The Beginning of the Vegan Virgin

My name is Brittany, and I'm on Day One of being a vegan. Yes, I'm a vegan virgin. Up until now, I've eaten meat and meat by-products, and enjoyed them. I even had a little pet baby chick named Chanel, and STILL ate chicken after having her.
But all of this has changed as of today. A very dear friend of mine, Michael, recently became a vegetarian and had updated his Facebook status with little tidbits about his starting journey. It interested me, and we got to talking and he told me about a video on www.meat.org. First off, it's very graphic and young children may be disturbed by it, so parents, be sure to watch it before showing your little ones. Anyway, I went to the website and watched it, and I was drop-jawed and sobbing through it. These poor pigs' throats are slit open and they bleed to death, cows are kicked and knocked around, chickens are thrown and beaten and are stuck living in pens where they stand around in their own excrement and are so fat they can't hardly walk.

my friend Michael and I - he's who inspired me!

I obviously was one of the millions of Americans who is ignorant to what goes on at slaughterhouses and farms where animals are raised to be someone's dinner. I have gone for years, happily eating my fried chicken and bacon and pork chops and steaks. But after watching that video, I literally didn't even make up my mind - it was made for me. I would cut meat out of my diet completely, as well as meat by-products like milk, eggs, and any products made from any part of an animal. That would make me a vegan, not a vegetarian. I've always been a little extreme and I like to be dramatic about things, and usually I do that with my hair and makeup. This is one of the first times I've decided to do something dramatically to change my life. And I'm certain that this will completely change my life, and I'm not looking back.

So how did I go about starting this, you ask? First off, I've tossed out everything in my fridge that was meat or dairy. I scrambled the last three eggs in the carton and fed them to my dog (waste not, want not). I sent frozen chicken breasts home with my meat-eating mother. I threw away sour cream, cake icing, whipped cream, cheese, butter, all of it. And I just got back from my virgin voyage to the grocery store to get some delicious vegan products. Of course I started off by getting a ton of beautiful, fresh, delicious vegetables - green leaf lettuce, red leaf lettuce, cucumbers, peppers, tomatoes, broccoli, radishes, and all organic, of course. I also got some amazingly yummy organic raspberries and strawberries (I have a bad sweet tooth). I picked up some Silk Original Soy Milk, which thanks to my father, I already like. There were a few other things I got, but the big winner tonight is the So Delicious Pomegranate Chip ice cream made with coconut milk. It's completely dairy free, but tastes absolutely a-mazing. I'm certainly going to be hooked on it. There's other flavors, too, like cookies and cream, chocolate, vanilla, and I even saw a green tea one (I'm going to have to try that next!)
So, this is just a little brief introduction into the life of a Vegan Virgin, but I'm starting a fun, adventurous journey that not only helps me be healthier, but hopefully saves the lives of a few animals and can one day change the way the meat industry is run. Wish me luck on my journey :)