veganism | The Wh0le Story

A quick disclaimer: This post is an opinion piece. I do not judge anyone for any food or diet choices he or she may make. You should do what’s right for you and your body, first and foremost. This post is based on my personal story and experiences, so feel free take it or leave it. But I do hope you take something away from my experience…

In this post, I briefly spoke about how veganism had been an ongoing battle for me throughout my life. While vegetarianism was the easiest choice I ever made (yes, even at the ripe old age of 11), I constantly struggled with maintaing a vegan lifestyle when it came to food choices. Looking back, I realize a lot of that had to do with how I viewed food and what it meant to me on an emotional level.

As emotional eaters tend to do, I wrapped a lot of feelings up in food. Because of this, it was hard to break these habits that were so deeply engrained in my everyday way of life:

Greasy cheese pizza when I had a bad day.

Chocolate ice cream when my hormones were out of whack.

A giant bag of chips while stressing out during a super long study session, etc.

I’m sure all of you seasoned vegans are thinking, “But there are vegan options for all of those choices!” And while I’m well-versed in the ways of vegan junk food, the emotional baggage just took over any reasoning to seek them out in moments of weakness.

But once I started to work through the root of my emotional eating (and please let me know if you’d like to hear more about this, because I’d love to share), one thing became incredibly clear: going back to a vegan diet seemed like the obvious choice and here’s why:

1. Cleaning up my diet means that I’m eating an abundance of the good stuff anyway: fresh produce, nuts, grains and legumes. I cut out cheese almost immediately but was still eating the occasional farmer’s market egg at the beginning of this journey. But as time went on, this started to feel more and more unnecessary as far as nutrition went. I much prefer to get my protein from plant-based sources now and haven’t looked back.

Vibrant colors, nutrients, deliciousness.

2. Because my connection with food is becoming more about nourishing my body as opposed to feeding crappy emotions, I find more peace when eating cruelty-free. As an avid animal lover, I felt a lot of guilt about my food choices on top of the guilt I felt for emotionally eating in the first place – something that no longer plays a role in my life. Even when I do indulge in moderation, I know that my choices are not directly harming other creatures. And you guys, I can’t tell you how great that feels.

In a pinch, I can whip up creations like this: a fajita salad on a bed of greens.

3. It’s so easy! Seriously. Even when I wasn’t entirely vegan, I made about 95% of my homemade meals without any animal products anyways – it was eating out and pre-packaged foods that made me crack. Now that I cook most of our meals at home, it’s not even an issue. And eating out? Well, it’s a blast. We love trying new vegan restaurants and products. I always go out of my way to do the extra research when going somewhere new. Most of the time I pick the options void of all of the vegan junk food products now available (faux meats, rich desserts, etc.) but do splurge on occasion. That being said, I almost always enjoy an enormous raw salad full of color and flavor more than that veggie burger with fake bacon and a ton of processed ingredients. It turns out Mother Nature knows what she’s doing, guys. Trust the lady.

Raw Chopper Salad from Native Foods

So there you have it: My little journey back to a vegan lifestyle after years and years of hemming and hawing. I hope that my tips served someone out there who is thinking about transitioning to a vegan diet. Eating this way not only has limitless options but it truly is a wonderful way to treat your body with the utmost respect and care.

Are you or have you ever been a vegan? If so, what challenges do you currently face or what obstacles have you overcome? I know that I still love the way a pizza place smells as I’m walking by, but that’s about as far as my mind goes these days. Plus, there’s always homemade pizza sprinkled with a little nutritional yeast and cashew cheese to keep me super happy! Mmm…cashew cheese.