I am an animal lover. Growing up my family had a dog, a cat, a guinea pig, a lizard and a variety of fish. A few times in my childhood I swore off meat, but when you are young, and have little control over what is available; it can be tough. I ended up eating a lot of peanut butter and jelly.
Two summers ago a friend of mine read the book Skinny Bitch and decided to eat a vegan diet. Let me tell you… that girl looked amazing! She looked like a completely different person (in a great way). She just seemed more alive. I read her copy and immediately made the switch. I noticed an immediate difference. Within days of changing my diet I felt better.
I was a stringent vegan for the summer, but when I went back to college in the fall I quickly fell back into my old ways (meat, soda, grilled cheese). Bad stuff. I know! The difference was that meat never tasted the same to me again. After I had done without it for those months I could not enjoy eating animal products the same way again.
In January 2009 I officially made the switch to vegetarian. It was a New Years resolution, which thankfully I was able to follow through with. I have been really happy with my diet. I don’t feel like I’m missing out on anything. It makes me feel good that I am standing up for animals.
I am really interested in animal rights. I really want to spread the word that vegetarians can do anything that anyone else can do and that animal protein is not essential to human functioning.
