A New Beginning...

Now to introduce my life.....

Today is the beginning of a new, healthier and evolved me. I have had a great lifestyle as a vegan for some time now, but I feel it is time for metamorphosis to wash over this beautiful vegan life. I am introducing myself to the blogging community with excitement as I delve into the world of raw veganism. I am starting off with the 80-95% raw diet model from Ann Wigmore's Chart for Raw & Living Foods.

Chart - http://www.eatsprouts.com/eat/wigmore.html

There are very few “NOT VEGAN” (for those who listen to The Vegan Freaks podcast) items on this chart…OBVIOUSLY I won’t be including any of these things in my new diet.

Being a vegan is already very healthy (well unless you are a french fry/junk food vegan) but after reading articles and being inspired by the raw vegan film by Storm Talifero “Breakthrough Documentary” (http://www.breakthroughthedocumentary.com/ which can be watched on Google Video) I am ready to make the transition into the organic raw vegan world. Like the transition from vegetarian into veganism, it takes in-depth research time and effort, but the overall result will be well worth it. I know switching to an ALL ORGANIC diet (which has been in the works for months) is the absolute best decision for my body, soul and mind. Oh yeah…and not to mention it will no doubt help me maintain my already great cruelty free lifestyle while getting my body in top healthy form to become a mother (my ultimate goal).

Being able to share my experience through writing is cathartic for me and it can also be a teaching and information tool for the public. I have always used resources like Myspace as a platform for my abolitionist approach animal rights rants and raves, but I figure why not take it to a broader medium. I want the public to be able to share ideas and ask questions and even give me tips on how to perfect my raw vegan endeavors.

I am going all organic but doing the 80-95% raw model as a transition into 100% percent raw model. Change starts within the self, from the first piece of literature I read about animal rights I knew that I couldn’t consciously eat animals and be true to myself and my ethics. I first became vegetarian (I use this term loosely as I still consumed animal by-products like dairy…which in my opinion (garnered through years of intense research) isn’t truly vegetarian or respectable at all! All apologies if I offend any ‘vegetarians’, I support your efforts but insist that you GO VEGAN to be in line with your moral standpoint if it is that of ANIMAL RIGHTS!) at 13 and now at 28 I’m ready to take my veganism into the next and ultimate step. My husband and I hope to one day be as self sufficient as possible. We'd love to live off the grid using alternative methods of energy, have a house made out of enviromentally friendly materials that is built around the earth and live off the land by growing and storing our own food. When I saw Storm and his wife Jinjee in the documentary raising these free-thinking, active, diverse and intelligent children I couldn’t help but want the same preservative-free, pesticide-free, natural living lifestyle for my own family. I want my future children to be intellectuals and have a firm grasp on the true beauty of nature and animals…all animals, not just humans. I don’t want my children to be solely influenced by the media that I have studied for years or the government’s censored educational curriculum. I don’t want them to think that their worth comes from name brands, cars, houses, or electronics. We refuse to produce a "good consumer" in order to keep pockets lined with cash. Our value system is very different from those we are surrounded by on a day to day basis. I would love to engage people with similar ideas and concepts about the world and animal rights. Everyday I acknowledge the differences a little bit more because of the intensity of marketing and branding that has taken over. We are eating to live and not living to eat. We are living for happiness and responding to our bodies and their need for natural food for survival. I reach out to and applaud those who are here for the true glory of life without all the extra trimmings of selfishness and DEATH.

I will try to write daily during the weekdays. I might even write more than one blog daily…who knows?! Random situations always come up that I would love to vent and write about right then and there…so who knows??? I'd love to keep this blog running through my raw transition and even through my future vegan pregnancy, delivery, and even the adventure of raising a vegan family (we aren't trying to conceive quite yet, but I'll let you all know). My goal for this blog is to get more people on the side of animals and the abolitionist approach (Gary Francione’s amazing site http://www.abolitionistapproach.com/)! Thanks for reading my first entry…there are always cruelty free seconds available around here…so keep coming back!!!

All sides of the equation are welcome here!!! I'm open to all ideas, debate and comments even from over there...because what was once over there is now over here!