A Brand New Vegan's Journey

I went cold turkey on 07/11/2019. In the hopes that this will benefit others that are trying to figure things out, I made this blog. If you're considering going vegan, feel free to have a candid conversation with me about my experiences.

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My Thoughts So Far

Making the change to a vegan lifestyle has not been difficult so far, but it has been eye opening. My life, and my understanding of this planet, is already improving. I find myself annoyed at the lack of the easy accessibility to cheap and prepared meals, but it’s very beneficial to me. 

I find that my, admittedly atrocious, eating habits and obsession with finding the most sugar packed thing to eat has tapered down to a near dramatic halt. I’m not coming home anymore to polish off a pint of ice cream or to make the second batch of brownies for that week. I don’t seem to crave sugar as much, and that’s a welcome change. That’s not to say that I’m the model of healthy eating, hello potatoes and pasta, oh and bread, but I’m beginning to learn moderation. 

I’m learning to eat intuitively, to eat to the point of being sated, and stopping afterwards. And I’m happier for it. 

Veganism is worth it, in more ways than I initially realized, or even considered. I’m helping to save the planet, to save the animals, and honestly? I feel like I’m saving myself too.

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Earthlings

Today, a friend and I screen shared and watched Earthlings,and I have to say, that I am shocked at how thoroughly I was conditioned to believe that an animal that was bred and raised to die didn’t have a right to live. I am furious that I was taught that animals are a objects, tools, and at best, companions. 

I am furious that I was taught that an animal was only worth the meat that it produced. I am furious that I was led to believe that all those deaths were instantaneous and humane. I say this with every ounce of conviction I have in my soul, nothing, and no one, deserves to suffer such prolonged cruelty. 

To be taught that pigs do not have teeth, and then realize that those teeth are in fact removed in brutal procedures, infuriates me.To see animals mutilated to make them easier to pack into such small areas to maximize profit, I am disgusted.

I am nothing but a seething ball of rage and betrayal, and even this agony I feel from watching those animals struggle to live cannot compare to the absolute torture they faced in life. If that long and slow march towards their deaths can even be called life. 

I doubt that I will ever have the words to truly describe how I feel at the moment, I do not think those words yet exist, or perhaps their potency and meaning has been lost with overuse. All I know, is that I can never, and will never, be able to walk through our cities with the same mindset.

I chose this path less than two weeks ago, and now I am enraged that I was so blinded by lies that I did not choose it sooner.

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How To Deal With Family

My mother asked me over to dinner two days after I went vegan. She’d just bought a quarter of a cow from a butcher, grass fed beef, and wanted to know if I wanted to come over for dinner.

Normally, I would have been all over that steak. But I had made a choice, and I am nothing if not stubborn. 

I told her flat out that I would be happy to come over, but that I had made the choice to go vegan, I needed to know if she would provide a vegan meal, or if I ought to just bring my own plate to heat up. 

Stand your ground.

My Mom was pretty flabbergasted, and she didn’t have the slightest clue as to what I could eat, but she was open when I explained that there were common sides that she would make anyways, that I could eat.

That day I ended up baking my own hamburger buns, and had Boca burgers with lettuce, tomato, and a mixture of vegenaise and bbq sauce. Eating those and olive oil pan fried potatoes left me pleasantly full, and I didn’t feel cheated at all. It’s going to be an adjustment period. (Later that night she asked if I wanted the cans of tuna from her cabinet before realizing that tuna was not, in fact, vegan). But you will come to realize that while headstrong and set in their ways, most people won’t really care if you decide to go vegan.

They’ll make snide comments, sure. But remember, you made this choice for yourself, the animals, and the planet. You didn’t make it to please them. 

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My First Vegan Meal

Admittedly, my first attempt at vegan cooking did not go all too well. But it taught me a very important lesson, and that lesson, was to keep calm. A friend had showed me a recipe for black bean burgers, and I was all in. I didn’t add enough of a binder, so even after a while in the oven my burgers were still kind of mushy. But you know what? I mixed them back together, made up some rice, and broke out a pack of vegan friendly tortillas. Those failed burgers made killer refried beans, and I ended up getting 12 full sized, sit in your stomach like a Brick burritos.

Things may not go the way we originally plan for them to go. But that’s alright. Adaptation can be scary and frustrating if you get too caught up on how it should have been. Look at how it could be. Don’t let one bump in the road bring you down. You’ve got this.