One of the Lucky Ones

"I can't go vegan because I could ever give up cheese." You can't imagine how many times Joy and I have heard someone say those very words after learning that we have adopted a vegan lifestyle. Their reaction to photos of abused animals on their way to slaughter or to documentaries touting the benefits of a whole food, plant-based diet has been much like ours, yet they remain unswayed. Even my own weight loss, added energy, and improved cholesterol levels have not convinced them.

Some of these people are friends and family I know well and love deeply. Others are strangers to me or friends I have met since starting this journey. So why was deciding to go vegan such an easy decision for me but remains so difficult a choice for them? I wish I had an answer.

All I can say is that when I watched that first life-changing documentary, something was awakened in me.  I saw the suffering of animals and environmental damage caused by factory farming to produce the food on my plate.  I knew that I needed to do something to contribute to the solution rather than perpetuate the problem.  I decided to re-think a lifetime of choices by embracing a vegan lifestyle and choosing cruelty-free products over products tested on animals.

My decision doesn't make me better than anyone else, but it definitely has made me happier and healthier than I have been in a very long time.

I saw. I knew. I decided. I'm one of the lucky ones.

Don't take my word for it. Try it yourself by taking the 30-Day Vegan Challenge. There are so many good foods out there that you need never feel deprived. I certainly don't. The benefits of minimizing my waistline, cholesterol levels, carbon footprint, and the suffering of the animals make it all worth it!

Feeling Veggie Good,
Dee Dee


Copyright 2016 by Dee Dee Wike and Joy Wike. All rights reserved. www.feelingveggiegood.com