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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:
esk1mo · 15/08/2018 21:33

bye then 👋🏻

LyndorCake · 15/08/2018 21:34

Christinthesun by your argument, no one is ever vegan then. OP was vegan for 3.5 years. Today she was not a vegan. Tomorrow she will be back on the vegan diet, therefore tomorrow she will be vegan. The fact that she ate animal products today does not mean than she can never be vegan or has never been vegan.

HotblackDesiatoto · 15/08/2018 21:34

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

Think you're confused, its not saying she;s not a vegan that makes her not one, its the chicken and steak she ate. HTH.

esk1mo · 15/08/2018 21:35

im a weightlifter, but tomorrow im taking a day off. so i cant call myself a weightlifter.

im also a scientist but on saturdays and sundays i dont work, therefore on those days only im not a scientist.

esk1mo · 15/08/2018 21:36

Hot yes during one day out of 3.5 years

HTH

BishopstonFaffing · 15/08/2018 21:36

How many days do you have to be vegan for before you can say you are vegan?

Howhot · 15/08/2018 21:37

I really don't understand why the labels matter. I'm vegetarian 95% of the time. I tend to say I'm veggie at weddings and events because it's easier. I don't care about the label though. Most days I make vegetarian choices. Sometimes I make vegan choices. Other days I'll order chicken nuggets. Eat what you and be conscious of it but who cares about the labels. YANBU op, I hope you enjoyed every mouthful.

highheelsandbobblehats · 15/08/2018 21:37

Oh god. The competition to be most vegan definitely exists. By some extremist standards, I'm not vegan because I buy, prepare and cook meat for my husband and children who are all meat eaters. By being vegan, I should not be supporting the industry by giving them my money according to a few. I cannot abide activist and extremist vegans. We can only live our lives doing the very best that we personally can do. What other people eat and buy is of no concern of mine,so I fail to see why my diet and shopping is an issue for others.
That includes extreme vegans and meat eaters who think it's hysterical to wave a burger inches from my face and ask me if I 'didn't want just a bit, go on, it's so tasty'. I'm sure it is, but you're being a disrespectful fuck now get out of my face before I shove it somewhere the cow was definitely never meant to be.

Lalliella · 15/08/2018 21:37

I’ve just had a vegan curry, and I’m normally a big meat-eater. So I’ve cancelled you out. There, you can relax now!

NameChanger22 · 15/08/2018 21:37

I've been a vegetarian for 35 years and I don't like meat, so it's very easy for me. I've tried being vegan three times in the past and I'm currently a month into my fourth attempt. It's going a lot better this time because there is so much more vegan food about now than there was last time I tried, so I don't feel deprived now.

The main problem with being a vegan is the cheese, vegan cheese is so horrible. I will just learn to have pate in my sandwiches instead. I am noticing that I have a lot more energy than I did a month ago, so I think that more than makes up for the disgusting cheese.

OP - you've done really well. There's nothing wrong with a day off here and there.

esk1mo · 15/08/2018 21:38

lall call yourself a carnivore? pah!

Original poster
Stepstepmother · 15/08/2018 21:38

Just to reference an earlier comment - it’s not a hairshirt, I’m not being a martyr. I’m genuinely just trying to do the best I can for the world that we live in. And it’s difficult which is why 3.5 years later I made the choice to give myself one day to eat everything I’ve been craving these last few years.

OP posts:
Ioki · 15/08/2018 21:38

Wow, well deserved cheat day I reckon! I’ve been calorie counting and steadily losing weight for two years now - the only way I’ve kept myself sane is a couple of chest days like you. If you know you won’t slip back into a non-vegan lifestyle/eat ‘bad’ food forever, one day of ‘bad’ food isn’t going to make much of a difference.

Sounds bloody lovely. Have a vegan blowout tomorrow, balance it all Grin

otterturk · 15/08/2018 21:39

YANBU OP. You've done 3.5 years. You'll be vegan again tomorrow. FFS ignore the sanctimonious wankers on here.

BarbarianMum · 15/08/2018 21:39

The OP is a vegan on all the days she refuses to eat animal products. Which seems to be just about every day.

starzig · 15/08/2018 21:40

Eat what you like when you like. If that be vegan 1 day and meat the next that's cool. Labelling yourself only leads to almost guilty type posts like this when there is absolutely no need (And forbidden food bingeing).

BeanCalledPickle · 15/08/2018 21:40

This is why labels are unhelpful. Being a vegan is a strict way of living. There is no label for someone like me who is vegetarian but avoids dairy and eggs so far as possible but not strictly. So you end up thinking it’s all or nothing.

I don’t crave meat and would never cheat. It’s like going through the matrix. You just see things differently. You see dinner. I see dead flesh. But although I rationally know that the dairy industry is actually worse, and also that eggs aren’t really vegetarian, I do crave food with them in and give into that a lot.

So in terms of are you a vegan? I think you are if at the point you are saying it you are pursuing a plant based life. But ultimately it’s a matter between you and your beliefs and the label you give it is really just for convenience!

sunsunsunsunsun · 15/08/2018 21:41

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

Raven88 · 15/08/2018 21:41

You need cheat days. I'm veggie but also mainly vegan in terms of diet and one day of meat eating doesn't reverse the last 3 years I plan on my year anniversary to being veggie I'll eat meat as reward.

NicknameMustbeBetween4and30Cha · 15/08/2018 21:41

TBF if you're that desperate for meat and animal products, then your 3.5 years of veganism is more impressive than most. I don't think I've ever met a vegan that misses it so badly (presumably cos the ones that miss it that badly end up as former-vegans rather than vegans!)

I just kind of went off the idea over time, and I love vegan food, so I don't miss it much. The smell of cooking beef kind of grosses me out now, and I used to LOVE meat.

PurpleDaisies · 15/08/2018 21:41

Don't worry about it, most people who are 'vegans' cheat all the time anyway.

I don’t think that’s true. Got any evidence?

Squidgee · 15/08/2018 21:41

i'm of the view that if one day of eating meat means you're not a vegan, then unless you've been 100% vegan since birth, nor are you.

MissMarplesKnitting · 15/08/2018 21:42

You know what, if you're doing what you can 99% of the time you're doing better than most.

You are still a vegan. You're perhaps not as strict as some (but that just makes you human and not a sanctimonious knobber) so ignore the sanctimonious knobbers on here.

Let's face it, we've most of us done this: whether it's slimming world, low carb or whatever. Gone for a regime we think is healthy, better all round etc, only to find however many weeks or months later that we have eaten a family sized bag of maltesers, most of a bottle of wine etc.

It doesn't make us failures.

To err is human; to forgive, divine.

Mumshotel · 15/08/2018 21:43

Wow you went for it. It's entirely up to you what you do. Nothing you have done is illegal or has hurt anyone... well you might have a sore tummy. But you are returning to your choices and they are as another poster said, more than many of us do. I hope you had fun xxx

RebelRogue · 15/08/2018 21:43

I've read the word vegan so many times it lost all meaning.

OP if I were you I'd top it all off with a bacon butty just out of spite. Grin