Earlier this January, I made the decision to jump on the same bandwagon so many others have joined going into 2020. I went vegan.

I made this decision based on a lot of factors. First off, I have been dealing with health issues related to my diet for a while now. Secondly, over the last year, I've come across a lot of research detailing the environmental impact of consuming animal products. Documentaries such as "What The Health" and "Cowspiracy" opened my eyes to the damage done by animal agriculture. Lastly, I personally don't feel comfortable contributing to the mass killing of animals anymore.

My decision to change over to a vegan diet wasn't necessarily the easiest. I wanted to keep my health as my primary focus. This meant I'd have to be doing a lot of my own shopping and cooking. I now have to be mindful of everything I eat. I'm nearly three weeks into this change, and to say that I don't have everything figured out yet would be an understatement.

The hardest challenge I've had to face thus far is making sure I have enough food in the house so I won't be hungry. My little brother is vegan as well, and with two mouths to feed, we tend to go through our food a little faster than intended. In our case, meal preparation is becoming our best friend.

Taking a day or two out of the week to prepare food for the next three or four days has proven to be quite useful. With a new semester upon me, I'm interested to see how I can work this into my weekly schedule. I still have tons to learn in the worlds of veganism and meal prep, but this is half the fun in my eyes.

Going vegan hasn't magically changed my life out of nowhere. It's a process that's different for everyone, and I'm still experimenting to find what exactly works well for me. It's too soon for me to see any major benefits from this change. However, so far, this process has brought me mental clarity and a sense of balance in my life, and I'm excited to see what progress it brings me in the coming year.