http://www.veganrepresent.com/forums/ Tell us your Vegan Story. en Thu, 09 Sep 2010 17:40:53 GMT vBulletin 30 http://veganrepresent.com/forums/images/misc/rss.jpg http://www.veganrepresent.com/forums/ http://www.veganrepresent.com/forums/showthread.php?t=17049&goto=newpost Tue, 31 Aug 2010 20:06:48 GMT Hello everyone my name is Krystal, I have two boys peanut and monkeyboy and a wonderful hubby D. I have been a vegetarian for a year and a half and just went vegan this week so about two days ago. It has been really hard. I will say that the reason for me going vegan is this. I watched... Hello everyone my name is Krystal, I have two boys peanut and monkeyboy and a wonderful hubby D.

I have been a vegetarian for a year and a half and just went vegan this week so about two days ago. It has been really hard. I will say that the reason for me going vegan is this. I watched Earthlings and all this time I have been saying that an egg (I say egg because I cant have milk allergic and I ate eggs before) that I eat is unfertilized so it isnt hurting anything to eat it right? Well boy was I wrong I cried the way the chickens were treated and some were just layers. It is truly sad what happends to them.


It is hard thought. I find it hard to find things that I can eat without eggs in them. I have done veganaise so that took care of my mayonaise for my fake meat sandwiches. But then I find that some of my fake meat sandwiches are not vegan either. Morningstar has been so great for me while I was a vegetarian and It is sooo hard not to want the blackbean burgers (they have cheese) I havent had one of their grilled chicken (fake) in a while so dont know if that has cheese or egg in it. It is really hard with bread too. My family still eats meat:umm: (I know I really have tried to sway them to my side but it is hard my youngest wont touch the stuff at all. I have tried I really have. my oldest he actually like the vegetarian stuff but dont know about vegan yet.) so when I get stuff I have to have something that might taste or feel the same as meat to them so that they will eat it or atleast try it. Anyway the question about how it has affected my relationship of course with the family it is ok they understand I am the hippy. Do they make fun of me yea but it really is out of love this family is full of smart butts and any way they can get ya they do but really I shouldnt say making fun of they tease but they will back you up if someone picks on you.:laugh: funny how that happens. Relationships with friends has been wierd:confused: because people are just crazy they will get this questioning look on their face and say ummmmmm so you dont eat meat huh D: ok but do you eat fish:rolleyes: really fish is meat it is an animal it has a face it has a nervous system it is an animal. Then I will get well how do you figure they are bottom dwellers (catfish) and of course the response is they still have a face and a nervous system they are still an animal. I do get some that still think I am crazy but they usually just get used to it.
The last question: What brought me to veganrepresent. I actually was looking up online is soda vegan trying to get rid of some sodas since I am on a diet and wanted to know about diet sodas well this site popped up cause it was a ? from somone else and I fell in love with the way this sight is set up as well as all the really good information that is on the site and decided this is where I would love to be.

Again I am a new vegan and will probably need all the support I can get and will probably have lots of ?s too.
Yours truly
Krystal (crunchymom):daisy: ]]> Vegan Stories crunchymom http://www.veganrepresent.com/forums/showthread.php?t=17049 http://www.veganrepresent.com/forums/showthread.php?t=17046&goto=newpost Thu, 26 Aug 2010 21:12:34 GMT My Vegan story.
Why and when did I become vegan?
- My whole life I've always wanted to try it because I could never grasp the reasoning behind eating meat when we don't have to anymore. But being young I ate what my mom told me to, which was always what everyone else ate. My second semester in College I took a class called Natural Resource Conservation and Policy and I loved it because I'm always trying to find new ways to be eco friendly. My group did a project on factory farming... enough said. After I saw the abuse, and horrible stuff the animals go through my group member who was a Vegan started talking and I decided that I was to attempt it. I love it! Its really only been three months but I am so much happier now, and I love finding new recipes and finding out that it taste better than non vegan food.

How has it affected my family and the challenges?
- My family was worried I wouldn't get my nutrition I needed, which was odd to me because they aren't concerned with their own nutrition, they don't eat very healthy. But I showed them my research to show that I did do my work on it and can be OK with out meat, even better. My boyfriend thought it was a phase at first but now he knows it's not and fully supports me, and even eats vegan some nights.

What is easy and hard?
- Eating vegan food and recipes were the easiest parts for me! I love it! The hard part is finding the food in my house that i could use. And sometimes I don't know if there is animal product in something or I assume there isn't and later find out there is. I get really upset with that.

What brought me here?
- Stumble from google chrome brought me here one day, and I really liked what I saw.:happy: ]]> Vegan Stories Siestrada91 http://www.veganrepresent.com/forums/showthread.php?t=17046 http://www.veganrepresent.com/forums/showthread.php?t=17045&goto=newpost Thu, 26 Aug 2010 01:43:05 GMT Hi all! Just wanted to introduce myself and tell you a little about my becoming vegan. I have been on-and-off vegan for the last several months, but always seemed to fall back to old eating habits (vegetarian) and then it took me a while to work up the motivation to come back to eating a pure... Hi all!

Just wanted to introduce myself and tell you a little about my becoming vegan. I have been on-and-off vegan for the last several months, but always seemed to fall back to old eating habits (vegetarian) and then it took me a while to work up the motivation to come back to eating a pure vegan diet. However, now, after 1 1/2 weeks (I know its not long :rolleyes:) vegan, I have armed myself with a lot more knowledge and support. I also feel a LOT more strongly about the ethical reasons behind veganism. I have just finished reading Alicia Silverstone's book, and whilst i already knew a lot of this stuff, it really reinforced my beliefs and I don't think I could ever go back to eating animal derived products knowingly again.

I am the only vegan that I know in real life, but luckily my friends seem willing to eat out with me at vegan-friendly restaurants, and at home, I do all of my own cooking. Which is good, because I will be moving out in a few months and will have to rely solely on myself anyway. But going vegan has defiinitely gotten me in the kitchen more, and I am loving trying out all these new funky recipes, half of which, I wouldn't have believed could be vegan in the first place! I am constantly surprised about how un-restrictive a vegan diet is once you do your research!

I actually found this website by accident - I was googling detox symptoms of going vegan, and read a great thread on here, and then kept reading other threads, and came to love this forum, so I decided to join.

I am really looking forward to getting to know everyone, and learn and become even more passionate about the vegan cause!! :happy: ]]> Vegan Stories CrazyDiamond http://www.veganrepresent.com/forums/showthread.php?t=17045 http://www.veganrepresent.com/forums/showthread.php?t=17043&goto=newpost Tue, 24 Aug 2010 04:46:46 GMT Hi, I'm Kate :happy: I've been vegan for a month so far, and it has been a delicious and almond-milk-filled few weeks. Before that I was vegetarian. Vegetarianism, much like a gateway drug, got me hooked and after a while I craved the deeper high of abstaining entirely from animal products. Or something. Basically I wanted to improve my health and to reduce my contribution to the fucking up of the planet. I found this website upon googling "naan vegan?" and was sad to discover that it's not. My favorite answer to "why are you vegan" is to explain that I have a thing against plants, har har har. I miss cheese. ]]> Vegan Stories mrs strange http://www.veganrepresent.com/forums/showthread.php?t=17043 http://www.veganrepresent.com/forums/showthread.php?t=17041&goto=newpost Mon, 23 Aug 2010 01:40:40 GMT (Sorry about the title, it made me lawlz. Hopefully you lulz too.)

Hi!

I'm Cheryl. It could be said that I'm a person of extremes -- I could barely find my way around Google until the day I decided to become a network engineer, I was an awkward wallflower who would use the self-checkout aisle at 3 A.M. to avoid human contact until getting a job as a server and an avid consumer of animal products with an uneasy conscience until I went vegan.

Not that my dietary habits or career choices are particularly extreme... I eat quinoa porridge for breakfast most mornings and wash my uniform every Thursday (and assign IP addresses to irate customers so I can subnet them while they screech at me). It's just that I came into veganism the same way I make all of my other decisions; I change thethoughts/actions/ideals/behaviours that are inconsistent with the person I want to be and the world I want to live in.

So there you have it, folks. I've been at this for 3 years, and am yet to befriend any other vegans. I love the omnis in my life but one's a bionerd who gets excited over dissecting small animals... I do what I do for social justice AND animal welfare. And 'cause it's tasty. Mmm Sweets From The Earth... ]]> Vegan Stories WakeForDreaming http://www.veganrepresent.com/forums/showthread.php?t=17041 http://www.veganrepresent.com/forums/showthread.php?t=17027&goto=newpost Tue, 17 Aug 2010 06:36:41 GMT So basically I was a vegatarian for a year or so and it didn't work out as planned. I failed miserably at it, and basically became a junk food eater, quite possibly in worse health then I started. I'm not sure what lead me astray. I chalk it up to misinformation, not being entirely commited, and/or no real guidance. I did little to no research and I really had no desire to not eat meat because I cared where it came from or what it did to my body.

Thus, I started eating meat slowly again. First sneaking turkey subs from my then boyfriend who was a veteran vegetarian. Then going to dinner and getting the "tsk tsk" look when I ordered chicken fingers in front of him. Then ordering the cheeseburger and then suddenly I found myself on a full fledged meat eating diet once again.

So here I am, I a new vegan and quit eating everything aside from vegan friendly cold turkey. This time around I've done my research, evaluated my reasons why I want this to be my life choice and what reasons will always hold me to it for life. And I am excited I have found my niche! ]]> Vegan Stories Cakesd http://www.veganrepresent.com/forums/showthread.php?t=17027 http://www.veganrepresent.com/forums/showthread.php?t=17026&goto=newpost Mon, 16 Aug 2010 23:06:17 GMT - Why did you become vegan? Was it a bunch of reasons or one major one...gradual or instant?

I was a Vegetarian for 10 years. I couldn't give up milk and cheese, which was a very silly thing. I've been influenced by my wife to become a Vegan. We are trying the raw thing now. I became Vegetarian/Vegan because I didn't want to contribute to animal cruelty. I wanted a lifestyle change and this is exactly what I had been always looking for.

- When did you become vegan?
I've been Vegan for about a year. 10 years a Vegetarian.

- How has it affected relationships with friends, family, etc...?

My friends and family are pretty open about it. They don't really mind. I have it easier than others. I know some people whose families have stopped speaking to them because of their choice to become a Vegan.

- What challenges did /do you face and how you dealt/dealing with them?

Throughout my years as a Vegetarian and now a Vegan I havent really experienced any verbal abuse for my beliefs. Like I said, I've had it good so far.

- What have you found easy/hard?

Giving up the milk and cheese is the hardest thing i've done. But its worth it.

- What has brought you to VEgan Represent?
GOOGLE! I don't think i could live without google!
:) This is such a good idea (posting your Vegan story)
Mine's isn't as interesting as others though, lol ]]> Vegan Stories Jason2010 http://www.veganrepresent.com/forums/showthread.php?t=17026 http://www.veganrepresent.com/forums/showthread.php?t=17018&goto=newpost Wed, 11 Aug 2010 22:06:57 GMT I recently celebrated my 3 year veganniversary, which happened to fall of the last day of AR2010. I celebrated with a table full of new vegan friends over a plate of gourmet Mexican food. Such a delight! So, my story is long and non-linear. The key piece of information that switched me to being... I recently celebrated my 3 year veganniversary, which happened to fall of the last day of AR2010. I celebrated with a table full of new vegan friends over a plate of gourmet Mexican food. Such a delight!

So, my story is long and non-linear. The key piece of information that switched me to being a life-long vegan was learning about what happens to baby roosters in the egg-layer industry. They key piece of community that switched me to being a life-long vegan was my sweetheart's transition to veganism. Both of these were necessary for me to make the switch. Now, of course, I would be vegan no matter what, but I needed these two things to get the push.

When I was about 6 or so I told my brother I loved animals and he told me I ate them all the time. I told him I didn't want to, but I didn't actually do anything about it.

At age 14 I learned about deforestation of tropical rain forests for cattle grazing. I stopped eating cows that day, and pigs, too. They seemed to go together. I told people that I didn't care about cows, it was all for the rain forests. It wasn't true, but I wanted to maintain a little bit of a distance from AR folks.

Shortly after cutting out cows and pigs, I found a copy of Animal Liberation at my school library. I went mostly vegetarian (still ate fish) after reading this book, then completely vegetarian on Mother's Day, shortly after my 15th birthday.

I was vegetarian until age 20 and then somewhere I saw a photo of a dairy cow with mastitis. I decided to go vegan, though I knew nothing about egg and dairy production. I didn't like that picture of the cow with mastitis and that was that. I wouldn't have admitted it then, but I was a lazy vegan. I would eat things I wasn't sure were vegan, especially if they were baked and sweet.

Around age 25 I became depressed and very lazy. I stopped caring about lots of things I used to care about. I began eating Totino's party pizza at almost every meal. I got fat, as you can imagine. I stayed vegetarian but veganism was out of my mind. Also, I didn't know a single other vegan. I had no one to bounce ideas around with. I had no one to reflect back to me that it's easy and important to be vegan. So, I wasn't. I was still sure it wasn't okay to eat animal flesh, but the products seemed more okay to me.

Three years ago my partner picked up a copy of Skinny Bitch and she went vegan that day. I read it and went vegan, too. This was the first time I had heard about egg production. I was convinced. I had always known better somewhere deep inside, but this was the push I needed. It's a little embarrassing that this totally heterosexist book did it for me, but I'm grateful that my sweetie found it.

Just in the last few weeks I have decided to become a raw vegan. My personal health is important to me, as I want to live a long and happy life and see all the changes that are coming up for farmed animals! ]]> Vegan Stories Sophia http://www.veganrepresent.com/forums/showthread.php?t=17018