Hello Veg bloggers, I have to start out saying how excited I am to have found this VegTalk forum!
I am in much need of some friendly support as I am the only person I know who is meat or animal product free, it has been difficult to constantly be question and joked at, as well as having my personal beliefs brought up and dragged over too many dinner conversations. Ultimately I know in my heart as well as how great I feel that I AM making the best choice for myself the animals and as well as the world.
My hope for joining this VegTalk is to gain further understanding of how to handle myself day to day by getting inspiration, recipes and a bit more Veg know how from reading the helpful info of the daily life postings from all you other bloggers and to leave some helpful information to anyone on here looking for the same encouragement I am.
A little bit about myself… I have always been a super picky eater when it came to meat, it always had a funky bothersome vibe to it for me and I always had in the back of my mind why is this okay ? I would always get in trouble for picking the fat, tendons and grissle off of my meat and would be told there was “nothing wrong with it” I was always bothered by the answer I got when I asked the question of " why do we eat only some animals and have the others we don’t eat as pets?" and I would be told " because they just don’t taste as good" Hearing that as a little girl always weighed heavy on my mind but always even heavier on my heart. I have never been able to shake the horrid feeling that for so many people that is there sick and selfishly chosen reality. Growing up meal time was often difficult and challenging to say the least.
About 3 years ago I found it was really easy to start giving up meat,this was in part because it was difficult to count the calories (I was trying to take off a few extra pounds at the time) but I think this is when my change in heart really started to kick in,I realized that now being an adult I didn’t HAVE to eat meat at every meal anymore if I didn’t want too, So I started skipping it on occasion, I did this for about a year and found it refreshing to my diet, I started feeling better so I looked into it some more…
I am very happy and pleased with myself and the results to say that last February I decided to Vegetarian, a month or so later I decided to go vegan! it has been such an amazing change in my life!!! It has allowed me to learn so much about my health, weight,nutrition, good stewardship of all animals, taking unneeded stresses off the world we live in and so much more!
One of the most exciting things is with out having to work out or bother with counting calories I have dropped 30LBS! Just by giving up meat and animal products! I still get to stuff my face with lots of yummy food as well as some really great vegan treats! It was a bit hard to try and change the way I shopped and where I shopped for food at first but it has more than paid off for me, Even my husband (who still eats meat and everything else…) has noticeably lost weight as well from the few changes I have made.
Overall I do believe that going Vegan is with out doubt one of the best choices I have ever made. It is freeing in so many ways!
I would love to hear from anyone who has any advice for all things Vegan!
Lezleyann