Welcome back to RainbowPlantLife. If
you're new here, my name is Nisha, and thank you for joining me. I get a lot of
questions from friends and strangers alike about why I'm vegan and what the
transition was like and some of the challenges. So, in today's video I'll be
answering some of the questions I get about my vegan story. Ummm, I would say it was a mix of things. I think that's a pretty accurate statement. On the one hand, I ate a lot of healthy
foods. I ate a lot of fruits and vegetables, which I've always loved. And
whole grains. And I didn't eat fast food or drink soda, so I had a lot of good
stuff in my diet on the one hand. But, on the other hand I ate a lot of chicken. I ate a lot of freaking chicken. I probably ate chicken once a day, maybe less, maybe more, sometimes twice a day. And I a lot of dairy. Despite being told by my doctor that I was highly lactose intolerant, I continued to eat dairy and
suffered the consequences. I put cheese on everything. I ordered
pizza probably once a week, and I went through my fair share of Ben and Jerry's
ice cream pints. Yeah, so before I went vegan, I would say my diet was a mix of healthy and not so healthy. As I drifted into my late 20s, I noticed
something about my diet which is pretty common as you get older. And I noticed
that when I ate meat, I felt heavy and weighed down so I
experimented with cutting out meat. When I didn't eat meat, not only did I not
feel that heavy feeling, but I also felt happier. I couldn't really explain why or
how I felt happier, but it was a really present feeling. And so I listened to my
body and I stopped eating as much meat, and eventually within a few months, I
became a vegetarian. I started to research a little more about
vegetarianism and veganism and I knew that I wanted to become vegan because it
was good for you, but I didn't really have a strong reason to do so. As I
mentioned, I liked cheese a lot and I live in New York City so it was really
hard to give up New York City pizza without a really strong reason to do so. Then a friend recommended I watch the documentary Food Inc. And Food Inc. is
about how agribusiness and big corporations have made our food super
unhealthy, and in the process have polluted the environment and have abused animals and the employees that work on these factories and farms. I was really
moved by Food Inc., and I knew that I wanted to learn more and when I came
home from work the next day I cleared my schedule for the rest of the week and
basically just binge watched like ten documentaries. And I think I cried in all
of those documentaries. Maybe not all, but most of them. And that was a really
big deal for me because I don't cry very often, so I knew that this was gonna be
important and life-changing for me. Basically, binge watching those
documentaries converted me into becoming vegan overnight. Or, I guess over the course of a few nights. Before I watched those documentaries, I wanted to become vegan
but didn't really have a strong enough reason to do it. And afterwards, I did. I
had this intimate, personal connection with veganism because I knew how animals were being treated and I knew how bad livestock production was for the
environment, and I wanted to live my best life possible without causing harm to
others and without playing a role in the destruction of the environment. My life has changed in so many ways. For
one, I'm happier. That intangible feeling of happiness I felt the first time I
stopped eating meat - well, I feel that all the time now. Alright, not all the time. That
would be a little unrealistic, but I do feel happier and I think it's because
I'm finally able to live a life that's consistent with my values.
I've always highly valued non-violence and not causing harm to
others and now that I don't eat dairy products or animal products or meat, I
feel like I can say that's actually true. And that brings me a lot of happiness. Since going vegan, my health is better overall. I've always had high cholesterol
ever since I can remember, and I was always really bummed about it because I
was young, I was active, I didn't eat red meat, and I still had high cholesterol. And I got my blood work done two months after I went vegan and my cholesterol had
dropped over 20 points in just those two months. And I'm happy to report that I
now have normal cholesterol, which is a really huge accomplishment for me. I also suffer from IBS or irritable bowel syndrome. Very sexy I know. And since
going vegan, I have far fewer digestive issues and stomach problems. Apparently, if you're lactose intolerant and you don't eat dairy, you will feel better.
Simple as that. Since going vegan I tend to eat a little healthier as well. Of
course, I think that I'm eating healthier because I'm not eating animal products,
but I feel like I'm also eating healthier unintentionally. I used to have
a little bad habit, or I guess I still sort of have it, of going to a bakery
during work in the afternoon to get a brownie or a cookie or a chocolate
croissant, something to satisfy my sweet tooth. And it's not that I can't do that
these days--I still do--but I don't do it nearly as often. I used to do it almost
every day. And not every bakery sells vegan baked goods, so I have to go a
little out-of-the-way, which makes me less likely to do it all the time. I'm also a better cook now that I'm vegan. I've been cooking since I was a teenager, so there hasn't been a huge transformation. But when I want to
recreate comfort foods or favorite dishes, I have to get a little creative
in the kitchen. For instance, if I want to make pizza and I want to make cheese for the pizza, I have to use cashews or tofu or experiment instead of just buying cheese at the grocery store. And that experimentation and
creativity have helped me become a more confident and better cook. There is one change that is not necessarily a positive thing. I'll let you be the judge
of what it is. I eat more bread and bread products now that I'm vegan. And I don't
necessarily think that's a bad thing because I don't believe in limiting food
groups, but I know that some people are concerned about eating more carbs or
more bread when they're vegan, so I just wanted to be upfront with you. And
this is a purely personal choice because I love bread and bread products and it's
often convenient to eat bread because when you're out, bread is usually vegan.
But I know plenty of vegans who don't eat as much bread or who actually are
gluten free as well, so this is just my story. You certainly don't have to
eat as much bread as I do. This might be a little annoying to hear,
but I don't think being vegan is hard at all. It's actually really fun and
enjoyable for me, and that's probably because I love to cook and I also live
in New York City, which is really vegan friendly. As a result I have a ton of
variety in my diet and I never feel like I'm deprived or missing out. There are a couple challenges and I want to be honest with you about them. One relates to the social aspect of food. For me, food is so much fun to enjoy with
others, and I really love the social element of sharing food with people, so
if I'm with family or friends and everybody wants to go to a pizza joint
or go get ice cream, it can be a little challenging. Not because I want to eat
that particular dairy product or animal product because I don't, but because I
want to be enjoying what my family and friends are doing and sharing food with
them. I try to get around that problem by inviting people over to my place where I
can host and make sure everything's vegan, whether it's a potluck or a vegan
barbecue. The other challenge for me is not related to food. It's about finding good beauty products, household products, and clothing that's vegan or
cruelty-free. And I don't want to suggest that there aren't any brands that offer
these products because there are tons of them, but you can't just walk into a
store like you ordinarily would and pick the first item off the shelf. You have to
do some research about which brands offer cruelty-free products, you have to
read labels and ingredients and all that kind of stuff. So it's not hard per se,
but you do have to put in some time and investment into knowing what's out there. No, they are not. I'm vegan because I want to be vegan, because I love the way it makes me feel physically, emotionally,
mentally, spiritually. But it's not my place to judge what others do, including
members of my own family. We're all on our own individual journeys and we'll
all come to important realizations about life at different periods in our life,
and so it's not my position to force someone to come to that realization if
they're not ready to do so. Of course, if I can inspire someone to eat less meat or educate them about the values of veganism, that's great, and I love when I
have that opportunity. But there is a difference between forcing and
pressuring on the one hand, and inspiring and educating on the other hand, and I
try to stick to the latter. Thank you so much for taking the time to watch this video. And if there's anyone in your life that
would benefit from watching this video, whether they're vegan or not, please
share it with them. If you found this video helpful or informative, I would
love it if you hit that "thumbs up" button, And if you want to talk more about
veganism, whether it's your story or mine, or just have questions, I would love to
chat with you more, so leave me a comment below. And I'll see you guys next week
with a new video. Bye!
