New Food, New Life with Harriette

I was having trouble last summer with a lack of energy. I tried to get enough sleep, eat every three to four hours and exercise daily, but I still struggled to get out of bed in the morning and felt myself falling asleep soon after lunch. This was NOT conducive to a full college semester in addition to 20+ hours of work a week.

About three months ago I read a brochure handed to me on campus about animal cruelty. After trying and failing to become vegan in the past I found that this was the push I needed to make the change for good. I knew I couldn’t just cut out animal products and dairy though, I would also need to replace protein substitutes to make sure I didn’t get sick.

I bought several books and bookmarked numerous blogs and websites on vegan recipes and lifestyle. I immediately replaced my meat and egg intake with almonds, walnuts, cashews and peanuts, as well as avocado, legumes and dark leafy greens. I realized that by cutting out a small food group, I was expanding my diet enormously in order to make up for it and as a result I was feeling a huge difference in many ways.

The main changes that were most obvious to me were my mood, energy levels and the way my body felt in general. I had, for the last several months, been struggling with severe mood swings which I wasn’t able to account for. After changing my diet I felt more positive and happy every day. I was going out with friends more and interacting more socially with strangers as well.

My energy levels skyrocketed as well. I was all of a sudden able to jump out of bed in the morning when my alarm sounded without even once reaching for the snooze button. As for bodily functions, I won’t go into detail, but I will say that I began feeling more settled and comfortable very soon after my diet change. By changing my diet I began truly enjoying trying new types of food and realized that by eating more whole foods with fewer added and unnatural ingredients I was not only doing a world of good for my body, but also for my wallet.

I save so much money on groceries without sacrificing health or satiety that I have been able to start buying more expensive organic and natural/vegan cosmetics and toiletries that I wasn’t able to afford before. I have become a huge advocate for organic, free-range and natural/whole foods diet. It makes a difference to your body and to the world.