Listening to your Vegan Intuition

By Hilary Detwiller, Guest Contributor

Last October, I took control of my health.

I was tired of being overweight, mentally foggy and constantly fatigued. I struggled with some pretty severe digestion issues, recurrent headaches and hormonal imbalance. And now that I had become a new mom, I really wanted to set a healthy example for my daughter. I no longer wanted to merely exist; I wanted to thrive.

Throughout my entire adult life, I had always struggled with my weight. It always felt like such an uphill battle and adding “baby weight” into the mix just made the struggle harder. Moreover, counting calories, fat grams and carbs felt completely unnatural. It was ironic how something as basic as eating – one of the simplest, most intuitive and pleasurable things a person can do – had mutated into something completely contrived and artificial. My body’s cues for hunger and satiation became muffled by the much louder influence of what I “should” be doing and “should” be eating. Eventually, I just stopped using my intuition altogether.

Thankfully, I came to my senses and realized that something was very, very wrong. So, I started paying close attention to how different foods made me feel. I found that meat made me feel gassy, bloated and constipated. I realized that dairy products made me feel laden, foggy and tired. And processed foods were the worst; there’s only one word to describe the way processed stuff made me feel: dull.

Conversely, fresh, organic vegetables and fruits, whole grains, beans, nuts and oils made me feel amazing. Light, efficient, vibrant, bright-eyed and bushy-tailed. Simple, plant-based food had such a positive affect on everything – from my digestion to my energy levels to my emotions.

Listening closely to my body is what eventually lead me to veganism. Once I made the connection, it was like “Duh! What took me so long to get here?” Eating this way made so much sense and felt so right. I had finally rediscovered my intuition rooted in the foundation of healthy vegan living.

Clean, healthy vegan food treated my body so well. I no longer felt like I was working against myself to lose weight. I was eating as much fresh, whole vegan food as I wanted and I never worried about calories again. Gone were the days of measuring and weighing my meals. Such silliness.

I began cooking with passion and excitement and eating with joy and pleasure while remaining unwaveringly faithful to my newfound vegan intuition. My body was telling me very clearly that my simple vegan life is the life I was meant to live. And I listened.

And since October 2009, I have lost a total of 50 pounds…effortlessly. On my 5-foot 3-inch frame, that translates into about a third of my body. I went from a size 16 to a size 4 in about six months. And honestly, it was easy. I stay active, but I don’t kill myself at the gym and I don’t deprive myself. My body and I have this great agreement: I can eat as much as I want as long as I eat only wholesome, nutritious vegan food and pay close attention to how I feel.

Commitment to my gloriously healthy vegan diet has naturally and gently brought my weight and health into perfect balance. I feel happier and more alive than I’ve ever felt before; my skin glows, my eyes sparkle, I never have digestion problems or headaches anymore, I’ve got energy to spare and I swear I’m aging in reverse. And I can totally rock a pair of skinny jeans.

I am passionately vegan because I am passionate about being healthy. For me, the two concepts are one and the same. And the fact that my choices are also compassionate and environmentally-friendly is a beautiful side effect, and just another set of reasons in my arsenal of a million that confirm that this vegan lifestyle right for me.

I wouldn’t consider myself a vegan activist, but I’d definitely consider myself an advocate for vegan health. Because true vegan living is all about love and respect. Love and respect for others (human and otherwise), love and respect for the planet, and perhaps most importantly, love and respect for ourselves.

Photo: Navy Blue Stripes