Biggest frustrations in being vegetarians

I can't think of any if you're okay with eggs or dairy.
Now vegan, that's a different story> I get OCD with times of stress, anxiety, staying on abudget with low income... Now yes, I eat mostly whole foods and cook, and love to read labels, but, there are times I practically have a meltdown in stores reading, comparing, wanting to know why Earth Balance has to cost so much more than Smart Balance margarine---and why doesn't Smart Balance say vegan on the label anymore.....Things like that. Why does CVS have algae DHA capsules-buy one get one free-in gelatin capsules!!! Should I buy bread from the awesome discount bakery for a dollar when I'm not sure of some ingredient sources? What's in the natural flavors???

I don't call myself vegan anymore because it's better for me to relax. Like I got this pretty great juice from Trader Joes called Calcium something dynamo... anyway, it had all kinds of great nutrition labeled including b12. I liked it, my son requested it, next time I went I bought 4 bottles. On the third bottle I looked AGAIN on the label and saw-for the first time-D3. that's crazy! I read that label so many times!
Another thing that gets me is I got tested for D levels and found I was very low, despite taking D2, so I got D3. I thought I'd just use it to get me levels up and then try vegan D3. No, everytime I look into vegan D3 pills I balk at the price and keep using reg D3

Then of course getting take out or foods at catered events. I always feel left out. You let people know you don't eat cheese or egg but are expected to pick it off because the other vegetarians are okay with cheese and it was too much to ask for another option, as if vegetarians are opposed to NOt eating cheese? then theres going to a restaurant you know has vegan foods and get served cilantro - which may be vegan, but to me tastes like soap. BOOOO Whaaaaahhhhh :crying:

It's okay really :laugh:

Physically everything is better bar beyond the stretch of that term to include the physicality of picking raw foods up and putting them in my mouth - I should eat more salads and fruits but I'm improved on what I was and it's a work in progress.
Mentally I've found I've had to show conviction in some situations to resist temptation or to wait to get something to eat due to a lack of viable options. I've found that the smell of raw meat or some forms of cooking meat has become utterly sickening and repellent to smell. I find that foods really aren't as nice as your mental memory of them (there is the odd exception). On days where I have crossed back over the line I have felt like it's had a negative impact on my physical/mental well-being i.e. I had a pizza with meat on it and the next day I felt aching from head to toe like I had overdone it at work, I don't know if that's anything more than a figment of my own imagination but it's worth mentioning.
Socially, while I have changed some friends perceptions of vegans and veganism, truthfully the most negative experience has involved other vegans. If there is a high-horse for them to be sitting on you can bet they are judging your efforts, morals, ethics and knowledge as being inferior while generally being stuck up wankers and overly sensitive in a fashion that reminds you why you were totally put off by the concept of being vegetarian for years etc etc. I can honestly say there is a strong attitude of "We have a club and you must agree with what we've decided is right or you don't get in". Examples of this are when you pose a moral/ethical dilemma and the responses you get are blind dogmatic rhetoric met with cheers of mass agreement yet the answer/opinion given was simply dogmatic rhetoric. Alternatively some people think that wool is horrific bondage or that all leather items can be replaced easily (when they can't) and as such both cannot be used at all ever yet the same people and their smug self righteousness cannot provide alternatives which are affordable, available, suitable, and which in reality cause less harm to animals and us all (speaking specifically of the pollution cause by petrochemical/synthetic derived clothing) . There's loads of examples of this stuff I've faced but my personal favourite was being on the Happycow website where I was basically shunned off it's forums for having the audacity to state that I didn't agree with the popular social movement of feminism in Western countries - I laid out my reasons in a respectful and logical fashion based upon personal experience but apparently even my local dialect was offensive to feminists on there and in turn I wasn't vegan and was being shunned off the site, this worryingly I have found to be existing on here to some degree, I won't go into it but some people decide they don't like you disagreeing with them or raising controversial points and their first thought is to have your posts blocked and have you removed from the site. I fully understand why people mock vegetarians and vegans because frankly there is a lot of people that have a stick of ego-filled righteousness right up their arse and not enough people who speak and converse like Dr Michael Greger MD, Unnatural Vegan, Bite Size Vegan etc etc to counter the perception that 'all vegans are utter arseholes who need a burger to fill their empty hate-filled little lives'.

So yeah on the whole from a personal perspective I've found the experience physically and mentally positive with some challenges which have been challenging, I have faltered and I probably will again but it's been a bit of a revelation for one and I'm glad I ignored the public perception of vegetarians and vegans to actually give it a go and judge from open minded personal experience and from evidence supported information. Not even the overwhelmingly negative experience of conversing with other vegans has took the shine off it, the world is changing and veganism is very much becoming mainstream when the chef in a pub in Scotland is willing to make you an ad hoc vegan dinner and come out of the kitchen to check it's ok. The world is changing when the shops are an embarrassment of choice for vegans with ingredients and food from around the world in a town of merely 10,000 people. It's just been good and I'm glad I've tried it. I'll be at Glasgow's first ever Vegfest next month to show my support in attendance and to see just what all is on offer, maybe meet some people too - looking forward to it.

I've been vegetarian for 32 years and the social aspect is worse now than it ever was!
I have never been tempted to give up or anything like that, but it has never been easy.

When I read here of others enjoying foods and labels that aren't even on offer where I live
(Northern Ireland) and when you talk about Vegetarian and Vegan restaurants and being
spoiled for choice, well, frankly my dears, it staggers me!!

I was and still am the only person in my whole family, and come to think of it, friends as well,
who became a vegetarian all those years ago. That includes my wife and 2 sons.

Eating out here can be a nightmare for someone like me (believe me, after 32 years, you do get
fed up with salad/lasagne/stir-fry) and social events like anniversaries, weddings, birthday parties etc
all bring their own unique hassles. From the usual incredulous stares, to the same old questions
about "Why on earth would you not want to eat meat?" and "Oh yes, I'm a vegetarian too, I only eat fish!" etc.

Then again, there is the vegan school of thinking, that vegetarians aren't really helping save animals because they
are still eating their by-products! I've even heard it stated by a vegan that vegetarians are still dooming animals to
lives of torture and suffering by not becoming vegans!!

Believe me, when I became a vegetarian 32 years ago, noone had ever heard of vegans and vegetarians where some
crackpot group of hippies that didn't know what was good for them! So yes, being a vegetarian does indeed have its challenges...

This thread only highlights the disparity that exists between vegetarians and vegans!
To me, I give 'vegetarian' a good bit of leeway- eggs, dairy, not so strict on by-products in general. For vegans I have high standards.

I used to keep really high standards when I identified vegan. I'm really bad with that... I've been like that since high school, obsessing over things. I have to ease up or it just increases anxiety. All the ingredients that could go either way, but don't get identified, the products that really are vegan but you cant be sure till contacting company because they just label as vegetarian. the duck feathers, the urea, the enzymes, vitamin D3, the palmatate, and then theres the whether something is fair trade or environmentally sustainable esp. coffee, chocolate and palm oil. And things that so much expensive using comparably plant stuffs.

This thread is useless unless it differenciates vegetarian or vegan

Oops---- in some countries! Sorry Rad14!

Poppy I think that is more a generation thing than a vegetarian thing. My mother caters to the men in her life as well. Even though she won't admit it. She still calls her self a feminist and is an old school lefty. I think it is a reflex in that generation it is the way they were raised. Anyway, my big frustration as a vegetarian is the judging and nastiness that goes on online. I have withdrawn from almost all vegan groups because of the bullying and abuse, not to me personally but to others that I have witnessed. I can stand up for myself but I refuse to watch others be abused. Other vegetarians are the worse offenders. I can expect it from the meat eaters because they don't know any better. I will never be vegan enough to match those people's standards. I don't know anyone who can and frankly if they are examples of vegans I don't want to be part of that group anymore.