#thebalancedblonde

[frencspressz-blog]

[josienatori-blog1]

[instagram]

Letting Go of Labels, by @thebalancedblonde

To learn more about Jordan’s journey, follow @thebalancedblonde on Instagram.

“#hellomynameis Jordan Younger (thebalancedblonde). I’m 25 years old and live in Los Angeles, California. I started a blog, The Blonde Vegan, to document my vegan journey when I was in college. Years later, I decided to pursue my blog full time, and I simultaneously experienced a lot of health problems like low energy, hair loss, really bad skin and anxiety — mainly anxiety about food. I stumbled upon the word orthorexia, which means an obsession with pure, healthy, clean foods from the earth and a fear and avoidance of anything that doesn’t fall under that category. That sounded like me.

I knew I had to give myself more variety and let go of ‘The Blonde Vegan’ label, allowing myself to evolve and change and listen to my body and my heart. I wanted to pick a name that would last no matter what; it became clear to me that ‘The Balanced Blonde’ was everything that I was trying to be. Finding balance is a process and you’re allowed to have off days. I don’t think it’s as important to strive for a ‘perfect’ state of recovery where you never look back. Nothing’s perfect, and you just want to be happy as often as possible. That’s what balance really means to me.” #EDAwarenessWeek

[thisiserinscherer]

I have never even heard of Jordan Younger until last night, when I read a post about her on Jezebel. She became famous for having a blog about her vegan lifestyle. Then a month ago, stopped being one when it got in the way of her health.

I'm not a fan of veganism in general. I know more former vegans than I know of those currently practicing the lifestyle. I’m glad she’s honest about why she’s leaving veganism, and I think a lot of people could relate to her story.  I like that now that's she's an omnivore again, she's making a point to eat locally sourced meat (something I need to get better about myself).  But now having seen her Instagram account and read her blog a little bit, a question begs. She describes herself as "bi-coastal" and wears pretty top-of-the line yoga clothes.  The NY apartment she's pictured in looks kind of lavish for someone just out of college to be living in. My thought is, "Where does she get her money?"

Veganism is kind of a picky lifestyle, and I feel like this girl fits the stereotype of the vegan who became vegan because she needed something to complicate her life.  Given the arc of Jordan's story, and the press attention she's recieved, I can imagine that a book deal isn't that far behind.  That said, I think a memoir about how veganism became a vehicle for her orthorexia might make for an interesting read.