I Think This Book Is Making Me Want To Go Vegan

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!

lawkat

I am a vegetarian. I have flirted with the idea of going vegan, but probably won't. I have read Skinny B**** and it is pretty one sided. I am all for animal rights, but there are 2 sides to every story.

There is a whole lifestyle change that goes with becoming vegan. It isn't just about the diet for most people. People give up their beauty products, leather products, clothing and other fabrics because they are derived from animals. Just because something says "no animal testing" doesn't mean much considering they are talking about the final product, not the various ingredients that go into that final product. Also, there is a really long list of things that are derived from animals. Read as much as you can about it before making the leap.

Don't try to force your husband to become vegan. He has to want to do it or else he will resist on so many levels.

hilsidney

Another really great book on the topic is Eating Animals by Jonathan Safron Foer. It actually turned my meat eating husband into a near vegetarian. He only eats local meat and dairy now. I've been a vegetarian for 21 years, and a vegan on and off. I don't function well without a little bit of dairy. We mostly buy local...as much as we can.

You should give it a try and see if you like it. Also, like many others have said, you can gradually go veggie. I think just being more aware of where food is coming from, and what is being done to the food is a super important thing to me.

I've always been pretty healthy. My iron levels have always been low, but since I started taking a supplement I haven't had much of an issue.

Good luck with whatever you decide!

BR1986FB

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.

And perhaps you should read books like Robb Wolf's (a former vegan who's health was in shambles until he went Paleo) "Paleo Solution" and Mark Sisson's "Primal Blueprint."

Not ALL farms are created equal. If you're going to buy that commercially raised (i.e. CRAP) meat where they hoard those animals into pens and load them up with corn until they are about ready to explode, I might agree with you. But if you were to do your research, find local farmers who raised grassfed animals who are allowed to roam, you might be singing a different tune.

Besides, for as much bashing as we've heard about "OMG, saturated fats...ohs noes !!!", recent studies have been showing cholesterol levels in vegetarians are usually off the charts. It's not a healthy lifestyle but to each their own.

hilsidney

Not quite true about the latest studies showing Vegetarians having off the charts cholesterol. Try google scholar, and search some of the most recent pubmed articles and abstracts. It's interesting about cholesterol and how little is actually known about it still. Recent research suggests that having high cholesterol might not have such a strong correlation to heart disease as once thought, and the new thinking is that statins might be completely pointless. I work in research at a university in the college of nursing and public health, so I'm reading a lot of these studies. My dad died of atherosclerosis, and had incredibly low cholesterol. Anyway, I think to state that vegetarians on the whole have off the chart cholesterol levels is off base.

I quite agree about eating local grass fed animals, eggs, etc. My husband does and I support him fully. I'll admit I eat my share of junk food...especially sweets. I remain a vegetarian, 21 years and counting with low cholesterol and great blood pressure.

astovey

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!

We are a lot alike

Flocker1979

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!

Same here. I thought I was reading a fun, silly book about nutrition and it was horrific!

ohohraptor

I am a vegetarian. I have flirted with the idea of going vegan, but probably won't. I have read Skinny B**** and it is pretty one sided. I am all for animal rights, but there are 2 sides to every story.

There is a whole lifestyle change that goes with becoming vegan. It isn't just about the diet for most people. People give up their beauty products, leather products, clothing and other fabrics because they are derived from animals. Just because something says "no animal testing" doesn't mean much considering they are talking about the final product, not the various ingredients that go into that final product. Also, there is a really long list of things that are derived from animals. Read as much as you can about it before making the leap.

Don't try to force your husband to become vegan. He has to want to do it or else he will resist on so many levels.

I make my own cosmetics, dont think I own anything leather but am focussing more on the diet aspect of it than anything else. I think I would overwhelm myself if I changed everything at once. One step at a time...

And I'm not trying to force him to do anything...

ohohraptor

Another really great book on the topic is Eating Animals by Jonathan Safron Foer. It actually turned my meat eating husband into a near vegetarian. He only eats local meat and dairy now. I've been a vegetarian for 21 years, and a vegan on and off. I don't function well without a little bit of dairy. We mostly buy local...as much as we can.

You should give it a try and see if you like it. Also, like many others have said, you can gradually go veggie. I think just being more aware of where food is coming from, and what is being done to the food is a super important thing to me.

I've always been pretty healthy. My iron levels have always been low, but since I started taking a supplement I haven't had much of an issue.

Good luck with whatever you decide!

My iron levels are low too. What kind of multi vitamin do you take? I looked at the ones at the health food store today but they didn't have a multi vitamin that had everything I was looking for in it.

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.

And perhaps you should read books like Robb Wolf's (a former vegan who's health was in shambles until he went Paleo) "Paleo Solution" and Mark Sisson's "Primal Blueprint."

Not ALL farms are created equal. If you're going to buy that commercially raised (i.e. CRAP) meat where they hoard those animals into pens and load them up with corn until they are about ready to explode, I might agree with you. But if you were to do your research, find local farmers who raised grassfed animals who are allowed to roam, you might be singing a different tune.

Besides, for as much bashing as we've heard about "OMG, saturated fats...ohs noes !!!", recent studies have been showing cholesterol levels in vegetarians are usually off the charts. It's not a healthy lifestyle but to each their own.

It's not ALL about the treatment of animals, actually the main reason for me is because of health reasons. I don't want to turn this thread into a debate but if you'd like to talk about this further you can message me. I'll look into those books, thanks.

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!

We are a lot alike

We are?