My name is Ashley. I am a junior in college and about 6 months ago I moved away from home and on my own. In high school – for four years – I was a vegetarian. I ate all of the wrong foods, and I was anemic, so it ended when I started passing out in athletic competitions. My family was never vegetarian, which made it really hard on me. I was a vegetarian simply because I loved animals, but I had no idea what abuse was occurring. After I moved away, I saw a few documentaries that my club, Humane Society of Grand Valley, had recommended me to watch. I sat down and watched some youtube videos, and I decided it was time to go on a HEALTHY vegetarian diet. A few weeks later I had gallbladder disease. It had been occurring in my body for some time, but I never realized it. All of the added vegetables and no meat triggered it, thank goodness, and a life long span of having stomach aches was removed. However, during the process of finding out the issue, I went 3 weeks without eating anything but bread and whole wheat noodles, by themselves. No meat, no dairy, and no nutrition. Eating salads caused me the worst pain I have ever had in my life. I lost 20 pounds and for some reason, it encouraged me to do something that my friends had tried to convince me to do, and something that I never thought I would do. With veganism, you can eat so much more than what I was eating. Hey, I was surviving, maybe not with a lot of energy, but I was existent. After my surgery, I sat down, and watched Earthlings. I couldn’t even finish the video. I was SOBBING the whole first twenty minutes… and I was changed for life. For 6 months I have been speaking up for animals. For 5 months I didn’t eat meat, and for 2 months I have been Vegan. It was the best change in my entire life. I have a blog I post about – www.
