Hello, and welcome back to Eight Years In! We’ve been on a bit of a kick lately. We talked about the worst parts about veganism and why going vegan isn’t as bad as you think (which you can find here and here, respectively). But after all of those concerns and complaints, I bet you’re wondering what the good parts about being vegan are.
And so I wanted to take some time out to address that because there are benefits to this and I have never once wished that I hadn’t gone vegan. I’m both proud of my decision and happy with my lifestyle and I wouldn’t trade it. So let’s talk about why being vegan is awesome!
I’m a better cook now
Okay, so this one isn’t necessarily because of veganism, obviously. But for me, kitchen skills came along with my long term veganism. If you live in an area where the vegan options are scant then you may have to learn how to be a good cook if you want to eat a delicious meal. And that’s what I did.
I’m by no means a professional, but I’m a pretty good home cook now. I have an understanding of basic cooking processes. And a good base of knowledge about what spices pair well together for certain things.
I’ve found that being vegan helped me get both motivation to learn about the kitchen as well as a creative spark for cooking that I didn’t have before. I’m more interested in trying new things and seeing how different things work. I’m all for getting a new vegetable at the store and learning how to cook it or learning about the world through cuisine.
To be honest, I don’t know if I ever would have gotten quite so interested in making food if I hadn’t have gone vegan. The fact is, it sparked this sense of creation and okay in the kitchen out of a sense of new boundaries and necessary solutions. I’m not sure it would have happened any other way. But I will say, whether it would have or not, I’m so glad it did. Because now I find so much more pleasure out of the food I eat. Not to mention so much more joy in preparing it. It’s like a whole new world opened up to me, thanks to veganism.
I feel healthier
I remember when I went vegan in the very beginning. It was amazing. And I try not to be sensationalist in my content. I don’t want to give anyone false hope or anything like that. But when I started eating vegan, I felt great. I had more energy and less physical symptoms of stress. I felt like more life was coursing through me within just a few days.
And that superwoman feeling chilled out after a while. I stopped feeling like I was glowing after a couple months but even now, years later, I feel good. I find that I’m able to do more active things that I wasn’t able to do before and that I recover better than other people who I’m around.
I don’t know if going vegan will automatically level up you and your health like it did for me. But I can tell you that I’m feeling pretty good. Healthier than I felt before going vegan. And many people experience the same thing when they go vegan and prioritize their health.
So it can be a pretty cool thing.
It opened up a doorway of unconventionalism in my brain
This one isn’t so straightforward to describe. But since it has been so transformative, I wanted to take a second to really acknowledge it.
Going vegan for me wasn’t easy in the sense that I had never met one before. It was as far from “normal” as I possibly could have imagined. So I had a lot of mental blocks to overcome to get here. But once I did, I realized in a very tangible way that the way things have always been done is A) not the only way to do things and B) sometimes not even a good way of doing things.
Having this realization really opened up my mind to the idea of change and personal transformation. I realized there are probably zillions of ideas I haven’t encountered yet that could improve my life and myself so much. It’s a humbling thing to realize. And not only that, it’s a helpful thing to know.
With this realization in my back pocket, I can look back on how good this lifestyle change has been to me and think in the future about being open to change and growth. And I have changed in many ways over the years, since deciding to go vegan. I am proud of each and every one of them. And I am excited to see what more is coming my way. What new ideas will the me of the future encounter? And will she take advantage of them? Knowing what I know now, I think the answer is more likely to be yes. And that’s a great feeling.
I have a clear conscience
This final one may seem like a silly afterthought to some of you nonvegans, but I severely underestimated how much this would effect my life and my emotional state before I went vegan.
The fact is, being vegan is great! I know a lot of people passively dislike the idea of animals being killed for their plates. And when you go vegan, you get to avoid all of those messy guilty feelings as well as pushing them down to be able to eat your sandwich.
It seems like no big deal on a day to day basis because you’re used to it, but once you’re free and don’t have to rationalize it anymore, it’s like a big weight is lifted off of your shoulders. At least, it was for me. Now I know that nobody had to die or be locked up all their lives for my food. And sure, I know veganism isn’t perfect, but it feels a heck of a lot better knowing that you’re actually doing what you can.
On the days when you’re feeling insecure, knowing in your heart of hearts that you’re doing what you can is a big relief and solace you can find.
And I don’t feel like being vegan is “enough” in the sense that simply being vegan doesn’t mean that you’re a good person or that there’s nothing more you should try to give to this world. I think we should all be looking for ways to increase our positive impact in this world and decrease the bad stuff we bring to it. Veganism is just one step. But it’s doing something. And if you ask me, that’s a start.
Thank you for reading my thoughts. If you want more vegan related content, subscribe to the blog so you’ll get updates whenever a new post goes live! And if you’re vegan, tell us about your favorite things about going vegan in the comments of this post! As usual, have a lovely day!