I am a vegan. This is a personal choice I made about eight years ago. If someone had told me that I would change my eating habits drastically, I probably would not have believed them then.

My mother and I were on a plane on our way for a 10 day holiday trip. While my mother was reading a book called Diet for a New America by John Robbins, she leaned over and asked if I would be interested in becoming a vegan for our entire holiday. I had to ask her what vegan meant. I wasn’t convinced until she started reading me portions of the book. It spoke about the horrible ways we treat animals, which is what Americans call “factory farming.” The more she read the easier it became to say ‘yes’ to the challenge of veganism. This required no eating of animal products of any kind including dairy – while on my holiday break.

At the time I was having problems with my digestion and elimination as I always felt so sluggish after eating meat. It just seemed to sit in my stomach forever and it drained me of my energy. I loved the taste and texture of all meat but the after-feeling was not a pleasant one. That being said, meat was rather difficult to give up. Dairy, on the other hand, was easier.

As a singer, I was eating very little because of its ‘mucus building factor,’ not the greatest when you are about to belt out a tune. Even so, I still really enjoyed my ice cream, which by the way, was the biggest challenge for my Mum on this trip – all the homemade ice cream stores seemed to be calling her name as we passed them by. However, she kept her word and looked on by.

A few days into veganism, I noticed my digestion and elimination was escalating. I then had a taste of what it felt like to eat and be energized. In my mind there was no turning back. Health challenges for my mother turned around as well. Within a few months of becoming vegan, her asthma miraculously disappeared. She also noticed that the stiffness in her ankles and fingers that once really slowed her down was gone. My mother and I both noticed the positive differences in our health that we have chosen to keep persist in our ‘vegan experiment’ to this day! Celebrities like Ellen Degeneres, Drew Barrymore, and Emily Deschanel, and many more, have embraced this vegan lifestyle.

Here is where my vegan journey got really interesting.

You may have heard the saying: “What you think about you bring about.” For example, if you ever think about buying a certain car and all of a sudden you start seeing that model everywhere? That’s because that is what you are focusing on.

It was the same for health and I. Nutrition desires were popping up everywhere. I started to attract all sorts of health conferences to sing at. I found myself performing for doctors turned naturopaths, herbalists, natural therapists, and scientists…all sharing their wisdom about food and overall well-being.

One day my Mum told me there was a speaker coming to our community to speak on the benefits of ‘raw vegan eating.’ I said, “What do you mean raw? Do you eat – carrots and celery sticks only?”

So being curious as we were, we went to hear a man speak about the benefits of ‘raw foods.’ I was impressed with the analogy of a raw sunflower seed versus a roasted one. If you put both of them in water, only one will sprout and grow. The raw sunflower seed will sprout, obviously, because it is still in its natural state filled with nutrients ready to come to life. The roasted one is completely dead. So what does that mean for us? The nutrient-rich foods that we choose to eat supply the health we need for our bodies.

So I thought, “I want to eat foods that give my body the most nutrition.” But I wasn’t entirely convinced yet.

[TO BE CONTINUED]

NOTE: Find the complete article in the OCTOBER issue of Zooey Magazine.