‘I Just Love Cheese Too Much…’

‘I could never be Vegan…. I just love cheese too much’.

Every Vegan hears it. And there are many variations: ‘I just love bacon too much…I love fried chicken too much…I love eggs too much…’ And before I stopped eating that stuff, I said it too. As I stand here 4 years after deciding to become Vegan, I can honestly say that I don’t feel like I am giving up anything I don’t want to. I believe that my body benefits from my eating habits. I believe that animals benefit from my eating habits. And I believe that the earth benefits from my eating habits.

Have you ever been on a diet, or started a workout program and knew that you were going to see results…if you just stuck with it for a couple of weeks? That’s how it was when I decided to eat a plant based diet. It was totally logical. If I eat more whole, unprocessed foods, and cut out more processed, artificial foods, my body will benefit from that. Kind of obvious right? I though about how much of the food I ate each day actually had any nutritional value? How far away from being a whole food was it? What I found was that I was eating a whole lot of nothing good for me.

Now let me say that being Vegan is what I have chosen. It may not be how YOU want to eat. I get that. But its not just about not eating ‘meat’. Its about all those things you know aren’t serving your body, and even worse may just be harming it. My motivation is for people to eat more consciously . To consider what you are eating and how it is fueling your body. And to consider where the food you are eating has come from. Were the vegetables  genetically altered so they would produce a greater yield? Was the animal that was used to for your meat abused and then discarded?

If you think about it, since you were born, your taste-buds have been conditioned to like processed, meat, and dairy heavy foods. The fabric of our childhood and many of our culinary traditions have come from recipes based off of these staples. Now think about all the different cultures in the world. Children in India like the flavors of India, children in Africa, Japan, Greece, or anywhere you can think of, like the foods of their own culture. Its not that the food you are eating is better than all the rest. Basically you like what you are fed. Your taste buds simply adjust to whatever they are offered.

Of course its not easy to make a big change. I get it. Cheesecake used to be my thing! I had it for every birthday. And if you have ever tried to quit smoking you know what I’m talking about! Its this all consuming feeling that you NEED that cigarette. It literally feels like there is a hole. An empty space that is NOT being filled. And its uncomfortable. Just like when you stop smoking, you have to have a strong motivation to stop eating the way you are eating. It can’t be for someone else, or your addiction will just win, and you’ll go back.

This is the experience I equate with peoples’ unwillingness to let go of the foods that they know are hurting them. Its the fear of feeling that hole. The thought that somehow they will be missing out on something. ‘Life is too short. I want to enjoy myself while I’m on earth!… Life is not worth living without steak!…It just tastes so good!” But here is what I’ve found. That hole DOES get filled.

If we all can agree that food is addictive, then it makes sense that the cravings we are feeling are probably symptoms of our addiction, not true needs. My experience was that these ‘cravings’ eventually disappeared and I started to develop new favorites that I loved, using ingredients that were better for my body, and had less of the refined sugar, fat and artificial ingredients that make up our S.A.D Diet (Standard American Diet). The bottom line is that we all need to eat more whole foods. The stuff that grows out of the ground. Just as it is.

Not only do I feel and look better, but my eating habits are supporting a change in the way we eat as a nation and the way our nation is handling the responsibility of providing wholesome food to its people. Its something that affects all of our lives. Unfortunately sometimes people don’t know the price they are paying until its too late.

But until those changes are the norm, its up to you to put yourself  and the ones you love first. You only have one body, and its the cumulation of every day you live. What are you putting in it?