This Is My Story, This Is My Song...

Hello Reader! I thought that for my first post, it would be highly necessary to share my story of how I went from a ravenous, veggie-hating carnivore to a lively and happy raw vegan! Ever since I was a toddler (or as far back as I can remember, which is skim since my memory sucks haha), I found fruits and vegetables to be appalling and was a huge fan of the Standard American Diet (S.A.D): cookies, chips, fried chicken, fried fish, fried dough, anything that can be fried, I would eat it! Isn't that crazy? I would literally gag anytime my parents would attempt at force feeding me broccoli or even grapes! The funniest thing is that I practically live off of broccoli and grapes these days haha. This horrible hatred of all things healthy continued into my tweens, where I gained a significant amount of weight by the time I entered middle school. If I can remember correctly, which I probably can not, I got up to the heaviest weight of my life in the 6th grade: a whopping 183 pounds. At the time, I thought nothing of it. "I'm just big boned," I would always say to myself, or my favorite, "I don't know why I can't stop gaining weight!" Obesity is a common occurrence on my mother's side of the family, so all my friends and family assumed it was genetics that made me inflate like a balloon blown by Kenny G. At barely 13 years old, 183 pounds does NOT even sound possible or, better yet, normal! So as the years went on with the same ignorance and neglect, I get to the 8th grade at the same weight, probably heavier. The only difference about this school year was that my mother got diagnosed with diabetes due to her obsession with the S.A.D, which is exactly what it is: sad. That diagnosis shook my world completely because I knew that I could be next, especially since I ate everything she ate and more. Fortunately, my mom, dad, younger sister, and I signed up for a weight loss program called "Operation Zero" at my local hospital that awesomely taught me how to successfully lose weight. With that helpful information, I went on to lose a little over 60 pounds by my 9th grade year! I was so happy to not be such a chub-ball through high school and somehow maintained to keep off the excess weight, although I still continued with the S.A.D way of eating and didn't feel the need to stop. Of course I had my health kicks like every other insecure high school girl, but I never truly ate healthy; I always stuck to the heavy meats, dairy, and fried foods. It really blows to admit that I didn't change my damaging ways until February of this year when I decide to go on a health kick together. I don't know what clicked in my head this time around, or just the fact that I had great support from my friends, but I did a severe 180! I did extensive research of chemicals in food, the detriments of processed food, what real food was, how I could change my diet, etc., as well as adding more physical activity into the mix. I have always been a yogi (since the 10th grade to be exact), but never made it a lifestyle until just about 6 months ago. All the soaked-in information, constant diet improvements, exercising, and yogic principles literally transformed me into the compassionate, slim, peaceful, happy, healthy, and extremely aware raw vegan that I am today. It's very hard to fathom how much abuse I have caused my body, but I make up for it now with only whole foods, running, yoga, and spiritual practices. I can't believe how drastically my life has changed in the past 6 months, and all I want to do is spread the word about how health and wellness is key! This will forever be my mission because I know now that I am fully living, and everybody following the S.A.D deserves to do the same.

 I know my first post was long but health journeys are not meant to be short! I wish I had pictures to back up my story, but I'm going to dig around to see if I can find any for future posts. Anyways, I am proud of how far I've come and will always encourage others (who want to be helped, of course) to do the same. I'm still learning and will always continue to grow, but that's the beauty of the life journey.Thanks for reading my borderline essay, and I hope it sparked some interest in you:) Peace, Love, and Veggies