About

My Story

This time last year, if someone had told me that I would be writing a blog about veganism, I would have laughed in their face and told them that they had the wrong girl. I was the meatiest meat eater around.  I actually participated in a chicken wing eating contest and won second place. I always choose the chicken shawarma over the falafel, and whenever I got up early enough I celebrated with McDonald’s breakfast (extra breakfast sauce please!) All of my meals were meat or animal by-product focused and there wasn’t anything I wouldn’t try even if it were too fatty, too decadent, or too gluttonous. I loved it all: buffalo wings smothered in Franks Red Hot sauce and dipped in cool garlicky ranch; medium rare strip loin and the steak juices were absorbed by my side of fries then dipped into garlic aioli; all-you-can-eat sushi dinners; steamed barbeque pork buns from Chinatown (who’s dough reminded me of a donut); and my all-time favourite was smoked pork ribs with a Memphis style dry rub. I considered myself an ultimate foodie since I loved going new restaurants, cooking gourmet food, and talking about how to cook things in the best way to make it hyper-palatable.

Although I wasn’t obese, my body took the hit for my indulgence. I couldn’t sleep most nights without a little inebriation in the form of wine or sleeping pills. I would wake up as though I just put my head on the pillow. I was very irritable most of the time and all I wanted to do after work was go home – where I lived alone – eat a lot of food and sleep. I actually looked forward to it since it made me very nervous to eat in front of other people.

Like most people, I decided to go on a diet to fix my problems. I even hired a personal trainer, which was hard on my wallet. I figured if I had to pay someone to help me improve my figure I would be discouraged from eating junk food. I went on a high protein, low carb, and no dairy diet, and for a little while it worked.

Sept 2011: Me with my grandparents at my sister’s wedding after much dieting and working out

Diets, however, are meant to fail. It is in their very nature to fail because they are temporary. I gained all of the weight back after a year and was more miserable than ever since I had failed yet again. To comfort myself I just ate whatever I wanted to since I had accepted that I would always be this way; that my appetite would always be greater than my hunger.

Jan 2012: After my failed diet, I had gained even more weight back on

I was lonely living by myself (with the exception of my fat cat Barbara) and a co-worker wanted to move to downtown Toronto and was looking for a roommate. At the time I lived in a shady apartment building in Etobicoke and longed to live downtown again. We agreed to be roommates and found an excellent apartment in the Annex.  I knew she was a vegetarian before we moved in together but didn’t think much of it since I knew I couldn’t ever give up meat. Where would I get my protein? I felt I needed it to live and no way was I ever going to give it up. I loved it too much.

Since we shared a living space, whatever she was already watching on television (mostly Netflix) I would watch with her. My roommate Ashley is an environmentalist and Netflix has some amazing documentaries about agriculture, water processing and global warming. I would sit with her and silently roll my eyes. To me, ignorance is bliss. It was a snowy winter last year and we watched movies a lot because who wants to go out in -20 degrees? Not this couch potato. The more we watched the more I absorbed the information and the images of animal conditions, effects of global warming, and how human beings are ruining the planet. Before this, I sorted my recycling and donated to WWF, but this is really as far as I got into being an “environmentalist.” I wanted to change but really did not know where to start and I was overwhelmed with the amount of information. Thankfully I have very supportive people in my life that made it an easier transition into not being so wasteful. My roommate Ashley gave me encouraging words every time I texted her about wanting to break down and just live in ignorance again. My boyfriend Mark, who jumped on the vegan train with me, was an invaluable source of support.

I started small: switching my dairy milk to almond milk (turns out it is a lot tastier than I imagined – creamy, slightly sweet and mixed well in my coffee); I had veggie burgers rather than hamburgers, and to reduce my waste I went to bulk stores for my pantry needs so I did not have to buy products in packaging.  I had thought that going vegan would be the hardest thing I ever did but, looking back, I had overcome many harder situations in my life and I am stronger for it.

Aug 2013

Considering going vegan? Great! You have come to the right place. Don’t know where to get vegan food? I will guide you on where to go (in Toronto). Think it is too hard to go vegan? I am sure you have been through harder events in your life. Don’t think of going vegan as something negative or something to bog you down. It is most certainly a positive lifestyle choice and once you start you can see how easy it can be. Start small just by making more vegan or vegetarian choices on a daily basis and you will see that it is less of a daunting task than you may have previously believed. You certainly don’t have to be exclusively vegan to appreciate this blog, just someone who is trying to make a bit of difference for the environment and for yourself.

I dedicate this site to my friend Ashley and boyfriend Mark, who both encouraged me to make this site.