And today the world gained a vegan

So yesterday, the 9th of April 2012, was the last day of my lent vegan challenge. I started this challenge to prove to myself that I could be vegan and survive, with the view of doing the challenge again next year and then maybe going vegan.

The truth is, my friends, I was scared. Like most people, I was afraid that being vegan would mean missing out on so much. I was afraid I'd have to just eat salad. I didn't think I could live without the animal products I loved so much, I didn't think I'd want to live without them. For what is life without cheese, ice-cream, warm milk before bed, and scrambled eggs on toast? Well, actually, life is pretty darn good.

A few days into my vegan challenge I noticed something, I had energy I never knew I could have, my mood had improved dramatically, my skin looked great, and, (come on, we all wonder about it when it comes to vegans!) my bowel movements were amazing. I don't believe I will ever have constipation again; goodbye increased risk of bowel cancer!. To sum it all up, I felt alive.

A few years ago I heard about a small study that was carried out to investigate anecdotal evidence that people find vegans more attractive than non-vegans. The study found that this might be so. I can now add my two cents worth to this discussion, it's true. I had noticed that my skin had improved, but other people obviously noticed more than this. Not only did I have people telling me how great I looked, I also got a lot of interest from members of the opposite sex in those 46 short days. Too bad for them that my relationship status didn't change along with my diet, but a win for Jeff :)

I have found that I don't actually miss animal products like I thought I would. I now know how crappy they were making my body feel because I can feel how alive and, dare I say it, pure my body feels now (yes, I've become one of THEM). As well, I have realised how much food I already ate that was vegan or could easily be made vegan. This happened when I went vegetarian too and I think it's one of the biggest boundaries to people becoming veg*an (meaning vegetarian or vegan). When you're an omnivore, which *cough* is actually what a vegetarian is, it's hard to see what you eat that doesn't contain animal products, or doesn't have to.

Anyway, the point of all this is that now that I'm on the other side of the vegan challenge, I see that it's really not that challenging. I feel great, I feel happy, I feel healthy, and I feel like I want to stay this way. So, inhabitants of planet Earth, you are now plus one vegan. Hooray!

So I guess that today is the day that So do you just like, eat salad? ceases to be a vegetarian blog and is transformed into a vegan blog. In essentials, it's still the same old friend. Same great food, same thought-provoking genius, same wit... ok, ok, maybe I'm getting carried away. But it'll sure as hell still be supportive of people just trying to become vegetarian. Or more vegetarian. Don't you worry about that. And it will still be filled with heaps yummy food. Yummy vegan food. Which it has been for the past 46 days and you're all still here. Self high-fives all around.

Happy (vegan) eating! :)