I had been vegetarian for a while but I was the kind of vegetarian who would, on occassion, slip and eat Burger King. After an episode of a quirky comedy show I even found a name to excuse it. I was simply "stress eating meat". Oh, ok then, then that's ok.
After this birthday I started to get a bit more serious and lay off of the meats but dairy, I told myself, I can't live without cheese or worse yet, ICE CREAM! That's just ridiculous. Besides, I'm just a vegetarian for health reasons not ethical ones.
Then, thanks to a twitter post by Kerry whose story I'd read through the website Vegan Testimonial I discovered an internet radio show called Citizen Radio. I think I was at the point where I was ready and open to what they had to say. Probably because I knew, in my heart of hearts, that all the reasons for not giving up on ice cream or having a sneaky burger every now and then before were not reasons at all but excuses.
So, now I am a fully-fledged vegan. I don't eat cheese and I don't eat ice cream (because I know what's in them and can't guarantee how the animals are treated) and I CERTAINLY don't have a sneaky meat burger every now and then.
It's only been about a week so I haven't really had enough time to say I miss dairy but I'm discovering alternatives. I tried soy ice cream the other day and bought some vegan cheese for grilled cheese too. I have to confess that neither product hit the spot. Neither tasted like the REAL thing but it's a decision about what's important to me. For me, the fact that I can't guarantee those cows have had/ are having a good life gives me the motivation not to eat it and whilst I might not find a substitute that tastes EXACTLY like Ben and Jerrys, I have faith that I will find new tastes that will be different but just as good. (Have I mentioned my addiction to Kale?)
I think another person I have to mention in this post as motivation for my transition to veganism is an ex-housemate of mine. I'm not sure if she'd want to be named so I will leave it vague like this but she will know who I'm talking about if she were to ever read this.
We lived in a share house together about five years ago and although it's taken me until now to actually go vegan I think her example was definitely part of the process. Mainly, I think, because up until then, I thought all vegans were shouty and preachy and would try and tell me I was evil....to be honest, I've never met a vegan like that but I think, much like a tee-totaller who goes out to the pub with his mates..because they are abstaining from something for ethical reasons, we take it as a judgement on ourselves and the hackles go up.
Anyway, but because my housemate was never judgemental (she couldn't be with an omnivorous bordering on carnivorous boyfriend) and was very unassuming in her vegan-ness I was less defensive about it and I became a lot more curious about her eating habits. I think, her example, and that of my vegetarian aunt, gave me the impetus to even just go vegetarian.
All kinds of horror stories and stereotypes get put about about vegetarians and vegans. The one about them being pasty and without energy immediately springs to mind, let alone all the supposed nutrient deficiencies, which for the most part, all you have to do is a little bit of reading to realise are untrue.
I don't want to be a preachy vegan but at the same time, I think it's very important to negate the fallacies that get put about. All I know, is that, as I've said before, the less animal product I eat, the healthier I feel. I am two dress sizes lighter since going veg, even if it wasn't the strictest....and when I'm eating mainly fruit and veg, contrary to popular belief about vegans and vegetarians, I have SOOOOOOOOOO much energy that often times, I'm not sure what to do with it. I have to be careful not to have smoothies too close to bed time or I'm bouncing off the walls!
I will be interested to see what the health difference between vegan and veg are as time goes on and I will keep you posted.
In the meantime, comment below and leave me all your favourite myths about veganism/vegetarianism and in a later post I can address them and allay any fears about my supposed imminent bad health! lol
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