Opening Thoughts

It all began back in college when I thought I was lactose intolerant. It got worse after college, so I completely cut out dairy from my diet. I then started feeling physically sick every time I ate scrambled eggs, burgers, and chicken nuggets. My body was telling me "no!" ...so my search began...

My mom and I would have phone conversations about what we eat and how it affects us. She would send me recipes (I have made most of them). She really made me think about what I was eating and how it made me feel. I felt sluggish, lazy, tired, and unhappy because of my diet. I ate mostly processed foods, pre-made pizzas, burgers, chicken sandwiches, fast food, and etc. I bought this terrible diet book that basically takes carbs completely out of your diet. I followed it for a week and then found out how dangerous it was to a person with hypoglycemia. ..yeah..I didn't think about that one. I threw the book away and continued my journey. Every diet book seemed to say the same things and I realized I didn't want a terrible diet regimen to stick to. I wanted something that would define me positively. For example, if I had to tell someone I was on a diet, I wanted them to understand what I could and could not eat.

My friend's Brianna and Sean went vegan a little over a year ago. I was excited to bake and cook things for them. It was always fun cooking/baking/eating new recipes (I mostly baked and ate new recipes..I hated to cook). A couple of conversations we had made me start thinking about WHY I was eating these foods that made me feel so horrible. I think I asked one too many questions because I was legitimately curious. The main thing that stood out to me was that Americans overuse their resources.

I decided to add meat to the list of items I shouldn't eat too often. However, I was still eating tuna, chicken, and the occasional beef. I thought I could make at least a small difference if I had one vegan meal per week. Once I was actively baking and cooking vegan once or twice a week, a whole new world opened up for me (and cue "A Whole New World" sung by Jasmine...just kidding).

I attended a lecture recently by Dr. Melanie Joy. She presented an argument about the psychology behind what we eat. If you'd like to learn more, search her name on Youtube.com and you'll find exactly what she spoke about at the lecture. "Carnism: why we love dogs, eat pigs, and wear cows." I know that a few things she's passionate about are a bit radical, but Kevin and I walked out of there saying, "I will never eat meat again." We never thought about why we pet our cat while eating a pig.
She did present a couple of disturbing images and a video, but we have seen Food Inc. and heard about the mistreatment of animals. We know to eat less corn products, reduce our dairy and meat intake, and take our multivitamins every morning. However, it never greatly affected our food choices until now. We still ate meat whether animals were mistreated or not. We just ate less.

Soon after this lecture, I did some intense research about vegans, vegetarians, and the effects of eating meat. I found numerous websites dictating how the government has control over animal products. They send FBI agents in to vegan potlucks, animal rights associations, and etc to label them as "terrorists." I also found out that these "terrorists" are at the top of the FBI's list. They are the number one most-wanted terrorist in the USA....... what?! What about the people who bomb abortion clinics...or fly a plane in to a tower killing people??? Did you know there are no records of any protesters or vegans killing another person?! http://www.greenisthenewred.com/blog/

I recently watched a documentary called Forks Over Knives, which is about the health reasons to eat a whole foods plants-based diet. It follows two doctors who researched this diet and the effects of eating animal products. They found that every degenerative disease we have can be reversed or prevented. They argue that there is no reason why anyone should have heart disease, diabetes, obesity, and etc. You can watch it free on Hulu or Netflix... http://www.hulu.com/watch/279734/forks-over-knives?src=sem-plus-google&cmp=205&gclid=CPfB8Lfa268CFeNeTAodPFC5_g

I have now chosen to eat vegan. My main reason is because it is healthy. However, if you must know, I have also added the following reasons to my list:
-I do not want to get cancer (my mom and brother both had cancer)
-I do not want diabetes or heart disease (my grandfather and uncle both had these diseases)
-The majority of animals in America are bred to be abused and mistreated (because we eat and use too many animal products) http://bit.ly/ntq0Ul
-Even free range animals are treated inhumanely. http://www.cok.net/lit/freerange.php
-We are not designed to eat meat. http://www.tierversuchsgegner.org/wiki/index.php?title=Taxonomy
-The people working on farms are treated poorly. Even the undercover agents. http://www.greenisthenewred.com/blog/interview-undercover-investigator-ag-gag-factory-farms/5848/ AND... http://www.sustainabletable.org/issues/workers/
-It's fun cooking/baking vegan! http://www.theppk.com/

I have successfully been eating vegan for a week. Aside from the detoxing (I felt dizzy earlier this week), I have more energy and feel slightly happier. I rode my bike alone today to Whole Foods... that's kind of a big deal for me especially since I have been struggling with anxiety attacks and a lack of energy. I have had a gym membership since September or October of 2011 and have only been about five times (it's almost May 1st).

I am really excited about this new journey. I hope you are excited to learn.
Anyway...Check out the links and documentaries! Enjoy. :)