Hey Modern Pro!
Alright, you may remember last year, 2017, I kicked off my vegan journey in January. That decision was brought on by my viewing this FaceBook video of some students who incubated and hatched a chick from the egg. Now yes, of course I knew that every time I eat eggs I was eating unfertilized baby chicks; but who really ever thinks of that? So, all thanks to those college kids, I took myself on a journey of why not meat, why not animal by products and so on an so forth. After conducting all of the research for about a month, I was fully committed to calling and labeling myself as a full fledge VEGAN! I wore it as a badge of honor and encouraged everyone I met to do the same.
All throughout the year I stayed true to eating no meat or any by products of animals. Was if difficult? HELL YES!!! Especially since I live in culinary heaven; also known as New Orleans. The city that celebrates food with festivals all throughout the year. Fired Chicken Festival, PoBoy Festival, Gumbo Festival, Crawfish Festival, Alligator Festival. You name it we have a festival to celebrate it. I ain't playing no! Let me tell you something, I knew I was committed when I walked into Popeyes on Mardi Gras Day with my daughter Maddison, who just HAD to have chicken, and smelled that oh so sweet aroma of perfectly golden fried chicken and had absolutely no desire to order any. If I could walk in and out of there without giving in I was straight!
But how you may wonder. Well, for me it was all about the health aspect of not eating meat, dairy or any other animal by products. After all the research, I realized that a lot of the health issues that are prevalent in our society, such as cancer and heart decease, came from poor food choices; ie pork, beef and also everyone's go-to chicken and dairy. As long as I kept telling myself that this lifestyle choice would keep me cancer free I was S O L D. No turning back!
As you can read in the title of this post however, I once was vegan but now I'm NOT! Here's what happened. It was a lot. Too much as a matter of fact. I became so frustrated with reading labels and making special orders at restaurants. LAWD! Anyone I went out to eat with always rolled their eyes when it was my turn to order or before we went our they would say but what will Erika eat. To which I would reply, "I can eat anything!" Anything typically included some of the side dishes, maybe or a simple order of fries. Can we say miserable! Especially if the chef or wait staff would give me grief when I attempted to adjust the menu options. Oh and by the way, cooking at home was definitely an option and I did that; sometimes. My family however wasn't on board and I had made a decision that I would not cook meat because I wanted everyone to be healthy and live a long life like I was going to. Can we say backfired? It worked some of the time, but for the most part that actually caused more eating out; which ain't cheap. OK!
So what am I now?
Nothing. NO MORE LABLES!
I try to eat a mostly plant based diet. I only drink almond milk and consume very little dairy like butter and ice cream. This works for me. As of January 2018, I reintroduced seafood and chicken back into my diet. I have not consumed beef, turkey or pork. Not to say that I will not, but just not yet. I am missing some of the benefits I had grown accustom to while vegan like not feeling bloated and my lil mama pouch was pretty much gone. Oh, and my allergies weren't giving me problems nor was I experiencing mucus issues; but I ok.
What about you? Have you tried the vegan lifestyle yet? Would you go all in like me? I was able to commit to a full year. Think you would last that long? Have you lasted longer? I really want to hear form you!