Easter has come and gone, and guess what that means? Lent is over! If you're Christian, or just love going cold turkey on things you dearly love, then you may have followed suit and given something up for the season of Lent. For 40 long days and nights, you went without something like: chocolate, social media, Netflix, caffeine, or maybe it was alcohol or cigarettes. It was torture, but at least you weren't walking through the desert without water being tempted by the devil (shout-out to my man J.C., glad you made it through).
What can be cool about Lent is that it can help you renew those New Year's resolutions that you tweeted about for the first three days of 2016 and then abandoned the second you returned to work or school. Or maybe you were that hipster during Lent and instead of giving up something, you gave in. Like reading the Bible more, or having quiet time without technology and other distractions for an hour every day. Maybe you joined the cool movement called "Atheism for Lent," in which you explored the texts of atheist theorists and actually grew in your faith. Whatever the case, Lent was cool, but thank God it's over.
For me, I gave up all food products made by animals. That's right *queue the dramatic music* I went vegan. But what's even more surprising is that it wasn't awful. Here are some things that happened when I started eating vegan:
1. I stopped eating out...all the time.
That's not as bad as it sounds. I ended up saving a bunch of money and even got to finish my groceries before they withered away in the fridge.
2. I started cooking...all the time.
There's nothing better than Pinterest-inspired vegan dinners and desserts.
3. I started feeling better about myself.
I had more energy and way better hair, maybe there's magic in my unsweetened almond milk or something, but my self-confidence was through the roof in February and March.
4. I found out my true limits.
I missed cheese. Oh Lord, how oh how I missed cheese so dearly. But guess what? Me missing cheese and meat and milk chocolate and everything that comes from beautiful animals--I could live without it. And if I can do, I promise you, you can too!
5. I appreciated food so much more.
After limiting what food could go into my body, I appreciated the work and seasonings and the pure love that goes into any type of food.
By experimenting with my diet in the name of Lent I was able to figure out how I want to diversify my meals even more, and I proved to myself that I don't need meat to survive. But hey, I still wouldn't turn down a good burger.
