Riley Beek

Now that you've made it this far on my blog (thank you, by the way!) you might be starting to wonder who exactly am I? What's my story? What inspired me to become a vegan and why? These are all great questions that deserve some good answers, so without further adieu, here they are:

 

Lets start with the basics.

My name is Riley Kathryn Anne Beek and I was born and raised in sunny Newport Beach, California. Only child of two loving parents, I grew up learning all the things that one learns and does when they grow up on the west coast: sailing, boating, surfing, etc. I practically have salt water running through my veins. And I love it. I have always grown up surrounded by amazing friends and the best boyfriend I could ever imagine. Typical beach-girl-living-the-dream. woo hoo!

 

So fast forward 18 years and I was off to college in the deep south, Mississippi more specifically. And thats where I am today, enrolled in my sophomore year at Ole Miss and loving every darn second of the southern hospitality, crazy parties and sensational school spirit. So far I love everything about the south except, well....meat. And let me tell you....Southerners do love their meat. 

 

Which leads us to my story on becoming Vegan. The scariest, most dramatic, most judgemental decision I've ever made in my life. Seriously, who knew cutting something out of your diet could create such drastic changes? I sure didn't. That is, until I did it. 

But before we get into why/how I became vegan, let me give you some brief background history about my health/medical situation. All my life I was raised to eat really healthy (or so what I thought was "healthy"). But just the basics- lean meats, lots of fruits and veggies, non-fat dairy products, greek yogurt, etc etc. I've never been a picky eater and cant even think of a single food that I honestly dont love, so naturally I was always taught to eat anything that was presented to me and never second guess it. 

I loved meat. Not liked it, LOVED it. Hamburgers, ribs, pulled pork, BACON, sausage, chicken, BACON, lamb, meatloaf, BACON....you get the picture. I loved meat, my family loved meat, meat was great. Bacon. 

 

Then in 2012 after a lot of trips to the emergency room, I was diagnosed with MRSA ("mer-sa"). For those of you unfamiliar, MRSA is a really serious type of staph that is almost impossible to treat. It can be presented anywhere on the body, but lucky enough for me I was so #blessed to get outbreaks on my face. It was unsightly. It was painful. It wouldnt go away. It sucked. I missed a ton of school due to the fact that it is not only excrutiatingly painful, but also extremly contagious. So fun, right? I was put on too many pills, antibiocs, ointments, special diets, and treatments to even count on five hands. Nothing ever worked. Nothing.  

 

So fast forward to December of my freshman year of college- I am still battling MRSA every single day. At this point I've basically given up and decided that this terrible disease has taken over my life and there is absolutely nothing left I can do about it. I was defeated, tired of trying, and tired of constantly being dissapointed. Just as I was about to raise my white flag of defeat, though, something happened that ended up changing my life. It's called "Netflix". 

 

Kidding. Netflix didn't actually change my life, but a documentary I watched one night on there did. It's called "Food Inc." and it is honestly the scariest, most disturbing, most disgusting, most gruesome, sad film I have ever see in my entire life. This film not only takes you behind the scenes of what REALLY goes on in the fast food industry, but takes you inside corporate slaughter houses and lets you get a nice look at what your really consuming every time you buy a hamburger at McDonalds. (Hint: it's hardly meat.)

 

This documentary exposes the horrors of the meat packing industry and large corporate farming. It shows the cruel and inhumane conditions and treatments these poor animals must endure all so that they can ultimately end up on our dinner plate. And for what? So I can feel full and satisfied? What makes it ok for a another living being to unwillingly sacrifice their life so that I can eat? ESPECIALLY when its not even NECESSARY or RECCOMENDED to eat meat in order to maintain optimum health? I could go on and on for days about the foulness that surrounds these types of industries, but i'll save you the time and reading. Main point- you are what you eat. Seriously. If you're eating meat thats been unknowingly pumped with hormones, antibiotics, perservatives, chemicals, etc. Then that will all reflect in not only your appearence, but inner and mental health as well. And that's just not cool, man. 

 

So I made a choice. A big choice. I decided to stop eating meat, dairy, eggs, and any other type of animal product. For good. 

And guess what? My MRSA went away immediately. Yup. The fight I had been battling for years finally ended when I stopped putting a bunch of processed junk into my body and instead utilized the power of raw fruits and vegetables to heal me instead. I was able to quit taking antibiotics, too, and every other type of medicine I had been on. After about 3 months of living meat and dairy free, I felt amazing. My body was amazing and feeling better than ever. 

 

Have I gotten critisized? Yes, of course. "Riley thats dumb meat= protein", "I love bacon too much I could never give up meat", "Vegan's are annoying and preachy", to name a few. But in full, complete, sincere honesty- it's so worth it. I know it's hard to take a strangers word for it, but it's seriously the best sacrifice I've ever made for myself. I have more energy, I'm more alert, I FEEL 10x better than I ever have before, and all in all I'm just a happier, healthier person. It's true. 

 

So, lovlies, that is my story in a nutshell. I love the decision I have made and encourage you all to be truly open minded to any idea that may improve you for the better. The benefits and transformation I have endured in just a couple months of eliminating meat are just too amazing to ever go back to my old ways. And, of course, being the die hard animal lover that I am, I never want a living being to suffer so that I can survive. We live on an earth that can provide enough nature-grown energy to go around. Humans can truly thrive off what the planet has to offer, if only enough people could realize and utilize that. I did. And it's awesome. 

 

Thank you for reading all about my venture to better health :) for any remaining questions, comments or concerns, please feel free to message me on my fitness tumblr: www.fitspirationjust4me.tumblr.com

 

Cheers to good eats,

Xx Riley