Hi my fellow vegans

[Tomas]

Hi all,

I feel happy to have found this forum and to be united with my like-minded fellow vegans and/or vegetarians.
I'm looking forward to seeing all of you on the forum.

About me: I've been vegan since the day I was born and I'm not planning to ever change seeing I am an advocate for animal rights (and against animal cruelty of any type) and am concerned about the environment. Of course for my specific situation I have it easy seeing I don't know any better and have never tasted meat, fish or dairy therefor I have great respect for those that did eat all of this before and went cold turkey. My hat goes off to you !!!!

Greetings and hear you soon.

 

[mavrick45]

hello and welcome!

 

[Sax]

Welcome Tomas! That's pretty cool you were raised vegan.

 

[Emma JC]

welcome Tomas!

Emma JC

 

[TofuRobot]

Welcome tomas! I wish I had been raised vegan!! Glad to have you here!

 

[Susie]

Welcome! I'm so curious to pick your brain a little, the only lifelong vegans I know are small children.
First of all, I envy you. I WISH my parents had chosen that kind of lifestyle for me as a child, or at least put a little thought into what I ate, getting me in good eating habits, avoiding some lifelong health issues, etc.
Can I ask how old you are? Has been finding good healthy options always been easy for you? Did people treat you or your providers differently or poorly for this choice?

 

[betiPT]

Welcome Tomas there are great people in this forum, you will certainly enjoy your time here

 

[Tomas]

Welcome! I'm so curious to pick your brain a little, the only lifelong vegans I know are small children.
First of all, I envy you. I WISH my parents had chosen that kind of lifestyle for me as a child, or at least put a little thought into what I ate, getting me in good eating habits, avoiding some lifelong health issues, etc.
Can I ask how old you are? Has been finding good healthy options always been easy for you? Did people treat you or your providers differently or poorly for this choice?

I am 36 years old and by now I have created a sixth sense when it comes to healthy food options. Food and dieting has been engraved in my brain as a young child already, learning to cook with my mother and father from the age of about 8 I would guess. My body mostly lets me know what it needs by now (I don't really know if this sounds logical but this is how I experience it) and of course my parents were met with disbelieve and as I recall even agression when raising me. people saying they were killing their child and not supplying me with enough nutrients to grow up as a healthy adult. As time went by they were proven wrong though seeing I am healthier than many of their children but my parents always took the moral high ground and chose to not spend time with people that would become agressive if people have a different view on life as they have. They might have lost friends but they have gained better ones in the process.
For my own experiences I have never been treated differently as a child, a teenager or as an adult. People know me like this and I am the way I am. People even tend to completely forget you don't eat any animal products when you've never eaten them because it is not something they grade you on at all. They even apologise (completely unnessecarily) for not providing anything for me. You are who you are regardless of what you eat.

Anyway, that is basically how it went for me. Hopefully this answers some of your questions.

 

[Susie]

I am 36 years old and by now I have created a sixth sense when it comes to healthy food options. Food and dieting has been engraved in my brain as a young child already, learning to cook with my mother and father from the age of about 8 I would guess. My body mostly lets me know what it needs by now (I don't really know if this sounds logical but this is how I experience it) and of course my parents were met with disbelieve and as I recall even agression when raising me. people saying they were killing their child and not supplying me with enough nutrients to grow up as a healthy adult. As time went by they were proven wrong though seeing I am healthier than many of their children but my parents always took the moral high ground and chose to not spend time with people that would become agressive if people have a different view on life as they have. They might have lost friends but they have gained better ones in the process.
For my own experiences I have never been treated differently as a child, a teenager or as an adult. People know me like this and I am the way I am. People even tend to completely forget you don't eat any animal products when you've never eaten them because it is not something they grade you on at all. They even apologise (completely unnessecarily) for not providing anything for me. You are who you are regardless of what you eat.

Anyway, that is basically how it went for me. Hopefully this answers some of your questions.

Wow! Would you say it has become easier to find options, especially healthier ones? My boss has been a vegan since 2002 and always is in awe on how accessible it has become. Thanks so much for answering all my questions!

 

[Lou]

Some of it is practice, some is just the accumulation of knowledge, and some of it is new products. But it seems to get easier to be vegan each year.

 

[Tomas]

I would definitely say it has become easier though new times create new problems and sometimes it's hard to get your head around all the "chemical" ingredients and to know what they all mean. that's why I mostly just stick with fresh foods without preservatives. It doesn't last as long but it's no doubt healthier. On the other hand the food and fruit section has become much greater with greater variety and there are many alternatives for meat, fish, milk, cheese (but this is not tasty at all) for those who are into that kind of thing.
The internet is a great help too for finding all kinds of vegan recepies you never would've deemed possible and is laden with vegan stores that might not be available to you because you live, like me, in the countryside. I'm not too big a fan of ordering too much online (certainly internationally) though so I only do this every now and then and try to find the shop that is closest to me or at least within the same country.