A Bit of Background: Part 2- The Beginning of the Journey

Part 2- The Beginning of the Journey 

After nearly 5 years of sporadic dieting and exercising, I finally decided to sort out my lifestyle for good in May 2016.
The main trigger for me of course was my 9 months GERD trauma which was a wake up call for me to sort through my eating and lifestyle habits. I always liked to believe that I had a healthy lifestyle as I would  eat mostly lean meats, lots of fruits and vegetables, and only unrefined wholegrain carbohydrates. Sounds pretty healthy but, there was a problem. I might have eaten foods that were deemed healthy for the most of it but I often restricted my caloric intake so much that I would go through periods of under-eating followed by periods of over-eating, to compensate for my body's needs and urges to consume more, which isn't sustainable by any means. During the periods of over-eating I would have times where I would binge on unhealthy processed foods like crisps and chocolates which left me feeling awful and would kick-start the under-eating once again. This viscous cycle of under- and over-eating put my body in a really bad place and left me feeling lowly most of the time. Coupled with that was the excessive exercising to reduce the guilt which over-worked my body and as an effect, this lifestyle took all the energy out of me and I was constantly in a less-than-cheery mood.

Which is why I took the decision to turn things around in May and decided to go vegan for good. I had wanted to adopt a plant-based diet for ages after reading about people who have lived wonderful and fulfilling lives on this lifestyle but the perceived inconvenience of having a plant-based diet, especially in Singapore where there is little local produce, held me back for the longest time. When my health had started deteriorating, I went through some level of emotional turmoil because I had worked hard to keep up with what I had built up in my head to be a "healthy lifestyle", which is why I had to re-evaluate my decisions and look into adopting a plant-based diet for certain this time. The amount of research I had done beforehand had be convinced that veganism was indeed a sustainable and healthy lifestyle option for me so, it took pretty little effort for me to plunge into the lifestyle overnight. The first couple of weeks were tricky because I was not accustomed to packing school lunches for myself and due to little experience, it took up more time than expected on some nights. It got even trickier in the second week when I had to stay in an unfamiliar hostel for 5 days and wasn't entirely sure of the food options I would have available to me. So, I stock piled my room with a dozen bananas, dozen apples, a bag of lychees, grapes and a pack of almonds to sustain myself if I could not find sufficient food options during meal times. My friends found it hilarious but that's what I had to do to keep myself fed. The hostel stay turned out to be pretty easy and I had no problem finishing my stock and stayed well nourished. 

Eating plant-based got much easier after that as I started to come up with my own simple recipes that took little time away from studying for exams and were very affordable (stay tuned for those). Progressively, I started feeling much more satisfied with myself and my emotional state started improving rapidly as I no longer had a fluctuating lifestyle and I was eating things that were doing my body good. However, due to medication I continued to gain weight, which could not have been prevented. There was also a short period of time where I started eating processed vegan junk food due to exam-stress and I noticed that I did not feel as good as I did when keeping away from processed items. As such, I make an effort to avoid and minimise my consumption of processed food that is chalk-full of additives, preservatives and chemicals that aren't great for our bodies. I do however make an exception with vegan dark-chocolate (dark-chocolate has always been my weakness) and still have it in moderation now and again. Eating plant-based has allowed me to be less obsessed over my calorie count and I no longer restrict portions as excessively as I used to before because I know that I'm putting good, nutritious food into my body.
( I will soon make a post with a break down of what I typically eat in a day😊 )

Evaluating my eating patterns, deciding to adopt a healthier diet along with a good sleeping pattern and a positive mindset put me in a much better place compared to the beginning of the year. I no longer feel exhausted or groggy or dull,  in fact I have more energy now than I did before, and I feel much happier with myself for the changes I have made in my lifestyle. Not preaching veganism here but this is what worked for me and I do believe that incorporating a good portion of fresh fruits and vegetables, and cutting down on hormones indirectly consumed from unethically harvested animal products can make a massive difference in the way we think and feel. I hope this post gives you some reassurance that sticking to a simple change in diet can go further beyond physical change and can improve your mental state, giving you a fresher outlook on life. It's still very early on in my journey to feel the full impacts of this new lifestyle that I have adopted but I am positive that there will be even greater improvements in the quality of my life as time passes by.

So, stay tuned to keep up with my journey and let's experience health together!