He was not impressed. We talked about how it would affect our relationship: eating out, expectations for when I visited his house and for when he visited mine. I stayed positive. I do not believe my boyfriend needs to be vegan. We agreed to not push our dietary preferences on each other and to have a mutual respect. We talked about a possible future but decided that was a conversation for further down the line.
I did spend my first weekend of being vegan with my boyfriend and we ate out a lot. I discovered fries were a pretty safe bet anywhere we went and I`d ask for guacamole and salsa with them. I proudly ordered a veggie wrap without the cheese and sauce (switched for bruschetta mix) at one restaurant only to realize later that the wrap probably had milk in it. Thanks to YouTube advice I packed lots of snacks for the weekend: canned fruit, cherries, vegan cookies, vegan rye bread and my protein bars. My boyfriend was sweet and supportive: buying only vegan chips for snacks and eating dairy free peanut butter on rye bread with me. Despite doing well all weekend I missed my fresh fruit based diet and was glad when I returned home.
Of course this week I`ve been at my parents` house every day. My brother, sister in-law, and niece are visiting. I told everyone the news Monday night when my mom asked how many hotdogs everyone wanted. There were mixed reactions. My mom was worried and defensive. Most of them did not believe it was healthier or that the animal farm industry was that bad. I did agree with them that lots of farmers really do care for their livestock; give them lots of space to roam, let them socialize and have room to play and run, and keep them healthy. I explained that I could never imagine raising an animal and caring for it like that, only to kill and eat it. I explained that because I couldn`t do that, and I didn`t know the practices of the farmers I was buying from, I did not feel right eating by products of that industry. My family seemed to respect that answer. Having those conversations felt a bit like taking a test I had not studied for. I did not know all the research. I was going off facts in movies and YouTube videos. As we all know, unless you look at the actual research papers or have life experience, there will always be someone else with a counter YouTube video or documentary that you can`t defend against.
I`ve also learned that I might not technically be vegan. I eat a plant-based diet, a vegan diet. I do not encompass a vegan lifestyle when it comes to toothbrushes, clothes, shoes, etc. I have yet to investigate all of that.
For now I am proud of myself. The key so far has been, and will continue to be, surrounding myself with lots of yummy vegan snacks and inspirational videos.
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