Most people who know me personally know one very prominent fact about me: I am an incredibly picky eater. As a result of being a picky eater, going out to eat pretty much anywhere can be a hassle. I honestly feel really bad when I go over to someone's house and I don't like most of or all of what they have made for dinner. I constantly wish that I wasn't a picky eater and that I could easily eat what ever I wanted without feeling bad and actually liking it.
Recently, I stumbled upon a YouTube channel about a girl who is a raw vegan, a vegan diet but eating foods raw and not cooking them. Her whole thing behind becoming vegan is that it made her feel so much better physically and even spiritually. Over the past year I have felt distracted, fatigued, and kind of in a slump. However, I didn't know of any ways to help so I ignored it and kept going through my day. But I don't want to just deal with it anymore, I want to do something to change how I have been feeling and take control over this part of my life.
The idea of being vegan or vegetarian has interested me a lot recently, ever since one of my best friends became vegetarian. The main thing that has always held me back, though, is the fact that I am already a picky eater and if I became vegetarian or vegan that would drastically decrease the foods that I can eat. However, as I continued to watch this girl's videos I became more and more inspired to at least give it a try.
So, here it goes! I am not going to try to commit to a full week of being vegan or anything super intense. Instead I am going to just take it one day at a time. Often when I have some sort of set scheduled goal I forget one of the days or get off track and then become discouraged about continuing on.
Some things that I think will be a challenge throughout this are:
- Finding foods that are vegan and that I like
- Being able to afford these foods (especially if this were to continue into going back to college)
- Eating out
- Family/Friends support
I am going to start by taking meat and dairy out of my diet, once I have done that I will continue on by getting rid of other various animal by products. In this blog post I will share how I feel physically and mentally throughout this process.
Here goes nothing!
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I ended up not going fully vegan, instead I became a vegetarian and dairy-free. It has now been 5 months since I made the decision to stop eating meat and to cut dairy out of my diet. It has been surprisingly easy to not eat meat and I have been able to find a lot of meat alternatives at the grocery store. The meat alternatives I have found haven't been very expensive and I didn't have to go to some fancy grocery store either. When I'm off at school I do all my grocery shopping at Walmart and they have a section for dairy-free products and meat-free products in both the refrigerated isles and the frozen food isles.
One of my favorite meat alternative that I have found at Walmart is Gardein's Crispy Tenders. These tenders are so unbelievably amazing! I always make sure to have at least one bag of these bad boys in my freezer at all times. Even some of my meat eating friends have tried them and thought they were super tasty!
Cutting dairy out of my diet has proved to be a lot more challenging. Although I have been able to find dairy substitutes at the grocery store as I have with meat, it is challenging to find substitutes for items that contain small amounts of dairy. One thing that has really been a struggle is finding granola bars, which are great snacks or quick on-the-go breakfasts, that do not contain dairy. Another challenge is baked goods. I have such a sweet tooth and thus love baked goods, such as, cookies, cake, etc. Most baked goods contain at least butter if not milk.
Like I said above, I have been vegetarian and dairy free for 5 months!?! Which is crazy to me! I honestly didn't think I would be able to do it. But I did, and still am. I also can't believe it has been 5 months already, feels like it has only been one or two months. It has been a pretty crazy journey so far and I am continually blown away by the support from my family, friends and my boyfriend.
Why I Decided To Not Eat Meat Anymore
I decided to stop eating meat for a few reasons. One of the main reasons was that there are many types of meat that I did not really like anyway. I am not a fan of beef or pork and rarely eat them as it is. SO continuing to not eat meat at all was not difficult in those areas. I occasionally ate turkey and chicken, but often found myself being grossed out by the textures of the meat (the fat on them, or chunks of cartilage, etc.). I have found it much more difficult to not eat chicken, as that was the type of meat I ate the most often. As a picky eater, one of my staple meals when going out to eat was always chicken tenders since most restaurants had chicken tenders of some sort.
Another main reason for not eating meat anymore is the animal rights argument. I have watched a fair share of food related documentaries and it breaks my heart watching how animals that are used to make meat products are treated. I don't really want to get into all of that on here because many of the details are incredibly graphic. But if you would like to learn more about this and see some of the videos I have watched I will list a few of them below:
- Choose Veg (Also an amazing website! www.chooseveg.com)
- Cowspiracy (Available on Netflix)
- Food Inc. (Available on Netflix)
- Live and Let Live (Available on Netflix)
- The Extremism of Veganism
- I also suggest watching the YouTube channel Pop Trigger's three part interview called Going Vegan.
- I also suggest watching the YouTube channel Pop Trigger's three part interview called Going Vegan.
*Warning, all or most of these videos contain very graphic content that is difficult to watch.
I have also been researching the topic of veganism recently and have learned a great deal about the environmental benefits of a plant based diet. It is truly incredible to see how much water is used to produce meat products compared to plant based products. Again, I am not going to go super into these topics but I will provide links to sites that have more information. Plus the videos listed above discuss this topic as well.
- Culinary Schools (infographics)
- Vegan
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Finally, it has now been nearly 6 months since I began this journey. I started off as vegetarian as well as dairy free and have now transitioned to a vegan diet. I decided to transition to a vegan diet as a result of continued research. I also felt like I was already half way there by not eating meat or dairy, so why not just cut out all animal by-products?
Being vegan for about a month now has not been as difficult as I thought it would be. However, it is tough being vegan when no one else you know is vegan. It can a little lonely. It is also tricky when it comes to going out to eat, whether with family or friends. I have realized that when I go out to eat at most restaurants I become that person who has a complicated order because there are a decent amount of things I do not eat. I have also learned recently that sometimes it is easier to eat before I met up with them at the restaurant and just order something to drink.
I think this post is long enough. I felt that since I had not posted anything in quite some time, I would share a fairly significant lifestyle change with you. I also would like to point out that the intent of this post is NOT to try to convince anyone to become vegan or vegetarian. It is simply to inform you of a recent change I have made in my life. I mean, if you were to make the decision to go vegan or vegetarian that would be great, but that is not the purpose of this post. Also I am planning to post more often. These next few months will be incredibly busy for me as I will be student teaching, so no promises, but I miss posting and want to get back into it. So hang with me.
Love Always,
xo Noelle
