By Leighton Maynard
Once you become vegan it becomes not only a dietary choice but a lifestyle.
A sophomore in high school opting to become vegan out of the blue is not something you hear about every day. I started my journey on March 22, 2024. I’ve officially been vegan for around 7 weeks. Though it doesn’t seem like necessarily a long time, it has felt like an eternity. An eternity that I would never ask for back.
You might wonder why I started this journey and why someone would intentionally remove cheese, eggs, milk, and meat from their life. My decision was sparked by a documentary called “Racing Extinction.” I have always been interested in the environment. You might know this about me from my Environmental club. I felt that I wasn’t doing enough to help prevent global warming so this documentary introduced the idea of the things you eat and how they can untimely affect your carbon footprint. A vegan diet results in 75% less climate heating emissions as well as water pollution and land use.
Not only are there environmental benefits but health benefits as well. Overall vegan diets help decrease the risk of disease and other health issues. And before you ask, yes, there are some risks to becoming vegan, such as insufficient calcium and Vitamin C. After doing some research, I decided that the pros mostly outweigh the cons. There are also multiple ways to get away from the cons such as making sure you are including enough protein in your diet. Even though we have evolved over time to eat meat, that does not mean that our bodies cannot function without it. Humans can obtain all the essential nutrients needed through a vegan diet. In no way am I not agreeing with the fact that there is a “wrong” way to do this, but throughout my journey, I have made sure I am properly getting the nutrients I need.
I have had to stay in tune with my body. The first few days of being vegan felt pretty easy. To be completely honest though, I was not eating enough. I had an ongoing fear that everything I was consuming would have some sort of animal-based product in it. After a few days,I started to get used to what I was able to consume.
I had to start buying groceries that went along with my dietary needs. My favorites for the first week were Dave’s Bread with vegan butter as well as hummus and carrots. I wasn’t really interested at first to try all the special vegan-made meals so I just stuck to my normal food and cut out the non-vegan stuff. For example, I like salad, but a lot of dressing is made out of animal products, so I would just eat the salad without dressing.
The biggest challenge for me is not being able to eat cheese. I’m a big cheese lover and not having it in my diet was super hard. I did actually try vegan cheese once, but it tasted like wax and smelled like popcorn, which was pretty disgusting.
After trying the vegan cheese I started to have the urge to try other “vegan” things. I went to Publix and bought some pre-made meals such as rice and plant-based meatballs, veggie patties, vegan macaroni and cheese, and fried rice. I spread these meals out over the course of two weeks. My favorite was most definitely the fried rice. It was super good and all the stuff in it was real and not a “vegan” version of the actual food whereas the plant-based meat was not my favorite. Its texture was very soft and wasn’t giving me the satisfaction I was looking for.
A lot of people have the misconception that plant-based diets are more expensive than other diets, but according to Oxford University, it is actually the most affordable diet. Not only is it generally less expensive but it also helps me not eat out as much. Prior to being vegan, I loved Chick-fil-A but now that I’m not eating meat I’ve saved a lot of money.
Even though I’m not eating out as much I still have the occasional dinner out. Sometimes it’s hard going to restaurants because I fear that when you tell the waiter you’re vegan they automatically start making assumptions about you. Whether they are or aren’t I know that I’m doing it for all the right reasons. At first, I was super scared going to restaurants, but now it’s super easy, and usually, there are vegan options on the menu.
Before going vegan I was a pretty picky eater. I was a chicken tender and fry girl who didn’t care to expand beyond that. By going vegan I’ve been a little forced to go outside of my food bubble and start trying new things. When I go to restaurants I’ve started to order things I’ve never tried before. I went to Houston’s with my dad for my birthday and ordered a veggie burger (with fries of course). It was okay but I don’t think I will be ordering it again. I also went to Canoe for a big family celebration and I went out of my comfort zone and tried Ratatouille. It was actually pretty good and it forced me to eat mushrooms even though I’ve never liked them before. And when I hit Willy’s for the first time as a vegan, I was happy to see I still had so many vegan options. I am now a go-to salad bowl girl with beans, rice, and guacamole when I was originally a quesadilla girl. Mexican food is now my definite favorite just because of how many options I can eat.
Not only has food changed for me but so have drinks. I usually get drinks at Starbucks without thinking about the ingredients in them and now I’ve had to completely change. I had to shift my normal milk to oat milk which honestly has been really nice because I used to get terrible stomach aches. I now order the Oatmilk Shaken Espresso from Starbucks – 10/10 recommendation.
Now, you might be wondering what the parents and family are thinking about all of this. My parents have been nothing but supportive throughout my journey. They haven’t necessarily changed their diets but they have definitely incorporated some more of my vegan groceries in their meals. For example, we used to buy Cheeto Puffs and now we buy Hippeas as a snack and they are equally as good.
Both of my parents work and try their best to make meals for us but most of the time we are left to cook our own meals so becoming vegan did not affect “family dinners.”
My siblings, especially my older brother, were pretty skeptical of my choice, but they’re coming around a little.
Another advantage of becoming vegan is the table conversation it brings when people notice what I’m eating. My goal isn’t to preach or convert, but I do love talking about my care for the environment and when I’m asked about why I became vegan it instantly sparks a light in me. People seem to care about what I’m saying and are genuinely interested in my decision.
It does get hard sometimes to talk to people about it because many have wrong misconceptions about the lifestyle. The best way to help these misconceptions is by doing your own research and by doing this we can have a civil conversation.
And after all these changes you may be wondering how I feel. I feel great. I have energy, I feel happier, I don’t regret putting food in my mouth anymore, and at the end of the day I can go to bed knowing that I’m doing my part in helping the world.
At this point, the change has been for the better and I’m not entirely sure when or if I will go back to my former diet. For now, everything has been going very well and I don’t see a need to go back.
Unfortunately, this will be my last newspaper article for The OnLion. It was a pleasure writing for you. Thank you, Mr. Newman and the rest of the Newspaper class, for making these two years so wonderful.
Oh, and in case you were wondering, at Atlanta Classical Academy, my new school, students bring their own lunches. I’ll have to figure out what else to pack in my lunch bag besides Dave’s Bread with vegan butter and hummus and carrots.
