The plan: at least three weeks on a vegan diet that consists of primarily whole foods.
The reasons: 1) to see if I can 2) research shows it is the healthiest lifestyle 3) to learn and document the effects on my mood, sleep, energy levels, and running
NOT my the reasons: 1) NOT a statement on the farming, livestock, dairy, or honey industries 2) NOT as a diet or to lose weight, though I do plan to keep track of any weight loss if it happens 3) NOT to convert any family or friends
My background:
I was raised on a small family farm in northeastern Nebraska. A farm that my dad, uncle, and two of my cousins still run today growing corn, alfalfa, soy beans, and *gasp* breeding and raising beef cattle. The farm also included hogs when I was growing up. I have seen newborn baby pigs, and I have bottlefed calves knowing full well that they were to becoming hamburger and it never (and still doesn't) bothered me. The animal rights issues are really not a big factor for me when it comes to this decision. That being said, the conditions and practices of more industrial farms do make me feel a little sick to my stomach, but that isn't really the case of where I grew up.
I currently live in a town of 500 people in southwestern Nebraska with my husband and two boys (ages almost 4 and almost 2). We drive 20 miles to go grocery shopping, and we shop by least expensive, which out here means Walmart.
I've always been a little hyper-empathetic, and as I've gotten older and had my own family, it's gotten worse. I cry at sad movies and sad stories (real or not). I cry at happy movies and happy stories (real or not). I feel real actual pain when I see other people in pain. Though I do not have an ethical problem with eating meat, I am also not a big fan of unnecessary death whether that is the death of a person, mammal, insect, rodent, or spider. It's just hard for me, so I avoid it if possible.
I first became interested in vegetarianism when I was a freshman in college. A girl in my Honors Speech class gave an informational speech about being a vegetarian and it sparked something in me. Many years later when Netflix was just starting to add a lot of instant streaming movies, I watched a documentary called Food, Inc., which sheds light on a lot of the conditions of industrial farming and how corporations and government subsidies are involved in a somewhat shady way. Then, in the past couple of years since I have become a distance runner, I periodically hear about vegetarian and vegan runners and they often address the common misconceptions about veggie nutrition.
This idea really started forming in my head almost a week ago after watching a documentary called Vegucation. I watched 3 meat-eaters take on a vegan lifestyle for 6 weeks, and though I thought it was a little ridiculous when they got all emotional about seeing dead hogs at a farm, overall the film was full of information and was the first time I thought it would ever be possible for me to go all the way to vegan (at least part time). I took away that since we live in an age when plant based foods are readily available at
literally all times and in all seasons, for me to eat meat is
unnecessary and therefore I don't need an animal to die for me.
The real "last straw" for me wanting to go through with this was another documentary called Fork Over Knives. This film really delves into the science of health and how a whole foods plant-based diet can halt or reverse heart disease, cancer, diabetes, and make us much more resilient. I don't want to get into the science on this blog, because I am obviously no expert whatsoever. However, I strongly encourage the documentaries I've mentioned as well as Fat, Sick, and Nearly Dead, all of which are available for instant streaming via Netflix. They also address questions such as "Can you actually get enough protein and calcium on a vegan diet?" By the way, you absolutely can.
Since we are only about 2 weeks away from Christmas, which means a lot of traveling for us, I will not be starting this entirely vegan thing until January. However, I have already started making some smaller changes. I cut out caffeine 2 months ago and will now cut out soda on a regular basis. I have cut down on my meat intake and will be switching to soy milk and yogurt on our next big shopping trip. Then once things have calmed down from the holidays, I will be taking the plunge.
I'm going to use this blog to write about this experiment. I'll cover the logistics shopping in an area where going to a Whole Foods is absolutely not possible, (the closest one is at least 4 hours away), what I'm cooking, how much we are spending, how I'm handling being the only vegan in a family of 4, my moods, and I'm sure a lot of other information. Thanks for reading!
