I am VEGAN

This is the story of how I came to discovering a plant-based, vegan way of eating and how it completely changed my life! 

Ever since I was little, I remember struggling with this internal conflict… especially towards meat. Family dinners and gatherings always included meat, always (I’m italian…from Tuscany and from the famous Bistecca Fiorentina!).

I drank cow’s milk with dinner every night while growing up, because milk has “calcium” and that is what you are supposed to drink in order to grow big and strong, right? Well, that is what most parents are led to believe. Although cow’s milk is meant for baby cows like breast milk is meant for infants. Weird to say (or write, rather)… but when you think about it, the concept just makes sense. 

The word “vegan” never came up until 1 year before the Pandemic period.. I was thinking to remove meat and to keep eating fish (pescatarian) and talking with my husband he told me about ‘Silvia Goggi’ a Vegan Doctor who inspired me immediately! Her pure love and respect for the animals, for her health, for nature and for our planet opened my eyes. On Instagram I started to see stories about  the slaughterhouse and how the system works… She helped me to remove meat day by day , and I felt immediately super strong!

A Saturday night at home with a glass of wine and Netflix, I was scrolling through documentaries (why not movies?!! ha) I came across Seaspiracy. This documentary film about the environmental impact of fishing stood out because I remember seeing it all over Instagram. I started following vegan Instagram accounts a few days prior (subconsciously, I think?). 

Throughout the documentary, concepts started to click in my mind as if I was buckling my seatbelt. I was in the process of connecting to the plant based lifestyle. My mind was in horror, shock and became overwhelmed with anger, but I was connecting on a higher level. I felt nauseous but I knew it was necessary; there was no way of getting around these feelings.

I realize most documentaries show the worst of the worst and not all slaughterhouses run the same but I still saw what I saw… it still happened to those animals and happens everyday… I’m unable to remove the images from my mind.?

Feeling those feelings opened a new door to an unknown world.

Since that night I have not eaten any animal products. Especially after those images and videos which are now burned into my brain… I wanted nothing to do with meat or cheese or milk or any of it. I made the connection to a plant based lifestyle, to what my body needs in order to thrive and to all animals.

Since then, I’ve watched numerous other documentaries, read books, articles and immersed myself in learning everything about plant based nutrition. I’ve become a nutrition junkie, wellness addict, health guru and plant based advocate together with my husband!

Most people would shake their heads and say they don’t want to see it or hear about it, they just want to enjoy their cheeseburgers and milkshakes and be oblivious like everyone else. That used to be me until I took a risk that was out of the ordinary, uncomfortable and far from the norm. It’s easy to eat at a classic restaurant or pass through the drive-thru and make traditional family recipes… but it’s also easy to whip up a delicious, nourishing vegan meal in 5 minutes.

People don’t see it that way though. Humans stick to what they know and don’t want to go through extra trouble if they don’t have to because they’re lazy and tired! They’ve given up. That is no way to live life though, we deserve way more than that. We have one shot. One life. One body. Being vegan is not as hard as society makes it out to be. Vegan is new and unfamiliar, that’s all – just like anything else. It’s not about deprivation, dieting or counting calories, it’s about adding in foods your body will love and will recognize as actual food that it can use . Real, living, colorful, whole foods found in nature.