Question for vegetarians and vegans!

[runnyeggontoast]

I’ve been strongly considering going vegan, or at least vegetarian, for a while but my will power just isn’t strong enough.

I don’t eat red meat often (I don’t hate it but I don’t really like it that much anyway) so I only eat chicken but even then I’m not fussed about it. I eat a lot of seafood and fish mainly. I don’t eat much dairy in a pure form so I wouldn’t miss that (cheese, milk, cream etc) but I eat lots of things with dairy in it and I’d struggle to give that up. I eat a lot of eggs too. I’m quite a fussy eater and found I didn’t like a lot of vegetarian or vegan substitutes and it made it even harder for me, never mind the fact my will power is rubbish.

but I love animals. I have dogs, horses and spend a lot of time around cows, sheep and chickens and it breaks my heart to think of what goes on in slaughterhouses and it makes me sick to think of them as food.

I don’t want to eat meat or dairy or eggs but my willpower is rubbish because ultimately I like fish and I like chocolate and I like chicken.

Does anyone have any advice, or does anyone know of any information about it that will convince my brain and upset me enough to stop eating meat and dairy?

TIA 😀

This.

Eat what you like but you’re not actually being vegan if you eat vegetarian when you go out. You can say you are but you’d be wrong and a bit weird.

It’s only available at Tesco as far as I know at the moment. I tried the grated stuff as well but it’s not as nice. I recommended the block. Its how I remember cheddar tasting and it’s the only thing I’ve really missed so I’m ridiculously happy about this. 😂

Hope you like it if you find it, it’s getting really good reviews. 😊

@AlwaysUphill thank you so much. I'm a bit excited 😂

The 'as far as possible and practicable' covers things like essential medication like vaccines, for example. Or eating crops that have been sprayed to kill pests, or buying shampoo that isn't tested on animals BUT is sold in China and therefore may be tested on animals by their FDA equivalent.

It's for things that are, or are near to, unavoidable. People who eat dairy at restaurants because the vegan option doesn't appeal are vegetarian.

Take it one step at a time and go easy on yourself. It's a journey, and it doesn't mean all or nothing otherwise you failed.
Veganuary is coming up and they send daily emails which I found really inspiring. There's also the vegan challenge (Google it, can't remember the name sorry!)

I went from meat eater to vegetarian quite quickly, for some reason my body just didn't fancy it anymore, so that was helpful.
I am intolerant to lots of dairy, so I was lucky not to struggle, but you're right - the packet checking and learning curve is big for what is/isn't vegan. Again, I'd be super easy on yourself- it gets easier and becomes second nature.
Don't feel pressured to label yourself either, I felt strongly that I didn't want to call myself veggie/vegan until I knew I was fully there myself.

Good luck on your journey!

Watch forks over knives, land of hope and glory, cowspiracy and vegucated.

Also @runnyeggontoast someone apologised earlier because of an argument that derailed your post. I was involved in that, and apologise if it did derail your post, but, if veganism is something you are thinking about, then be prepared to have uncomfortable conversations with people. It usually starts off with them asking about your 'extreme' beliefs, and when you answer, and they hear something they don't like, or disagree with, be prepared to be called a preachy vegan cult follower...all because they asked you a question, and you no longer want to be a part of killing 75 billion land animals each year. It's ironic how trying to live a cruelty free life could be so offensive to some.

This. Go on instagram and start following vegan accounts. They have the most amazing recipes. I promise that you won't miss meat at all.

I started by looking up vegan versions of the food I enjoy and took it from there.

I rarely use fake meat (occasional burgers and sausages for a cooked breakfast), don't like vegan cheese but love love nut cheese and nut sauce and it took me about 6 months to like plant milk in my coffee and now don't like dairy milk. I love alpro soy milk and my bf likes oat milk.

I love cooking and I have a lot of fun trying all these new recipes.

Also there are so many things that the plant version is no different to the non plant one like mayonnaise and yoghurt (and chicken nuggets and that type of thing - my kids eat that sometimes).

But remember it doesn't have to be all or nothing and it may be easier to transition than to do it all in one go.

I still make it for my kids and though I could eat it, I am haunted by the pics and videos of these animals suffering so I can't. But I started off gradually.

I'm not vegan anymore. Stopped during pregnancy, not for any other reason that I just couldn't maintain it. But even in my "most vegan"? days I've always believed that cutting down is as much good.

If you need a salmon fillet and a bar of chocolate a week then you've still done good.
Choose vegan where you can.
Set yourself one or two meals a week you can have what you want.
Don't expect to change your entire diet over night, see it as a process.

Oof just seen the fighting here.

Transitioning to a new diet is not an easy ask for most people. Asking people to stop eating what they've spent their whole lives eating is hard and being so strict about it I think will put people off. I know it would me. I started off by cooking for my vegan boyfriend but wasn't pressured at all. I started off thinking that I was going to be deprived and then absolutely loving it. Noone is as surprised as I am by how tasty it is. So now I would choose it even if meat was cruelty free.

And I would much rather see a lot more people seriously cutting down than a few doing it perfectly. I think most people end up giving it up with time anyway, but it does take time to transition. And I'm used to living in different countries and having comple6new diets.

Agree with this. The zero waste quote “we don’t need a handful doing it perfectly, we need most people doing it imperfectly” can apply here too - both because of the environmental impact of the meat / dairy industries, and for ethical reasons.

About this time of year, 5 years ago, I decided to do veganuary and started using up any animal-based products I had at home in preparation. I then did veganuary, went to a couple of events to try different foods, plant-based milks etc and this helped. My DH did Veganuary with me for moral support and he’s now coming up to 5 years vegan too. He felt so much healthier going vegan. Milk was our trickiest thing to get right and we tried a few types of plant. We have soya in tea and oat in coffee. Our children (both now teens) have sensory issues and eat more fake meats like vegan nuggets. They eat eggs from our friends chicken, we don’t. My DH and I eat lots of pulses. I have found it’s a cheaper lifestyle than meat/fish-based too if you’re cooking from scratch with pulses. Give it a try and if it doesn’t work out, I’m sure you’ll end up cutting your meat/dairy consumption anyway with some of the new foods you try.

Nonsense, sorry. It's not possible to trawl through everything you do in life and ensure that you're not having a detrimental effect on animals. Veganism isn't just about eating meat/fish. It's about anything humans do that impacts animals negatively.

So the tech you're using to type your sanctimony on here. The chain of events to see text on a screen has likely got some detrimental effect on animal life. How far do you want to go to be 100%?

I've a friend who's a vegan in all senses. Shops carefully, never eats meat etc. But rather than being a hermit will come out for a meal. 5-10 years ago, vegan meals were unheard of so he'd go for a vegetarian meal and ask for any obvious ingredients to be removed if possible. Veganism doesn't mean you have to starve as it's not practicable.

He also needed a new car for work but the best car for him happened to have a leather steering wheel. But in the grand scheme of things, a car in itself isn't likely to be vegan so where do you draw the line?

You love pets not animals.

The story my DDs DP told me about his time on a chicken farm turned me vegetarian overnight (although I’d been considering it for a while beforehand). It’s horrific how they are treated.

Most meat substitutes are unpleasant (I can’t abide quorn) but Richmond meat free sausages and Beyond Meat burgers are both incredible! VFC do nice popcorn “chicken” vegan nuggets too.

It didn’t take long for me to actually start preferring veggie options over meat. The only thing you can’t reliably substitute is steak, and I do miss steak. But aside from that it’s been fairly easy!

the hypocrisy and cognitive dissonance of someone who will eat a lamb but not a kitten is very mindboggling to me.

Kitten tastes awful but lamb is delicious.

The defining feature of being Jewish isn’t not eating shellfish or pork, though.

The defining feature of being a vegan is that you don’t consume any animal products.

Can you be a Christian but not follow every little thing that’s in the bible? Yes.

Can you be a Christian yet not believe in God? Probably not.

It won’t take very long for you to find information about how animals reared for the meat, dairy and egg industries are kept and raised, OP.

www.independent.co.uk/climate-change/news/factory-farm-chickens-die-heatwave-b2135519.html?amp

Literally millions of chickens died in the summer heatwave. They were left in metal sheds and developed heat exhaustion. The article made me cry when I read it the first time.

If you have Facebook you can try this challenge22.com it’s mentors, recipes, meal plans etc.

Also this veganuary.com/vegan-starter-kit/

What products with dairy in do you eat? There might be alternatives you haven’t tried.

Best butter alternative is naturli from Sainsburys/ Waitrose.
Best “milk” chocolate imo (other than really expensive) is nomo, in most free from sections at supermarkets.

This is hard viewing but will open your eyes to some of what is happening to cows, sheep, chickens (including those used in egg and dairy industries) it’s all U.K. footage www.landofhopeandglory.org

Also worth a watch are Earthlings, Dominion, Seaspiracy (especially if you want to ditch fish), Cowspiracy, Game Changers (this isn’t graphic).

Follow some plant based cooks online (YouTube, Instagram etc) for inspiration. Try out your nearest vegan restaurant to get an idea of what meals look like without meat, fish, eggs and dairy.

Visit your nearest animal sanctuary (not farm) and get to know some of the animals and their stories.

Also for the human element this is worth a read www.bbc.com/news/stories-50986683.amp

When did you try kitten? There are people who do enjoy cat and dog meat. Would it bother you watching someone killing a kitten to eat? The hypocrisy is if someone finds it morally objectionable to kill one sentient being but not another.

Morning, everyone. We can see this thread has been a bit derailed. Could we draw a line under that now and get back to answering the OP's original question? We're all for threads developing organically and going off at tangents but it seems a bit unfair if the OP's thread ends up being taken down because it turned into a bunfight that wasn't of her making.

Thanks.

I’ve been vegan 13 years and wasn’t a hermit, I went out for meals, I just chose places where I knew there was something I could eat. I ate quite a lot of cheeseless pizza for a while, sure, but morally I didn’t want to fund the dairy industry and it was both practical and possible for me to avoid doing so. And probably because more and more people asked for vegan options, and didn’t accept vegetarian options as being enough, we now have vegan options in the vast majority of restaurants and cafes.

Sorry just seen the post about the derail- sorry to OP, wish you the best with making the changes you decide to.

And this @runnyeggontoast gestures above is why I strongly suggest you don't tell anyone about your choices 😂😂😂

Watch a few “scary” Netflix documentaries. I’ve heard they scare people into becoming vegan.

Truth is, when it comes to your diet you should listen to your body, make sure that you are getting the vitamins and minerals and energy needed. Cut out anything that doesn’t work for your gut. But don’t deprive yourself if you don’t have to. Find local alternatives.