My reasons to go vegan, what is yours?

Sojah

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Hi Everyone!

My name is Fellipe I'm 30 yo brazilian just made my mind to go Vegan after more than a year being veggie and wanted to share with everyone how I got here =)

2 years ago I was weighting 80 Kg, despite being slim, fit and active for my whole life. But you know, marriage, kids, stressful work kept me going to Mc donald's non stop, and when I realized my health was f.. up, I was fat, tired and getting sick quite easily. I faced myself in the mirror and started to re-evaluate everything in my life, it was a deep experience.

So I started to change, went to the gym (crossfit) and started to work out, lost 16 Kg in 4 months and got my shape back. But still felt something was missing in me so, again I meditated and tried to search inside me what was lacking, why I was still sad, despite being in shape again. So I started to pay attention how I felt during the day and noticed some uneasiness every time I got to work. "what am I doing here? I don't like this job!"

So I get back in time and realized that I chose this career because of my parents, because it pays well and they could be proud of a son earning a lot of money. My parents lost everything when I was young so money was always the issue, the taboo.

I realized that I wasn't happy because of money itself. Money robs your freedom and enslave you to the point that you treasure it more than anything.

Around this time, I happened to watch a video on youtube called "the lie we live", it was so eye opening made me realize that I was a slave of marketeers, government... I was a puppet, I wasn't following my dreams, I didn't have a purpose in life, I was just existing, I wasn't living.

I realized that existing is not the same as living to the fullest, I've started noticing ppl with no possessions being so much more happy than me with my fancy car, fancy shoes and stuff. So I started looking for my purpose, and watched another movie, a discovery channel's production called racing extinction and it made me realize how we are destroying our planet for profit's sake. I couldn't bare it, I felt it's so unfair, coward and selfish to use an animal's life just to satisfy our hunger, when we have some many food options that do not require any sacrifice. So I felt that the right thing to do in that occasion was to go veggie. I was still consuming the animal products such as milk and eggs, because I had the wrong idea that "It's fine, the animal is still alive" and "it's not dead meat". But I was wrong.

Recently I gave it a second thought about how chickens and cows are being sucked dry in the industries, in exchange for food... And I realized it is no different from what the system do to all of us. We are being sucked dry by industries, our jobs and everything that is supposed to shut our consciousness down, so we won't complain and after all these years being a slave, when we are to old to perform our jobs we are thrown away by the system, by the market and in some cases even by our family and that's no different from what happens to animal's on eggs and milk farms. Our life cycle is so alike, we are born, fed, raised to produce something from someone else in the future, and this someone will have huge profits from us, and when the time comes and we can't provide our "services" anymore, we are discarded.

So this mind set made me want to go vegan! We need to break this sick cycle imposed to us and also to animals. We were born free, we are self aware, we need a meaningful life, not one based on chainless slavery.

That's my moto, the industry won't slave me anymore, I won't buy their products and I'll look for something that really makes me happy, I'll find something TRUE!

How much of our lifetime is really ours? See? We sleep 8 hours a day, spend 2 hours getting dressed, shaving, brushing teeth and driving to work, another 8 working, another 2 hours getting back from work, eating dinner, showering, etc. For most ppl they only have 4 hours of their day to themselves. Our life is not really our own... and that is so sad.. Still we can change and live to the fullest making right choices, not based on money but on our heart.

Sorry for the long post! it would be cool to share our stories here =) I'd love to read yours!
 
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Hi Sojah

Totally agree with everything you've said and love your ethical attitude. I saw a meme the other day that said 'I stand up for what I stand on.' This is what it all comes down to for me. I want to do as little harm as possible. I hate how commercialism is pushing the earth to the brink and don't understand how other people can either not see it, or be completely aware and do nothing. We can learn so much from animals. Good luck with your vegan journey and respect to you. X
 
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Hey guys,
I've been vegetarian my whole life and I've always been proud of it, but then I realised my complacency in my lifestyle was the same complacency many meat eaters have. I started researching veganism and aside from the clear health benefits, environmental reasons and of course the ethics behind it, I wanted to prove that I could actually make my actions match my words. I wanted to prove to myself that I wasn't just choosing to be vegetarian out of habit, but because it was actually the right thing to do, but that was only my first reason. The more I've learnt about veganism and the dairy industry, the more sure I am that it is the path I want to take. xx
 
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I am a recent vegan, but I have been vegan before. What I fell in love with was the lifestyle. At the moment I think it is just plain stupid to eat meat once you know the facts.

I hate the animal cruelty too. It stinks.

I have plenty of reasons to be vegan, but probably the best one is love. I am rekindling my passion when I first started and that is what is driving me.
 
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Have just watched The Lie We Live on YouTube, it's very good, the chap has clearly seen David Icke's work. Thanks Fellipe.
 
This is a very passionate post.
I went vegan for the animals too
 
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I have to be honest, my intentions of going vegetarian a year ago were for health reasons and when I went fully vegan, it was for health reasons. I cared about the animals, but it was more in the background. I was mainly giving up animal products because I have Addison's disease, hormone issues, and weight issues. I'm going through a lot of health problems and I saw that being vegetarian wasn't doing anything different, so I went full vegan. I was also influenced by my sister because she's in good health and lost a lot of weight since going vegan, so I just cut it. Also, I'm lactose intolerant. 80% of animal product food makes me sick, inflamed, or gives me some time of weird reaction or tired feeling. I just decided to go all the way and cut it 100% for my health and because, knowing me, if I even dared be a "part time" vegan, I would not have been dedicated and would have fallen off the wagon.

Now that I've fallen more into vegan culture, my views have changed. I'm still vegan for my health, but I've learned how disgusting the industry is and how animals deserve life just as much as us. No being is more important than another. At first, I was only really vegan for health reasons, but now it's blossomed into something more, something with more of a purpose, something that truly benefits the animals. I'm actually considering volunteering at a local bird rehab this summer where they find injured birds, heal them, and release them back into the wild. It took me some time and some falling into vegan culture, but now I'm vegan for more reasons than I started.
 
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How much of our lifetime is really ours? See? We sleep 8 hours a day, spend 2 hours getting dressed, shaving, brushing teeth and driving to work, another 8 working, another 2 hours getting back from work, eating dinner, showering, etc. For most ppl they only have 4 hours of their day to themselves. Our life is not really our own... and that is so sad.. Still we can change and live to the fullest making right choices, not based on money but on our heart.
I think you need to go to Karl Marx to get an idea about what capitalism is and how it works. I would recommend starting with the "synopsis of Capital" written by Engels, its a concise summary of the first few chapters. Capitalism has not solved a single problem it only exacerbates and magnifies everything by making profit out of any activity where human labor can be employed. It has made food tasteless, environment polluted, put animal killing on a large scale and yes you are right next turn is for the poor and unemployed.
 
I went vegan over 13 years ago. I had opened the fridge door and saw a piece of meat. I thought, "what if that were my cow?" I slammed the door and never turned back. It started by me adding raw broccoli to my couscous and I felt revived, so much better. So then I started drinking raw vegetable juice and that is when all the miracles started happening.
 
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Simply put I'm vegan for the animals first, and my health second. I went vegetarian back in 1995, and toyed with veganism on and off from 2007 - 2015. I went completely vegan two years ago in 2015.
 
I am still struggling with my love of cheese. I think I can do it, I have given up chips (fries) meat, fish, etc. etc. It sounds ridiculous to be "addicted" to Cheddar and Parmesan. I need to focus on the food I really love which is vegan (veggies, salads, nuts, porridge, curries etc.) I will get there. It would be easier if I lived alone and were master of my own fridge!
PS I only have to look at my dog to know that I could never eat meat again and that logically I should extend my feelings for my dog to all animals. The health arguments are persuasive too for me.
 
I originally went raw vegan to lose weight - which I did. I stayed raw vegan for three years and have been vegan for six years. I just feel so much better health-wise. I would say that it's a very strange experience in that even if you don't originally go vegan for animal rights reasons, something changes in you when you stop consuming animal products. They become very unappetizing to you and no longer look like food.
 
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I am still struggling with my love of cheese. I think I can do it, I have given up chips (fries) meat, fish, etc. etc. It sounds ridiculous to be "addicted" to Cheddar and Parmesan. I need to focus on the food I really love which is vegan (veggies, salads, nuts, porridge, curries etc.) I will get there. It would be easier if I lived alone and were master of my own fridge!
PS I only have to look at my dog to know that I could never eat meat again and that logically I should extend my feelings for my dog to all animals. The health arguments are persuasive too for me.
Have a look at vegan cheese. Cashew cheese is great and with a bit of mustard and nutritional yeast you get the tang you get with the more piquant cheeses.
 
For me it was the next step. I'm in transition now. I was alteady aware of the polution in fastfashion ( so I make al of my OWN and the kids clothes myself) and other industries. We never ate a lot of meat, just for flavor. (250grams of meat for 2 days of pastasauce for a family of 5 is not much compared to other People) Recently there was a scandal here about a slaughterhouse. That was it. What i saw was so terrible, i can't eat it anymore...
 
Hi,
I am in the process of turning vegan after 24 years being veggie. I was sat having dinner at my brothers 3 days ago and watched a beautiful cow give birth to her calf in the field at the side of his house... 4 hours later the farmer arrived and took it away. Watching her chase the truck up the lane and hearing the bellow she made for hours after has haunted me ever since. I have a fridge full of cheese and milk, a rack full of eggs and I can't touch any of it!
I can't stop researching dairy and egg farming and neither can I get the sound of that cows cries out of my head.
Whilst I am finding it quite tricky to adapt my diet, I am certain that is the end of my dairy/ egg days!