Why I went vegan

It all starts here:

Ok, well, actually, I shouldn't say that. I don't like lying. Let's try that again.

It all starts here:

That's better. That building is where I was convinced to go vegetarian. I was 15 and attending a 5 week French immersion program in Nova Scotia (the place is called Universite Sainte Anne-there's an accent on the e in Universite, but I don't know how to make that happen). One of the requirements for the class I was assigned (based on my skillz in french before I arrived) was to give a presentation. I played my bassoon and talked about classical music. This lovely girl I met there gave a presentation on veganism. It was good. But I was afraid, so I went vegetarian. I did that for seven years, but it became habit/rote rather than belief. I ate turkey at thanksgiving and christmas one year. I definitely didn't pay attention to ingredients labels. I didn't realize I could find a vegetarian community online. I felt disconnected.

Which brings me to the first picture. That's the plaque denoting the start of the Appalachian Trail in Georgia. I wish I could say I had a picture I took/a picture of me by that plaque, but I was the only lonely person on top. I would have stuck around for a bit, but I had a really bad case of the shivers. It was windy and cold. And, more importantly, I was really nervous. So I picked up my too-heavy pack (weighed in at 26 pounds without water, with food) and turned around to walk North on the Appalachian Trail. I ate vegetarian food for the first week. Then, after a snowstorm I hiked 15 miles in (I've never hiked 15 miles before in my life), the wall broke. I started eating meat again. We won't get into that.

Fast forward a bit:

I made it! (Which brings to mind this hiphop song I've heard playing a lot recently...) I was one of several hundred from the several thousand who attempted! Go me! I think, in the beginning, a lot of people looked at me and were like she'll never make it. (I weighed 190 pounds at 5'7.5") The funny part is, that it never crossed my mind that I couldn't make it-I pushed myself through the emotional parts but the physical aspect was never much of an issue. 

I lost about 40 pounds and gained a lot of self-worth/self-confidence. 

When I started acclimating back to real life, I started having a lot of food issues-I've always had food issues, but they became especially difficult, seeing as I'd been eating junk food on trail and I still lost 40 pounds. I didn't know how to eat healthy to keep it off. I tried. I tried really hard. Some of it crept back on. I managed to stabilize for a while. Then the holidays came and I started really worrying.

Eventually, I decided that going Vegan would solve all my problems (it didn't) and that I could never gain weight by going vegan (I totally did). But I gained a whole lot more than just weight. I became much more closely connected to my body. I started listening to it. I started feeling so much compassion for animals again. I realized that this diet choice I'd made to feel in control again (i still didn't) was the best choice I could have made for so many reasons-I was helping to make animals' lives better. I reduced my own impact on the world, environmentally wise. I was feeding my body the best kind of food I could without the worst of it.

I've now been vegan for 9 months (to the day!) and so far, I'm having a blast.