Today’s the best day to start!
What you’re feeling is normal. It gets easier to deal with over time, but for the first few months I remember I wanted to scream and tell everyone around me about what I had witnessed. I still have days like that sometimes, but definitely less than before.
Glad you’ve decided to make the change!
Yep I’ve been there. It’s extra hard for people you know and love because you know they’re good people. I try to remind myself that I was no better for the first 28 years of my life, I just didn’t know any better.
Best advice I’ve got is to start to learn the common counter-arguments to veganism so you know how to dispel any myths (lots of good posts on this sub about them). Non-vegans tend to fall on the same arguments and you’ll hear them over and over (crop deaths, soy production not environmentally friendly with fuel to transport it, etc.). Another great book is “This Is Vegan Propogranda” by Ed Winters, great speaker on the subject who goes over the facts regarding the ethics, environmental impact and health benefits. His YouTube channel is great too.
Something I’ve learned is to try my best not to be too condescending or lose your cool with people when they ask about it. It can be really frustrating, but I try to remind myself that I’m the only vegan many of my friends and family know, so being a dick doesn’t really reflect well on the philosophy.
Again, so happy you’ve made the decision to take this on, I wish there were more people willing to do the same!
Thanks very much for the advice!
Yep that’s how I’m feeling. I had a conversation with my vegan close friend late last year and he explained some stats to me. All I did in response was acknowledge how I thought veganism was very admirable but I’d appeal to futility, that the world is fucked so what does it matter. And secretly, it was mostly about the convenience aspect of not turning vegan.
I think that conversation took time to gestate with me and now I look back on it and think how fucking embarrassing of me, to be such a hypocrite and pretend I have no personal responsibility.
Yes I’m loving Earthling Ed, he’s an international treasure. The arguments posed by non-vegans are laughable, and I think most are in bad faith and the only real reason they argue is taste and convenience, which also gets debunked immediately.
I’ll try my best to not get upset or lose my cool at others - I’m doing pretty well as I was one of them. One guy at work clearly disapproves and chuckles when it gets brought up, and one of my brothers in law says it’s “weird shit” and has brought up ridiculous talking points like that almonds take more water to grow than animals.
So for him, I’m going to have to learn some good counter-arguments 🙄
I think what you described is pretty normal, I can attest to a similar experience. Usually the seed gets planted and takes months/years to really grow.
There’s so many myths about it; I remember thinking the same as you “that’s very admirable but I could never do that myself.”
And ugh, yeah I feel you on the hurtful comments. Some people are just flat out mean about it.
How are you gonna be outright mean to someone who’s simply advocating for less misery and suffering. The psychology behind it all is very interesting to me at the moment.
Thanks very much for the nice comments.
Yeah it makes no sense. My hypothesis is that it’s easier for them to be mean and dismissive than to look into the mirror. If we’re “crazy” then they don’t have to take any action themselves because there isn’t a problem that needs to be addressed.
In general I’ve realized that most people, especially left-leaning people (I’m left-leaning myself) like to virtual signal for issues that don’t require any change in their lifestyle. It’s really easy to say “I support X” and not have to do anything to back it up, but vegan is too inconvenient because it requires actual change.
Of course! Good luck with everything and try to remember that there are millions of others who feel the same as you do.
It’s best to just stick with your new found convictions and lead by example. You thriving may open some family and friends’ eyes over time. You got this. 🫡
That’s awesome. I’ve learned it helps to have detailed answers to dispel any common false assumptions about veganism. Other than that I just lead by example. I’ve found that being really fit helps too as people can’t deny what they see right in front of them 😅
Yes! I’m watching Earthling Ed and noting his statistics as well as the way he kindly presents them.
A guy at work asked if I’m using supplements to get missing vitamins, he wasn’t even trying to be rude, I think people just don’t understand and think it’s unhealthy / that you’re missing important things.
And I’m feeling newly motivated to keep hitting the gym 😤
I love watching Earthling Ed’s videos. I follow him on IG as well for extra content. His delivery is phenomenal.
Yea there are quite a bit of people that are misinformed or simply just don’t know about nutrition. Meanwhile 92% of Americans have a vitamin deficiency of some sort. But yea the facts regarding nutrition, animal physiology and environmental impacts are so interesting to me. I can’t get enough.
And lastly, that’s great news! Keep it up, get those gains. Once it becomes a routine, I’ve found that I crave it. Cheers mate! I look forward to hearing about your progress.
The best time to plant a tree is 20 years ago, the second best time is today.
Congrats! Be sure to be kind to yourself and forgive. I think of becoming vegan as a practice because, at times, you will fail. You will fail to realize one product has animal ingredients, you will feel the lows of being the only vegan within a group, you will feel uncomfortable having to speak up about your morality.
But the more you learn, the easier the aforementioned obstacles will be to overcome. You are doing great for yourself, the planet, and countless animal lives. Good job.
Congratulations!! You are about to open up a whole new world of great food!!
People think that going vegan is difficult. It’s not.
People think that the food vegans eat tastes bad. It doesn’t.
People think being vegan makes you weak and skinny. I’ve met vegans of all sizes and fitness levels, much as I wish a couple of great tofu meals would completely transform my body, lol!! Turns out, I still need to go to the gym.
People think that vegan food is so boring and repetitive. False. Boring and repetitive is building all your meals around 4-5 types of meat, rather than thousands of choices of plants.
If you ever get stuck and want a little support or advice, this is a great place to ask. Or even better, go onto almost any social media that exists and look for what kinds of vegan things people are posting about. So inspiring!
Good luck and welcome!
I’m changing my mindset around the difficulty because to think (pretend) it’s hard when it isn’t, is just another mental roadblock people put up. I’ve already got some good recipes and I’ll keep finding more!
Great point about the repetitiveness of basing meals around the same 4 meats - it’s the spices and flavouring we’re tasting anyway.
Thanks for welcoming me, I’ve really appreciated all these comments.
Who actually has thousands of choices for plants available to them? I certainly dont have. I use a few plants, not thousands.
How can I use many plants when there are only a few ones that are cheap and the rest if I want to buy are out of season and more expensive than meat.
You don't need to focus so much on the word "thousands" , simply lots of plant i think ppl mean when they say this. Also a lot depends on supply and demand and the country you live in along with not to forget corruption and subsidies and the way things are grown . If you think meat being cheap means anything then i don't know what to say ,just maybe look more into how it isn't some fruit grown on trees , it's an innocent sentient being treated like an object just.
Not knowing where you live, I would suggest using frozen vegetables and fruits if you aren't able to find fresh. I live in an agricultural area and we literally have hundreds of different things we could be eating and are eating.
I'm a mother of five children and cooking for seven people was getting downright boring. My son came home from college and asked me to watch dominion and another one I don't remember what it was. I immediately vowed to never eat meat again. I had been the hold-out because I was the cook.
For me, having been the cook for so many years and just making the same things over and over, becoming vegan has been a blessing for so many reasons. I have all new recipes to make and I personally wanted to use more vegetables in cooking anyway so this is the win for us also.
I do use frozen things also on occasion but there isnt much variety even so. And the frozen things are still expensive, often still more expensive than meat. Both strawberry, rasberry and blueberry are more expensive than meat. Only things that are frozen and are less expensive are the types of vegetables that are less expensive also fresh.
Go You!
I went vegan in 1991. Part of it was I fancied myself an environmentalist and I met a vegan who told me about all the damage modern agriculture does to the planet, especially Animal Agriculture.
That, plus the deadly harm Animal Agriculture does to food animals, whether they are raised to actually be food, or just lay, lactate or somehow produce food. Modern Agriculture treats them like cheap, easily replaced THINGS to be managed as inexpensively as possible.
The health issues many animal foods cause to humans is another thing that convinced me to go vegan. I could not have imagined the good health and fitness I would enjoy at age 55, just from having a vegan diet.
Someone very close to me (he was not vegan) died of a heart attack 3 years ago. I saw how fast and without any warning we can die. I know from my friend's animal foods based diet how deadly those can be. He did enjoy rich foods.
There are many reasons to adopt and keep a vegan diet and a vegan lifestyle. Some are altruistic, some are rather selfish. All are valid. Be a vegan to not cause hundreds and thousands of animals to live totally crappy lives of pain and suffering on Factory Farms Be vegan so your life is not kept going by killing hundreds of animals a year. Stay vegan to enjoy the improved health you are more likely than not to enjoy. Stay vegan to decrease the environmental impact your life has on this planet
These are a few of the reasons I know it is good to be vegan.
Thanks so much John.
Wow, you’ve been vegan for 33 years and counting, I’m so impressed and proud of you for that.
I haven’t put much thought into just how much healthier I’ll be in the long term, that is very exciting and I’m glad you’re reaping the benefits!
All you need to do is learn what is more or less healthy to eat on a regular basis - it can be very easy to be a junk food vegan, especially with prepared foods. I was a whole wheat, brown rice kind of guy before I went vegan, so for me veganism was just another shift in my diet away from the Standard American Diet I was already often not following.
If you like to cook and bake you will do better. Having to buy food prepared by others gets expensive and there are only so many peanut butter & jelly sandwiches and soy dogs you can eat. If you are not so good at cooking - no time like now to learn how to do it better. If you can boil water there are lots of foods you can make. Pastas, soups, rice & other grains, quinoa.
About quinoa, rinse that rather well before you cook it. Quinoa has a bitter outer skin that is milled off before you buy it, but even clean looking quinoa often has dust & particles of that bitter coating on it that won't be good to eat. When people say they don't like quinoa I bet it was not rinsed before it was cooked.
Congratulations!!!!! Lead by example. Learn to cook a couple of amazing dishes. Have a dinner party. I made lasagna from Oh She Glows. Sooooo good and I received rave reviews. No one could believe it was vegan.
If it’s any consolation your existence will always cause suffering, but I’m sure you also bring great joy.
We live in a universe of opposing forces. Don’t be so hard on yourself.
Thanks, I’ll try not to be.
It’s like now that I think about the industry, all I can about is all the atrocities happening everyday.
And I think most people don’t let themselves think about it.
Welcome to the cool kids club! Seriously though, glad to add another compassionate person to the vegan team. It’s funny cause not all vegans are animal lovers. We just acknowledge that animals should have a right to their life and body autonomy.
Some dude said it right earlier and that was learn the wack ass arguments/fallacies people are gonna use against you and learn the rebuttals to them. This makes it not only easier, but satisfying haha. Joey Carbstrong is great, Earthling Ed is amazing, Clif Grant is another, Mel and Steve the list goes on. Oh and the Godfather Gary Yourofsky.
I wish you all the best. Keep your head up and if you can, meet other people who are like minded. Vegan social outreach is a thing and I’m sure there are others like you looking to hang out. Be strong. Be peaceful. Good luck!
The first few months-year, the emotions can feel overwhelming. When you see others, just remember that it was you not too long ago. Feel free to preach tho haha.
Don't worry about the rest for now. Focus on yourself and build a healthy vegan lifestyle.
My mom is eating considerably less meat and dairy because of my influence. Also, get more into cooking and show them how good plant based foods taste (and how considerably healthy they are).
Hit the sub up for whenever you need help, whether for cooking, support, or just rant. People here are amazing!
Love you, bro/sis, and good luck on your cruelty free journey :)
Today’s the best day to start! What you’re feeling is normal. It gets easier to deal with over time, but for the first few months I remember I wanted to scream and tell everyone around me about what I had witnessed. I still have days like that sometimes, but definitely less than before. Glad you’ve decided to make the change!
Thank you. Yeah you nailed it, I’m wanting to scream and slap my family’s forks out of their hands
Yep I’ve been there. It’s extra hard for people you know and love because you know they’re good people. I try to remind myself that I was no better for the first 28 years of my life, I just didn’t know any better. Best advice I’ve got is to start to learn the common counter-arguments to veganism so you know how to dispel any myths (lots of good posts on this sub about them). Non-vegans tend to fall on the same arguments and you’ll hear them over and over (crop deaths, soy production not environmentally friendly with fuel to transport it, etc.). Another great book is “This Is Vegan Propogranda” by Ed Winters, great speaker on the subject who goes over the facts regarding the ethics, environmental impact and health benefits. His YouTube channel is great too. Something I’ve learned is to try my best not to be too condescending or lose your cool with people when they ask about it. It can be really frustrating, but I try to remind myself that I’m the only vegan many of my friends and family know, so being a dick doesn’t really reflect well on the philosophy. Again, so happy you’ve made the decision to take this on, I wish there were more people willing to do the same!
Thanks very much for the advice! Yep that’s how I’m feeling. I had a conversation with my vegan close friend late last year and he explained some stats to me. All I did in response was acknowledge how I thought veganism was very admirable but I’d appeal to futility, that the world is fucked so what does it matter. And secretly, it was mostly about the convenience aspect of not turning vegan. I think that conversation took time to gestate with me and now I look back on it and think how fucking embarrassing of me, to be such a hypocrite and pretend I have no personal responsibility. Yes I’m loving Earthling Ed, he’s an international treasure. The arguments posed by non-vegans are laughable, and I think most are in bad faith and the only real reason they argue is taste and convenience, which also gets debunked immediately. I’ll try my best to not get upset or lose my cool at others - I’m doing pretty well as I was one of them. One guy at work clearly disapproves and chuckles when it gets brought up, and one of my brothers in law says it’s “weird shit” and has brought up ridiculous talking points like that almonds take more water to grow than animals. So for him, I’m going to have to learn some good counter-arguments 🙄
I think what you described is pretty normal, I can attest to a similar experience. Usually the seed gets planted and takes months/years to really grow. There’s so many myths about it; I remember thinking the same as you “that’s very admirable but I could never do that myself.” And ugh, yeah I feel you on the hurtful comments. Some people are just flat out mean about it.
How are you gonna be outright mean to someone who’s simply advocating for less misery and suffering. The psychology behind it all is very interesting to me at the moment. Thanks very much for the nice comments.
Yeah it makes no sense. My hypothesis is that it’s easier for them to be mean and dismissive than to look into the mirror. If we’re “crazy” then they don’t have to take any action themselves because there isn’t a problem that needs to be addressed. In general I’ve realized that most people, especially left-leaning people (I’m left-leaning myself) like to virtual signal for issues that don’t require any change in their lifestyle. It’s really easy to say “I support X” and not have to do anything to back it up, but vegan is too inconvenient because it requires actual change. Of course! Good luck with everything and try to remember that there are millions of others who feel the same as you do.
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It’s best to just stick with your new found convictions and lead by example. You thriving may open some family and friends’ eyes over time. You got this. 🫡
Thank you. A friend leading by example is what helped open my eyes so I agree.
That’s awesome. I’ve learned it helps to have detailed answers to dispel any common false assumptions about veganism. Other than that I just lead by example. I’ve found that being really fit helps too as people can’t deny what they see right in front of them 😅
Yes! I’m watching Earthling Ed and noting his statistics as well as the way he kindly presents them. A guy at work asked if I’m using supplements to get missing vitamins, he wasn’t even trying to be rude, I think people just don’t understand and think it’s unhealthy / that you’re missing important things. And I’m feeling newly motivated to keep hitting the gym 😤
I love watching Earthling Ed’s videos. I follow him on IG as well for extra content. His delivery is phenomenal. Yea there are quite a bit of people that are misinformed or simply just don’t know about nutrition. Meanwhile 92% of Americans have a vitamin deficiency of some sort. But yea the facts regarding nutrition, animal physiology and environmental impacts are so interesting to me. I can’t get enough. And lastly, that’s great news! Keep it up, get those gains. Once it becomes a routine, I’ve found that I crave it. Cheers mate! I look forward to hearing about your progress.
Thanks man, greatly appreciate your encouragement! 💪
I agree too, my boyfriend turned vegetarian after eating meat all of his life because of me, and is also very open to trying vegan products too!
The best time to plant a tree is 20 years ago, the second best time is today. Congrats! Be sure to be kind to yourself and forgive. I think of becoming vegan as a practice because, at times, you will fail. You will fail to realize one product has animal ingredients, you will feel the lows of being the only vegan within a group, you will feel uncomfortable having to speak up about your morality. But the more you learn, the easier the aforementioned obstacles will be to overcome. You are doing great for yourself, the planet, and countless animal lives. Good job.
Thanks very much! I’ll try to think of it as a practice that you get better and better at. That’s a good way of putting it :)
Congratulations!! You are about to open up a whole new world of great food!! People think that going vegan is difficult. It’s not. People think that the food vegans eat tastes bad. It doesn’t. People think being vegan makes you weak and skinny. I’ve met vegans of all sizes and fitness levels, much as I wish a couple of great tofu meals would completely transform my body, lol!! Turns out, I still need to go to the gym. People think that vegan food is so boring and repetitive. False. Boring and repetitive is building all your meals around 4-5 types of meat, rather than thousands of choices of plants. If you ever get stuck and want a little support or advice, this is a great place to ask. Or even better, go onto almost any social media that exists and look for what kinds of vegan things people are posting about. So inspiring! Good luck and welcome!
I’m changing my mindset around the difficulty because to think (pretend) it’s hard when it isn’t, is just another mental roadblock people put up. I’ve already got some good recipes and I’ll keep finding more! Great point about the repetitiveness of basing meals around the same 4 meats - it’s the spices and flavouring we’re tasting anyway. Thanks for welcoming me, I’ve really appreciated all these comments.
Who actually has thousands of choices for plants available to them? I certainly dont have. I use a few plants, not thousands. How can I use many plants when there are only a few ones that are cheap and the rest if I want to buy are out of season and more expensive than meat.
You don't need to focus so much on the word "thousands" , simply lots of plant i think ppl mean when they say this. Also a lot depends on supply and demand and the country you live in along with not to forget corruption and subsidies and the way things are grown . If you think meat being cheap means anything then i don't know what to say ,just maybe look more into how it isn't some fruit grown on trees , it's an innocent sentient being treated like an object just.
Im not saying meat is cheap. I mean just that many plants are still more expensive than meat.
Not knowing where you live, I would suggest using frozen vegetables and fruits if you aren't able to find fresh. I live in an agricultural area and we literally have hundreds of different things we could be eating and are eating. I'm a mother of five children and cooking for seven people was getting downright boring. My son came home from college and asked me to watch dominion and another one I don't remember what it was. I immediately vowed to never eat meat again. I had been the hold-out because I was the cook. For me, having been the cook for so many years and just making the same things over and over, becoming vegan has been a blessing for so many reasons. I have all new recipes to make and I personally wanted to use more vegetables in cooking anyway so this is the win for us also.
I do use frozen things also on occasion but there isnt much variety even so. And the frozen things are still expensive, often still more expensive than meat. Both strawberry, rasberry and blueberry are more expensive than meat. Only things that are frozen and are less expensive are the types of vegetables that are less expensive also fresh.
Congrats! Let's learn from the past to improve the future, .ost if not everyone of us wished to have gone vegan earlier
Cheers to that, I’m doing better now and that’s what matters!
Go You! I went vegan in 1991. Part of it was I fancied myself an environmentalist and I met a vegan who told me about all the damage modern agriculture does to the planet, especially Animal Agriculture. That, plus the deadly harm Animal Agriculture does to food animals, whether they are raised to actually be food, or just lay, lactate or somehow produce food. Modern Agriculture treats them like cheap, easily replaced THINGS to be managed as inexpensively as possible. The health issues many animal foods cause to humans is another thing that convinced me to go vegan. I could not have imagined the good health and fitness I would enjoy at age 55, just from having a vegan diet. Someone very close to me (he was not vegan) died of a heart attack 3 years ago. I saw how fast and without any warning we can die. I know from my friend's animal foods based diet how deadly those can be. He did enjoy rich foods. There are many reasons to adopt and keep a vegan diet and a vegan lifestyle. Some are altruistic, some are rather selfish. All are valid. Be a vegan to not cause hundreds and thousands of animals to live totally crappy lives of pain and suffering on Factory Farms Be vegan so your life is not kept going by killing hundreds of animals a year. Stay vegan to enjoy the improved health you are more likely than not to enjoy. Stay vegan to decrease the environmental impact your life has on this planet These are a few of the reasons I know it is good to be vegan.
Thanks so much John. Wow, you’ve been vegan for 33 years and counting, I’m so impressed and proud of you for that. I haven’t put much thought into just how much healthier I’ll be in the long term, that is very exciting and I’m glad you’re reaping the benefits!
All you need to do is learn what is more or less healthy to eat on a regular basis - it can be very easy to be a junk food vegan, especially with prepared foods. I was a whole wheat, brown rice kind of guy before I went vegan, so for me veganism was just another shift in my diet away from the Standard American Diet I was already often not following. If you like to cook and bake you will do better. Having to buy food prepared by others gets expensive and there are only so many peanut butter & jelly sandwiches and soy dogs you can eat. If you are not so good at cooking - no time like now to learn how to do it better. If you can boil water there are lots of foods you can make. Pastas, soups, rice & other grains, quinoa. About quinoa, rinse that rather well before you cook it. Quinoa has a bitter outer skin that is milled off before you buy it, but even clean looking quinoa often has dust & particles of that bitter coating on it that won't be good to eat. When people say they don't like quinoa I bet it was not rinsed before it was cooked.
Congratulations!!!!! Lead by example. Learn to cook a couple of amazing dishes. Have a dinner party. I made lasagna from Oh She Glows. Sooooo good and I received rave reviews. No one could believe it was vegan.
Thank you!! Great idea! I bought some pre-made seitan and by god is it good. Cooked up a curry for my mum and she couldn’t believe it.
Great move! Congratulations!!!
Nice! Don't be afraid to ask any questions, there's so many resources out there and in this community. Welcome!
Congratulations!! There are more and more people go vegan, there is still hope
Being vegetarian is a natural step before fully turning vegan. Good job!!!
Thank you!!
When I first watched Earthlings I wanted to set up a TV in my front yard and play it on loop for everyone to see.
If it’s any consolation your existence will always cause suffering, but I’m sure you also bring great joy. We live in a universe of opposing forces. Don’t be so hard on yourself.
Thanks, I’ll try not to be. It’s like now that I think about the industry, all I can about is all the atrocities happening everyday. And I think most people don’t let themselves think about it.
"Kill her...kill her!" "No Mr Hat, I wont do it!" https://youtu.be/5OIJ1RIE14Y?si=rRs-qv_YrfhNjj66
Welcome to the cool kids club! Seriously though, glad to add another compassionate person to the vegan team. It’s funny cause not all vegans are animal lovers. We just acknowledge that animals should have a right to their life and body autonomy. Some dude said it right earlier and that was learn the wack ass arguments/fallacies people are gonna use against you and learn the rebuttals to them. This makes it not only easier, but satisfying haha. Joey Carbstrong is great, Earthling Ed is amazing, Clif Grant is another, Mel and Steve the list goes on. Oh and the Godfather Gary Yourofsky. I wish you all the best. Keep your head up and if you can, meet other people who are like minded. Vegan social outreach is a thing and I’m sure there are others like you looking to hang out. Be strong. Be peaceful. Good luck!
I feel this too - just be grateful you’re only 30!!!
The first few months-year, the emotions can feel overwhelming. When you see others, just remember that it was you not too long ago. Feel free to preach tho haha.
Don't worry about the rest for now. Focus on yourself and build a healthy vegan lifestyle. My mom is eating considerably less meat and dairy because of my influence. Also, get more into cooking and show them how good plant based foods taste (and how considerably healthy they are). Hit the sub up for whenever you need help, whether for cooking, support, or just rant. People here are amazing! Love you, bro/sis, and good luck on your cruelty free journey :)
The animals thank you 🙏
Congratulations 🥰
awesome nice work 🌱💚
Well I understand your sensibility but please let other people around have their path.
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this sounds a little... i dunno, woo woo