Vegruary anyone?

angelexperiment

denise992 wrote: »

Hi, I am vegan after being vegetarian for a couple of years. The best thing to do is just try to do your best. There are those who can be quite militant and dogmatic but I feel going vegan is something to celebrate. I have found that preparation is key. I always take a small bottle of soy milk with me in case I pop into a cafe ( the one from Lidl is best and is lovely in coffee). Also I have found that well meaning so called friends will do their upmost to talk you into eating non vegan foods. Its like when you are on a diet and everyone tells you not to bother even though you know you look a right mess. And don't let anyone belittle your attempts even if you are only doing it for a few weeks. It is difficult to change habits of a lifetime, so good luck and one day at a time. It may well be that you find with time that you enjoy being a vegan.

Can you friend request me? I wanted to send you a message but I cant.

angelexperiment

vivmom2014 wrote: »

denise992 wrote: »

also I have found that well meaning so called friends will do their upmost to talk you into eating non vegan foods. Its like when you are on a diet and everyone tells you not to bother even though you know you look a right mess. And don't let anyone belittle your attempts even if you are only doing it for a few weeks. It is difficult to change habits of a lifetime, so good luck and one day at a time. It may well be that you find with time that you enjoy being a vegan.

I wonder why this is. Human nature? Rudeness? Defensiveness? Fear?

My daughter watched Cowspiracy and felt disturbed by it enough to stop eating meat. She mentioned her diet change at a lunch gathering of her 20-something friends and they had a field day w/ derision. Some of it good natured, but then a few of them kept hammering away at it past the point of no return.

i watched cowspiracy, forks over knifes, fed up, hungry for change, fat sick and early dead, and fat sick and nearly dead2. I have yet to see earthlings as I was told it's very disturbing. I think it is better to not tell people what you're doing ( they will notice eventually). Because with friends and family you are always met with negativity and jokes at your expense.

vivmom2014

angelexperiment wrote: »

vivmom2014 wrote: »

denise992 wrote: »

also I have found that well meaning so called friends will do their upmost to talk you into eating non vegan foods. Its like when you are on a diet and everyone tells you not to bother even though you know you look a right mess. And don't let anyone belittle your attempts even if you are only doing it for a few weeks. It is difficult to change habits of a lifetime, so good luck and one day at a time. It may well be that you find with time that you enjoy being a vegan.

I wonder why this is. Human nature? Rudeness? Defensiveness? Fear?

My daughter watched Cowspiracy and felt disturbed by it enough to stop eating meat. She mentioned her diet change at a lunch gathering of her 20-something friends and they had a field day w/ derision. Some of it good natured, but then a few of them kept hammering away at it past the point of no return.

i watched cowspiracy, forks over knifes, fed up, hungry for change, fat sick and early dead, and fat sick and nearly dead2. I have yet to see earthlings as I was told it's very disturbing. I think it is better to not tell people what you're doing ( they will notice eventually). Because with friends and family you are always met with negativity and jokes at your expense.

Yes, I agree with this. Sometimes it comes up in conversation (particularly at an eating event) and then, I suppose, one just has to have a thick skin about whatever comments start to fly.

veganbaum

angelexperiment wrote: »

vivmom2014 wrote: »

denise992 wrote: »

also I have found that well meaning so called friends will do their upmost to talk you into eating non vegan foods. Its like when you are on a diet and everyone tells you not to bother even though you know you look a right mess. And don't let anyone belittle your attempts even if you are only doing it for a few weeks. It is difficult to change habits of a lifetime, so good luck and one day at a time. It may well be that you find with time that you enjoy being a vegan.

I wonder why this is. Human nature? Rudeness? Defensiveness? Fear?

My daughter watched Cowspiracy and felt disturbed by it enough to stop eating meat. She mentioned her diet change at a lunch gathering of her 20-something friends and they had a field day w/ derision. Some of it good natured, but then a few of them kept hammering away at it past the point of no return.

i watched cowspiracy, forks over knifes, fed up, hungry for change, fat sick and early dead, and fat sick and nearly dead2. I have yet to see earthlings as I was told it's very disturbing. I think it is better to not tell people what you're doing ( they will notice eventually). Because with friends and family you are always met with negativity and jokes at your expense.

Earthlings is very, very intense. But, I think it's still something everyone should watch.

melonaulait

You know guys, if someone stops eating meat or becomes a vegetarian for a while, it's gonna be so much easier switching to plant-based/veganism after. I think part of the struggle is seeing animal-based foods as the "norm". It used to be the norm for me, too. When I first started out as a pescetarian, I was super worried about never getting to eat anything at school cafeterias or any gatherings, even though a very wide range of foods still fit in the pescetarian diet. After the first year and a half I'd say, I stopped seeing chicken, pork, beef etc as food. And in the years after that, I became more distant to dairy and eggs, too, as in I started to avoid them whenever possible.

So my point is, it doesn't matter how many steps you have to take (first cut out meat, etc), or how many years it takes, as long as you get to plant-based.

I'm an ethical vegan (I originally became pescetarian for ethical reasons after all), but if I'm out of, say, tooth paste, and the only store open at that time only sells tooth paste manufactured by Unilever... I'm not gonna wait until the day when I can get to a bigger store or the eco store. I'm going to make the best choice I can (as you should also do if you have medication that is critical to take.) But I do wish more stores around me catered to people who are against animal testing and cruelty. I even live in a neighborhood with a huge population of vegetarians/vegans, but the regular chain stores that are always open don't sell any of that good stuff.

//Btw, this is also my personal beef with ex-vegetarians, if you don't mind the pun... You wouldn't believe the number of stories I've heard about someone "not being able to continue vegetarianism" anymore because one day their mom just happened to make the best meat ball dish and they totally gave up. I actually have nothing against people going back to meat-eating, but don't think that makes a good excuse or is even one bit relatable. Sorry for the rant, I swear I'm not militant, I actually love everybody regardless of diet choice.

trjjoy

PrizePopple wrote: »

So uh, that soap you like to make ... it's going to be vegan as well, right? And your crocheting is going to be strictly acrylic yarn?

There is cotton yarn as well.

allison4224

I'm fine with being just a Vegetarian. Good for you for trying out being a Vegan. You can do it!

brower47

melonaulait wrote: »

You know guys, if someone stops eating meat or becomes a vegetarian for a while, it's gonna be so much easier switching to plant-based/veganism after. I think part of the struggle is seeing animal-based foods as the "norm". It used to be the norm for me, too. When I first started out as a pescetarian, I was super worried about never getting to eat anything at school cafeterias or any gatherings, even though a very wide range of foods still fit in the pescetarian diet. After the first year and a half I'd say, I stopped seeing chicken, pork, beef etc as food. And in the years after that, I became more distant to dairy and eggs, too, as in I started to avoid them whenever possible.

So my point is, it doesn't matter how many steps you have to take (first cut out meat, etc), or how many years it takes, as long as you get to plant-based.

I'm an ethical vegan (I originally became pescetarian for ethical reasons after all), but if I'm out of, say, tooth paste, and the only store open at that time only sells tooth paste manufactured by Unilever... I'm not gonna wait until the day when I can get to a bigger store or the eco store. I'm going to make the best choice I can (as you should also do if you have medication that is critical to take.) But I do wish more stores around me catered to people who are against animal testing and cruelty. I even live in a neighborhood with a huge population of vegetarians/vegans, but the regular chain stores that are always open don't sell any of that good stuff.

//Btw, this is also my personal beef with ex-vegetarians, if you don't mind the pun... You wouldn't believe the number of stories I've heard about someone "not being able to continue vegetarianism" anymore because one day their mom just happened to make the best meat ball dish and they totally gave up. I actually have nothing against people going back to meat-eating, but don't think that makes a good excuse or is even one bit relatable. Sorry for the rant, I swear I'm not militant, I actually love everybody regardless of diet choice.

At what point is it ethics vs convenience? Life saving medication is okay. It's okay to ethically harm animals if it saves a human life. When does it stop being okay? One day without toothpaste? Two? A week? At what point is an animal worth more or less than convenience? I imagine this is very individual.

CurlyCockney

melonaulait wrote: »

//Btw, this is also my personal beef with ex-vegetarians, if you don't mind the pun... You wouldn't believe the number of stories I've heard about someone "not being able to continue vegetarianism" anymore because one day their mom just happened to make the best meat ball dish and they totally gave up. I actually have nothing against people going back to meat-eating, but don't think that makes a good excuse or is even one bit relatable. Sorry for the rant, I swear I'm not militant, I actually love everybody regardless of diet choice.

It doesn't matter if you like their "stories" or accept their "excuses", or can relate to them. In fact, I heard similar comments to yours from omnivores when I went vegan. Personal ethics are just that; personal.

melonaulait

brower47 wrote: »

At what point is it ethics vs convenience? Life saving medication is okay. It's okay to ethically harm animals if it saves a human life. When does it stop being okay? One day without toothpaste? Two? A week? At what point is an animal worth more or less than convenience? I imagine this is very individual.

It is definitely individual. I'm not saying I'm any more ethical than others even though I went veggie for purely ethical reasons. I think anything you manage to do to stay true to your own ethics is great. Some day I will stock up on ethical tooth paste, too.

CurlyCockney wrote: »

It doesn't matter if you like their "stories" or accept their "excuses", or can relate to them. In fact, I heard similar comments to yours from omnivores when I went vegan. Personal ethics are just that; personal.

You're absolutely right, and I wish I could be more calm and collected about it. I haven't ever snapped at these people or anything, but I've felt this rage build up inside. I can't explain it. I guess I'm just annoyed that I never had a deep meatball dish connection like that.