How does it feel to realise that meat(etc) has to go?

[Blobbenstein]

Reading the thread about meatless Mondays, and defensive omnies, I was wondering if the defensiveness is about attachment to meat and other animal products.
After a bit of a run in with a vegan on VB, I sat on my settee for a while, and it dawned upon me that if I carried on eating cheese and egg, then I would be a walking contradiction, and that I was doing no better than a meat eater....and I realised I had to give those things up, and I felt pretty sad for a few minutes.
I wonder if when confronted with evidence about the animal food industry, others would potentially feel this sad, that they had to change, and their minds automatically reel against the idea, and go into defensive mode.
I was ok after a few minutes, and just got on with it, but it was a shock to feel so down about it at first, but I think that sadness is something I had to go through, but many won't get to that point, and just refuse to change.....but the power of that sadness, at never having a beefburger(in some people's case), or a cheese pizza(in my case) again, was powering the defensiveness.

I would like to see if other people felt something similar.

I think it is important to understand why omnies are so defensive.

How did you feel at the point when you decided to give up some kind of animal product?

 

[CrazyCatLady]

I, like yourself, felt I was no better eating cheese (which I ate three times a day, everyday) than eating meat.
I knew I had a holiday to America coming up and this was no time to go from omni to vegan. I'd done my research and already felt guilty consuming certain things and had to totally detach myself from where they came from as I was eating. It wasn't until I arrived home and the date if set to go vegan came that I could bring myself to watch the videos that included dairy farming. Now it takes no will power whatsoever to avoid cheese, all I have to do it think of those videos xxx

 

[Freesia]

I agree, I think that people very likely do not want to give up animal products. I did have a very hard time giving up meat, though after a while it became something that was not a choice. I think that if people see what a delicious layout of noms that can be enjoyed they would be a lot more open to it. That is what I aim to do, I always reblog delicious looking vegan meals on tumblr for omnis to see. I am especially open to reblogging cakes, pizzas, cheeseburgers and desserts.

 

[mary1]

I didnt feel sad about giving up animal products. I had just watched Earthlings; that made me sad. Face covered in tears and snot, I thought to myself...oh well..I guess I shouldn't buy any meat or animal products any more. I was scared that I would not have enough will power. I was scared that I would quit a "diet". A year later, I realize that I didn't really need willpower. I didn't WANT those things anymore because I knew where they came from.

 

[shyvas]

I would like to see if other people felt something similar.

I can relate to most of what is said in the above threads.
I also thought that I would only give up meat/fish/seafood and still consume eggs and cheese. I could never bear to watch those videos and having read a few books by Kathy Freston, was enough for me. I can literally say that I feel so much pain when I think of what those poor animals endure which makes it easier giving up virtually all animal products. I really do miss eating cheddar cheese, pizzas and prawns. I get bad cravings but my love for animals is far greater than my tummy !


I think it is important to understand why omnies are so defensive.

The population overhere is virtually 99% omni and they really are into dairy. The majority of them
just do not want to know what is going on behind the scenes. The foie gras industry which is
barbaric is just an example. I have simply given up trying to make people aware of the fact as
it is impossible to win them over.
Their love of enjoying animal products is far greater than animal cruelty. They are simple selfish like
the majority of people.


How did you feel at the point when you decided to give up some kind of animal product?

Strong willed and a better person.
I have also been brainwashed during all these years about animal protein and dairy giving you
' strong bones' 'stamina' etc; and have been lucky to 'escape' this propaganda.

 

[PTree15]

I felt relieved when I finally gave up dairy. It took some doing, as I was a serious cheese eater. It was the last thing to go, and sometimes I get bummed that it took me so long (years, actually) to finally ditch cheese. I just couldn't live with the guilt anymore having learned about the horrors of dairy production.

 

[Blobbenstein]

I suppose I am interested in how people felt around the time they gave up a type of animal food. The feelings that led up to it, and through.

I felt relief too, after I gave up dairy(or most dairy; for some reason I felt that dairy chocolate was an exception, for a year or so after...)

I had heard when I was around 9, that someone had a goat and that they killed its kids so they could get their milk....and I was like

but for the next 25 years, I was like "that only happens to goats, right.....? I mean cows....that doesn't happen..."; so denial for quarter of a century........so yes, I am definitely relieved after........but leading up to the decision, and making the decision was quite hard......but relief a few minutes later.

I have never really watched any of those Meet Your Meat videos...I can understand that some people would just go into shut down mode with that stuff.


eta: we need that smiley by the way....or something like it.

 

[Envy]

It was kind of a bother, giving up meat.

 

[CrazyCatLady]

I felt guilty in the run up to my set vegan date.
I felt empowered on the day that I had made the informed decision to give animal products up and that nobody had forced, pressured, or even introduced me to the idea.
4 weeks and a day on, I feel proud that I have beliefs I feel so strongly about that iv made the choices that I have.
I feel proud to be vegan xxx

 

[FortyTwo]

It was only difficult to become a vegetarian. The day I went to Farm Sanctuary was the day I became a vegan.

I set out that morning thinking "I'm going to try being vegan for a day, see how it works out" but even then I knew it would probably stick and I would end up being one anyway. After I started obsessing over the details of being a vegetarian I knew it was only a matter of time.

 

[Blobbenstein]

It was only difficult to become a vegetarian.

how did you find it difficult?

I put this in the vegan section because I was including non-meat foods, but people can put how it was giving up meat; any animal products, even leather shoes.

 

[FortyTwo]

I was really under-educated when I became one. For like a year I didn't even know that gelatin and the like wasn't vegetarian. I never read labels or anything, just abstained from eating meat. Once I learned about all of the non-vegetarian ingredients hiding in everything, I went through a bit of a crisis, and decided to avoid all of those foods, which was easier said than done at the time because I had come to rely on a new lifestyle that I had to change again to accommodate the new findings.

Then again, I was, like, ten years old, so...

 

[Blobbenstein]

yes, I went veg at around that age, but I didn't know much about hidden ingredients.
Even in the 2000s I knew that gelatine was in some foods, but I didn't know how many.....I used to like getting sweets from the pick and mix, oblivious.

 

[Lord Snot]

Yep, my defensiveness and general idiocy about vegetarianism before I was one was all down to guilt. I knew eating meat was wrong but I didn't want to give it up for selfish reasons, so I tried to convince myself that vegetarians were horrible preachy people with holes in their logic dying of protein deficiency. I didn't believe any of it but I tried to. I wasn't aware at that time that milk and eggs were just as bad and, tbh, even worse. I just thought vegans were crazy.

When I made the decision I knew that the thought of NEVER eating meat again would terrify me, so I told myself it would be a 30 day challenge. In the back of my mind I knew I wanted to extend it but I kept telling myself "it's only a month" when I missed my favourite things. I remember saying to a friend at the time "I can't face never having a pepperoni Subway again" because I had *just* discovered Subway and I loved those things. She told me it wasn't helpful to tell myself I would never be able to eat it again, and she was right. Taking it a day at a time was much better. I also knew from the start I wanted to eventually be vegan, but I needed to give myself longer than a month before I was ready for that step. In the end I gave myself a year. I went veggie a few days after Christmas, and actually I think the turkey was my last meat meal. So I went vegan the next December. One major reason was similar to CCL's, I had a holiday to South Africa lined up with university and when I spoke to my tutor she said veggie was possible but vegan would be impossible. She was right in my case. I'm diabetic and can't skip meals easily, and I would have had to skip some on the trip.

I had a lot of fun discovering vegetarian meats and substitutes, and signing up to VeggieBoards made it a lot better because I could distract myself from any scary meat thoughts by hanging out with a lot of vegetarians.

I remember going veggie quite clearly, but not vegan. I don't remember how I felt or if there was any sadness about eggs and cheese. I think by that point I had lost my attachment to the foods I loved so much and I knew I could do it, especially with the support of my new veggie friends.

When I think of the crap I came out with about vegetarians, and how much I loved meat, I know there is hope for any omni out there.

 

[AeryFairy]

I think I spent quite a while in denial with both transitions. I was raised in a meat-loving family, and I really did love meat too, so even after I realised exactly how the meat got on my plate, I carried on, in spite of feeling guilty. The day I realised that all the meat had to go, and I had the first vegetarian dinner I think I'd ever had (except maybe a cheese pizza), I felt pretty liberated. It wasn't like I hated vegetables (I ate more veggies than pretty much any other kid I knew), I just thought I'd never be able to give up meat. Realising I could actually do it felt great.

The vegan transition happened in pretty much the same way. I found the information, but it took me a similar length of time to go from knowing to following through.

 

[Alice-Bee]

I will admitt that when I gave up meat I missed it. I do a little but I think I miss what it meant, family meals and memorys rather than the meat itself. I was so ignorant about dairy, I was one of those that thought 'cows NEED to be milked' I am finding it hard to completely cut out dairy, partly because i live with an Omni and the stuff is always there and partly because of my MH problems. I feel I have cut my dairy dramatically and will carry on till its all gone!
I thought I would miss cheese more than I do, it was like giving up a drug. For the first 2 weeks I craved it and felt ill. I have occasinally ate a little cheese when it was unavoidable(as in all i could eat out of the house) but I am quite happy without now. I love the faux cheese I have been eating more now!

 

[Moll Flanders]

I sometimes get the occasional craving for meat and fish even though when I actually see someone eating meat I think it looks and smells disgusting. When my husband gets a cheese pizza I do think that it looks nice but uncooked cheese makes me feel sick and the same with eggs.

Going vegan was more of a lifestyle change and I really resented the fact that I had so few options on restaurant menus! I'm very lucky where I live as we have lots of veg-friendly places to eat but it didn't feel like that at first.

 

[ledboots]

Going vegetarian was a challenge for me because I am the main cook in my family. For myself, I've not been very attached to many specific foods, except chocolate! I learned to adapt recipes to be veg and later, vegan, and then found a vegan blog with photos and recipes, and it was easy from there. I never liked dairy cheese much, but I find myself loving the daiya vegan cheese. And I can still have my dark chocolate, so all is right with the world.

 

[shyvas]

Going vegetarian was a challenge for me because I am the main cook in my family. For myself, I've not been very attached to many specific foods, except chocolate! I learned to adapt recipes to be veg and later, vegan, and then found a vegan blog with photos and recipes, and it was easy from there. I never liked dairy cheese much, but I find myself loving the daiya vegan cheese. And I can still have my dark chocolate, so all is right with the world.

I really must make a point of trying some next time I'm in California.

 

[Digger]

I have no other comment than to say that it pleases me to no end that you used the word 'settee' in conversation.