Hello everyone (or no one, since I just made this blog and have no followers...yet!) My name is Alex and I am a raw vegan teen. I have been vegan for over a year, and raw off and on a few times during that time. Recently I have become fully raw as of last week. Before being vegan, I was pescetarian for a while, and had been vegan a couple years ago, too, after reading "Skinny Bitch." I firmly believe that a raw vegan diet (particularly one that is high in sweet fruit, low in fat, and with a moderate amount of vegetables and greens is optimal.) I also have always been a fruit lover, and tended to eat fruit as much as I could since I was a little youngster. Similarly, I have always been an animal lover, and whenever I ate meat, eggs, chicken, dairy, pork etc, something just didn't feel right. How could I be consuming creatures that have feelings and hearts just like my beloved dogs?
Transitioning to a vegan diet was hard, especially since I was and still am the
only vegan in my family. I first gave veganism a shot in 2007 after reading "Skinny Bitch." My mom was very supportive, and we bought things like soymilk, 'mock meats', and tofu. Pretty much everything was very processed, and just tasted like a strange version of their original counterparts (except the soymilk--that was better.) Eating those foods made veganism out to be maybe not the most appealing diet, so sticking to it was difficult (especially as a very young vegan teen at that point.) Eventually I drifted back to a carnivorous diet, though instinctively I ate little to no meat, chicken made me feel sick every time I ate it, and I didn't eat any cheese or cow's milk, and eggs rarely. I guess I was an "almost vegetarian." I went to Costa Rica last summer and everything there was delicious and fresh--every morning I would have a ton of fresh fruit and loved it. However, for lunch and dinner I would eat fish, fish, and more fish. Everything there was very environmentally conscious; recycling everywhere, farmers markets by the beach, and simple living. I felt pretty good then, but once I returned home I began reading more about the environment and it led me to some vegan blogs. The first I read was
VeganLovlie and I decided that I wanted to give veganism another shot. All of the recipes I found on the blog were of great help to me because I saw that there was a great multitude of options for vegans to eat--not just fake meats and tofu.
Since then I have been vegan, but for some reason eating my body would always crave "cold" foods. I think by cold my body meant "fresh, LIVING, raw" foods. Around late february of this year I began researching veganism again to see what recipes I could find that might satisfy my cravings. That was when I found out about "raw veganism." At first I thought to myself "how in the world can people survive off of vegetables and fruit?" It wasn't until later that I found the answer: by eating a LOT of it! I started drinking green smoothies in the morning adding more and more fruits, and I loved it. However, my parents got worried about what/ how much (or little) I was eating, so they pushed me to start eating cooked foods again. Bleh. I didn't feel so great anymore.
Now in the summer I've been having those same craving feelings as before, but this time I've done my research (and read great raw blogs like
Kristen's Raw), and am prepared to fight them if they (or my doctor) disagree with what the nutrition I am eating. They can't say that I 'need to eat' cooked foods, because their reasoning behind that is not going to be stronger than the facts contrary to their opinions. I understand their concerns, but a balance of cooked and raw foods maybe be okay for some people, but not for me; there
can be a balance in raw foodism--eating a great variety of fruits, some vegetables, and nuts when I feel like eating them on the rare occasion (I'll get more into that later.) But basically, at this point I'm just going to be chronicling the trials, tribulations, and happiness that comes with being a raw vegan [teen!]
