Three years and four months ago, I became vegetarian. It’s been a long and rewarding journey that I am excited to share with you. Hopefully you will leave this article feeling more inspired to eat plant-based on occasion.
I would say my path to eating cleaner and eliminating meat started by watching FullyRaw Kristina on YouTube. She has been vegan for 12+ years and eats only uncooked fruits, veggies, nuts, and seeds. She eats tons of salads and juices and bowls in huge portions. I loved watching her videos because her food and skin and personality were so bright, positive, and radiant. She made giving up regular ice cream for banana nice cream look incredibly attractive.
I feel like the vegan community can come off as harsh, judgmental, critical, and negatively passionate. FullyRaw Kristina simply encouraged her subscribers to eat one fullyraw meal a day and didn’t spend too much time on the pathos, relentless preaching of the vegan lifestyle. She really opened my mind up to the idea of eating cleaner.
Since my mom is a certified health coach, I did already eat quite healthy. However, Kristina inspired me to even further. I began following more vegan YouTubers and watching documentaries. Documentaries such as Earthlings, Forks Over Knives, and What the Health are the resources that really launched my health awakening. I learned a lot about the three reasons for veganism: health, environments, and ethics. I am truly vegetarian for all three of these reasons after being further educated. Animals are severely mistreated in factory farming, animal products cause heart disease and more, and the carbon footprint of farming is immense and detrimental to our earth.
Vegetarianism is a diet where the person consumes animal products that don’t cause any death (eggs, butter, and dairy.) Veganism is more of a lifestyle choice that eliminates all animal products. A pescatarian is similar to a vegetarian but also including eating fish. After about two years, I did eat fish and have since gone between vegetarianism and pescatarianism.
If you’re considering switching over to a plant-based diet, here is a bit of my advice:
- Take out animal products one-by-one (red meat preferably).
- Watch documentaries and prepare to feel emotional and passionate.
- Try some new foods! Del Taco has vegan tacos and Carl’s Jr. has the Beyond Meat burger. One of my favorite vegan restaurants is Veggie Grill.
- If you’re considering being vegetarian, decide which animal products you love and which you can live without. For me, it’s ice cream and coffee creamer.
I hope you all enjoyed and even found inspiration with my story of being vegetarian!