cheese vegan self love beauty

Loving your body is listening to your body

I have officially come down from the ‘veganism high’ if that is such a thing. Like a runner’s high. Or a new relationship high; the first couple weeks are amazing, and fun and exciting! You can take on the world together and nothing can get in the way of your everlasting love!

Week one was the easiest… then week two.

This is week three… it’s nothing like week two.

I have officially started questioning my sanity and wonder if this is even worth it? Is challenging myself to become better and take care of my body even worth it?

My positive consciousness shouts ‘Yes!’ But my cheese deprived psyche screams ‘Hell No! What are you thinking?! Abort the mission!’ and because of this internal struggle this week has been rough.

I have been snippy this week with the people in my life and I felt bad…until I start thinking about all the glorious cheese they probably gorged themselves on all day…What omnivore wouldn’t be doing that any given day? I would do nothing but eat cheese if I wasn’t pretending to be a vegan for a whole damn month.

Why am I doing this? I think. Why give up things you love and love you back? Me and cheese, cheese and me, we had such a good thing going. So many memories…so many gallbladderissues…. oh yea, that’s why. You want to dive deeper into a yoga lifestyle, you can do this.

I can do this, I just really want some damn nachos.


This Is What Loving Your Body Is All About

After learning I had an inflamed gall bladder, I could have buried my head in the sand or I could take action. And in this case action means no cheese until I get this wild gallbladder under control.

Whether you are tackling a new diet, trying a new workout routine or practicing some healthy positive thinking, change is hard. Any time a life change is made there are highs, lows, struggles and triumphs. But that change leads to growth and that’s worth no cheese for a month, right?

Fostering this vegan lifestyle has challenged me greatly but also made me realize I need to listen to my body more. And then act on what she is telling me.


Listening to my body is loving my body. Sometimes she gets a little cranky and rebels like a teenager but at the end of the day, I’m being a good mom by not giving in to the cheese demands. It can feel like we are at odds with ourselves within ourselves, but hang in there!

Keep moving forward, keep checking in with yourself, keep challenging yourself, keep growing! There is alway light at the end of the tunnel.

Side Note: In my family, we don’t joke about having food babies after a large meal, we joke aboutcheese babies. Cheese Babies! That’s how much cheese we eat! I had a cousin point out how a vegan diet doesn’t fit into our family’s code of ethics and he’s right!

Madalyn Parsch’s article is also on The Odyssey Online Self Love Beauty community.