WHY I'M VEGAN, STILL

As doom and gloom as it sounds, if you look around at the world we live in, it’s going to the dumps. Sorry but I’m just a realist - if you don’t like that aspect of me I don’t really mind, you are entitled to your own opinion. The fact that we have devastated our Earth to such a point really pushes me to maintain my vegan lifestyle. Yes it is a lifestyle and not a diet. I don’t believe in diets and have never been on one but that’s another topic for another day.

Personally I am not someone to push my opinions onto others but I wanted an outlet to express these opinions of mine and perhaps change a few people’s perspectives (or simply educate) on the things that matter most to me - hence another reason for starting this blog. Firstly I want to start with a true story - a story of how becoming vegan has been the best thing I have done for my health in my lifetime and this story is no bullshit, I didn’t get paid to talk about how darn good fruit and vege’s are (unfortunately).  

For the majority of my life my Dad was a vegetarian and I can still remember always thinking it was nothing out of the ordinary, if anything it showed me truly how loving and caring my dad was. I always thought how bizarre it was that people would even make comment on it, why was it such a drama? Just give him the god damn vegetables that are in the salad bowl right over there and shut up. From a child I had severe eczema over my body, I tried many steroid creams and treatments from the doctors but nothing seemed to work - and if it did, the effectiveness slowly wore after building immunity to pharmaceuticals. During my teenage years I began to develop ruthless acne (I also had braces & red hair - 100% not the combo you want through high school) and had very irregular "time of the month"'s. I also started to develop a chronic mystery stomach problem. My tummy would bloat to the size of a woman in her third trimester and I would experience the most excruciating pain comparable to someone stabbing me from the inside-out, stuck in fetal position. I once was in so much pain my Dad had to carry me and yes I was an adult (embarrassing). After years of medical tests, many hospital trips, doctors giving me dumb prescriptions and pretty much getting no helpful information my partner encouraged me to go vegan with him, not initially for my health but because we both felt so strongly for the environment and animals. I am so grateful and thankful that he introduced me to this new lifestyle - my stomach issues almost immediately went away. I can now say proudly that after eliminating animal products from my diet, I have significantly improved my overall health and never get eczema or any stomach issues. The only stomach problems I have now are overeating hahaha!

 On top of my overall health and mood being significantly improved since my lifestyle change, I feel much happier morally knowing that I am not consuming beautiful, innocent animals. In this world we have sadly come to devalue and exploit the lives of animals. Imagine if they harvested us the way we do them - just saying... I also strongly believe that if you could not kill an animal with your own hands, you shouldn’t be allowed to eat them.
Another contributing factor to my veganism is that I am also highly empathetic (especially if it’s anything to do with animals) so the thought of ever changing my lifestyle to include animal products would just be hypocritical and cold hearted. Cows actually cry and kiss - look it up.

Jumping back just quickly to the fact that we have screwed up our planet, living a vegan lifestyle is the most sustainable for the environment. On the whole a plant-based diet requires only one third of the land needed to support a meat and dairy diet. I find the content on The Vegan Society to be very informative and if you are looking to improve your health and lifestyle the right way, their site is packed with fantastic info to help you do it the right way! Also just use your initiative, before you criticize someone for their life choices, jump onto google do your research - obviously there is a giant movement for veganism for a reason. Plus - you probably don’t even know you’re already eating a lot of vegan foods, those damn delicious original Oreo’s   are vegan so you obviously don’t have to live on leaves.

So basically the 3 major contributing factors to my lifestyle choice are:

1.       The Animals

2.       My Health

3.       My  Environment

Grow your mind, explore other ways of life and be open to others opinions before scrutinizing them. Stop being so self-absorbed and respect the planet you live on.
PS. Yes you can get protein from fruits and vegetables. *Hemp protein is also one of the healthiest and nourishing vegan proteins on the planet & the taste is so mild it’s perfecto in your smoothie’s or bowls!

#friendsnotfood

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