Hello all, I'm a 57 year old man and have been vegan for 7 years. I was vegetarian for a while before that.
It occurred to me recently that although I have a lot of friends and a relatively large family, I don't know any vegans, so I thought I would visit here to maybe discuss the odd thing with like minded people.
My original reason for going vegan was for health and fitness. I've played a lot of sport and have kept quite fit most of my life. but as I was getting too old for the football pitch and the boxing ring I thought it was imortant to have a decent diet. This led me to trying to cut out processed foods as much as possible and eat whole foods.
I then dropped meat too.
Then it just seemed like a natural progression to drop dairy, but as I was going through this process I was reading and watching a lot of plant based information which naturally included some vegan content and information.
My rationale then changed. My motivation was always my own health and fitness. However, whilst that is still important to me, my main reason for being vegan is now undoubtedly ethical.
Me looking after my health and the environment benefitting from my choices are happy side effects, but me not using animal products of contributing to animal cruelty, abuse and slaughter means most to me.
This has turned out to be a bit of a ramble, but like I said at the beginning, I don't know any vegans and I find it so tiresome at social events involving food, answering ignorant questions and listening to the 'yeah but protien' (usually said by people younger than me and 5 stone heavier who couldn't punch their way out of a wet paper bag) , ' we've got canine teeth' , 'must cost a fortune' etc etc rubbish.
I have listened to the likes of Earthling Ed and I really admire his debating skills, I often think " I'll say that next time" but quite honestly I can't be arsed, I just try to cut the conversation short for fear of getting annoyed.
Anyhow, I suppose I'm wondering how others cope with these unwanted situations, if indeed they are unwanted by you. I just think it's rude to quiz someone about their diet and give there ignorant and unwanted views on it.
It is however a small price to pay and going vegan was the best lifestyle choice I ever made.
Well after saying this has turned into a ramble I've continued rambling on ....
I could havd just said Hi I suppose.
It occurred to me recently that although I have a lot of friends and a relatively large family, I don't know any vegans, so I thought I would visit here to maybe discuss the odd thing with like minded people.
My original reason for going vegan was for health and fitness. I've played a lot of sport and have kept quite fit most of my life. but as I was getting too old for the football pitch and the boxing ring I thought it was imortant to have a decent diet. This led me to trying to cut out processed foods as much as possible and eat whole foods.
I then dropped meat too.
Then it just seemed like a natural progression to drop dairy, but as I was going through this process I was reading and watching a lot of plant based information which naturally included some vegan content and information.
My rationale then changed. My motivation was always my own health and fitness. However, whilst that is still important to me, my main reason for being vegan is now undoubtedly ethical.
Me looking after my health and the environment benefitting from my choices are happy side effects, but me not using animal products of contributing to animal cruelty, abuse and slaughter means most to me.
This has turned out to be a bit of a ramble, but like I said at the beginning, I don't know any vegans and I find it so tiresome at social events involving food, answering ignorant questions and listening to the 'yeah but protien' (usually said by people younger than me and 5 stone heavier who couldn't punch their way out of a wet paper bag) , ' we've got canine teeth' , 'must cost a fortune' etc etc rubbish.
I have listened to the likes of Earthling Ed and I really admire his debating skills, I often think " I'll say that next time" but quite honestly I can't be arsed, I just try to cut the conversation short for fear of getting annoyed.
Anyhow, I suppose I'm wondering how others cope with these unwanted situations, if indeed they are unwanted by you. I just think it's rude to quiz someone about their diet and give there ignorant and unwanted views on it.
It is however a small price to pay and going vegan was the best lifestyle choice I ever made.
Well after saying this has turned into a ramble I've continued rambling on ....
I could havd just said Hi I suppose.
