Hi Friends,
Holy smokes it’s been a minute. I have absolutely no excuses either! Just been crazy being at home with all these family and friends that want to see us!! We’re not used to it. Not to mention, my sister is getting married in just over a month! CRAZY!!!
I wanted to talk for a minute about my transition to veganism. I completed the transition on May 1st… so just over two months ago and it was so much easier than I expected.
Here’s kind of how it went down…
4 1/2 years ago when I was working at Vega, Greg and I did a challenge with some of the people there. Some people did a vegan challenge, Greg and I did vegetarian (eat totally vegetarian for a month). We did it for 4 weeks, and decided to continue until our trip to Mexico in the coming weeks. Once we got to Mexico, I was starving so I had tacos – allll kinds. Pork, chicken, beef… etc. I felt SO SICK. So so so sick. And that was it for me. I decided I wasn’t going to have meat anymore. I did still continue to have fish though, up until this past May.
About 4 years ago I did a food sensitivity test because I have having digestive upset. It revealed that I was sensitive to gluten (not celiac though, which is good!). So I cut gluten out, with the exception of the odd beer with my hubby. About a year later, I retested to see where my levels were at. I had a feeling they were still not great, because I was still having some digestive upset and eczema flair ups. This time, the test revealed that I still had my sensitivity to gluten… but I was now showing a reaction to about 75% of the foods on the test. What the heck?
The nutritionist explained that I had what was called leaky gut. With leaky gut, things like toxins, microbes, undigested food particles, and more can escape from your intestines and travel throughout your body via your bloodstream. Scary stuff! So anyway… I had to cut a lot of things out… but the big ones were still no gluten, NO dairy at all (not even goats products which are sometimes easier for people to digest) and no eggs. So for about 3 years, I’ve been basically vegan + fish… and I would cheat every now and again with some cheese or greek yogurt.
I had been following a bunch of vegan bloggers/trainers on Instagram, and I also have some friends that are vegan as well. I was kind of just looking for that little extra push to get me fully transitioned.
So the first two people that ever got me thinking about vegetarianism are two of my closest friends Laura and Sarah. These beauties have both been vegetarian since they were quite young, and made the decision on their own. They got the wheels turning many many years ago for me, but not enough to make the shift I guess. They also taught me that being ‘preachy’ isn’t necessarily the way to go. They are proudly vegetarian, but they don’t force those beliefs or practices on people, and aren’t always talking about it either! I admire them both for that and I strive to find that same balance.
Now for a few of the pages I’d been following:
Deryn – Running on Real Food – http://runningonrealfood.com/start-here/
My friends, Elizabeth and Collin >> @elizabetheats, @cmcdougs
(they’re going to be so mad at me for putting up a pic of them… especially Collin. haha! – thats what you get for being inspirational you two!! Not only are they both vegan inspos to me, but they’re probably the cutest couple of all time!!!)
And the guy that shares some of the most interesting vegan facts that will get ya (they got me!)
@conscious_muscle
>> NOTE – that he’s rocking a #muttmala!!!! <<
He’s a vegan fitness coach that helps people with the transition and helps them to meet their fitness/nutrition goals. I actually worked with him end of last year, but had some health issues and also ended up moving across country, so I didn’t get to execute his plan to the best of my ability. However he’s amazing to work with and very reasonable – for those of you interested in transitioning!
He posted something end of April that got me.
And he was right… Just like that, done! To be honest, I had seen Forks over Knives, as well as Cowspiracy… both really well done, but it was Earthlings that got me.
That’s really it you guys. About 2.5 months ago I transitioned and it’s be SOOOOO much easier than I thought. Sure sometimes when I’m out on the road for work, or with a client, it can be a little tricker. I am getting much better at packing lunches (or at the very least snacks!), and places are becoming much more vegan friendly! Places like Pita Pit (and super recently from what I’ve heard, starbucks!) have vegan options! Amazing!!!!
I would love love LOVE to hear from my vegetarian and vegan peeps out there. This community has been so welcoming and supportive and I would love to chat with other people who recently made the transition, are thinking about it, or have been vegan/vegetarian for years! Please share your fave blogs, recipes, people to follow 🙂
Thanks for sticking through this post if you did – I know it’s long, but it was important to me to share 🙂
xoxo
ANDREA
PS — next post will be coming before long (not 2 months like this time!) and it’s going to be about #muttmalas !!!