Standard American Diet (SAD) or Vegan?

Ok so I officially became vegan on April 9,2012. That means that as of November 9th I will have been vegan for 7 months now. I did start losing weight before I became vegan. I started with cutting out soda. I lost 10 pounds in the first week when I started drinking more water and juice and no soda. I quit cold turkey. Now when I drink soda I am only able to get a few sips down before I get a bad taste in my mouth. Soda is disgusting when you aren't used to drinking it anymore.
After cutting out soda I stopped snacking and eating all the junk I was used to. I was feeling more energetic but I wasn't losing anymore weight. I was still eating meat and a lot of cheese. I switched to soy milk because cow's milk was starting to bother my stomach. Someone posted a link to the 30 day vegan pledge. I believe it was on PETAs website. So I took the pledge and I bought all kinds of vegan products. I started losing more weight. I liked the meat alternatives and the soy milk but I "couldn't give up cheese." So I was a vegetarian. Then I watched a few videos online of what happens to the animals on factory farms. I, being an animal lover, was outraged. I was angry, I was upset. I became obsessed with watching these videos. I had to know everything that was happening. I had to be vegan. So I started my transition to veganism, losing more weight along the way. I finally made the full change April 9th and I couldnt be happier. My goal is to lose another 50 lbs.
I am happy that I am healthier than I ever have been and my daughter is following in my footsteps now too. Pretty soon our whole household will be vegan. I will probably post another blog in the near future about all that is wrong with the Standard American Diet. I am so grossed out by the Standard American these days. It really is sickening to think that not even a year ago I was one of these people stuffing my face with what is really not edible. Just because it doesn't kill you TODAY doesn't mean it isn't toxic.