30 Days of Veganism

I never thought I would make it this far, but I have! I've been a vegan for a month. An entire month. That's right folks, I haven't eaten any meat or dairy for 30+ days. Wahoo! And it only took several attempts to get here.
I have a lot of dreams and goals (and being a vegan has been one of them), yet I am horrible at executing them. I start them with the intention of following through but then, I just turn unbelievably lazy. I know this is one of my worst flaws, but I'm working on it. And finally succeeding as a vegan proves that.

This time it wasn't that hard of a transition. Which is strange, coming from a once before meat loving machine! But after the holidays I knew veganism wasn't only the right thing to do for animals, but for my own health as well.
If you don't know already, I have Ulcerative Colitis. UC is an autoimmune disease that is Chron's baby brother. Basically to put it short, my immune system isn't the smartest and attacks my intestines, giving me ulcers that can cause mild to extreme symptoms. I recently started a new medicine to calm down my immune system called Humira. I stared this medicine the middle of December and I instantly started feeling better. I was also eating a mostly plant based diet and was feeling pretty dang good.
But then the holidays rolled around and I broke. I had some meat, and a lot of dairy.
The next week was brutal, and I was in so much pain. Nothing really out of the ordinary, it felt like any ordinary flare up with medicine. But that was the thing, I should have never had severe flare ups with my medicine. It clicked in my brain after that. My body reacts badly to meat and dairy, no matter what medicine I am currently using. So I started my plant based diet over again, and after a few weeks, I was back to 'normal'.
I still have a lot of symptoms, but they are a lot more manageable then before. I also started an exercising and mediation routine which have also helped calm my disease. Who knew breathing could help a girl's tummy issues?
Food wise, I am in love. Yes, there are some days where I'm craving bologna sandwiches or bacon and eggs. But veganism doesn't limit you as much as people think. Sure, you have to cook a lot if you want to eat, but that's a good thing! For one you are more likely to not eat like crap. Two, it is way cheaper than eating out. Healthier and cheaper, who couldn't ask for a better deal? And not to toot my own horn, but I've made some amazing recipes. I have found several foods that I have on a regular basis. A lot of potatoes, pasta, chickpea salad sandwiches (These are amazing you don't know what you're missing!), stir fries, more potatoes, smoothies, black bean tacos, the list is endless.

I hope that the longer I stay vegan, the better my health is. It's a long shot, there is no cure for Ulcerative Colitis. But I am confident that a healthy vegan lifestyle will make this disease bearable.
I may have started this journey for my health, but animals play an important role as well. I love animals, and I finally feel like I'm doing what I was meant to. I hope someone out there took something from this! I wanted to share my story and maybe inspire other people to try out a plant based diet. Now go eat an apple and save some animals!