My transition from carnivore to vegan
Hi there, I’m vegan. I imagine you’re thinking: “WAH?!? You’re crazy. I could never give up [cheese, pizza, steak, etc].” But let me tell you, friend, I used to think the same thing. Five years ago, I had never eaten a proper vegetable or fruit, really. I was a happy carnivore; living off a very strict: bread, dairy, meats, corn, and potatoes diet. My favorite foods were pepperoni pizza, chicken fingers, fries, chicken quesadillas, and popcorn. The closest thing I got to consuming veggies, was Panera’s tomato soup (not vegan btw) with grilled cheese to dip in the soup ’cause you know I didn’t actually eat that soup straight.
Until one night, I decided to go vegan.
Why would you do that, Consuelo?!?!
There were a lot of things that triggered this change.
- The more I read about healthy eating and the like I saw a consistent recipe for health: Eat more veggies than meat. [1, 2, 3]
- I am cruelty-free inclined, as in, the idea of killing animals and hurting the earth/environment really gets to me.
- My family has a history of serious food-related illnesses: diabetes, heart disease, cancer, high blood pressure, etc.
- On top of all that, I was pretty aware that I wasn’t really healthy. I knew that a lot of nutrition comes from veggies and fruits and had tried to address this by going to a nutritionist who laughably just suggested I work out more to lose weight… ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
The reason I finally gave veggies a shot was a documentary called Vegucated. The thing that really got to me, was that a fellow Latina raised on predominantly meat and potatoes (like me) was able to survive the experiment. It was a hard transition, but she managed and remained a vegetarian at the end of the experience. That really compelled me to give it a shot. Never mind, that I decided to go vegan after watching this documentary at 2am after working all night on a research paper! The next day, I told everyone I ran into, “Hey! Guess what? I’m going vegan for six weeks!”
This wasn’t easy for me, but like the Latina in the documentary, I managed. It took me a month and several failed attempts but I finally ate vegetables for the first time in 21 years.
The first day, my diet consisted of an iced coffee for breakfast, a bagel with hummus for lunch, and, I think, a PB&J sandwich for dinner.
Obviously, I was super prepared for my transition into vegan living. The next day, I started looking up vegan recipes and went to the grocery store. I started having oatmeal with berries for breakfast; no sacrifice there. Hummus and pretzels for lunch with some vegan black bean soup. This went on for a while until I started opening my palate up to veggies. I tried and failed to eat a salad twice during my first month. In my defense, this was the first salad I had consumed in the 20 or so years of my existence. Failure did not mean that the food went to waste because my wife would eat it if I couldn’t. It was not fun, though. Honestly, it wasn’t until I checked out of the eating experience that I could force myself to eat a salad and eventually I started to enjoy it.
I bought some vegan cookbooks and started trying more adventurous recipes. Some were recreating favorites from my pre-vegan days like french toast or croissants. Others were completely new and delicious like spinach stuffed mushrooms or coconut red curry tofu.
4 years later
I’ve gotten into a nice, automatic state when it comes to vegan eating. Hilariously, I do all the things that health blogs purport when it comes to healthy shopping at the grocery store. I keep to the edges of the store where the produce and staples are. The one exception is when I might need something for baking. Did I mention I bake tons of yummy vegan treats? Indeed, there’s quite a treasure trove of vegan treats, not limited by much of anything. I’ve made macarons, croissants, cupcakes of all kinds, cakes. The only thing missing are donuts but I’m not sure I’d ever go there.
I don’t think I’ve sacrificed anything that omnivores have. I host gatherings at my home and my friends always rave about the food. I’ve made delicious mushroom artichoke crostini with a lemony twist. I make a mean guacamole and salsa. I’ve made my own lime flavored chips since Tostitos with lime (my once favorites) have milk in them for some unknown reason.
I don’t miss meat.
I’m very content with my veggie burgers, whether homemade of black beans, sweet potatoes, and quinoa; or purchased at my favorite veggie-friendly restaurant, like Veggie Galaxy. I don’t miss steaks because I was never one for the american-style steak. I always preferred churrasco or bistec, prepared cuban-style.
I do miss some omnivore things
All that said there are a few things I miss from my pre-vegan days. The freedom of sharing food with friends without prior planning. The ease of travel because it is much easier to travel and be an omnivore. That’s only because the rest of the world hasn’t gotten their shit together when it comes to meals that aren’t centered on dead animals. Other than that, I eat delicious food everyday and I have no guilt. :-)
Give it a shot
If you’re thinking about trying out vegan-living, I highly recommend the 6-week challenge from the Vegucated movie. Also, this is a useful and hilarious site I wish I had known about when I turned: http://www.isitvegan.com/
