It's a brand new beginning...

No matter who you are, where you're from, or what stage of life you are living, you had your starting points; moments in time that made you change your mind and set your path for the future. One of the most important decisions of my 20 years was made just a few months ago. I decided to make my life better, to treat my body better, to be healthy. And, as an animal lover from day one, a vegetarian lifestyle was my first choice... so I went with it. I was able to accomplish two goals with one choice, begin my weight-loss journey and finally say that I'd had enough of putting my money towards the torture and abuse of innocent animals. But now that I'm about 6 months in and about 40 lbs down, I've made another important choice. Being vegan. I don't want to say I am vegan.... I'm not. But I want to be. This blog is meant for me to really keep track of my journey, to allow myself to make the transition on my own terms. Ideally, I would just give it all up right away, no more cheese, eggs, milk, nada. But I know myself too well by now... I know that if I were to do that I'd completely wear myself out and be done with the whole thing within a week. I have to ease into it. The perfectionist side of me wants to freak out and I will, undoubtedly, beat myself up that I can't be the "perfect"* vegan immediately.

*even though I am fully aware that perfection doesn't exist...

My plan is to eat consciously, to really think about what is going into my body and make a decision. One meal at a time. It's really the best I can do at this point. It's all about learning to make the right choices and allowing myself the freedom to decide will make the good choices the more rewarding ones. There is nothing I can't eat... there are just things I choose not to. Instead of thinking about what I'm "giving up" I'm thinking about all of the things I have never tried, all of the "mysteries" that I get to uncover, and all of the things I've passed in the produce aisles that look so interesting but I have no idea what they're there for.

I'm excited.