Aurora's Blog

I know we kind of thought these posts were over as of last time. But I wanted to add one more (at least for now). After I started writing more posts, I went on to watch a bunch of those documentaries that everyone said I just had to watch – Forks over Knives, Food Inc., and more.

I love/don’t love documentaries. They often do such a great job of getting me fired up about something. But I also can find them to be manipulative. So, I’m skeptical but also drawn in by them. I dunno; it’s a whole mix of emotions!

Anyway, these movies were pretty great tools in making me feel like being vegan’s pretty dope. One thing that stuck out to me though was that instead of labeling someone as vegan (or vegetarian), these movies tended to say people were on a plant-based diet – which I thought was such an awesome distinction!

Throughout the time I’ve spent trying out life as a vegan (or vegetarian or somewhere in-between – depending on where I was in my challenges), I’ve been a good little vegan and a bad one. I’ve had days where I eat oh so many veggies and fruits. And I’ve had days where I scarfed down a number of vegan cookies.

As I’ve sort of mentioned here on this blog, being vegan isn’t necessarily great. You could absolutely be an unhealthy vegan. But I love this term “plant-based.” And I feel like when you say it, you reinforce your own goals with your diet.

It does sound slightly pretentious when you say it out loud. When my primary care doctor asked about my diet and I said I’d been trying a plant-based diet for a few months, as soon as it came out of my mouth, I thought, “Ewww, I’ve become so California.”

Oh well. We live in California. So, I’m sure he’s used to it.

Anyway, I felt the term plant-based also helps me to feel like I have a diet where I’m trying to include good things – that it’s not all about what I can’t eat. It’s more about what I want to eat.

Plant-based. Love that term. Just wanted to put that out there!