So it’s been a year since I switched to a full plant-based diet and I will tell you I have learned a whole lot about myself and more about others, vegans, vegetarians, omnivores, and all the other types of eaters out there. I learned that for me, eating a plant-based diet works best for me. I have been fully off of blood pressure medicine for the first time since 2006!! Even when I was briefly taken off them in 2009, my pregnancy forced me back on them. I was told that I would more than likely be on meds to control my blood pressure the rest of my life. In June 2015, 7 months and 35 pounds after I went fully plant-based my doctors took me off blood pressure meds and I have been totally in control ever since!
Not only has the blood pressure been normalized, but also my cholesterol and every other aspect of my health. Every year for work, we have to have a physical and blood work done in order to get “money back” in our checks. For 2015, my health screening was so awesome compared to the last 3 years that the nurse asked me what I was doing. I told her and she said, “I’m not surprised at all, my vegan and vegetarian patients ALWAYS have the best blood work. Keep it up!” My family medicine doctor, who is health, weight-lifting omnivore totally supports my lifestyle due to the fact he has seen my health completely change for the best.
What I’ve learned about others is that if you don’t eat like them they judge you and outcast you. I don’t spout my vegan lifestyle on social media such as FB, but I do post my meals on Instagram. i cannot stand getting bashed for eating the way I do….it works for ME. If it doesn’t work for you, fine. Eat your meat, I don’t bash you for eating it. It’s common courtesy to just be nice…not really a hard concept.
I see really aggressive vegans out there bashing non-vegans and it makes me sad. Not everyone will choose this lifestyle, for me it was about health and ethical choices, but not everyone is wired this way. We should want peace and compassion for others. What you eat and the way you eat is a totally personal choice, just like religion and anything else. Be kind to others, regardless of their choices.
On the flip side, there are really mean non-vegans too. The most recent article I read My Vegan Diet Almost Killed Me really made me sad. if you read the article, you will discover that the woman it was about was eating less than 1000 calories per day. This means she wasn’t getting enough nutrients in any form at all. Vegans cannot survive on juicing and salad alone. It’s all about nutrition. If you don’t know how to eat protein (yes there are vegan protein sources), carbs, veggies, legumes, nuts, essential vitamins, then yes….you can suffer immensely. She has a disease called Orthorexia Nervosa, so I would really hate to say the her Vegan lifestyle was killing her but more lilke her lack of nutrition was. It’s all about balance no matter how you eat. Alas, the media is on a rampage with this story and it is garnering a lot of attention, which is sad because their are a number of really healthy and successful vegans out there.
Kudos to you all for making it work for you….no matter how you eat.
Xoxoxo,
Heaher
A very vegan journey 