An Introduction

I am The Vegan Hippie and the face behind www.theveganhippie.com and this blog. A bit about me. I was born and raised on the West Coast, went to school, lived with my family and had a pretty normal life. Until I was 19. I moved out and I began cooking for myself instead of eating whatever was put on my plate. This caused me to think a bit more about my eating habits. And I began to realize that I didn't even like eating meat. I didn't like the look of it, or the smell and it all just creeped me out, but I didn't know this until I saw a PETA video that showed how meat got to my plate. I was completely, and utterly disgusted. I loved animals! I could never even kill a fly. I was appalled and I felt like I had been lied to my the entire meat industry. And overnight, I became a vegetarian and have NEVER looked back. This was in October of 2004.

I headed off to college 3000 miles away. I dated a guy for about a year, he lived with me and he would cook meat and it would stink up the entire house. MY house. I should have taken that as a warning sign! Didn't do much dating after that ended until just before I graduated when I met MRV. On a vegetarian dating website. Ha! We met, and that was pretty much that. Except it has been a long distance relationship even to this day. More on that in a bit. Went to grad school, moved around a bit, worked some jobs here and there. My 23rd birthday. June 2008.  I decided it was time to go vegan. I didn't seem any healthier than after I'd become a veg partly because I was feeling like a bonified junk food vegetarian. Fake meats, lots of cheese and dairy, and boy, I was just not feeling right. So on my birthday, I bought myself a cheesecake, ate it all, and overnight, became a vegan. It just felt like the right thing for me to do. Because only as a vegan would I be a living example of my beliefs. Additionally, I felt like a hypocrite. How could I not eat meat but still support the cheese and dairy industry which is incredibly unjustified to the animals. I couldn't live that lie anymore.

As you can see, I don't like to do things subtlely. Fast forward to October 2009. I picked up a book that changed my life. I was dabbling in raw, but my first step was a book that was gourmet, HIGH fat raw. I bought pounds and pounds of nuts, and made an array of cheezes, pates, brownies, beans, etc, etc, anything I could make to substitute for the real thing. I don't even wanna know how much fat I was consuming on a daily basis but BLEH, I was not feeling so hot doing that either! I gained weight and just felt bloated. But I knew I was getting closer to my quest to find the ultimate feel-good, long term solution to my woes. I just wasn't feeling right but I couldn't put my finger on.

In comes Douglas Graham and 08/10/10, my savior, my knight in shining armor. THIS was finally it!! And I knew it. I knew it with my whole entire heart. This was how I was supposed to life. I read the whole book in a matter of days and it just made SENSE to me. It was so simple. I've NEVER liked cooking or using fancy ingredients or eating things I couldn't pronounce but I never imagined life could be so simple. I immediately dove into it, and I was shocked by how amazing I felt in just a matter of days. I was pooping A LOT but I felt so light weight and I wasn't cramping up on my runs and while working out.

I will be the first to admit that I struggle the most on this diet, which is kind of where this blog come in. I have gone 28 days on 80/10/10. I would like to go longer and really give it a shot. Since 2009, my entire objective has been to make peace with the cravings and the hunger that I feel. I would like to lose 30 pounds. I want to run a half marathon under 2:00. I want to sign up for a dance class. I want to compete in a duathalon (don't like swimming!). And I know all that is entirely possible if I can stick with it. I would not consider myself fat. I have never been fat. I am athletic, I enjoy eating and being active. I've ran a marathon, and more half marathons than I can count. But I know I have gained weight in the last few months, I don't like winter, or darkness or cold. Or sitting at a desk all day.

So this blog is about living my vegan life. Most importantly, standing up for the animals, going against modern society, not accepting outside influences as normal, being my own person, paving my own path and enjoying life knowing that I am not contributing to the unnecessary pain and suffering that millions of animals are forced to live through everyday. It will ALWAYS be about the animals first. The heath is an added benefit and just more evidence that this is the ONLY way to live! But this blog will not only be just about food. Life is about to change in many amazing ways for me soon. Being with MRV, my veggie soul mate, on a permanent basis, moving to be with him, new job prospects, and the dream of opening a smoothie shop and an online vegan store. I've only got one life and I intend to live it!

So far this year, I have really been focusing on eating clean, cooking for myself and not eating out. Also avoiding refined sugar and NO alcohol. Doing fairly well except with the sugar. I would like to know if I have candida, as I have a huge craving for sweets. Funny though, I don't crave sweets when my day is filled with fruit, which satisfies me in a great way.

Goals this year:

130 pounds
Move to be with MRV
Get hired by the job I applied for
Buy a new car (yeah, I do kind of need one, I've been driving mine for 12 years!)
Run a half marathon under 2:00 (running one in the AM, tho not thinking that will happen...)

Stay tuned, my friends...