Eating Vegan Easy in Cali
My mom and I recently came home from visiting my sister in California, and it really hit home how much easier it is to eat healthier, more specifically, to eat a vegan diet, in certain parts of the country than it is in say, Ohio where you won’t find a vegan specialty restaurant or specializing store for miles in either direction in many cases, of course depending on where you reside.
I’ve visited my sister before, and I actually tried the vegan thing or at least the vegetarian thing while I was there, and was amazed at how easy it was and how little it felt like I sacrificed to not eat meats, animal proteins and dairy for a week or so when the cuisine there is to die for.
I think I may have even shed a little tiny bit of weight while I was there, and may have shed a little more had I not pigged out on traditional midwestern fare the last few days I was there. Not only was it easy to find healthy and vegan dishes there, but the fruit and veggies are virtually all locally grown, which means they’re fresh and they taste amazing, and that alone makes it so much more tasty to eat healthy.
Have you ever gotten a grainy tomato or bad piece of fruit that’s totally out of season? It really leaves a bad taste in your mouth for eating healthy, but living in an area where you have access to fresh, juicy and delicious organic produce really makes it easier to eat right, in fact it makes this way of eating more preferable.
Other areas of the country also tend to emphasize sports and exercise as ways of life rather than a sedentary lifestyle, which is fairly easy to indulge in if you live in a place like I do where there are only a few months of the year where you feel comfortable enough to get outside and do activities. That also contributes to the fact that obesity is lower in these types of communities.
My mom and I, who visited my sister together, couldn’t believe how tired we were at the end of the day simply because we had walked almost everywhere, which meant we were always torching calories during the day, most of which were complex carbs in the form of whole grains, veggies and fruit, except for those last few naughty days where I indulged in things like pizza and submarine sandwiches for lack of having access to “bad” foods for a few days. One thing I’ll say, it sure does make eating bad taste a lot better when you don’t have access to it all the time.
