I Think This Book Is Making Me Want To Go Vegan

ohohraptor

I'm reading the book, Skinny *****, and am mortified at the treatment of animals in farms. I have always been "weird" about meat, I don't like touching raw meat(or even looking at it), won't eat it off the bone, and am kind of picky about what pieces I will eat, but after reading this I am seriously considering becoming vegan. I am a little hesitant though, about how to approach this to my husband and how hard it will be to maintain. My husband loooves meat, and will most likely complain if I stop cooking it. How do I talk to him about this? Also is it a lot more challenging to cook vegan meals? I'm not very patient in the kitchen and prefer quick, easy meals. How do you vegans cope with eating out etc? Do the cravings for meat and dairy eventually stop? Any tips would be appreciated, thanks!

Dteg

I read that book too, and it scared the crap out of me. I think you should really think on this decision, but good luck either way. As for your husband, if you don't eat much meat, like to cook it, and are picky about it all ready. This shouldn't come as a surprise. Just remind him that just because you stop eating certain things doesn't mean he cant. Hope this helps and good luck

leomom72

i still have to have meat, but i refuse to eat @ kfc..i haven't for about 5 years because of a video i once saw..it mad my cry harder than i have in a while ( at that time ) maybe you could go kosher instead..best of luck

jalara

If you want more information you can go to the PETA website. They have some recipes and a lot of information that can scare the crap out of someone.

miss_jamaica

I was a vegan for quite a while, and you will be surprised at how do-able it is. However, getting your guy to switch over could be quite the challenge... they can be hard to sway. The internet is swimming with great recipes, and stores like Trader Joe's and Whole Foods label their vegan fare. You can easily research which items at a restaurant are vegan friendly... surprisingly Mexican food is often a good bet (think bean burrito with tons of veggies, yum).

Dating a meat eater was the biggest challenge to my veganism and why I ultimately started eating meat again. I hope you do what makes you happy. Best of luck!

JMuzzy

all the things you are saying ("I don't like touching raw meat(or even looking at it), won't eat it off the bone, and am kind of picky about what pieces I will eat....") are exactly how i was as a child. i have now been vegetarian for years and its easy to commit to if you dont have a strong attachment to meat. i do not crave meat in any way and im guessing that after a while you wouldn't either.
dairy is a whole other story for me, though. i did read that book and it changed my perception of dairy but i dont think I could be vegan at this point in my life.
as for your husband, mine is a carnivore . we just make it work. he respects what i eat and vice versa! you can email me or look at my food diary for more info.
good luck! :flowerforyou:
jennie

alexbowser

I'd suggest incorporating a few vegan meals into your week, see how it goes. Vegan cooking can be delicious and hearty. I'm not vegan personally, but I enjoy having meatless meals (unfortunately I can't get my family on board with it).

ohohraptor

I was a vegan for quite a while, and you will be surprised at how do-able it is. However, getting your guy to switch over could be quite the challenge... they can be hard to sway. The internet is swimming with great recipes, and stores like Trader Joe's and Whole Foods label their vegan fare. You can easily research which items at a restaurant are vegan friendly... surprisingly Mexican food is often a good bet (think bean burrito with tons of veggies, yum).

Dating a meat eater was the biggest challenge to my veganism and why I ultimately started eating meat again. I hope you do what makes you happy. Best of luck!

I don't care if he still eats meat, I just don't want to hear him whine about it if I stop cooking it. He already makes fun of my earth balance spread.

ohohraptor

all the things you are saying ("I don't like touching raw meat(or even looking at it), won't eat it off the bone, and am kind of picky about what pieces I will eat....") are exactly how i was as a child. i have now been vegetarian for years and its easy to commit to if you dont have a strong attachment to meat. i do not crave meat in any way and im guessing that after a while you wouldn't either.
dairy is a whole other story for me, though. i did read that book and it changed my perception of dairy but i dont think I could be vegan at this point in my life.
as for your husband, mine is a carnivore . we just make it work. he respects what i eat and vice versa! you can email me or look at my food diary for more info.
good luck! :flowerforyou:
jennie

Right, I think dairy would be the hardest for me too. That book is just, disgusting though. I was totally not expecting to read about animal cruelty etc.. in Skinny *****, lol. I'm gonna add you so I can peek at your diary every now and then.

spatticus

Get more information, read The Kind Diet by Alicia Silverstone. It is very good and convinced me. I was vegan for about 11 days. It can be very hard to do right and healthy especially in a small town. Good luck!

deathtaco

Eat fish. Can't mistreat a fish.
Look for a local butcher that may sell meat hunters bring in, such as venison, elk, wild turkey, etc.

Humans are meant to eat meat, no sense giving it up. Just find a way to eat it that doesn't compromise your ethical feelings.

ohohraptor

Get more information, read The Kind Diet by Alicia Silverstone. It is very good and convinced me. I was vegan for about 11 days. It can be very hard to do right and healthy especially in a small town. Good luck!

Agreed. Back home in LA veggie friendly places were all over the place, but here in Charleston it's a little harder to find.

JennLifts

It's not as hard as you think. Sadly LOL a lot of junk food is vegan :-p
As far as eating out.. you just think about things like how rice is usually cooked in chicken stock, or no cheese on top, or guac, or knowing what's usually in a corn tortilla etc.

ohohraptor

Eat fish. Can't mistreat a fish.
Look for a local butcher that may sell meat hunters bring in, such as venison, elk, wild turkey, etc.

Humans are meant to eat meat, no sense giving it up. Just find a way to eat it that doesn't compromise your ethical feelings.

Maybe you should read the book and then get back to me on that. There is a lot of evidence showing that humans may not be meant to eat animal proteins, and you can very well mistreat a fish.

Redheadedsunshine

While possible, it's very difficult to go from meat eater to vegan (physically and mentally) and while I don't know you personally, I think you will be more successful in the long run if you go vegetarian first. (no meats/chicken/fish/etc, but allow eggs/dairy) It will also help your body through the transition and give you time to figure out how balance out your nutrients/needs and how to eat properly without relying on meat products. I know several vegetarians/vegans make the switch just to eat junk food b/c they either don't know what to eat and/or lazy. Plus, your husband time to adjust to your new eating habits. I don't blame you though about not wanting to cook meat. I won't cook meat of any sorts. And when I have children, I will be solely cooking vegetarian food. (If my partner wants meat, that's up to them) That book is definitely an (disgusting) eye opener.

I wish you the best of luck!

srp2011

I applaud your desire to eat in a more healthy, sustainable, humane manner! For most people, it's very challenging to make the transition from meat-eating to vegan in one fell swoop. Vegan is pretty strict (no eggs, cheese, gelatin, etc...), and there are a lot of foods that have animal products that you wouldn't think of (baked goods, most prepackaged foods). You might consider starting with vegetarianism (dairy, eggs allowed), or even a flexitarian (sometimes vegan/vegetarian) or pescatarian (fish/seafood allowed, but no animal meats) lifestyle first. You'll find a lot more ready-made foods that fit into this category. I wouldn't try to force it on hubby, because that will make him even more resistant, but maybe start with a meatless day once a week, to let him see that the foods can actually be pretty good. Also, try shopping at Whole Foods or other grocery that caters to vegans/vegetarians - they will have a lot of easy to make or ready made foods. And you might get hubby to switch to products that are made in somewhat more humane ways (organic dairy products, cage-free eggs, grass-fed beef). And share what you've learned about how foods are made, or on the health benefits of a plant-based diet with him - over time it will sink in. Rent movies to watch together like King Corn or Food Inc which are pretty shocking exposes of our factory farming methods - they may motivate him to make some changes too.

Also if you stick with it for awhile, you do lose your taste for meat. Good luck!

ohohraptor

I applaud your desire to eat in a more healthy, sustainable, humane manner! For most people, it's very challenging to make the transition from meat-eating to vegan in one fell swoop. Vegan is pretty strict (no eggs, cheese, gelatin, etc...), and there are a lot of foods that have animal products that you wouldn't think of (baked goods, most prepackaged foods). You might consider starting with vegetarianism (dairy, eggs allowed), or even a flexitarian (sometimes vegan/vegetarian) or pescatarian (fish/seafood allowed, but no animal meats) lifestyle first. You'll find a lot more ready-made foods that fit into this category. I wouldn't try to force it on hubby, because that will make him even more resistant, but maybe start with a meatless day once a week, to let him see that the foods can actually be pretty good. Also, try shopping at Whole Foods or other grocery that caters to vegans/vegetarians - they will have a lot of easy to make or ready made foods. And you might get hubby to switch to products that are made in somewhat more humane ways (organic dairy products, cage-free eggs, grass-fed beef). And share what you've learned about how foods are made, or on the health benefits of a plant-based diet with him - over time it will sink in. Rent movies to watch together like King Corn or Food Inc which are pretty shocking exposes of our factory farming methods - they may motivate him to make some changes too.

Also if you stick with it for awhile, you do lose your taste for meat. Good luck!

Great information, thanks!

TCrawford70

I started being mostly vegan after reading Dr. Fuhrmans "Eat to Live". He is really extreme on most of it but it really had some great information. I have also found useful info. at peertrainer.com. Good luck.

ohohraptor

I started being mostly vegan after reading Dr. Fuhrmans "Eat to Live". He is really extreme on most of it but it really had some great information. I have also found useful info. at peertrainer.com. Good luck.

I'll look into both of those, thanks!

lazyvegan

i would recommend grabbing some vegan cook books (such as Vegan with a Vengeance, Veganomicon and Joy of Vegan Baking) and i would really recommend finding and listening to the podcast- Compassionate Cooks (or something like that....i can't totally remember right now) and just start trying things out- being vegan is as easy or as hard as you make it- i call myself a lazy vegan because my sweet tooth usually overrules my desire to be a hard core vegan- i love brownies, cookies and cakes. although i must say trying to be vegan has helped me make much healthier food choices and be more aware of what i'm really eating. i'm 100%vegan at home and about 90% out- i've never missed meat and now cheese smells and tastes really funky to me- milk smells gross- that sort of thing
as for the hubby- tell him to shove it j/k if he wants meat let him cook it- thats how it is in my house- i don't cook or spend my money on animal products and if my bf wants something he can buy and cook it himself- which he is totally fine with- i don't lecture him about it and he doesn't give me grief about my food- which he usually totally eats and loves-
good luck-

Nailrep

Yeah - I read it! It will totally change your perspective on animal protein.

monkeybelle83

I was a vegan for quite a while, and you will be surprised at how do-able it is. However, getting your guy to switch over could be quite the challenge... they can be hard to sway. The internet is swimming with great recipes, and stores like Trader Joe's and Whole Foods label their vegan fare. You can easily research which items at a restaurant are vegan friendly... surprisingly Mexican food is often a good bet (think bean burrito with tons of veggies, yum).

Dating a meat eater was the biggest challenge to my veganism and why I ultimately started eating meat again. I hope you do what makes you happy. Best of luck!

I don't care if he still eats meat, I just don't want to hear him whine about it if I stop cooking it. He already makes fun of my earth balance spread.

I know this might sound harsh, but he's a big boy, and if he wants meat, he can learn to cook it himself. My husband doesn't eat fish, and I do. When I am having fish, he is always more than willing to make the meat he wants. It's an idea that most men balk at but it's really common sense.

bluebird321

I'm a meat eating husband married to a vegan wife, so it is a challenge. I have a protein requirement, but I don't like factory farming and want to support my wife (she's an animal rights activist).
1. I buy my eggs locally from someone that raises the chickens themselves.
2. The fish I eat is wild caught.
3. Free range/grass fed beef/chicken only.

I do cook and prepare my own food.

ronda_gettinghealthy

If you want to be Vegan that is your choice-I would also recommend a couple of other books too- "Carnivores dilemma" and' In defense of food' both by Michael Pollan.. I too refuse to eat store bought meat, and also try to eat "clean" no preservatives- we are lucky we raise our own beef and hogs and have chickens for eggs- they are well treated and we take them to a professional small scale butcher that I can inspect at any time. If hubby is really against the whole vegan- you can find some organic beef, poultry growers and you can become a member of a coop dairy- these places are clean and open for your investigation- maybe you can compromise this way. Good Luck

ohohraptor

Thanks again for all your posts! I wrote down the books/cook books to look into. I bought Simply Vegan (a cook book) and another vegan resources book that I cannot remember the name of last night. My house isn't all that vegan friendly right now since I need to go grocery shopping badly, but I am making do with what I have until I get a chance to go shopping.

msarro

Hey, first, if you're going to go veg do it on your own terms. I've been veg for 3 years, and grew up on a farm where we raised animals for slaughter. The two aren't related.

You need to know that Skinny ***** is a very one-sided story. First, they only talk about factory farms, not the majority of farmers. See, factory farms (KFC's farms, Purdue, Tyson, Hatfield, etc) can afford to treat livestock like crap. So, don't do business with them. If you like meat, then purchase it from food co-ops, local butcheries, etc. You're far better off and you can usually rest assured that the animal has been treated far better.

See, most small farms literally can't afford to treat animals badly. The farmers barely make ends meet as it is, so they have to squeeze every ounce of money they can out of the things that are in their care. This usually includes showing animals at local, county, state, and sometimes national fairs. A blue ribbon at some fairs can be thousands of dollars. Imagine if you can show a single animal at 20 fairs? That's a pretty hefty income, especially if you have numerous animals to show. Abused animals can't win prizes because it very quickly becomes obvious that an animal has been abused.

Further, things like "milking is cruel" are uneducated. Not milking a cow that needs to be milked leads to a fatal condition called mastitis which essentially causes the cow to rot from the inside out. Not pretty, but it shows why milking is important (no matter who is milking them, humans or a baby cow). A lot of people claim cows are kept in a constant state of pregnancy, which again is incorrect. Most are butchered around age 5, which allows time for one birth and the rest of the time is spent in a milking period, followed by a dry period. There's simply not enough time for the cow to be "in a constant state of pregnancy."

I guess what I'm trying to say is Skinny ***** is kind of like Michael Moore. It's all about shock value, and comes up short on delivering the whole story and all of its facts.

Now I'm not discouraging you from going veg (pescetarian, lacto ovo, vegan, or frutarian). Just know that Skinny ***** should not be the reason you do it. Its gotta be your choice.

ohohraptor

Hey, first, if you're going to go veg do it on your own terms. I've been veg for 3 years, and grew up on a farm where we raised animals for slaughter. The two aren't related.

You need to know that Skinny ***** is a very one-sided story. First, they only talk about factory farms, not the majority of farmers. See, factory farms (KFC's farms, Purdue, Tyson, Hatfield, etc) can afford to treat livestock like crap. So, don't do business with them. If you like meat, then purchase it from food co-ops, local butcheries, etc. You're far better off and you can usually rest assured that the animal has been treated far better.

See, most small farms literally can't afford to treat animals badly. The farmers barely make ends meet as it is, so they have to squeeze every ounce of money they can out of the things that are in their care. This usually includes showing animals at local, county, state, and sometimes national fairs. A blue ribbon at some fairs can be thousands of dollars. Imagine if you can show a single animal at 20 fairs? That's a pretty hefty income, especially if you have numerous animals to show. Abused animals can't win prizes because it very quickly becomes obvious that an animal has been abused.

Further, things like "milking is cruel" are uneducated. Not milking a cow that needs to be milked leads to a fatal condition called mastitis which essentially causes the cow to rot from the inside out. Not pretty, but it shows why milking is important (no matter who is milking them, humans or a baby cow). A lot of people claim cows are kept in a constant state of pregnancy, which again is incorrect. Most are butchered around age 5, which allows time for one birth and the rest of the time is spent in a milking period, followed by a dry period. There's simply not enough time for the cow to be "in a constant state of pregnancy."

I guess what I'm trying to say is Skinny ***** is kind of like Michael Moore. It's all about shock value, and comes up short on delivering the whole story and all of its facts.

Now I'm not discouraging you from going veg (pescetarian, lacto ovo, vegan, or frutarian). Just know that Skinny ***** should not be the reason you do it. Its gotta be your choice.

I'm looking into it more now, but my opinion doesn't seem to be changing much. Everything I'm reading points towards the same "humans weren't built to eat meat, at least on a regular basis" statement, and I'm definitely agreeing. I'm looking for more articles on the other side of the fence though. The only one I read so far did not have a very good argument. Just because we CAN eat meat, meaning we can hunt it, kill it, and digest it, doesn't mean our bodies were BUILT to eat meat. It's a good adaptation to have the option of eating meat for survival, but our bodies don't seem to be built for it at all.

Still reading more...

dayzeerock

I've been vegan for 4 years, since first reading the book "Skinny B***" and it has honestly changed my life! I have severe Lupus, and after switching to a vegan diet, my rheumatologist is convinced that going vegan put me in remission! I've been off chemo treatments for 3 years now, my skin glows (no more lupus rashes!), I have energy for the first time in my life, and I've become an amazing cook! My iron levels which were always chronically low skyrocketed into the healthy range, and I was even able to donate blood for the first time ever because my iron was finally high enough. There is a lot of good that comes from this eating habit. I suggest the Kind Diet and the China Study, and the documentary film Earthlings will certainly change your entire outlook on eating meat. Best of luck, and if you ever want good recipe ideas that are simple and delicious, check out my blog at http://veganrockergirl.blogspot.com!

wildbio

I was vegan for about 10 years before starting to eat eggs again. I try to only eat eggs from chickens I know but will eat free range eggs as well. I do not eat any meat or dairy. Also, my boyfriend is a carnivore. Feel free to add me as a friend or ask any questions you might have. I'm happy to answer them! Being vegan is typically a lifestyle choice, not a dietary one. It can be challenging in the beginning but it does get easier over time. I am also a very lazy cook so I have a small arsenal of recipes I keep handy. P.S. Veganomicon is a great cookbook. Even someone like me who hates cooking really enjoys the recipes in it.

ohohraptor

I've been vegan for 4 years, since first reading the book "Skinny B***" and it has honestly changed my life! I have severe Lupus, and after switching to a vegan diet, my rheumatologist is convinced that going vegan put me in remission! I've been off chemo treatments for 3 years now, my skin glows (no more lupus rashes!), I have energy for the first time in my life, and I've become an amazing cook! My iron levels which were always chronically low skyrocketed into the healthy range, and I was even able to donate blood for the first time ever because my iron was finally high enough. There is a lot of good that comes from this eating habit. I suggest the Kind Diet and the China Study, and the documentary film Earthlings will certainly change your entire outlook on eating meat. Best of luck, and if you ever want good recipe ideas that are simple and delicious, check out my blog at http://veganrockergirl.blogspot.com!

Congrats that's awesome! You're the second person that recommended The Kind Diet, I definitely have to get it now.

kathvg

i read fast food nation a while ago and def changed the way that i eat!