Why Did You Go Vegan?

Camille

I was a vegetarian when I was in my 20s but I married a serious carnivore and soon gave up trying to prepare two separate cuisines. Over the years my diet became worse as growing kids and a busy schedule led to more take-out foods. It was hard to believe that I'm the same mama whose kids never tasted store-bought bread and who thought fresh green peas were a better treat than ice cream.

Fast-forward ... I'm now 51. Last winter I was diagnosed with diverticulitis, a gut infection caused by the standard American diet. Although I had been becoming more disgusted at the prospect of eating the flesh of animals, I was still doing so -- mostly out of pure laziness.

Shortly after January 1, I was invited to go on a fast with friends in protest of the death penalty. I knew that I couldn't go from eating cr@ppy foods to a juice fast, so I immediately gave up coffee (a lifelong addiction), meat and dairy products and started eating raw fruits and veggies. I bought a juicer and started a juice fast. Having a moral/spiritual purpose for fasting made it easier for me to stop eating.

After a week of fasting and cleansing, I started eating raw fruits and veggies only. Although I gradually added other foods, I've been a vegan since (with only a bit of backsliding). The real challenge is getting my family to give up animal foods. I'm breaking them down, bit by bit, as I phase out the animal foods and introduce substitutes.

I have lost almost 20 pounds since January 21st and feel better than I've felt in years!

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