What was/is your biggest challenge being vegan?

Hi everyone,

The dietary choices of plant based foods is growing phenomenally but what about the psychological issues like families, here's an article in kitchn and its a real eye-opener and I bet most will be able to relate to it:

thekitchn.com/my-biggest-ve...

And please feel free to have your say.

[Kitten-whiskers Administrator]

Excellent question Jerry, I will be very interested to read the responses. For me it wasn't a problem with familly as we were all veggie anyway (apart from my partner who is a meat eater) so that made the transaction to Vegan much easier.

The hardest things for me is eating out, especially as I have a GF diet. Orignally I found giving up Milk and Cheese very hard, so I decided to delve deeper into the realms of dairy farming, after reading a couple of heart wrenching stories, it made it so easy to give it up.

If you see whats really there, that is enough to stop, in my experience

Best wishes

Debs

[Agoodenough in reply to Kitten-whiskers]

I have to say I have found being vegan and eating out okay as we have some good places near us but I am very aware how much more difficult it would be if you have a gluten intolerance. It must be very hard. Being vegan itself isn’t hard, as like you say once you know what you know and it clicks with you it makes you not want to be part of the meat industry. I found once I replaced all of my milk, butter and pantry to be vegan products I was on the home run! 🌱 never to look back.

[Hidden in reply to Agoodenough]

Hi Ali, I avoid eating out as traces of gluten make me ill and I don't risk gf food cooked with ordinary food and I have a fear of being made ill by food prepared by others.

So for me eating out is a wrapped brownie and a cup of tea coffee.

On the flip side I bake healthy cakes and cookies and my friends tend to visit me for afternoon tea.

But because gluten is literally toxic to my system I do not have to explain myself to family/friends as they get it.

And obviously I understand the isolation felt by many vegans and this to me is the secret is 'us' being open and honest about our fears, needs and the price we pay because of our needs/choices. 😊

[Agoodenough in reply to Hidden]

I don’t blame you for not eating out. At least you can be sure what you are eating when you make it yourself and your cakes look very nice.

[Kitten-whiskers Administrator in reply to Agoodenough]

Thats fantastic Ali, once you get in to a routine then it just becomes second nature. Its great you have some Vegan places near you

[Hidden in reply to Kitten-whiskers]

thanks Debs, this is very interesting and you are lucky having the support of your family and obviously have adapted to a plant based diet really well.

The price I pay for good health is I avoid eating out but to me its worth it. 😊

[Kitten-whiskers Administrator in reply to Hidden]

Thats brillant Jerry, avoiding eating out, is probably the best solution - that way you can be certain what your eating

[Hidden]

Hi Ali, thanks for being so open and honest and whats sad is you are not alone and I hope that your reply reassures others. And you are 100% right to stand by your principles.

in my opinion the secret of good relationships is to respect each others boundaries so I'm sorry that your humane principles cause you issues...

[Veeee]

I have been a vegetarian all my life Jerry. The hardest thing has been the cheese. Vegan cheese is not the same.

I am also trying to do Dr Gregor daily dozen which is a challenge.

Anyone else doing this?

[Roo62 in reply to Veeee]

I've been trying the daily dozen challenge combined with 16/8 intermittent fasting. I'm finding it tricky and am having a break whilst I recover from major knee surgery. I intend to get back on it though and see if I can make it work for me! I find it's a lot of food to get through!

[softwaremom00]

cheese... I don't miss meat at all. When I bake not having a good egg substitute is a challenge.. nothing seems to make Birthday Cakes as fluffy as eggs.

I try to do the daily dozen. It is a challenge. But a great idea to try even if you do not succeed.

[Veeee in reply to softwaremom00]

I don't succeed ar all. I tick around 17 boxes on a good day. I am not sure how anyone manages to tick all the 24 boxes.

[benwl Volunteer in reply to Veeee]

I tried it when I first started being vegan, and got many of them, most days - but I stopped because I was starting to get stressed by it.

So now I try to stay aware of his recommendations when making food choices but I don't track them that closely anymore.

[andyswarbs Volunteer]

The article is about right - it is how veganism potentially affects relationships. Someone saying oh, I don't eat pork is one thing: no-one feels threatened by that. Someone saying I'm celiac, again is not threatening and you can sympathise about their health challenges.

But if someone says I'm vegan that can be seen as a threat to the social order, because of all the ethical implications. It is not just about saying what "I" personally want to eat but also why "you" are choosing to eat something unethical.

Watching activist interviews such as Cube Of Truth one of the questions asked, "is eating meat a personal choice." That is at the heart of this matter.

This is why when I post on the HealthyEating forum it comes across as threatening.

Thanks for asking the question, it has really helped me.

[Hidden in reply to andyswarbs]

Hi Andy, I've been thinking about your reply and I do not see you as coming over as threatening, sadly some people feel threatened by things they don't understand and this turns how they feel emotionally which's internal into external actions. So you're OK in my book.

[Brightfeather in reply to andyswarbs]

Deffo understand Andy . Often if people realise that I am not lactose intolerant etc etc and am vegan .... the aggressive questions and attacks start. Quite incredible ..... so yes I do think it affects relationships.

[goodeone]

I feel socially isolated not just from other people but vegans too. Because I suffer with social anxiety it's difficult to meet other vegans. That and lack of money and transport hinder me too. There is a local vegans group but a lot of their activities include meals out that l cannot afford Or are too far away to get to. I have one friend who is vegan and we do go out for meals sometimes. The nearest all vegan resturaunt is 30 min drive away. Local indan places have some vegan choices but it's very limited.

[Hidden in reply to goodeone]

Hi goodeone, well I'm sorry that you feel social anxiety, I think that a lot of people do to some degree.

As for feeling isolated this applies to lots of us as I feel isolated in some ways as I'm a coeliac and am very sensitive to gluten so eating out is limited to individually wrapped cakes in coffee shops and I have microscopic colitis so I have to avoid all alcohol. So as most socialising revolves around food and drink I don't socialise in that way.

I think that you've 100% done the right thing by joining us and posting about yourself as you are amongst friends on here so can socialise in another way and may be some of this positive energy will rub off on you for other social occasions.

VFL is for all things vegan which includes the emotional aspect. So thank you again for being so open and honest about yourself and well done as its not easy.

There are 3 active admin on here and we look after all our members.

Jerry 😊