Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. Child-safe in minutes.

Meet the Other Phone.
Child-safe in minutes.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

Broken my veganism today

600 replies

Stepstepmother · 15/08/2018 21:12

And had to tell someone!

I’ve been a vegan for a few years - for environmental reasons and the argument that it’s much more possible to feed the world when we eat a plant based diet. It’s genuinely been a sacrifice as I love eating meat and fish and dairy - but I’ve done it. Lately I’ve been toying with the idea of giving myself a secret day off. Just one day, then back to it. That day was today. So I’ve eaten...

A buttery cheese croissant for breakfast
Rare steak with beef dripping chips and creamed spinach for lunch
A chicken thigh pita with halloumi cheese, caramelised onions, and garlic aoli for dinner.

It’s all been epic. And totally secret. I’m back on the straight and narrow vegan route again tomorrow and will look forward to my next cheat day in a few years time. But I just had to share.

(I know I’ve posted in AIBU - so, was I unreasonable?)

OP posts:
chrisinthesun · 15/08/2018 21:27

I mean, it's your life, and do what you want and all; I am not judging. But please stop saying you're a vegan, coz you're not.

Even the title of your thread states that FGS!

bananamonkey · 15/08/2018 21:27

I don’t get why everyone always says the stomach issues thing, I was veggie for 12 years and had no issues digesting meat again.

That is an epic cheat day op...

HelpmeobiMN · 15/08/2018 21:27

There are vegans on this thread who prioritise shitting on other vegans who have the odd slip up over creating the kind of welcoming environment that might actually encourage more people to be vegan.

Makes me think you don’t really care about animals or the environment. You’re just vegans because you want something to make you feel self-important Wink

Ignore them OP! You do you.

chrisinthesun · 15/08/2018 21:28

Yesterday I was a vegan, today I wasn't, tomorrow I will be

Sorry but this is a load of shit.

Who are you trying to convince?!

LutherRalph1 · 15/08/2018 21:28

Nando's pitta?

DrWhy · 15/08/2018 21:28

Seems totally reasonable to me. In the time you have been eating vegan you have done a huge amount for the planet - if a day off sustains you to keep going for years longer then it seems like a very good idea.
I don’t subscribe to the idea you’ve ‘slipped up’ it was a conscious choice or that somehow you have to redefine yourself.
I know that environmentally and ethically I should be vegan but I don’t have the willpower so I admire folks who do - for any length of time.

highheelsandbobblehats · 15/08/2018 21:29

Also, chrisinthesun. I'm vegan. No deliberate cheating here. And I was vegetarian for 22 years before going vegan. Never once did I have a cheeky bit of meat.

The Vegan Society even says that as vegans we do what we can, when we can. So all I can do is try to maintain a vegan diet and know that occasionally foods containing dairy or eggs are going to slip in without me realising. Case in point was recently when I was buying a ice cream (,or rather sorbet, labelled vegan) from a local ice cream seller (it's all made about 5 miles away). I asked for it on a cone, which I'd had before. The staff member at the kiosk told me after I'd asked for the scoop to be washed properly, that the cone contained milk. So I declined the whole thing, and now I know. One more thing on my no go list.

esk1mo · 15/08/2018 21:29

WHO GIVES A HOOT IF SHE ISN’T 100% “VEGAN”

she follows a vegan diet 99.99999% of the time. get over yourselves. so pedantic.

Judashascomeintosomemoney · 15/08/2018 21:29

Wow, you didn’t ‘break’ your Veganism, you kicked the shit out of it.
Will you be ok tomorrow? I’m not Vegan but Vegetarian and over the years I have, on very rare occasion, eaten something like bacon or ham maybe, and I found my system just couldn’t cope. Really, really ill next day Envy (MN not envy!)

esk1mo · 15/08/2018 21:29

can i also just applaud “chin up, tits out” that made me laugh Grin

HotblackDesiatoto · 15/08/2018 21:29

Every day is truly a sacrifice. I love meat, the rarer the better. Cheese is the food of the Gods. There is nothing better than fresh seafood. But morally I feel that veganism is better for the world and the planet

I don't get it. It's like a hair shirt or an eating disorder, why would you deny yourself food you really enjoy and is good for you, in favour of torturing yourself daily, when it doesn't make the slightest difference to either the planet or anyone else? What's the actual point?

chrisinthesun · 15/08/2018 21:29

Ignore who you want, eat what you want, but you scoffed a load of red meat today.

You are not a vegan.

Fact.

As you were......

chrisinthesun · 15/08/2018 21:30

she follows a vegan diet 99.999% of the time

Yes, but she is still not a VEGAN.

esk1mo · 15/08/2018 21:30

she is vegan, fgs. one day doesn’t undo 3.5 years.

ImAIdoot · 15/08/2018 21:30

Hope you enjoyed your freedom.

Sad to see people being judge, you can be a vegan one day and not the next if you like, it isn't a religion ffs.

MaMaMaMySharona · 15/08/2018 21:31

I’ve been vegan for just over a year and I’m always of the opinion that people should eat what they want without getting stick from people.

Well done for being so strict on yourself for so long, that must be really hard. You had a cheat day, life goes on. You’ve done more than most Smile

chrisinthesun · 15/08/2018 21:31

This epic meat eating binge DOES mean she is not a vegan esk1mo my dear.

TrollTheRespawnJeremy · 15/08/2018 21:31

Don’t let people dictate what you can do for the sake of a label. It’s not a competition to be the most vegan

HotblackDesiatoto · 15/08/2018 21:32

she is vegan, fgs. one day doesn’t undo 3.5 years

Kinda does. She ate butter steak cheese chicken etc...if she's a vegan then so am I, cos I ate none of those today.

Boulshired · 15/08/2018 21:32

I am a veggie who is mostly vegan now but would never call myself a vegan as I am not 100%. I would definitely not call myself a vegan if my cheats were meat.

Original poster
Stepstepmother · 15/08/2018 21:32

Yes Luther!

I’m not trying to convince anyone chrisinthesun I’m just stating facts. I’ve been a strict vegan for 3.5 years. Today I had a blow out. Tomorrow I will be vegan again, strictly. If I had never been vegan and was planning on embarking on it for the first time tomorrow, would you accept me as a new vegan tomorrow?

This is why people don’t want to make the jump to veganism. Too many gate keepers protecting their club of superiority. I’ve had one day off in 3.5 years. Maybe in another 3.5 years I’ll have another day off

OP posts:
chrisinthesun · 15/08/2018 21:32

As I said, I don't give a fuck what the OP or anyone else eats, but don;t scoff red meat and then claim to be a fucking VEGAN!

I'm outta this bullshitty thread!

esk1mo · 15/08/2018 21:32

she is a vegan, and saying she isn’t a vegan doesn’t make her not a vegan.

when does she start being a vegan again? never? or tomorrow?

when do vegans become vegans? the day after they start living as a vegan?

what about a vegan who eats something not vegan ONCE by mistake? are they no longer vegan?

such bullshit. you dont get to decide.

GiantPandaAttacks · 15/08/2018 21:33

Oh Chrisinthesun, she had one day off. Go bang your self righteous drum somewhere else far, far away

HelpmeobiMN · 15/08/2018 21:33

If one day means you’re not a vegan then none of you are vegans unless you were raised by parents who never gave you animal products as a child. Nobody lives a 100% vegan life. Stop pretending that this is the standard for being a vegan.