Joined
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247 Posts
Hello all,
I'm about to call it a night because I am physically and mentally exhausted after (1) a busy Christmas and (2) a lot of thought/worry about my veganism. I've been vegan since November 3rd, and for a while it was going really well. But for the last few weeks it's been causing me so much stress, and I'm now thinking it's not the right time for me to be completely animal-free. Certainly I enjoy the healthy lifestyle that goes along with the ideal vegan diet, but my primary motivation was to embrace veganism for the sake of animal rights. I don't believe animals should be property, I think there is an incredible amount of cruelty in the meat, dairy and egg industries, and I want to stand against these things.
Although I will always abstain from meat, leather, and other products derived from dead animals, and while I want to continue buying and cooking with animal-free groceries as much as I possibly can, the difficulties of being a healthy and happy vegan where I live are really, really stressing me out. Last weekend I actually ended up in tears when my fiance's family wanted to go out for coffee/food after their church's Christmas program, and it was a Sunday night, so lots of places in that part of town were closed. They are so incredibly supportive and accommodating when it comes to my dietary preferences, but all of the ideas being thrown around were restaurants (a) that were closed, or (b)where I knew vegan food would be scarce. Some of us had left, and some of us were still at the church, so there were a million phone calls going around for my benefit. They were trying so hard to make sure I would be comfortable wherever we'd be eating, and that plus the lack of options sent me over the edge and I couldn't hold back tears anymore. We eventually ended up finding something that worked, but the entire ordeal made me feel so stressed and embarrassed.
I am so afraid of feeling like a hypocrite because a huge part of me feels that only a vegan diet can be compatible with a pro-animal rights stance, but for the sake of my sanity, I am seriously considering a transition back to a lacto-ovo veg diet. To those of you who are lacto-, ovo-, or lacto-ovo vegetarians for ethical reasons: I could really use some support.
I'm about to call it a night because I am physically and mentally exhausted after (1) a busy Christmas and (2) a lot of thought/worry about my veganism. I've been vegan since November 3rd, and for a while it was going really well. But for the last few weeks it's been causing me so much stress, and I'm now thinking it's not the right time for me to be completely animal-free. Certainly I enjoy the healthy lifestyle that goes along with the ideal vegan diet, but my primary motivation was to embrace veganism for the sake of animal rights. I don't believe animals should be property, I think there is an incredible amount of cruelty in the meat, dairy and egg industries, and I want to stand against these things.
Although I will always abstain from meat, leather, and other products derived from dead animals, and while I want to continue buying and cooking with animal-free groceries as much as I possibly can, the difficulties of being a healthy and happy vegan where I live are really, really stressing me out. Last weekend I actually ended up in tears when my fiance's family wanted to go out for coffee/food after their church's Christmas program, and it was a Sunday night, so lots of places in that part of town were closed. They are so incredibly supportive and accommodating when it comes to my dietary preferences, but all of the ideas being thrown around were restaurants (a) that were closed, or (b)where I knew vegan food would be scarce. Some of us had left, and some of us were still at the church, so there were a million phone calls going around for my benefit. They were trying so hard to make sure I would be comfortable wherever we'd be eating, and that plus the lack of options sent me over the edge and I couldn't hold back tears anymore. We eventually ended up finding something that worked, but the entire ordeal made me feel so stressed and embarrassed.
I am so afraid of feeling like a hypocrite because a huge part of me feels that only a vegan diet can be compatible with a pro-animal rights stance, but for the sake of my sanity, I am seriously considering a transition back to a lacto-ovo veg diet. To those of you who are lacto-, ovo-, or lacto-ovo vegetarians for ethical reasons: I could really use some support.