I was thinking how long it's been since I had heartburn, stomach aches or indigestion. It's virtually nonexistent since I gave up dairy (and all animal products). But I wanted to focus on dairy for this article.
I've seen many videos showing the benefits of giving up dairy... the most popular seems to be how it clears the skin, gets rid of eczema, etc. I haven't gotten any acne of any kind since giving up dairy, so there must be something to it.
Many people who decide to give up animal products in their diet will often call themselves vegan. They figure that the word vegan applies to some kind of diet and they might not be familiar with the terms "Whole Food Plant Based" or "Plant Based". Meanwhile, true ethical vegans get irritated because they believe being vegan is more than just not eating meat, but a complete avoidance of using any animal products beyond food... which means they will not wear fur, leather or use any products that were tested on animals.
Almost 11 months ago, I went plant based, just as a challenge. The last time I ate poultry was September 6th. I never imagined that I would stay with this eating plan but discovered how awesome it felt to eat this way. I have a lot of energy and my muscle continues to grow. I can't think of the last time I had a cold either.
Growing up, I never went a day without eating something from an animal, whether it be dairy, meat or eggs. Every day I would consume either eggs, cheese, steak, chicken or any combination of these foods. I ate very few vegetables and not enough fruit.
A friend asked me recently why I decided to go plant based. I thought I should write about it because there were a number of factors that contributed to the decision.
I had already lost 150 pounds, so it's not like I needed to change my diet further to keep the weight off. I was mostly flexitarian, eating occasional eggs, dairy or poultry 3 or 4 times a week for a couple years. But I had an issue with my weight loss; I was left with loose skin. I wanted to tighten my skin, not just around my abs, but in my arms, etc. Weight loss really does a lot of damage to the skin and I refuse to get a tummy tuck.
As someone who has been plant based for almost 10 months now, people love to tell me how they could never be vegan. I don't even ask them, they just volunteer the information, automatically thinking I'm going to judge them. And the excuses I get range from "I could never give up meat" to "I could never give up cheese or ice cream".
This article isn't going to focus on why someone should go vegan... there's plenty of articles out there covering the subject. Instead, I wanted to focus on how easy it is to eat this way. So many people think it's complicated and because of this, they don't even want to try.
