Monday 28 March 2016

No Blood No Bones

Pic taken at Cook Daily; Boxpark, Shoreditch.

So I've been a vegan for 3 months straight now; prior to that I was on a dairy-free pescetarian diet. I'm usually faced with a look of shock when people find out, I guess I don't fit the stereotypical vegan look plus I'm African..what African doesn't eat meat?! Then without fail I'm asked, 'why are you doing this?', 'where do you get your proteins from?' or a very concerned 'do you eat?!'. Yes I do eat, I get very full on a wide range of vegetables, beans, grains, nuts, and seeds which also happens to be great sources of healthy 'living' proteins and lastly, being a vegan is not self punishment! Don't get me wrong, being the only vegan in your circle of friends has its challenges and I've often left restaurants still feeling hungry from just dining on chips (a vegan's best friend when the struggle gets real). However, becoming a vegan was not forced, it was a gradual transition both mentally and physically; I didn't just go cold turkey on meat (pun intended). So no, I am not missing Nandos' extra hot peri peri chicken.

Going vegan was a decision I made to embark on a spiritual and physical cleanse. I had been feeding my mind with knowledge of self and becoming increasingly interested in world history in a non-western narrative, particularly African history prior to and during the slave trade, all the details 'coincidently' left out in school. The more I was learning, the more I realised I knew nothing and was living a lie. I wanted to renew my mind and my spirit and I knew the best way to do this was to start eating clean and get rid of all the toxins in my body, after all, you really are what you eat. My friend introducing me to holistic doctor, Dr Sebi, sealed the deal for me. The consumption of slaughtered animals for dead toxic proteins was naturally losing its appeal to me. Restraining from poultry, meat, fish & dairy isn't self torture, in fact the opposite is so, the consumption of these is an act of me mistreating my body not treating myself!

Admittedly, becoming vegan was very much for selfish reasons initially rather than for the love of animals and the environment but a few documentaries on animal slaughter houses, how the dairy industry operates and how humans are destroying the earth made me re-evaluate my reasoning. Now, I'm not like a level 5 vegan out here, I don't even like letting people know about my new veganism craze because I sometimes feel like a hypocrite when I'm munching away at my honey containing granola or when I'm strutting around in leather shoes! Baby steps now...and I've chosen to begin with the health of my body first which I think is a blaady good start in a world that teaches us to take better care of the cars we drive in than the bodies we live our life in! #healthiswealth




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