This post comes to you from a dear friend of mine. Emily and I have been friends since January 2012, when we were placed in the same flat while studying abroad in Bath, England. I asked her to share her experience with becoming a vegan, changing her diet and finding a path to healthy living through food. Here's another "beyond" moment.
Let me begin by thanking Marie for starting this blog and inviting me to guest write. You motivate me to love my body, move it in new ways, and seek peace in life.
Earlier this summer, I decided to explore veganism for a month before moving to Houston, Texas. I can’t say exactly what inspired me to do this; perhaps it was an article, an impending life change, or just boredom with my diet. Either way, I decided that until mid-summer I would not ingest any food products derived from animals.
Veganism is difficult. It isn’t simply chic and straightforward like many believe -- it's so much more than that. The positives far outweighed the negatives, and I found it to be the full body and health reset that I was aching for.
Here are the key lessons I took away from my quick yet highly influential love affair with veganism:
- Dairy messes with my digestive system. Everyone will ingest and deal with this type of food differently, but overall, I believe that it is better to opt for whole, unprocessed dairies over those that are manufactured or over-portioned.
- Seek raw, fresh, and seasonal options. It is what we are built to digest and process as humans, and it’s better for our wallets! The fruit and vegetable section of the grocery store is far cheaper than the factory-produced snack isle. Bake some sweet potato chips and season them with sea salt or brown sugar!
- Invest in high-quality proteins. I believe that if you are going to be eating another living thing, it deserves respect in how it is raised, butchered, and sold.
- Ethnic food is our friend! Find authentic, family owned Indian, Thai, and Vietnamese restaurants and order plates that aren’t fried or Americanized. They are filled with the most wonderful vegetables and spices. As a bonus, many of the spices found in these types of food are desperately craved by our immune systems. Get at me, turmeric!
Veganism taught me to honor the ingredients we put in our body. I would urge everyone to take risks, try new things, and celebrate and nourish your body when it needs attention and love.
I am no longer on the vegan diet because, honestly, I love seafood and a good filet mignon once in a blue moon a bit too much. So instead of remaining vegan, I decided to maintain and honor a few of the habits I learned from being a vegan to improve my overall health and nutrition.
Now, I eat and cook with a larger variety of plants and grains, and they are a bigger portion of my diet. Meats are more of a supplement. And I feel healthier and more energetic that way.
Also, I used it as an opportunity to experiment with ingredients I had never heard of before. Like celery root? Watermelon radishes? Freekah? I'm in love with weird ingredients now.
Find some of the recipes I used by visiting The Vegan Dumpling, Nutrition Stripped, and a Chicago blogger who found vegan options at popular restaurants (The Chi City Vegan).
Emily is currently living in Houston, Texas and working in art business. She grew up in Chicago, IL and studied art history and history at Denison University in Granville, Ohio. She settled back in Chicago after graduation and recently moved to Texas for a new and exciting chapter in her life. She enjoys running, traveling, and spending time with her lovely and inspiring friends and family.