How did I become vegan?

How did I become a vegan? Well its a long story, I’ll give you the quick version!

When my children were young we were living in Saskatchewan and were going to buy half a pig to put in the freezer for the winter months.My husband, Brent and I kept talking about this pig and one day the kids said, “when are we getting the pig?” My husband and I looked at each other and in that moment knew they thought we were getting a pet pig….we have had a lot of pets over the years. Yikes!

We sat them down and said “you know when you eat bacon and sausages” and they said “yes.” Well we said, “that meat comes from a pig.” Like most kids growing up, they only saw what we brought home from the supermarket and hadn’t make the connection from a live pig to the bacon we were eating. They were both shocked.

Not long after that my daughter, Meagan, started to refuse to eat meat of any kind and became a vegetarian, she was eight and has always loved animals and as an adult has a business walking dogs in the wilderness. Meg encouraged/hassled us over the next few years to quit eating meat. We cooked many vegetarian meals that we all enjoyed and the rest of us continued to eat meat the majority of the time. Eventually she became and still is a vegan.

During those early years we learned a lot about how to get protein from a non meat diet and became experts on reading labels and shopping for veg friendly options.

Several years later, I became a coach and my trainer was encouraging us to become vegan. I said, “no way”! Then my friend and fellow coach, Lisa Chell, told me about a 3 week on-line program, the 21 Day Vegan Quickstart Program, http://pcrm.org/kickstartHome/  And as they say the rest is history.

I started out with the 21 days, felt awesome, then thought I would go for 3 months, continued to feel great and then thought “heck, I might as well go for a year!” That was several years ago and I now head into my 9th year.  I could never imagine going back!

Since then my husband and son have all become vegan. My husband, Brent was happy to go along with things for the first few years. He would eat what we made and slip out for an A & W burger whenever he felt the need.

About three and a half years ago Brent developed tonsil cancer. By the time he was diagnosed he was Stage 3. After consulting with the specialist it was determined that Brent would undergo six weeks of radiation and chemotherapy treatment. During this process he lost his taste-buds and saliva glands and was unable to eat anything except fluids. His taste buds partially returned and his saliva glands for the most part did not. He could not swallow meat for about 3 years or anything that was crisp. We ate everything with a sauce.  A year after his initial treatment, a significant milestone, we took a cruise to Alaska and with that trip came a whole suitcase of protein shake drinks!!

At this point Brent has become a full time 99% vegan, 1% vegetarian. I asked him the other day, “if you could go back to eating meat, would you?” His response was a definite “No”. He told me, “it just wouldn’t feel right any more”. Brent went to his specialist recently and has an all clear after 5 years. The specialist said, Brent is doing much better than most with this type of cancer.

Well, that’s my story and how I got this way. Stay tuned for more stories of my amazing adventures as a Vegan on the Go! Please subscribe to my blog to receive notices of new recipes, tips and stories…..its free and easy to do!!

What’s your story?

I would love to hear about your adventures, challenges and questions around the vegan lifestyle. Please email me and let me know what is happening in your life. I look forward to hearing from you soon.