Exploration of Vegan Eating

As I'm sure you all know, this month's topic is on exploration. For my article, I decided to write up on my exploration of vegan eating. Personally, I'm mostly pescatarian, so I decided to take it a step up and explore eating vegan for one week. 

vegan |ˈvēgən, ˈvejən|

noun

a person who does not eat or use animal products: I'm a strict vegan | [ as modifier ] : a vegan diet.

Being vegan means not eating animals as well as animal products. That means no (cow/goat/etc) milk, honey, eggs, etc.

Although I only ate this way for a week, I felt that it taught me a lot. It helped me especially realize, "what are we putting into our bodies?" as well as having benefits I instantly noticed; high energy, eating healthier, and being more food smart. 

Eating this way kept me constantly energized (more so than eating how I did before) and after eating, I never felt gross. It made me aware of the things I was putting into my body, and what the heck is in the processed food we eat? Whenever I had to try eating something, the main components of my meals were always fruits and veggies. I never felt sluggish. 

Some observations I made was that finding packaged things was difficult. A lot of things would have hidden ingredients in them, like powdered milk / egg etc. Because of this, I ate a lot more natural/clean/raw food which I think largely contributed to feeling so amazing. Because I had to think about what I was eating, it helped cut out mindless snacking. Looking at the ingredients in things closely too made me realize what on earth are we eating and putting into our bodies?! The majority of ingredients were unpronounceable. 

There were some negatives to eating vegan though. Eating out in restaurants was difficult. I received negative criticism of my decision from peers at school (and even my family, at times!) Finding food in the grocery store was difficult, and often the prices were ridiculously overpriced and had a massive difference between that of the non-vegan foods. 

At the end of my experience, my mom mentioned how she noticed while I was eating vegan, I was being so much more mindful and interested in the things I was putting into my body. 

Over the weekend, me and my mom took a trip to the LettuceLove Cafe in downtown Burlington. (Ontario, Canada). The restaurant is 100% vegan and gluten free, as is the bakery also owned by the same people around the corner. They had a diverse, lovely looking menu. I ordered the "Goddess Bowl" which was insanely delicious. My mom ordered the "Grilled Portobello Sandwich" and we shared avocado fries. We also got a cupcake, brownie, and cookies from the bakery. The food was so delicious and flavourful. 

    

If you have the ability I highly suggest checking your city for a vegan restaurant! 

Overall, I think this experience was a big success and made me much more aware of my food consumption. Because of my current living situation, I will continue being pescatarian for now, but I'm going to try and cut dairy out of my diet more and will probably do occasional weeks of vegan eating. 

If you're looking to try new foods, just want a healthy eating experience, or are interested in both the health and moral benefits of eating vegan, I definitely suggest trying eating vegan for a week. You won't regret it!

Some awesome vegan eaters to check out:

Essena O'Neill - Ally Sheehan - Freelee the Banana Girl - Ellen Fischer 

Check out this tumblr I set up for some yummy vegan recipes! (grapefruit-slices.tumblr.com) (Suuuupppaaaa easy!) 

- ♡ Alex ♡