Vegan and Proud: Meet Julia Veli

Hi there… 😉 My name is Julia Veli and I am an artist known for creating fashion and art all from recycled materials, including vinyl records, CD’s, newspaper and baseballs. I also spent seven years as a consultant in the fashion industry specialized in the areas of executive recruiting, fashion show production, buying/selling of end of season fashion inventories and had my own blog focused on the footwear industry. I traveled to trade shows all over the country learning about and working with 100’s of brands, including Prada, Puma, Vince Camuto, Nine West and Crocs just to name a few. I also discovered a lot of really awesome vegan brands as it was just becoming a big trend right before I left the industry to become an artist full-time. So I will be the Sexy Fit Vegan fashion contributor and I’m excited to share with you some cool and unique vegan fashion…including some of my own.

By nature, I have always been environmentally conscious and considered myself to be a healthy eater but as of last week I can proudly say I am officially vegan thanks to Ella! Three years ago when I first met Ella, to me, being vegan was something I never thought I would call myself. EVER! Since I’ve never been a big meat eater anyway and have always loved my veggies, I was happy with my diet and didn’t see a need to change. I’ve had vegan friends in the past who shared their perspective with me and while I respected their views, I just didn’t think it was for me and honestly one of the biggest turn-offs was going to a restaurant with them and watching the server get completely annoyed as they were grilled about the ingredients in everything. I’m not a fussy person when it comes to things like this, so I couldn’t imagine having to be such a pain in the ass. lol…

Well things have changed and over the past 6 months my awareness of what I am putting into my body has increased simply by having been blessed to spend time with Ella and being able to observe her lifestyle. I decided to follow her lead and give being vegan a try but would only commit to six days a week. lol… I instantly noticed how I had more energy, my workouts became better and even my moods were better. It made me happy to know that I was putting the most healthy things into my body and I started to think more about the chemicals I was thoughtlessly ingesting  without even realizing the impact they were having on me. Why would I even consider putting chemicals into my body that are unnatural and only used to grow food faster and make it prettier?? That now seems so crazy to me! It really is that simple. So thank goodness Ella came into my life and was able to SHOW me the way to eat in the most healthy and still enjoy food. I haven’t missed out on anything and I really don’t miss any of the food I used to eat although I am sure I will have moments where I would love to smash a slice of pizza, haha…but there are alternatives! I found it interesting that even on my one cheat day, I often didn’t. What finally caused me to go all the way and become fully vegan was last week when Ella encouraged me to watch the documentary “Cowspiracy”. It was perfect timing and I knew as soon as I pressed play that it was going to be a done deal by the time I finished and that is exactly what happened! I had NO IDEA that the agricultural industry was destroying our planet in such an aggressive way. It changed my perspective and instead of vegan being a selfish decision, it became an unselfish decision and one that I am very proud of.

I am truly thankful to Ella and no matter where our lives take us, I will always remember the positive impact she made in my life.  I’m happy to a part of the amazing work she is doing and excited to see the difference we can make together.