When I was home over these past winter holidays, I cooked quite a bit for everyone. My parents wanted to go on some sort of cleanse, but did not want to commit to a juice cleanse. So I put them on a three day food cleanse full of healthy, simple, and nourishing pure foods. I eliminated dairy, refined sugars, eggs, anything white, processed, or from an animal. However, there was a lot of flavors they weren't used to yet (such as nutritional yeast), so I had to try and edit the recipes to their tastes...it was quite difficult and I felt like I was not able to give them all of the benefits such a cleanse has given me. I really feel that for me, doing a juice cleanse to start with really helped to reprogram my taste buds, as I did the three day food cleanse I put them on immediately after my first cleanse and I welcomed the new flavor profiles I had not experienced in such quantities yet. Of course I first went vegetarian in 5th grade, flirting with it for a couple years before settling on it. I went back and forth between vegan, raw vegan, and vegetarian from ages 16-27 right up until this past November. So even though I see-sawed on these food ways, I still gained enough experience to where these ingredients that are quite foreign to most people had already been introduced. I'm sure that had influence, too. Changing from a SAD (Standard American Diet) to a vegetarian diet at such a young age also made a difference I'm sure, as I changed it at developmental time that was highly impressionable on me.
My parents are not what I'd consider picky eaters at all, as we spent some years abroad in Japan during my childhood and our diets became quite influenced by Japanese cuisine. This experience allowed us to travel all over Asia and Europe where we were constantly trying new foods. Even after we moved back to the US we still ate a pretty versatile diet comparatively speaking and my parents had many vegan or vegetarian meals that I have prepared throughout the years. I also have an aunt that has lived in Japan for the past 30 years and often cooks vegetarian with lots of spices when she comes home each summer, influenced by the new countries she explored. Because of this, I did not think the different flavors would be so difficult for them..I was wrong, though. However, it must have done something to them, perhaps deep inside their psyche (ok, maybe not that deep). I say this because since my time home, they have really changed their eating. So much so, my dad coined a new term he goes by- a ''vegaflexitarian''. Basically, they eat vegetarian and vegan most of the time, with meat/dairy/fish/eggs once in a while now. This is a huge change for them and I'm quite proud of them for changing their eating habits later in life- this is difficult to do I am sure of it! So even though this food cleanse was not a big hit, seeing how I changed my eating, the positive effects its had on me, and being open to trying these new types of recipes did make an impact. My parents even make their own almond milk now since I did it while being home! That is change, my friends!
So if you are starting out onto a new path, be kind to yourself and understand that it's ok if these changes don't happen overnight. You may be like me where you just wake up one day and decide this is the day, today I change and I never look back. Or you may be more like my parents who became ''vegaflexitarians''. Either way is perfectly fine! Don't let those that are more militant about being vegan make you feel like unless you're doing it all you're a failure. You're not! Changing a habit is a difficult process that takes time. You're not just changing one habit, you're changing several! Celebrate the little accomplishments..such as the first time you successfully make almond milk or a chocolate tofu pie that everyone loves...or eating breakfast everyday if that is a change for you. These little changes will eventually result in one huge change that will be long-lasting. Doing it this way will also give you the time to research these new changes and get comfortable with them, rather than making the jump and then praying you'll land on your feet. Always keep in mind that this is not a fad diet. This is truly a lifestyle change that you are consciously making to better yourself, inside and out. You're going to feel better physically, emotionally, psychologically, and have positive impacts on your community, the environment, and living creatures! These changes are both micro and macro. If you treat it like a fad diet and focus on restriction and short term results, you will get exactly that- short term results that don't last. If you eat an egg, some cheese, whatever, don't beat yourself up. You are only human. Planning ahead will help to curb the chances of this, however being human and all, sometimes we forget to plan ahead. Don't feel like because you ate an animal byproduct you suddenly are a horrible person. Just go back to eliminating those products the next meal or next day.
