Scan the nutrition labels in your local grocery store. Just walk through each aisle, pick up a box or a bag, and read the ingredients. It's likely that most products contain either milk, eggs, or some other animal by-product. Now, take home with you the items that did NOT contain any of these special ingredients. But make sure you take only the items that are non-GMO, organic, gluten-free, and have less than seven ingredients total. Oh, and the food packaging has to be some recycled material with artsy font on the front; the font you can look at whenever you want to validate to yourself and to your friends that you are, in fact, healthier than the world around you. Have you completed these steps?

Then congratulations; you are now an over-the-top, vegan, health-nut. Approximately 50% of your paycheck goes towards your monthly food bill at Trader Joe's and Whole Foods. A surprisingly large percentage of your paycheck also goes towards paying for the black bean burger at restaurants; you tip the most out of your friends for asking the server the question, "Is there dairy in this?" too many times to count. But you're a legitimate vegan, and you're out to prove it, so you don't care.

Nowadays, approximately 2.5% of Americans consider themselves to be "vegan", meaning they consume no animal by-products. Most of that 2.5% chooses this lifestyle for animal rights reasons, refusing to consume anything that belongs to an animal. Others may do it for health reasons, although a vegan diet hasn't technically been proven to be a healthy alternative to the average healthy diet consisting of animal products.

So why am I a vegan? I have always had a very sensitive stomach. My body has never processed milk very well, and I've always been the pickiest eater. I don't like the taste of most meat, and this particular aspect of veganism has been pretty easy to give up. I can hear you gasping, Wisconsinites. But calm down. I still love cheese. Unfortunately, my stomach doesn't.

Those who become vegans can truly understand what I mean when I say, once you are a vegan, it's hard to go back. I've been a vegan for about 9 months now. That's 9 months without ANY meat in my diet at all, only the tiniest bit of dairy (yes, I've had my cheat days), and no eggs. I allow myself to consume gelatin and honey, because those don't affect my stomach at all, and honey is a necessity in my life. At this point in my journey, it scares me to think about what might happen to my body if I were to attempt to eat a piece of chicken. I'll freak out about tasting a little slice of pepperoni on some cheese-less pizza. It's a very weird reflex. Growing so accustomed to a new lifestyle has many benefits, as well as setbacks.

People who have committed to the vegan lifestyle tend to be skinnier, more health-conscience, and far more choosy with where they eat. Eating out with your vegan friend means you'll be ordering an actual dinner, while your friend indulges in a side salad whilst stealing some of your fries. They've taken on a lifestyle in which they've lost weight, get to show off food substitutes to their meat-eating friends, and forgotten what animal injustice tastes like. Ever since becoming a vegan, it's safe to say I've consumed more fruits and vegetables than I ever have in my life. However, while it's not something we like to admit, all vegans miss ice cream, pizza, and juicy steak. When we consider the benefits and draw-backs of introducing these foods into our diets once again, we tend to focus more so on the negative. What will people think if they see I've given up on something I was once so dedicated to? What will my body do in response to the new food? What will I do with all of the extra money I'm saving on groceries? The last one may be a plus, but I think you get the point.

Overall, I wouldn't be a vegan if I didn't genuinely enjoy it and believe in the health benefits it has for me, personally. I find that society looks towards vegans and gives them the evil eye, assuming we're all pretentious, Portland-dwellers who'll vanish into thin air if we don't emphasize our vegan-ness in every other sentence. There are some vegans out there (it's rare, but take my word for it) who actually prefer to be treated like the average member of society. They choose to bring up their dietary restrictions only when necessary. This doesn't mean finding a way to weave their amazing, lack-of-animal diet into a conversation about horseback riding. The quiet vegan is the correct type of vegan- the one making the lifestyle change for the right reasons; attention not being one of them. Unfortunately, the attention-seeker is one that will continue being a vegan until it's no longer cool. I challenge you to observe how many of your vegan friends switch over to Paleo diets in the next few years. Honestly, I think we could all learn a little something about conforming to the ways of society by conducting this simple, little experiment.

Until the lifestyle dies out, and Paleo diets take over, the vegan will never want to stop being vegan. We like being asked questions, we love discovering new raw foods we can eat for protein sources, and we simply like being unique while feeling healthier. It takes dedication, and at the end of the day, it makes you feel good to know that you're taking extra steps throughout the day that the average person wouldn't be taking. This is how many people on a diet regimen feel. They feel a new sense of well-being; they feel smarter, and they feel motivated to continue what they've excitedly told everyone about. I love the vegan lifestyle. And truthfully, I'm not sure when, or if, I'll ever stop.