Hi there Friendliness,
I have a confession to make, it may come as a surprise although I guess in a way people may have seen it coming, but for about 2 weeks now I have taken a full vegan diet.
I suppose I should start from the beginning , where I started suffering some pretty serious health issues. January 2013 was the month I began taking a new contraceptive pill, it was also the month that I got severely sick for about 2 weeks post beginning that pill, I got the bloating, headaches, nausea, yellowing of the eyes and skin, mood swings, increase of appetite, decrease of energy and so forth. After two weeks of sheer horror I stoped the pill, cold turkey.
From that day I got my monthlies for about a week and then nothing, zilch.
A few months after that I hadn’t got my periods I figured it was from my over enthusiastic training combined with a high protein and low carb diet.
But then all these other symptoms started coming through, lack of sleep, lack of sexual appetite, low moods, stress, depression and worst of all weight gain.
My whole world was falling apart, regardless of all the hard work I put in nothing came through. I hit a very low point in my life, where I became quiet depressed, angry, tired hungry, desperate, so many dark feelings in my life, I felt like I was sinking.
Me being me though I refuse to sink, so I started to dissect all the things in my life so source out the problems. Boy wasn’t I about to dig into some deep dark & horrible issues. Beginning with my diet, all good and well I eat healthy , make sure I get all my nutrients and such but what most people don’t see are the underlying supplement use & abuse on top of laxatives diuretics and overtraining. One thing I never spoke about was supplements , only because I myself knew how terrible they are for you and what sort of harm they do to your body, yet being a hypocrite to myself I persisted with the use of pre work outs, fat burners, protein powders, fat metabolizes & appetite suppressants, all of which did not only harm my body but also my mind & wallet. I was constantly seeking the next high visiting all sorts of body building websites and what nots looking for a supplement that would work in removing all the excess fat and build muscle in my body… All the while submerging myself deeper & deeper into laxatives all because ( I know I can’t just blame her)but my previous Body pump instructor mentioned she was also an abuser of laxatives and I think that particular comment stuck with me & it sort of made me think it is ok to use them over periods of time. Anyways fast forwarding to about 2 months ago, where I had made all the conclusions that my supplement & laxative abuse had to stop, right there and then cold turkey.
FINDING HELP:
First of I seeked conventional medical help, I saw my local GP and explained my situation , he then gave me a low down spill on possible causes although the most logical being Polycystic Ovaries, which then he proceeded to take a blood test upon which should confirm any hormonal imbalances and what nots with my body. Of course I wasn’t happy with his conclusions so I seeked further help by visiting a naturopath Dr wayne guard. He took me in very welcomingly and we talked through my situation and what my life style consisted of what types of stimulants I had been taking in the past what my diet consists of as well as training routine, furthermore we did a spinal exam as he is also a chiropractor and we came to discover several abnormalities in my spine in terms of composure and well next thing I know I was in for my chiropractic sessions.
Spending money on my health isn’t an issue for me, so I soldiered on for 6 weeks visiting him twice a week and slowly reaping the benefits of having a realignment done, I also began working on slowing down my training, rather the completely cutting it out as that could cause in further depression and stress being that i am so used to spending time at the gym, and I do enjoy a good session. Dr Guard also made suggestions in terms of fixing up my diet and regulating my hormones by consuming more organic produce and slowly balancing my animal based diet into a more plant based organic diet.
Being the foodie that I am, I started by having 2-3 days where I was completely vegan, finding those days I was alot happier & healthier my body seemed to respond quiet well as for the days where I ate meat I felt heavy , lethargic & just overall not happy. Upon my last consult at the end of my 6 weeks with Dr Wayne guard we went through my improvements, which were my mood& energy levels, as well as Posture, my stress levels had decreased and by far my depressions seems to be subsiding. We then decided on taking on another 6 weeks of chiropractic sessions in conjunction with naturopathic sessions & the new diet change which requires me to eat vegan for the whole process.
Needless to say The last time i ate meat was the week end after my last session and on the Sunday Morning I felt horrible , sick bloated unhappy, it was there and then that I decided I would no longer consume any animal based products & began researching and making up an easy meal plan so I could go on about my week without stressing too much. It has been quiet easy to be honest, i have enjoyed all the foods I have consumed & it has also been easy on my budget, being that I am one to be quiet organised with the sorts of food that I would like to eat in the week and making sure all foods contains mostly similar ingredients thus reducing my bill at the end of the day. Going out has been a challenge though but I have overcome a few hurdles by customizing meals and making them vegan, I may have had small slip ups here and there , however I won’t let that get in my way of making effort to stay on track.
I can guarantee I will receive backlash from alot of friends and family because of my choices but I myself cannot deny the health benefits, I feel lite. I feel mobile, I feel happy , relaxed & I genially enjoy everything I do, from the cooking, to training, to sleeping 7 most of all eating. Mum has also noticed the difference in my skin, hair and nails, my mood has improved and my attitude towards everything is much more open and welcoming. I have a fair few people to thank for the inspiration as well first of being David my work colleague, him being a vegan has played a tremendous part in my conversion as I had always been curious from ever since starting clean eating and I guess he just gave me that extra little push, to also Ell Howard & Rylee Breen two bloggers from Brisbane who have such passion toward animal welfare & vegan culinary, also Karissa Pukas from Saturdaynitesalrite which has not only been a fashion & beauty inspiration but also a dietary change.
So far I have very many other bloggers, youtubers & instagrammers that I have been following & taking notes from & funnily enough this has opened my appetite & curiosity towards other cultural culinary as well as delving into the whole raw movement.
I want to take this one step at a time though, concentrating on small victories and achievements and successfully changing my diet to accommodate my day to day living. A little added bonus is as well is that I have begun to decreases in size, not so much in weight but my overall appearance has improved.With all this being said I will also leave you with links to my favourite blogger, youtubers & instagrammers that had been all so inspiring towards my journey as well as books and so forth, but I just want to quickly make a disclaimer that by no means I will consider myself an activist and completely bash other people dietary choices and use of animal products and so forth, I do believe in compassionate living and there are plenty of horror stories out there about slaughterhouses and animal cruelty wether it be from homes as well as pounds, but unfortunately we live in a world that we cannot all agree on the exact same things, I believe every little bit counts and I know my part is counting towards saving animal lives and also the environment but I cannot force my beliefs on others and therefore I will not promote myself as a VEGAN but simply someone who enjoys and reaps the benefits of a vegan diet whilst doing my bid to a better life for not only myself but also the planet we live in.
Elle Howard
Rylee Breen Maver
Karissa Pukas FullyRawKristina
Freelea
Avegankitchen
The Rawtarian
Skinny Bitch
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