You Can Vegan Again!

I have come back to Blogger to give it a shot again.

I have been on Weebly for way too long, and although it does give you quite a bit of customization abilities, it's really not my thing. There is something to be said for typing in something that vaguely resembles a word processor. As a writer and perpetual student, I spend more time in Microsoft Office then any normal person should. So I like the posts that are reminiscent of many a late night using Microsoft Office and staring at a blank document, with the blinking cursor seemingly mocking me for my perpetual lack of writing ability. Hey, I said I was a writer, I didn't say I was a GOOD one... :-D

So anyway, back to Blogger for a remake of my Vegan365 blog. For those of you that don't follow my obsessive blogging efforts, Vegan365 was my first vegan blog, in which I chronicled 365 days of continuous vegan living. At least, that was the idea. I believe I got to Day 40, and even that set of posts was plagued by continual self-doubt. One thing that tripped me up is that I'm not much of a cook unless I'm following a recipe. Even then it is hit or miss, but at the time I was a VegWeb junkie and actually found some pretty good recipes. Unfortunately, the ones I found were pretty highly processed and grain-based, which is a no go for me.

For those of you who also don't know, I found out I had Celiac's in 2013, which I had probably had mildly my whole life, but it became chronic last year. So I had to radically alter my diet and try the arduous task of being a gluten-free vegan. Which pretty much means you can't eat out anywhere except Asian restaurants, sushi bars (get the veggie rolls!), and gluten-free and vegan-based restaurants. I also discovered Lindsey Nixon at Happy Herbivore, and her cookbooks have been a godsend. :-) But trying to navigate all that after being only a nominal vegan for five years was a hot mess. You would not be surprised that I went from periods of intense devoutness to intense rebellion. Especially when my immediate family, my fiancé's family, and my extended family are all omnivores!! :-)

The problem was, in 2013, it became chronic and I would get severe abdominal pain and inconvenient digestive issues, as well as headaches, fatigue, and all that jazz when I ate gluten for long periods of time. I learned that like most AI diseases, you can have flare-ups if you don't manage it. So for six months I killed my gut, and recently I had excruciating pain in my abdomen and needless to say wasn't too thrilled about it. So I decided that I should try not to abuse my body anymore. I will be 30 in less than five months and figure my gut can only take so much swelling and stretching before it gives up and I'll be in real trouble. :-P

My veganism is not purely ethical, as much as I would like it to be. I do have health issues and I find that I am more clear-headed and happy when I eat vegan foods. But I am not doing it to manage diabetes, hypertension, or heart disease either. My heart is wonky but strong and I don't eat a lot of sweets. So I'm a happy combination of both.

So what does that mean for you? I will be continuing along the thread of Vegan365 and Read. Write. Vegan, and posting some of my favorite products, recipes, and other goodies. They will also be gluten-free, since I also can't have gluten in beauty products. I will post about my exploits with START (St Louis Animal Rights Team) and Arch Vegans and hook you up with any events (if you're local to the St Louis area) that I think are super cool. :-)

Thanks for reading through this post! I look forward to connecting with all of you.

With metta,
Shelly