Today I am going to focus my post on why I decided to go the vegan lifestyle route. It's still a new lifestyle for me. I believe today is day 17. I have been playing around with so many different diet's in the past year. Now when I say diet I mean as in what I eat, not being on a diet. I don't actually believe anyone should be on diet. That is a temporary fix. You want something permanent then you need to be willing to make a diet change for good.
Back in the spring of 2011 I hit a plateau with my weight loss. Lots of people were telling me "Your not getting enough protein" and "Your eating to many carbs". I tried supplementing my diet with protein poweders, protein bars, protein puddings. I ate chicken until I thought I was going to grow wings and start clucking. I had almost stopped eating fruit all together because I was told the natural sugar in it was contributing to my weight gain. That's right folks. Weight GAIN. I was eating all this protein and I started to gain weight. Then I cut out a lot of my fruits and still kept gaining weight. Not only was I gaining weight, but my mental health was in the one of the darkest places it has been in a very long time. I was tired all the time. Felt like shit! Was in a bad mood pretty much every day and just over all pissed off at the world.
A friend of mine had decided to do this 30 day vegan challenge. He decided pretty early into the challenge that vegan was the way to go for him. Ever since he made that decision he has been dropping hints that I should try it also. He kept saying "You don't need all that protein". I kept ignoring him.
Then the week after Christmas I watched the movies Fat, Sick & Nearly Dead; Food Matters; Forks over Knives. After watching those 3 movies I decided why not give it a try for 7 days. See if I could actually give up animal products.
By the 2nd day I was already feeling the results of giving up animal products. I had this amazing energy. 3rd and 4th day I actually woke up before the alarm with an amazing amount of energy and feeling happy, ready for the day. BTW- I never wake up before the alarm. I am not a morning person at all and usually wake up very grouchy. The amazing amount of energy was not the only thing I noticed though. What really amazed me was how I felt mentally. It was like someone flipped a switch in my brain. I went from being sad, depressed and angry to happy, positive and patient. I had this mental clarity that I hadn't had in so long I almost forgot what it felt like. By day 4 I knew I would be continuing on the vegan path. If for no other reason then because I like being happy and having a positive outlook on life. I do truly believe that something in animal products makes me depressed and angry. There is no other answer. The only thing that changed was I went vegan and became happy. Go figure! The health benefits are just an additional plus for me.
I am the only one in my family that is vegan. My husband and daughters still eat animal products. I would love for them to make the switch also, but they have to make that decision for themselves. However I do not buy any junk food anymore. What is currently in the cabinet has been there since I made the switch. Now that our kitchen is stocked full of fruits my family on their own is choosing to eat fruit as a snack instead of the junk food. Eventually I will just toss it out as they continue to forget about it.
So there you have it. My reason for going vegan. Mental happiness.
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