Community: Forum: Vegetarian Discussion
Vegan / Vegetarian Discussion - All Things Veg*n Forum
Hi all! So a little back story, I have been a Vegetarian for 19 years and have recently (after much research and thought) decided to transition to a Vegan lifestyle. I have been contemplating this for nearly a year but then recently watched Forks Over Knives and yeah...that was all the motivation I needed.
I started being vegetarian at 12 years old after seeing a horrific video in school about what animals go through. So I've always had that passion for animals but recently also became extremely interested in the health benefits as well.
I live in the U.K now, i'm from the U.S. I have been here about 1 year now. I don't really have anyone here that can relate to why I'm going vegan, so I decided to give this website a try. I also don't really have a whole lot of people here to begin with, so it is a challenge anyways finding people to talk to. However, my husband is great and very supportive, as long as I'm happy and healthy he's cool with it. I have family in America that are Vegan and even the ones that aren't totally support me doing this. But I don't have a whole lot of that here.
Anyway, now to the point! (yes, I swear there is one :)
**Tonight I told my in-laws that I am going to be following a vegan diet, only because they kept trying to offer me damn chocolate cake lol. I started off by saying I'm not eating dairy and eggs now. Then someone said "you're not going vegan are you?!". As if I'm going to rob a bank or something. Then everyone at once proceeded to tell me how unhealthy it is and said to just wait and see how I feel in a year (meaning after a year as a vegan i'll be in bad shape). It was so upsetting because I know it's healthy but when I tried to explain it I basically get told I'm wrong, as if I don't know what I'm doing. It's literally as soon as the word "VEGAN" is used some people just think you're crazy and don't even try to hear where your coming from. I'm used to criticizm as a vegetarian but this is of course worse.
I know this is a popular topic but how did you guys deal with people close to you not supporting your decision to go Vegan? Honestly, I just really needed to vent so thanks for reading my rant! :)
I started being vegetarian at 12 years old after seeing a horrific video in school about what animals go through. So I've always had that passion for animals but recently also became extremely interested in the health benefits as well.
I live in the U.K now, i'm from the U.S. I have been here about 1 year now. I don't really have anyone here that can relate to why I'm going vegan, so I decided to give this website a try. I also don't really have a whole lot of people here to begin with, so it is a challenge anyways finding people to talk to. However, my husband is great and very supportive, as long as I'm happy and healthy he's cool with it. I have family in America that are Vegan and even the ones that aren't totally support me doing this. But I don't have a whole lot of that here.
Anyway, now to the point! (yes, I swear there is one :)
**Tonight I told my in-laws that I am going to be following a vegan diet, only because they kept trying to offer me damn chocolate cake lol. I started off by saying I'm not eating dairy and eggs now. Then someone said "you're not going vegan are you?!". As if I'm going to rob a bank or something. Then everyone at once proceeded to tell me how unhealthy it is and said to just wait and see how I feel in a year (meaning after a year as a vegan i'll be in bad shape). It was so upsetting because I know it's healthy but when I tried to explain it I basically get told I'm wrong, as if I don't know what I'm doing. It's literally as soon as the word "VEGAN" is used some people just think you're crazy and don't even try to hear where your coming from. I'm used to criticizm as a vegetarian but this is of course worse.
I know this is a popular topic but how did you guys deal with people close to you not supporting your decision to go Vegan? Honestly, I just really needed to vent so thanks for reading my rant! :)
Responses (6)
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Posted by ahimsa32fa at 01/23/17 13:03:00
Suggest books, websites, videos, etc.
You may want to remind them that the meat and dairy industries exercise almost complete control of our nutrition "education", - in schools (including medical schools) and the media. So most of us are not even aware of the truth about the implications of what we eat.
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Posted by happah10 at 01/24/17 17:53:55
With some people you can tell that they will be receptive and open-minded and others just won't be. To avoid confrontation and lengthy lectures and debates, the easiest and simplest way I have found is to say that you can't have it due to a food allergy. That may not be entirely BS either when you consider that people often report health problems when consuming dairy and other animal ingredients so you could summarize it in laymen's terms by calling it a food allergy for the sake of brevity.
That always shuts them up but in case you need to embellish, you could tell them that there is a chance that you could go into anaphylactic shock if you consume those items. Of course it may be a 1 in 3 trillion chance, but you don't have to tell them the odds. Nobody has ever asked me for proof or a doctor's note excusing me from eating animal foods. Dairy and eggs are among the top 8 food allergens and even without an official diagnosis or allergen test, it would be prudent to avoid those foods (just in case!). Vegans can, of course have their chocolate cake (and eat it too)
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Posted by cr623 at 01/25/17 01:55:14
ahimsa32fa- Thank you very much for the tips. It is SO frustrating how ignorant people are towards a vegetarian/vegan lifestyle. Just wish people educated themselves before throwing their opinions at ya, but that's in a perfect world. :) Thanks again!
happah10- That is some advice I just might have to take sometimes to avoid certain convos. You're right though you can usually tell who will care and who won't. I just hate that it even has to be a big deal, it's my choice and my body to do what I want with! Also, I think if I never would of said anything no one would even of noticed. Silly me lol
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Posted by Star the magic vegan at 01/25/17 19:31:04
Two things:
1. As a vegan you must take vitamin B supplements through organic vegan synthetic sublingual B12 and nutritional yeast. You must also take a plant based D3 that is organic and vegan. I buy my D3 which is made from lichen at 'Puritan's Pride' web site. No other supplements are necessary as long as you eat many diverse colors of plants. The diverse colors represent different minerals and vitamins.
2. As far as other people are concerned, just be vegan. There is no explanation necessary. Other people's minds are so toxified from animal products, they can barely understand. Set an example and do it alone. Most vegans must stand strong against the tides of family, culture, religion, peers etc. Set a good example and they might follow. It is very difficult to make a cigarette addict or an alcoholic or a drug addict understand that they should quit. Meat addiction is the worse addiction. Every explanation you give others is a seed, but it is not up to you if it germinates.
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