Let me just start things off here- I am not a vegan that tries to push my views on others. What you eat is your business. My boyfriend is a carnivore in every sense. He loves his steak, his chicken, his grilled cheeses, his chocolate milk. I'm not here to try to change him. I get it, we've eaten the same way together for the past five years. However, we aren't kids anymore. I really want to be aware of the things we are putting into our bodies.

As a girl who loves to cook, bake, and host dinner parties, it can be a challenge to find the perfect dish everyone will enjoy. I've been trying to integrate more vegetable-based meals, and introduce my boyfriend to vegan options. However, that hasn't been the easiest thing in the world. I started off small. When we got to college, I would cook our meals daily. When I first decided that we needed to be more healthy, I tried to find vegetables that my man liked. For years, I tried to get my boyfriend to eat healthier. However, I discovered I just needed to cook it and not give him a choice.

"Just try it" quickly became my motto.

I started off small- spinach. It was a hit. Sautéed spinach quickly began to be my man's side of choice. Having pasta? Sauté some spinach and mix it in. Having chicken and rice? Top it off with some spinach.

I grew tired of spinach pretty quickly. I decided to try something new- buffalo cauliflower. It was another hit. Oven roasted, tossed in buffalo sauce. It became our daily afternoon snack.

Onto the next veggie- zucchini. I would bake my boyfriend's in breadcrumbs and cheese (this is still his favorite). I was 3 for 3.

Sweet potato mash was next on our list. Nope. He hated it. (its fine though, there's always more for me).

My man quickly became adjusted to being open to new foods. I'm thankful he at least tries the food before complaining. Being with a picky eater can be hard, but I'm glad he's become more open. We've discovered lots of healthy options that he'll actually eat. It makes my life a little more fun having to create new dishes with the same ingredients.

I've decided to become completely vegan, as well as avoid processed foods. I bake more, and have more snacks on hand to assist myself in being successful. This being said, lately I've been trying to (sneak) vegan desserts to my boyfriend. I don't tell him that they're vegan, because chances are won't give them a chance.

He called my bluff on my chocolate chip cookies.

"Hey babe, I think you're missing something in these".

"Oh I forgot to tell you, they're vegan and refined sugar-free."

Of course, with the mention of vegan he knew he hated them. He ate the rest, and appreciated that I baked him cookies. However, he politely mentioned that next time he wants the "normal" cookies- please.

The next week, he wanted to my helper in the kitchen. We were going to bake him "normal" cookies. We started- 3/4 cup of granulated sugar. I scooped 1/4 cup.

As I went to get the other 2 scoops, he goes "woah woah that's enough sugar babe". Oh baby, we aren't even getting started.

Again, 3/4 Cups of brown sugar. *scoop scoop scoop*

2 cups of butter.

He was convinced I wasn't reading the recipe right. Now we added the flour, vanilla, baking powder.

As they baked in the oven, I'm not gonna lie- my house smelled so good. However, after seeing the butter and amount of sugar that went into them, how could someone put that in their body?

Apparently, my boyfriend had no care. As he finished the entire batch, he got a tummy ache. He told me that even though they aren't "normal" cookies, he wants me to only bake vegan cookies from now on. After seeing everything that goes in his cookies, he realized why I was so adamant to feed him healthy goods.

I get it. No, vegan doesn't taste as good as the "real" things for some people. However, I do think it's absolutely worth it to avoid the fats and calories that accompany your food. Food should be used to fuel your body- not poison it. Before you put something into your body, think about what it is going to do to you. For us, it's been a slow process, but we are on the right track to building healthy lifestyles. Now I know, I just have to show him pounds of butter and sugar to get my point across.

I've been working to perfect my recipes though... He hasn't questioned my pancakes yet.