Weight: This is the first time I've lost weight. Ever. I knew I was overweight, but I didn't think I was so obese that a thirteen pound weight loss would be entirely lost on me. But I was. And I am. Nevertheless, I am shedding pounds and steadily, at that. Today my pants were a little loose, which gave the whole experience a qualitative measure of reality that numbers on a scale have not. I used to never want to get on a scale. Now I can't wait to wake up and weigh myself every day. Talk about drastic.
Health: I used to have loads of health issues. Nothing diagnosed, mind you, as I never go to the doctor (them requiring monetary payment for their services and all), but I used to suffer from migraine headaches, stomach problems, mood swings, and depression. Long story short, I was addicted to fast food, and the only thing that would alleviate these symptoms for a short time was a quick run through the drive-thru. A scant month ago, it wouldn't be uncommon for passerby at any given time of day to see me sitting in the parking lot of the McDonald's on Broadway, car running, listening to an audio book, and waiting for the inevitable, dichotomous, and simultaneous feelings of euphoria and dull chest pains to overcome me. Sometimes I would go through the drive-thru before going home to eat dinner, hiding my bad habit from my family with all the guilt and shame of any addict. Now that I've been on a plant-based diet, I haven't had any health problems, excepting some recent allergies (thanks, mold). While I'm sure had I gone to a doctor before becoming a vegan, s/he would have put me on blood pressure meds and/or anti-depressants, all I had to do was change my diet to make my life exponentially better. All of my health problems have "magically" gone away without the aid of a wonder-drug. Funny how that works, huh? I'll have more to say about this in the future, to be sure.
Energy: I have more energy than any time in recent memory. When I wake up in the morning, I don't immediately think about how nice it would be to go back to sleep again. I also don't fall asleep as early in the evening. And while I still haven't kicked Mountain Dew entirely, I'm not relying on it (or other sources of caffeine) to keep me going throughout the day.
Food: It's the last on the list, but it is certainly significant. The food that I'm eating is amazing. It's hard to miss the tasty food that made me feel like shit when I'm eating tasty food that provides actual nutrition for my body, allowing me to feel better and lose weight. Being a vegan has broadened my food horizons, and I feel much more liberated than restricted. I'm eating fantastic food which I had never even heard of before. Now I "just" eat fresh, organic fruits and veggies along with legumes and whole grains prepared in a variety of fun, creative, and delicious ways. I eat as much as I want, and all I do is lose weight and feel better. Talk about win-win.
Following the current (albeit amateur) motif of this blog, I'll end with a quote from the prolific and prophetic Tupac Shakur. I've been listening to Pac (and the song with which this post shares a title) for more than half of my life, and these wise words have finally sunk in:
We gotta make a change.
It's time for us as a people to start makin' some changes.
Let's change the way we eat.
Let's change the way we live.
And let's change the way we treat each other.
You see the old way wasn't workin' so it's on us to do what we gotta do
to survive.
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