Becoming vegan was never something I thought I could do, and definitely never something I seriously considered, before it happened. It began only last year.
First due to health reasons I ended up starting to eat fish and chicken only 2 or 3 times a week, while still consuming some dairy and some egg products, but I also focused on looking for meals without meat.
Warning: temptation is everywhere, but do not be afraid to mess up.
Vegan-centric YouTube videos pushed me further, I decided to finally try and stay off dairy for the most part. My family, aware of my cut-down on meat, graciously tried to find new ways to cook me fish and I didn’t have the heart to tell them I didn’t want to eat it, so it stayed.
Then one night I went down to the kitchen, I smelled the chicken which had been roasted earlier and since I hadn’t consciously told myself I wouldn’t eat meat, I took a bite. I immediately spat it out in disgust and made it clear I could no longer eat meat.
So I went down the route of vegetarianism and stayed for a while. Still able to eat cheese and pizza and ice cream, vegetarianism was safe, and I was still doing some good.
Ultimately what turned me vegan was ‘Earthlings’ a 2005 American documentary on the meat industry, dairy, fur, and even cosmetics testing. It’s available to watch totally legal and free at nationearth.com and I highly recommend trying to sit through all of it. I will be shocked if you do not feel in some way changed. It is graphic.
Something that kept me from going vegan was the fear that I would become a hassle to those around me, a problem already since I had to eat foods low in fat content. I couldn’t, and I don’t think anyone should, be controlled by what other’s might think.
People will often not realise foods you can’t eat, and sometimes you are starving and make a snap decision to eat the delicious non-vegan meal that is being offered to you. Sometimes I eat a slice of vegetarian pizza at a society event because I haven’t eaten for 6 hours, still have work to do going home and the shops are closed. But I have found that doing your best is good enough, and I don’t need to be the perfect vegan.
I’m a student supporting myself, and I can promise you this lifestyle is not unaffordable. If you want to make everything yourself every day and meal prep, that takes time and I certainly don’t do it, but vegetables aren’t expensive. You can buy vegan crisps from the SnackRite brand in Lidl for 60c. You can buy soy milk for a Euro, popcorn, chips, wedges, dark chocolate…
I promise you being vegan isn’t half as hard as you think, and once you feel the difference in your mood and the joy of supporting a great cause every day, you can’t regret it.
Photo by Brooke Lark on Unsplash