What makes you STAY vegan?

I went vegan for health reasons, though I also agreed with the ethical and environmental reasons, too. The main reason I stay vegan is for health, but even if it would turn out to be healthier to not be vegan, I'd still do it for ethical and environmental reasons.

I struggled with the fact that I had to take a B-12 supplement and need to consciously make sure to get enough omega-3. We should be able to get everything we need by eating real, whole foods. It doesn't make sense to have to plan and supplement if we're eating the way we were meant to. I had considered adding in the occasional "humanely raised" egg for this reason, but decided against it, especially after finding that even the occasional egg raises health risks. The nice thing is that I have the option to take a B-12 supplement and I know how to get enough omega-3.

I technically don't have a problem with animal products for food and clothing for survival when necessary, but in today's day and age, it's not a necessity.

I developed a much deeper respect for myself by analyzing the ethical implications of determinism, as well as meshing that with my understanding of evolution.

I came to realize that animals don't belong in a box outside of humans. We are animals, we are on a continuum. We share the same bones as cows, simply reshaped by time, location and previous initial conditions. By the sheerest accident, I happened to have my arrangement in an upright configuration, with a few extra layers of neurons that give me more effective cognitive function.

Though this heightened intelligence of our species requires sentience, sentience does not require it. Through determinism, I rejected self-worth on the basis of things like accomplishment, lack of wrongdoing, income, and all of these other factors that people tend to equate with self-worth. In reality, I could not have chosen not to do any of these things. Instead, I came to realize that there is only one "commodity" in terms of "worth:" the ability to have an experience. The only reason even worth carrying on is simply to have or develop some form of satisfaction, no matter how shallow or deep, no matter how cheap or rich. And of course, you don't want to suffer too much. Even suffering for the sake of achieving something "hurts" a lot less than suffering for no reason.

But, I came to realize, this can't only be true of humans. It has to be true of anything that has an experience.

This is more of how I broke out of my box, which is clearly one of the boxes that meat eaters commonly live inside of. If I get inside of a broken box, it's still broken, and I've already seen what's outside of it.

So, why do I stay vegan? It's the only logical course of action. Trying to feel okay with eating meat would be a bit like trying to believe that 1+1=3. It's plainly and simply illogical.

Forks over Knives and a book called Eat and Run pushed me from vegetarianism to a plant based diet in an effort to increase my athletic ability. It worked great!
Then I educated myself on the atrocities that take place within animal agriculture, entertainment, clothing, vivisection etc. That was when I went from a plant based diet to being a vegan. Extending the compassion from just my diet to all areas of my life. That's what keeps me going now. If I had remained blind to all of that, I likely would have "cheated" here and there. Justifying poor food choices because I worked out hard or something. Now the idea of voluntarily contributing in any way to the horrors that take place with non-human animals makes me ill. A doctor could tell me that my life depended on eating meat and I still couldn't do it. Vegan for Life!

For me it's a lot of things. I think because I'm so accustomed to it, being vegan is natural now. I couldn't imagine living/eating any other way. It was at a little tricky at first, but that didn't last long. I never really had cravings for meat or dairy after transitioning and those rare times I'm stuck being around food that's not vegan, I feel thoroughly disgusted. (I've been vegan over eight years) I even feel physically sick if I have to smell meat for any extended period of time.

Health-wise, I've been exceptionally healthy since going vegan. I think that point in itself motivates me to stay the course. I feel good about myself and have a lot of energy. I also get told that I look younger than my age and I have to credit at least part of that to my diet. Seeing how clear my skin is now compared to being an omni is big.

Of course knowing that I am not contributing to animal suffering or harming the environment like I was pre-vegan are also strong factors that help me stay vegan.