This is part two of the story of my vegan journey. If you didn’t read part one, I highly suggest you do, as it sets the scene for what is to come here. You can read part one by clicking here.
Now, when we last left off, I was someone who wanted to be vegetarian, but did not succeed. I was disappointed. And I didn’t get over it, so much as I let my disappointment fade into forgetfulness over time. I thought that was the final chapter of my meat-free lifestyle. The beginning of this story starts a couple years after that, where I gain access to the idea of veganism for the first time as a young teenager.
Introduction to veganism
When I first heard about veganism, it wasn’t from a book or someone that I knew and trusted, it was through the internet. And that wasn’t the best source, honestly. I saw a lot of people who were very angry, rude, and inarticulate. But watching some of those people, instead of getting offended, something just weirdly clicked and I got really curious about why they were angry.
So I looked into what vegan meant, and what it entailed. I looked into the arguments for why people decided to make this choice, and I felt that familiar sense of discomfort rise up again within me. But this time, it wasn’t just hypothetical thought experiments. It was real facts, arguments, and information.
I saw footage of slaughterhouse floors, I looked into the global impact of animal agriculture, and I found out that while meat eating is one thing, all animal products contribute to this industry based upon animals’ suffering. Even “vegetarian” foods. I felt sick, and what I couldn’t escape from was the sense that we have all been lied to our whole lives with artists’ renditions of happy farm animals and sunny fields. Farm animals lives, by and large, aren’t like that at all.
But most of all, I learned the one thing that I had really been wanting all these years. I found out that it is possible to live without animal products. I found out that I can be happy and healthy without killing animals and using them as things. This was a burden lifted off of me. And although I felt greatly dismayed by the fact that we mistreat so many animals without even giving any thought to it, I also felt extremely hopeful, because I finally had a way out of it.
Okay, going vegan now
With hope, I decided I was going vegan. And this time, I didn’t tell my mom. … Okay, so maybe that wasn’t the best move on my part. But I did it for a good reason. I wanted to be sure that this was something that I wanted, and could commit to. And I wanted to make that decision on my own now. After all, I had just turned 15 and my mental independence was very important to me.
I don’t think that someone that young should be hiding something of that nature from their parents, because it really started to worry my mom. Part of a parent’s job is making sure that their children are fed properly and if you start hiding everything you’re eating, that is a reasonable alarm bell for a parent.
That being said, I think the instinct to keep it under wraps is an understandable one, and let me tell you why. Often enough, when you go vegan, there is a bit of drama involved. Not always, but often. There are people who want an explanation for why, and they want it at every meal while you’re trying to eat. Also there are people who don’t agree with you and want to debate you whenever they get the chance. And there are even people who are threatened by your choice and want to shame you or make you feel like you are being judgmental simply for deciding to change your life.
I wanted to make sure that this was the kind of life I wanted to live before shouting from the rooftops that this was what I was going to do. Not to mention that it’s nice to have some of the answers to the usual questions before you “come out” as vegan. Because when you’re different from a lot of people, they’re bound to have a few questions. These questions, even when asked in a genuine way, can seem adversarial when we don’t have the answers.
Now I’m vegan, what can I eat?
Okay, a big thing that keeps many people from trying out a vegan diet is that it is not the norm. And in many cases, it is far outside their comfort zone. Now you’re not going to be eating pork chops and mac and cheese right? So, what’s for dinner?
I had a bumpy start to veganism in this area. I’m saddened to say it, but I had a lot of influence from from the raw vegan craze of vegan internet circa 2013. So I began to eat, eat a lot, and eat a lot of fruit. I was assured by these online people with no nutritional education that you couldn’t get fat on carbs, that you should eat as much as you possibly could, and that your brain needs sugar. And to avoid protein and fat like the plague.
And I have to admit, it was fun at first. I was eating all I wanted. I was a little fruit scavenger, getting all the leftover free fruit at school, going to Asian markets and buying their dollar overripe fruit they couldn’t sell otherwise. I would dream about fruit.
Now, due to my family’s lack of money, I couldn’t live on only fruit. (I would have tried.) I also ate a lot of white rice during this time, and some peanut butter and jelly sandwiches from school lunches. That was the extent of my diet for at least the first year of my veganism. (To say it was just a year is probably giving myself too much credit. I still ate largely that way for the next year or two after that. But I started branching out into some beans and fortified cereals at least.) I’m not happy looking back on it, for two reasons.
I didn’t start veganism well
Number one, I had been misled. I was made to believe that I was doing my body some good when I really, really wasn’t. I’m sure more sound, nutritional information was out there, even for vegans. But I didn’t find it because this sugar-topia was on trend at the time. Not to mention that everyone following this fruit thing was very adamant that this was the healthiest diet for humans and everyone should be eating this way. They convinced me, and as much as I cringe to look back on it now, I was very impressionable at the time.
The second reason I am not happy about my fruit-filled past is that I was a pretty bad example for veganism. Now, like I said, I didn’t know better. But one of the reasons people get uncomfortable around vegans is that they’re “weird”. Now that’s a vague term, and if we take it to mean outside of the norm, yeah vegans are kind of weird. But I think it goes beyond that.
See, a lot of people think that vegans think they’re better than others, or that they’re trying to be better than others and set themselves apart somehow. And I think that that’s what this community was doing, to some extent. There was this purity concept around food. Just certain kinds of food though (fats and proteins). As long as you were eating low fat, all the sugar you wanted was fair game.
Trying to severely limit the foods you eat is a good way to set yourself apart. But even more than that, it’s a good way to unnecessarily alienate yourself. You don’t need to have a super restrictive diet to be vegan. And when you do, it just makes it seem like you’re doing it to have some sort of identity. Which is not a good thing to seek out within your diet. But also, I cannot stress this enough, what I was doing was not healthy. I now have a lot more balanced of a diet and feel better in my body.
Little side note
So while I explained my own mistakes in starting veganism, this story isn’t over yet. During part three, I’m going to get to the really juicy stuff that you want to hear. That is to say, I’m going to actually give my advice for new vegans and address the social aspects of going vegan. So be sure to check out the thrilling conclusion of my vegan story, by clicking here.
But I talk a lot more about veganism on our sister site, Eight Years In. And if this is something you’re curious about or considering (or happen to be vegan yourself and are looking for a place to talk about that), then you should check it out by clicking here.
