There seems to be this new fad of becoming vegan, eating nothing containing any animal products, whether it be for bettering health, losing weight, or to stop/help with animal cruelty. I, myself have been a meat eater all of my life, however, there have been a few weeks where I’ve tried eating no meat, little meat, or only white meats. After 20 years of living I have chosen to try out the vegan lifestyle, but only temporarily. I’m going to try it out for two weeks and after those two weeks I will see how myself and my body react and then I will go on to decide if it’s going to be a more permanent thing or not. I don’t mean to offend any vegans or even vegetarians, I want the experience of becoming more conscious of what’s going in to my body and the challenge of avoiding all animal products, not just meat.
Why Vegan?
I’ve tried a lot of other lifestyles which include the previously mentioned vegetarianism, gluten free, dairy free and a few other little ones here and there. I think each one of these has taught me a lot with watching what I eat and making sure it fits those strict guidelines. For a while now I didn’t understand veganism and thought that people only went vegan to ‘stand up’ to animal cruelty and because they were just plain animal lovers and couldn’t stand the thought of eating them. After doing a lot of research, I have gained a lot of knowledge and respect for the people that have gone vegan and have stuck with it. I now know that there are a lot more health benefits when meat and animal products are cut out of a diet. For example, I didn’t realize how hard meat is on the body, I always thought that it was always super good for you because it’s full of protein, on top of all of the vitamins and minerals packed into it.
Why now?
I’ve chosen to try out veganism now because I not only want to better myself but I also want to challenge myself in improving what goes into my body. Now, going vegan doesn’t mean that I’m going to load up on tons of vegan sweets or frozen foods that are labeled vegan, it means that I am going eat more fresh foods that aren’t processed and learn to work with foods I’ve never cooked with or even ate. I read in one article about going vegan and how you shouldn’t try to recreate food or meals that contain meat to fit into vegan standards because most likely they won’t taste the same and it will become a plate of disappointment.
My challenge to you!
I’m not asking you to go vegan or even go vegetarian but I’m asking that you become more self-conscious on what foods you’re eating and if they are more beneficial or harmful to your body. Do this for two weeks and I promise you that you will feel more energetic, happy, focused, and overall a lot healthier, even if the number on the scale doesn’t change!
