March 2020 is already a memorable month on itself, because it’s the month the whole country (Belgium) went into a national lockdown. However, to me this month is also memorable for something else: the 16th of March I decided to become plant-based. There’s a whole story behind this, so sit back, relax, grab a cup of tea and enjoy!
How it started
Once upon a time a press conference about Covid19 was held. In true Belgian nature, it was held way later in the evening than planned. Every citizen was awake to hear what their lives would be like the next couple of months. The coffee makers already knew that they would be desperately needed the following day, ironically Friday the 13th. THat night everyone’s fear became a reality: a national lockown.
The next day much coffee was indeed needed. I had four coffees with lots of milk, just the way I liked it. And that turned into a very painful day and weekend. I will not go into any details, don’t you worry.
So, I went to the doctor and got my blood tested to see if I had any allergies or intolerances. They didn’t find anything in my blood (thank God no gluten intolerance!). Lactose intolerance was the next possibility, as well as irritable bowel syndrome (IBS). However, there’s no test to see if you have IBS, so I decided to start by eliminating lactose from my diet and see what effect it’d have on my health. Spoiler alert: it had a great effect.
The reason why
I was already a vegetarian, so cutting out lactose meant going plant-based. I was already thinking about becoming plant-based for quite some time, but I was going to make the switch once I moved out. Living with my family while having another diet is not the easiest thing. However, they are okay with it and we make it work.
Since I did want to make the switch at some point, I had luckily already started doing a bit of research and I had started following a few vegan people. So, I already knew a bit about it. I say luckily, because becoming plant-based overnight is not the way to go. I’d suggest slowly making the transition if becoming plant-based is something you’re interested in. More on that later.
This lifestyle change has been wonderful for my health. That’s also why it’s not difficult to sustain at all. Good health= happy life.
More coming soon!
x Evelien x
Here are some sources I use almost daily:
– http://www.pickuplimes.com
– http://www.avantgardevegan.com
– https://www.youtube.com/user/niomismart
– https://www.youtube.com/user/SweetPotatoSoul