Becoming vegan: why didn't I do it earlier?
Sometimes I can really procrastinate over things. I get comfortable with my routine, and when something a little challenging or different comes up on the horizon, I start to distract myself in whatever way I can, to put off doing that thing until I have no choice but to just get it done. I wish I didn't behave like this. I wish I was better organised and when I felt that niggle of anxiety creeping up, I would just face that thing head on - as I know that as soon as I've done it, I'm so much calmer and happier! You see new things, idea and events start me overthinking, and researching about them, which can consume an awful lot of my time. I wish I didn't feel the need to look into things quite as deeply as I do!
Take veganism. There were so many blocks that I had to overcome before changing my lifestyle . I became a vegetarian when I was 11, after years of wanting to be, but not having the strength or support to make the change. I felt a strong compassion towards animal life, so decided I didn't want to be part of their upsetting fate.
Since then, I looked at veganism as a bit too extreme for me, not really seeing the point of going that extra step, as I was blissfully ignorant to the animal welfare issues in the milk industry, and egg-laying industry, and why vegans avoid honey. More recently in life though, I watched the documentary 'Cowspiracy', and my perception began to change. My eyes were now open, and I realised that I'd been drawing a line where I shouldn't have been. I now feel that exploiting animals for our taste and uses, whether a small insect, or a large mammal, is all the same, whatever the species.
Becoming vegan was a really hard change to consider taking though. I was a lover of cheese - pizza, cheese on toast, crackers and cheese, cheese on top of everything! Eggs were my go-to food for if I couldn't be bothered cooking much - I'd whip up a quick dish of scrambled eggs, and know I was eating something good for me. I'd eat honey as a sweetener rather than sugar; I was a real chocoholic, and I really enjoyed creamy deserts and sweets full of dairy. My diet wasn't healthy, but it was really tasty!
Becoming vegan, I discovered that until then, my moods had been strongly connected to food, with me choosing foods to pick me up, not to nourish me. I not only decided to become vegan out of compassion, but I also felt I needed the shift to help me become healthier. Over the years, I'd grown to eating less and less healthily. I'd come up with healthy meals for my omnivorous family, then just grab something quick and convenient for myself. I felt that by becoming vegan, I'd have no choice but to start taking more care over what I ate.
So after seeing 'Cowspiracy', it reaffirmed my compassion for animals, and made me aware of the bigger picture, which left me feeling that I had no choice but to make the change. So I gave myself a week to adapt. I know many people who take much longer to transition, but I knew that once I'd made my decision, the longer I kept on eating everything I loved, the harder it would be to properly make the change. That week was so tough! Still creating meals for my family which included all I'd cut out, having to endure the tempting smells and sights in the kitchen 3 times a day! Having just a short time for making dinner, when I was tired after a long day, and having to stop myself from grabbing the box of eggs and frying pan. I stayed strong though, and with the help of the 'Vegan Bible', I got stuck into creating really tasty dishes from the start. I found that there are some ingredients that give similar flavours to egg and cheese dishes, and plant syrup is a great alternative to honey, so found that once I'd got past that first week of stumbling blocks, I really didn't find being vegan very hard at all :-)
The next step is finding the strength and determination to start some kind of fitness regime.... I would so love to start running...... I wonder if there any inspiring, hard-hitting documentaries around that might make the switch go in my head and make me just get a pair of running shoes and actually give it a try? ;-)
I was inspired to write about this after reading about the challenge below:
https://steemit.com/innerblocks/@naturalmedicine/natural-medicine-and-inner-blocks-collaborative-challenge-win-lotus-tokens-and-up-to-60-steem
It is fascinating how much resistance there is to what you eat when trying to eat a healthy plant-based diet, but apparently it is quite okay to eat unhealthy as long as you eat meat.
Why I don't go vegan is mostly peer pressure. It's not polite to say no thank you ...
But it is less polite to take another beings life?
I find it difficult when friends who aren't aware of my choice offer me things I won't eat - I feel rude when I say no, but find that usually they're understanding, and as I don't preach to them about their choices, we still continue to respect each other :-) If they start to try to tell me how being vegan isn't a good idea, and how eating meat is the best way, then I know they're not being very respectful, and they're not really my choice of people to be around. I'm ok with friends who eat meat, as long as they're ok with my choices too :-)
That yes that is a great lifestyle ... I respect your choice a lot, but I, although feeling it, adore the meat and derivatives ... But I really congratulate you for what you do, pes it is complicated to make changes in our life, but if they are for our benefit, if it is worth it ...
It is hard and complicated to make changes in life, I agree. I just hope I'm able to remain healthy as a vegan, and will never need to go back on my decision, as I feel that that would be even harder to do.
You’ve been visited by @trucklife-family on behalf of Natural Medicine. I can relate to this so much. I too became a vegetarian in my teens and it took me a few years to finally become a vegan. But when I did it was easy. My daughters are half french so they love cheese especially my older two, I would love them to vegan, but I respect their wishes, my youngest is, she just doesn't like the taste of cheese. It felt like my body let out a sigh of relief when I became vegan. I too love chocolate, so just make my own now, dates are such a wonderful natural sweetner. Thank you for sharing your journey xx
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I would love my kids to become vegan too, but love cheese and meat and eggs too much for now. I know they are caring and loving beings though, so hoping that one day they will choose to do their own research and decide to make the first step and become vegetarian at least :-)
I love making my own chocolate too - it's so delicious, isn't it? x
Me...after seeing a bunch of those documentaries as well but more because i hate high temperatures in general (global warming and water use for animal feeding) and centralization of the power of a few key players (pharma, food industry, government lobbying, and insurance)
Whole food plant-based for the win!
Of course, the environmental/climate side of the decision was also important for me too :-) If we all do our bit, we can make a big difference :-)
I guess the rest it¡s all about ruthless strategic thinking towards beating the system in its own game
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What a great entry into the challenge. Funny, I didn't come across it that way - you just appeared in my feed as someone else resteemed it! I have been avoiding Cowspiracy as I don't want to get more depressed - but I have heard it's pretty full on. I was vegetarian for most of my life, and never ate lots of dairy, and have had times of veganism. But I raise my own chooks (eggs) and buy local cheese and meat from ethical farmers so I feel okay about it. I can cook vegan and vego like a boss though! He he.
Running - just then read an article on how people who run once a week live longer than people who don't - so I thought I had to start running, which I bloody hate with a passion - then I read the fine print - 'than those that live sedentary lifestyles and don't run' - I am not sedentary so I think I'm good. Running takes it's toll on the body - give me surfing, yoga and gardening instead, and brisk walking. YOu'll find once you start a regime it'll become addictive!
I have heaps of vegetarian friends, but also friends who are similar to you, and buy from ethical farmers. I think that it all makes a difference, and we all have to do what we feel right about :-)
I read an article about the same a while ago - but yes, it's hard on the body too, so I don't know ........I may just keep walking, and yoga, and gardening too ;-)
I think it's pretty important to recognise that a vegan diet may not be healthy for some people, but we can always limit the amount of eat we eat AND where we source it from, particularly because of the environmental impact as well.
Don't run! He he... i really do hate running THAT much!
Definitely - such an extreme diet really needs to be researched before considering whether it's right for you or not. Limiting meat, and eating a wide range of foods from ethical farms, is a good thing if vegetarian and vegan diets aren't right for someone :-)
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Meat is murder, we love our little pet cats and dogs but can eat the flesh of a murdered cow, what hypocrisy. It shows the inability to think things through to their obvious conclusion. Pseudo spiritualists think they can eat "ethical" meat, what a farce. You have to kill the guy you are about to eat dude, wake up...is what I say to the pseudos. Vegan is best.
I become repulsed just smelling dead animal being burned. How can these ex vegetarians be so blind and brutal. Compassion is the symptom of your spiritual path. If you can't see the brutality in eating a murdered warm-blooded creature then your attempt at spirituality has failed to produce the result - compassion for sentient life, particularly those that feel the pain of being murdered! Hellooooooo....
I know what you mean, but I feel that if people are going to be meat-eaters, then at lease eating only ethical meat is a step closer to doing the right thing. But yes, personally, whether ethical farmers or not, it's all just exploitation and murder by humans who are using their power against weaker species.
Understandable dilemma, like saying killing is murder, but then allowing abortion because of rape...like the lesser of two evils perhaps. A grey area for today's degraded society that is already in ignorance.
You Have Been Curated By Vegan-Curate, Here to Curate For the Animals And Heatly Living.
Thank you :-)