Am I Vegan? Really?

It feels really weird calling myself a Vegetarian or even a Vegan. I don't really consider myself either of things, but technically I am. It's really strange to me.

I guess, I am what is known as a Raw Beegan, which basically means I only eat fresh, uncooked fruits and vegetables. The only animal product I include in my diet is honey (bee + vegan = beegan). Mind you, in the month that I have been on this diet I have not ingested honey once, but I have zero problems with including it my diet in the future.

I never entered into this diet, well, lifestyle due to any moral or ethical issues regarding the use of animal products. I wanted to go Raw because I was sick all the time and needed a drastic change right away. I suppose the name of this blog shouldn't be the Accidental Rawist, but the Accidental Vegan. It was just easier to be true to the Raw diet when I wasn't ingesting animal products. For example, technically Raw diets can include raw meat, but raw meat doesn't appeal to me. Rawists can have dairy as long as it's unpasteurized; good luck trying to find that in NYC and have it last long enough to be worth spending the money on. I can have sushi too, because it's essentially raw fish, but I have three main reasons why I choose not to eat it. It's loaded with mercury, our fish supply is dwindling (many close to complete endangerment) and finally, I know the horrors of fish farming practices. When I worked at New York Medical College I learned first-hand the results of ingesting farmed fish from a medical standpoint. Do you know how many antibiotics they dump into fish-farm waters? Do you understand how this effects our health? There is just no way I could ever feel good about putting that in my body knowing what I know.

So, here I am...a damn Vegan (or Beegan) and I never intended to be. I always thought Vegans were a little too extreme for my taste (no pun intended), but the funny thing is the longer I adhere to this Raw lifestyle the more sensitive I feel towards living things. I know, I know, it sounds so "hippy" and new-agey. It's true though. It brings me joy talking to my plants (seriously, it's a joy tending to my plants and since I have been talking to them, they have been thriving!!), I've turned down hangin' out with friends because I didn't feel like I was spending enough quality time with my cats, I just can't do it...i can't eat animal products. Not only that, recently a friend told me about this really great Elk dish she had and I felt really sad. WHAT IS HAPPENING TO ME!?

Damnit!

This whole experience has truly blown my mind. My perspective shift has gone beyond anything I have intended or even thought possible...and you know what? It's pretty damn cool and I really like it.

I feel good about all of these changes and I'm not going to question them. I'm just going to role with it and see what happens.