I've started to actually write and record things in my journal, and this is one page I thought would be good to share. If you don't want to read my terrible, scrawled writing, I'll talk a little bit about what it says down here.
I was at a party with my family, it was a bonfire party, and also a birthday party. There was food, drinks, and tons of cupcakes, which were brought from a local bakery that all my friends rave about.
The previous week, I had started eating eggs, because I joined my schools rowing team-which I will talk about in a post soon-and needed the extra protein boost. I was very conscious about it, only buying the eggs from free range, all organic chickens and everything. A couple times I did think about eating dairy again, but didn't do it.
Now, I was sitting with my mom at this party, and we were talking about the cupcakes, and how most teenagers would eat one and not act like it was a big deal, and I was thinking about it, but still very hesitant. It made sense, I had just spent the last year in a half being an extremely strict vegan, not letting an ounce of dairy past my lips. Then, a good friend of ours sat down, eating a cracker with brie. I made a joke about his cheese-to-cracker ratio, we all laughed, and then he told me a little story. He said that twenty years ago, he hopped on the low-fat bandwagon, and didn't eat any butter, full fat milks, anything like that. He told me how in all the years he did that, he gained weight immensely, but was hardly ever satisfied.
That was a perspective I had never gotten before. This is an interesting article about the same topic, and also, this video may mess with your mind about food, and what you should and shouldn't eat.
Anyway, the whole "vegan thing" wasn't something I did just to lose weight or control what I ate, I also liked it for the ecological aspect. And that isn't something I'm just blowing to the wayside by doing this, but when I'm out with my friends and everyone is eating cake, refusing a piece isn't going to solve all the world's problems.
So, in the end, I ate the cupcake. It was pumpkin spice flavored, and probably the best thing I've eaten since I quit eating dairy. I'm still vegetarian, never eaten meat, never planning on it, but I'm not going to be the party killjoy anymore, when it comes to food.
