Transformation: vegetarian to vegan

I was born and raised a vegetarian. When one grows up in a a Teepee this is normal (true story and a whole other blog)

When I became older I had the same mentality about meat as I did with drugs. I figured, I went this long without - why start now? That's right, my 15 blog followers, in all of my 30 years I have never eaten meat.

My vegetarian diet was by default - I wish I could tell you that it came from an emotional place of wanting to be a better person but the truth is, I wasn't inspired by Bambi, health concerns or green house gases to eat a vegetarian diet. I didn't know any other way to eat or live.

It wasn't until I started working for Nature's Express did I become vegan. Again, I wasn't inspired by Bambi, health or green house gases. I felt like a hypocrite working for a vegan restaurant while I continued to indulge in eggs, butter and my all time favorite.....cheese. I made the decision and that was that. Apart from having physical cravings for cheese and missing the convenience of dairy, my transition was fairly easy.

I remember being skeptical that cutting out dairy would make any difference in my day to day life. I was very wrong.

The first two weeks of cutting out dairy I went through physical, emotional and mental transformations that I was surprised and delighted to be having. I felt lighter, I had more energy than I ever had, my skin was glowing, my pants fit better, I slept more sound, my eyes became brighter and I literally had moments of pure clarity. I know this sounds dramatic - believe me, I wouldn't have believed it had I had not experienced it first hand.

While all of these amazing things were happening I was kicking myself for not doing this sooner; while at the same time nervous that I had opened Pandora's box.

I started reading books, reading blogs and subscribing to all things vegan. At first, I was driven by my responsibility for learning everything vegan that I possibly could for the sake of my job. I was working on opening Nature's Express in Berkeley and I had to be in the know.

The more I was learning about the impacts that the meat and dairy industry have on our health, the environment and animal suffering, I quickly realized how blind I had been in the past not acknowledging what had been right in front of me.

I grew up not eating meat, my mom has been vegan for over 20 years, I was a personal chef who helped ill people get better through my vegan cooking. It's not like I lived in a vast far away country where the thought of factory farming was an alien concept.

I was disappointed with myself. How had I turned a blind eye my whole life to this entire world that I was just now looking at straight on? Although, I wished I had done it sooner, I had never felt better about being vegan. I have been vegan for two years now.

My personal outlook is simple. There are so many negative impacts that the meat and dairy industry account for. I very politely refuse to be part of the contribution. It is not my wish to push my views or beliefs down anyone else's throat, nor do I wish to make judgments on anyone who has a different view point from my own.

I am fortunate enough to work for a company that feels the same.

I could not be the person who I am today If it wasn't for my ah -ha moment - and that ah-ha moment had to come from me and no one else.

When I sat down to write this post, my intention was to write a quick post about the unbelievable positive effects that eating Miso and seaweed every morning have had on my menstrual cramps. Well, boys, you're out of luck 'till next time - unless I decide to write my next post about Anthony Bourdain and why I can't NOT like the guy.

Eat happy, be happy.

Molly Patrick