How to tell vegan friends to back off?!

I get it family and friends who are vegan have their views but they always try to push it on me or others, it's like solicitors that come door to door trying to get you to take their pamphlets or switch to their internet provider. I respect their choice and so make sure to include meals they can eat during a get together. But I don't push them to eat animal products.

And I've already heard "well if you tried it you'll like it or feel better". Yeah I was vegan for over a year before but it wasn't for me. At the time I was rowing and competing in regattas which meant I was training in the gym 5 days and on the water 4 days of the week. Perhaps it was the timing but I could never get enough calories or protein from alternative sources. I felt weaker and was always tired.

I already don't eat most dairy products and during the week include vegan meals but I just like meat.

Simply saying "no thank you" or even explaining what I just did here doesn't seem to work. Anyone else experience this? What do you do?

Just say, "No thanks," and move on. If they keep bugging you, try Aaron's chicken toss. :bigsmile: :laugh:

Call them on their smug selves! Do they wear leather? Carry leather purses? I am a vegetarian, but am happy when people eat the meat which came off of my shoes!!!

Can we not advise someone to turn hateful on their friends? Okay, so they're Vegan and they have some boundary issues. How is forcing back with equal hate and inappropriate behaviour supposed to help heal the already fragile relationship?

If you are friends, just talk. Seriously. Set a few boundaries and express that mutual respect needs to be a componant in your relationship, for the benefit of both parties.

A lot of veg*ns already face hate and prejudice due to the extremists who make a bad name for, what people assume to be all, veg*n manners. If you want someone to respect your life choices, hating on and dismantling theirs in the name of revenge just doesn't sound like a good way to start.

LOL! On the religious extremism meme! It's true! Too damn funny.

How did I handle it? Um...probably not the right way. I challenged my tiny vegan step-sister to a fitness contest to PROVE her BS claims her fruity *kitten* diet made her into some kind of superwoman or STFU. It didn't hurt that I was 6 inches taller, 30 lean pounds heavier, and spent a lot of time being active at a lot of different stuff that involved a casual workout (surfing, hiking etc...) while she went to an overpriced fancy-pants gym that claimed to be better than a regular gym not unlike her vegan- superwoman- diet plan over normal food. You just wouldn't believe the nasty crap she ate to turn her gym attending self into an elite athlete (um...sure....)

She absolutely, positively SUCKED at everything we tried. Outside sports, inside sports, machines, free weights, treadmill, elliptical, running, dry land and water sports. Needless to say, I'm hardly a freaking elite athlete. I was just going to a regular, cheap gym at that time.

I'm sure there is a vegan super,duper athlete out there somewhere but the vast majority of vegans I've seen appear rather pale and frail IMHO.

Can we not advise someone to turn hateful on their friends? Okay, so they're Vegan and they have some boundary issues. How is forcing back with equal hate and inappropriate behaviour supposed to help heal the already fragile relationship?

If you are friends, just talk. Seriously. Set a few boundaries and express that mutual respect needs to be a componant in your relationship, for the benefit of both parties.

A lot of veg*ns already face hate and prejudice due to the extremists who make a bad name for, what people assume to be all, veg*n manners. If you want someone to respect your life choices, hating on and dismantling theirs in the name of revenge just doesn't sound like a good way to start.

Appeasement isn't always the best policy to follow.

I don't think that should be necessary between friends. But I guess it's another case of "with friends like these, who needs enemies?"

"No other animal drinks milk into adulthood!"


"That's because no other animal is smart enough to figure out how to milk a cow."

Honestly there is a very good biological reason. Humans as a species developed a mutation in the lactase enzyme pathway that allows the enzyme responsible for the metabolic decomposition (digestion) of lactose into adulthood. All other mammals have the lactase gene regulated so that entering into adulthood the expression of the gene is turned off. Humans developed a mutation sometime in our past that spread through most of the population that prevented this regulatory mechanism so lactase continued to be expressed into adulthood. Its actually the lactose intolerant that have the "natural" genetics and the lactose tolerant that are the "mutants" although of course what is "natural" is all relative when it comes to evolution.

Regardless if you can drink it why wouldn't you unless you specifically don't like the taste or just don't want to. There is no "natural" or health reason to not drink milk that isn't based on some misguided idea of an "ideal" based on judgement of what "nature" should be.

[/quote]

I think the mutation is mostly in those of Northern/Western European descent. Many other world populations are lactose intolerance.

SIMPLY BITE THEM ON THE NECK, AND DRINK EVERY OUNCE OF THEIR BLOOD. THAT SHOULD TAKE CARE OF YOUR PROBLEM. (DON'T FORGET TO LOG THE CALORIES!)

Are you incapable of actually articulating to people, or did you just want to rant?
Generally speaking, if one wants someone to "back off," one simply vocalizes this.

As the OP stated

"Simply saying "no thank you" or even explaining what I just did here doesn't seem to work."

I assume we're all working off the idea that they refuse to take no for an answer.

"No other animal drinks milk into adulthood!"


"That's because no other animal is smart enough to figure out how to milk a cow."

Honestly there is a very good biological reason. Humans as a species developed a mutation in the lactase enzyme pathway that allows the enzyme responsible for the metabolic decomposition (digestion) of lactose into adulthood. All other mammals have the lactase gene regulated so that entering into adulthood the expression of the gene is turned off. Humans developed a mutation sometime in our past that spread through most of the population that prevented this regulatory mechanism so lactase continued to be expressed into adulthood. Its actually the lactose intolerant that have the "natural" genetics and the lactose tolerant that are the "mutants" although of course what is "natural" is all relative when it comes to evolution.

Regardless if you can drink it why wouldn't you unless you specifically don't like the taste or just don't want to. There is no "natural" or health reason to not drink milk that isn't based on some misguided idea of an "ideal" based on judgement of what "nature" should be.

I think the mutation is mostly in those of Northern/Western European descent. Many other world populations are lactose intolerance.
[/quote]

It has been a while so I don't remember for sure but I think you might be correct about that. It clearly started somewhere in our past and propagated in the population probably because it was not a bad trait to have really.

Are you incapable of actually articulating to people, or did you just want to rant?
Generally speaking, if one wants someone to "back off," one simply vocalizes this.

As the OP stated

"Simply saying "no thank you" or even explaining what I just did here doesn't seem to work."

I assume we're all working off the idea that they refuse to take no for an answer.

Communicating your desire takes many forms, not all verbal. Bodylanguage, intensity, assertiveness play their part. I'm not operating on the assumption that these people are unreachable sociopaths.