And It's All Vegan

"And it's All Vegan!"

That's the catchphrase I found myself saying after every new vegan meal I cooked. I made the decision to go vegan about 18 months ago when I finally accepted how unhealthy I was.

I lived off of fast food, cheese, soda, alcohol, etc - you name it, I probably ate it. And not to mention, I was no longer working out on a regular basis, my skin looked terrible, I never slept well, and naturally, I had gained weight.

I picked up a book called The Kind Diet, by Alicia Silverstone. Seriously changed my life. I had known people in the past that gone vegan and I would just think, "Idiots."

As a Mexican, my family's cuisine pretty much revolves around meat. Almost every dish includes some sort of beef, chicken, or pork. Even fish was occasional compared to how much meat I ate growing up.

As I read about this whole "vegan" thing and discovered more about the secrets of the food industry and the process of how an animal makes it from farm to the table, I was completely shocked. Actually shocked may be an understatement.

I had a fairly naive idea about how badly animals were really treated. Most of them live in terribly unsanitary conditions and they suffer from birth to slaughter. Cows forced to milk past their natural milking stages, chickens with their beaks seared off and crammed into tiny battery cages (probably with other dead birds), pigs that were put into boiling water STILL ALIVE.........it was just too much for me. I couldn't support that kind of abuse any longer.

Aside from the suffering animals endure, the conditions under which our so-called "food" is processed is anything but healthful. The majority of the animals consumed in the United States are laden with toxins, antibiotics, and other hormones injected at the farm. Have you ever seen the inside of a slaughterhouse? Talk about disgusting. Blood and guts splattered everywhere, cows covered in their own feces-- this is the meat that gets sent to the supermarket. Yummy.

I don't want to lecture for hours on the horrors of the slaughterhouses and farms, because I feel like Peta does a lot of that already. I'm not trying to be arrogant. I created this blog because, ultimately, I love food. Although I have not had any beef, chicken, or pork in about a year and a half now, I have slipped with seafood here and there. I do my best to maintain my vegan lifestyle, however, and I hope to continue through this blog.

Most people believe that becoming vegan means I do nothing but munch on lettuce and seeds all day long. This could not be further from the truth! I have discovered so many different plates and cuisines and flavors that I don't think I would have ever found through the Standard American Diet (SAD) that I was following.

I believe we should eat to nourish, and not simply to "exist." Blah. Just because..well..we're supposed to eat 3 times a day. Baloney!! Eat when you're hungry. Eat when you're happy. Eat when you're relaxed. Food was meant to nourish our souls, and you'll find that with wholesome, plant-based foods, you'll be nourished at the cellular level. You won't believe the difference it makes. And when you discover how delicious plant-based meals can really be, you'll hear me in the back of your mind: And it's All Vegan.

Live With Passion,

Carys