Newly vegan and fed up of ridicule from others

[townandcountrygirl]

I have been vegan for 7 months now and have really grown tired of OH's family / friends making irritating / derogatory comments about veganism and my healthy lifestyle. I have seen only positive changes since going vegan - I am in good shape, I am waking up earlier, my eye sight has improved and my energy levels have shot up considerably. I had been vegetarian for 12+ years and this is something I have always wanted to do.

My own friends and family are supportive. I have grown up in a household where I was encouraged to make my own decisions and stand up for what I believe in. My mother is a gluten-free nutritionist who grows her own veg and is very active / health conscious. My sister is also a vegetarian. I have meat-eating family members, but they treat my decisions with love and respect, even if they think I am a little 'different' because of it.

OH and I have been together for 6 years and have been friends for over 10 years (we grew up around the same home town). We are living together and have been spending a fair amount of time with his friends and family. I have received many negative comments about my diet, which I am not banging on about every 2 mins, I am merely ordering vegan options from restaurant menus or have been caught in the act juicing veggies.

OH's family are generally unhealthy, choosing convenient foods, alcohol, sugary treats and high-fat meals over anything remotely healthy. I often feel like the 'weird' one for having vegetables on my plate at all. My thought is that they are irritated by my healthy lifestyle because they are unable to stop their own poor lifestyle choices.

Has anyone else come up against criticism from people in this way? I bite my tongue and smile, knowing my diet does not affect them at all, but I am tired and disheartened by their constant snipes. I am a nice, loving person so keep telling myself that we are all entitled to our own decisions. It is just sad, because i'd never put another person down for their food choices, even if I didn't personally agree with it.

[edited by MNHQ at OP's request]

*"clearing rainforests to make way for soya for instance"

Most soya is grown for animal feed.*

This.

People have so many misconceptions which they spread to justify their omnivorous diets, and this is one of them. Veganism is the best diet for the environmental, and there is a lot of evidence to back this up.

I'm vegan, and I don't preach, or mention it even, other than when asked my food choice. I have had some twattish comments from someone about how they like animals to suffer etc, but most are respectful of my choices, as I am of theirs.

I’m just reading to see which bore comes out with the, oh so original 🙄, “how can you tell if someone’s a vegan......”

There’s always one.

I've just done a vegan big shop. I am eating all the nice cheese this weekend and then I'm going vegan too.

I can take or leave meat and fish and I already have soya milk anyway and I'm looking forward to it.

I am already expecting people to moan to me about it.

Tesco do vegan chocolate too.

I just love that joke:

How do you know if someone is vegan?
Don't worry...they'll tell you...

The reason I am annoyed when vegans visit is I have to buy in special food - for Christmas this meant special spread (we use real butter), special milk, special yogurt, special granola (mine contains honey), separate stuffing (the one I make contains sausage meat), I have to cook veggies away from the meat, hard in a full oven and then the little snacks and canapés are (whilst better than previous years) quite hard to locate, Aldi only had one product. Oh and special cheese, special pate ... yes it's a lot of extra work because we are meat eaters and have no intention of being veggie for Christmas! So I respect dietary choices but if it's choice, not a medical reason it's polite to offer to bring your own meal or sit and just have a drink if the restaurant doesn't cater for vegans.

People love to be dicks to vegans

That's because a lot of vegans come across as dicks

But all those sports people built their muscles on meat and will start doing worse soon. Look at what's happened to David Hayes the boxer.

Djokovic has been vegan for years. Stop making shit up.

CarolineForbes Yes I get your point. However vegans, who are mainly about animal welfare, often don't think outside the actual ingredients.

I live rurally and know plenty of people who aim to eat as much local produce as possible. Local meat, fruit and veg. They only eat what's in season that they can get without the food travelling far.

Vegans should, if concerned about animal welfare, really look at the whole impact their diet is having.

M&S have bought out a new vegan range, I bought some yesterday, it seems to be a bit of a thing at the moment

Asda had a huge vegan range this year. Lots were vegan and gluten free.

@lastqueenofscotland

Novak Djokovic - not vegan, eats a plant based diet but not vegan.

Serena Williams, not Vegan, Venus Williams, largely vegan, career went backwards. Serena “follows some of venus’s Diets, but often slip back to my old ways” old ways being high protein high meat diet.

Lewis Hamilton “aiming to be vegan” since 2017, maybe he is. Maybe it’s a convenient marketing scheme that fits his PETA image....

Hector Bellerin: yay, you got one. Shame his career has gone backwards and he’s had all manner of injury issues since he went vegan.

Scott Jurek.... makes a living from writing about veganism. Was actually very successful as an ultramarathoner long before he gave up meat.

I've done 3 days of Veganuary and already getting grilled by work colleagues on it.

I end every heavy grilling reminding them I've just signed up for a month and I might not continue with it.

Some are quite positive and interested if I'll feel better. Especially dropping dairy

Mince pies sold in supermarkets all contain vegetable suet.Its the all butter pastry that's the issue.

But why would your colleagues know.

I want to loose weight. Not felt the need to mention it all

I'm incredibly tired of hearing the typical response to veganism which says that all vegans are preachy and smug and too vocal.

I've been a vegan for 2 years and I've never made anybody feel bad about themselves because of the things that they eat.
I would need another few sets of hands, however, to count the number of times that somebody has been a dick to me because they've seen me using almond milk or heard me asking whether something contains dairy.

The truth is that people lash out against those who make them feel bad about themselves. If you eat meat or dairy or whatever the hell you like, I have no problem with you. But if you eat those things and feel bad about it then change your lifestyle and stay the fuck out of my business.

I also can’t understand why anyone would tell their work colleagues what they were eating, just get on with it

I've done 3 days of Veganuary and already getting grilled by work colleagues on it.

How do they even know?

A friend of mine was vegan and I didn’t realise for about a year. She never mentioned it, just got on with her life and if we went out for dinner, ordered suitable stuff from the menu.

I imagine why your colleagues have grilled you on it is because you’ve made a song and dance of telling them

Cantusethatname, this one’s better.

In a nutshell....you're being a massive judgey fucker. You say they are ridiculing you but you are doing the same in return! If not worse! Its like they are beneath you.

I have food allergies and intolerances. I drink almond milk, if I fancy some. Or lactofree cheese. I don't eat pasta but make the butternut squash version (it's not like pasta at all), I even do rice with broccoli (again not like rice).

I eat these at work all the time and never have anyone ask why. They may notice it looks different and ask what it is and then go 'oh right'

So don't understand why vegans have all these problems.

Oh and trust me someone being vegan doesn't make me feel bad about myself. I still enjoy my food. They don't bother me at all.

I just love that joke:

How do you know if someone is vegan?
Don't worry...they'll tell you...

Omg me too! It’s just the wittiest, funniest joke ever and I just rofl every time someone tells it! Puts those vegans right in their place too, I can tell you.

I am in good shape
that's what they dont like, they are trying to sabotage you back down to their level

think of their disapproval as a measure of your progress
the better you look to them the more they dislike it, so enjoy:)

(I'm not vegan btw but good on you OP!)

if you don’t want your diet judged the Night i suggest you don’t judge other people’s.

Pat on the back for being so healthy, though. Which is what I assume you’re after.

Oooh I would love to be vegan. I haven' the willpower though. I like too much dairy. I could probs ditch the meat though.

But TBH I can barely find the time to cook a meal without having to put thought into checking all the ingredients first