August 8, 2017. If someone told me four years ago that at 24, I live vegan lost thirty kilograms, have a life in Sydney and run a successful Instagram account and blog, I would have just smiled quietly
Structured diet? Healthy food? Sport? False information.
In the middle of 2013 came the change, without any real reason. Of course I felt uncomfortable in my body. How should that be any different, with over 91kg body weight with a height of 174cm.
I started to exercise regularly and turned my entire lifestyle around. Planned and well-designed meals replaced pizza, burgers and chocolate. An afternoon on the couch was exchanged by a sports program at the lake.
The consequences? I weight dropped off. Not just a little. After 10 weeks, it was over 14 kilograms.
What an incentive I thought & that encouraged me to keep going. In just under a year I lost about half the current weight – 30kg. A great performance right? I thought so too.
I finally felt comfortable in my body and radiated this self-esteem and satisfaction too. My family and friends were proud and realised how much I had grown beyond myself.
Nevertheless, in my mind, the thoughts were constantly buzzing around that this could not be all. I was satisfied with my exterior, but not with my interior.
And suddenly I should live vegan – without warning
March 2017. Sweat bathed and with severe pain in my stomach I woke up next to my boyfriend at night. Without much discussion, we went to the hospital at three o’clock in the morning. Countless tests and blood samples later then the result: a strong gastric mucosal inflammation.
The doctor on duty told me that for me first light diet was on the plan – lots of cooked vegetables, no animal products, no milk, eggs or the like.
“Should I become vegan now?” I asked myself.
An involuntary thought has been an experience
The next few days for me where hard. No questions.
“What am I eating now?” – that thought ran through me. So I started looking for recipes and suggestions online.
And you know what? I was incredibly surprised. Almost thrilled. Euphoric.
No matter if it was sweet potato purée, chickpeas curry, nice cream or Oatmeal, it seemed as good as anything before. So many variations and delicious sounding dishes.
I realized for the first time that I had no exact idea of what ‘ vegan ‘ actually meant.
The rumours “one-sided diet”, “far too little protein”, “you lose all your muscles”, I knew only too well.
I wanted to teach myself a better way and began to become creative. For the first time in a very long time, I was introduced back into the kitchen. Despite stomach aches. Something irritated me about this topic.
Everything is hard before it becomes easy
Before it started, I had to go to the supermarket first. Easy, I thought. “Can’t be that hard, can it?”
As I mentioned before, I had never before dealt with the topic ‘ vegan ‘ and did not know me with the product contents.
For me, ‘ back to basic ‘ was the simplest kind for the first time. I bought lots of fruit, vegetables, brown rice, potatoes, plant milk, tofu,…
I realised for the first time how many processed foods are usually load in a shopping cart.
I spent hours in the store. The time was right. I studied nutritional values and could not grasp what is contained in some products.
My curiosity was awakened and I became more and more feeling that this could be a huge & new part of my life.
Having arrived back home, I conjured chia pudding for breakfast. Soy milk and coconut yogurt. I hadn’t started so well in the day before.
Every meal was planned and took a lot of time. Of course, everything takes a little longer if you are not familiar with things.
The weeks went by and I forgot more and more that I thought of a certain form of nutrition.
It became normal. To my everyday life. To my life.
Being weak is allowed
We travelled to Germany, to my friends and family.
At first it was easy for me to live vegan.
The increasing ‘ pressure ‘, which one unintentionally gets, did not leave me sour anyway.
“People have to eat meat”, “where did you get that nonsense”, “is this a new trend now”
I should always justify and explain myself for everything. Strenuous and nerve-rending. Kinda sad too.
I let myself go back, again to ‘ normal ‘ or I should say much more ‘ socially accepted ‘ way to eat.
After the first few days I felt worse. Not physically, rather from the inside out.
I didn’t want to. Meat, fish and Co. irritated me a bit more.
Back to track
Three weeks later, back in Australia, it was enough for me. I felt so infinitely good with my vegan diet.
Becoming vegan was an experience that inspired me so much more than I ever thought possible.
Back to track – this time it’s right. It’s finally my decision, my life and my body.
I was determined and motivated as never. Said – done.
So I started getting more and more involved with details & really fell in love with this kind of life.
If you don’t change anything, nothing changes
The decision to become vegan was one of the best decisions of my life.
I was allowed to notice so many, great side effects that I hadn’t even gotten into my mind before.
My skin has always been pretty uncomplicated, but what happened to her through veganism is next level. I have absolutely no impurities and would claim a baby butt is no gentler than my face.
My hair is thicker, firmer and grows faster.
Fatigue during the day? Like blown away – no more topic
I have never had such strong and stable nails as now.
I shop much more seasonally – correspondingly also fresher
I’m happier
My hunger is back. Due to the many diets I had no idea what it feels like anymore.
I can eat my fill. That’s so much quality of life.
Flatulence? History of the
I have discovered smoothies for myself and am much more creative in the kitchen.
Green vegetables are on my table every day
I enjoy food a lot more than I used to.
I have met many interesting and inspiring people
I save money because I like to cook myself again
This lightness from the inside out – Absolutely dreamlike
It’s not about perfectionism. It’s about getting started.
Fast food is almost never available
Eating attacks were banished, no more ravenous hunger
I have discovered countless new foods – Tempeh is currently at the top of my favorites list
We always have fresh fruit at home
I love salads
I’m doing more sports again and feel fit.
My health awareness is more pronounced
I don’t have a headache anymore.
After my transition to vegan nutrition, I also lost some weight. At the beginning I hadn’t really noticed this, after all, I didn’t have this reason to live vegan – still a nice side effect.
Be sick? What is that?
In Sydney it’s winter, that means many people get sick. No matter if you have a cold, flu, sore throat or similar. Crazy, before I was the same.
That’s different now. Instead of eating tablets, I eat healthily, eat a lot of fiber (plant fibres from cereals, vegetables or fruit sources in the stomach, thus ensuring a faster and longer lasting satisfaction) and am healthy. What a great feeling.
My conclusion
My physical change took place before I decided to become vegan. My spiritual satisfaction and the feeling of being honest with one’s self, however, came only with this change. Even if you sometimes encounter doubts, criticism or incomprehension, do not let yourself be dismissed from your own path. The positive sides will prevail and you will be proud of yourself. You decide on your own whether you’re holding or giving up.
Each journey begins with the first step and each path leads to a different place. Every day I learn new things about myself, my ideas and ideologies. An important part of this is to overcome obstacles and to draw lessons from it. I am ready and open to many more positive developments. I don’t know yet where my journey leads me. What I can say, however, is that the view so far is beautiful & I am happy to have done the first step.
How long have you been living vegan? What has moved you to this lifestyle? What experiences could you make/experience?
Love, Nathalie.
