Why are You Vegan-Plant Based V Love of Animals?

Anthony0123456

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Is anyone a vegan just because they like eating plants more than animal products?

I've been plant based for most of my life and really only choosing to eat meat or animal products when I was around other family members/dinner parties, etc. But every time I had to eat animal products I hated it. So at first, I thought it was just because of the way the meat was being cooked (everyone in my family cooks meat medium to medium rare) so for a while I just tried cooking meat well done because it masked all the disgusting things about meat for the most part.

But after a while, I just started getting grossed out when eating and preparing meat in general. I consider myself a great cook, but when it comes to cooking things like chicken, beef, or pork, I always either burn it or not cooking it well enough.

So about a few months I became a vegan solely for the fact that I hate animal products. I've always hated drinking or eating dairy and preparing meat products in general. Just never got the appeal.

I get the moral side of veganism, but the thing that convinced me to become vegan was the fact that I just find plant foods more appealing and even better tasting than meat or animal products. (meat just tastes like cardboard on its own without seasoning)
 
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Welcome to the board, Anthony.

I can't say I shared your sentiment before I went vegan, however there were things about preparing meat products that I found gross but considered it something of what I thought was a necessary evil. Like dealing with the blood, the sliminess etc of unprepared meat - I wasn't excited about these aspects of being a practicing omnivore, I just thought they were part of life.

In my view it doesn't matter what thing(s) bring a person to practice veganism, as long as whatever motivated/motivates them is enough to refrain from animal products. Once one becomes a vegan it's natural to explore and find more reasons why it's good to remain one. :)
 
Anthony, Hello & Welcome.

I've always liked eating plants, but I'd have to say that it was on par with animal foods. Initially my first hand experence with vegetarianism was in the mid '70's when my favorite cousin went vegetarian . At the time she said it was mostly because the didn't care for meat all that much.

During the balance of the '70's my encounters with vegetarians increased, a co worker who had been living on such a tight budget that they omitted meat as a cost savings and continued with it because they found they felt better. I had tried the few vegetarian restaurants that opened in our area and found the food quite good. I also dated a woman who was a vegetarian mostly on ethical principles, but she did nothing to sell me on the idea.

I always had a favorable disposition toward plant based eating, but didn't actually make the move until I had health issues and thought I'd try it. This was after I'd already changed how I was eating to support my wife who was diagnosed with type 2 diabetes.

For me it's been 4 years of a vegan diet. It works for me. While I am sympathetic toward ehtical veganism, it simply isn't the framework of how and why I eat the way I do. For decades my rational mind would see that eating animals was barbaric--I would shop in stores where they literally had full sides of the animal and would cut to order, and I knew full well when animal foods came from, but I'd still eat them.

Since tastes change, I occasionally wonder if I'd still have a taste for some real cheese or some other favorite animal derrived food, not enough to find out though. I eat a more restrictive health- based diet so I don't eat a lot of the products like vegan cheese, and that's made even easier by the total lack of availability where I live.

Just in case you might be curious as what kept me eating a vegan diet in the very early days-- it made doing the dishes so dang easy.
 
I initially went vegan for animal rights 15 years ago. I was raised on a typical SAD diet - meat and potatoes, and dairy (or in my case, since my mother was a bit of a weight-watching freak, fish sticks, steamed broccoli and cottage cheese :lol:).

But I discovered, when started cooking for myself, and even more so after I went vegan, that I LOVE vegetables and cuisines from around the world. Going vegan expanded my palate and my love of cooking.
 
IMHO, (which is not something everyone agrees on), being a vegan is a lot more than just a diet. It's a lifestyle. A vegan does a lot of things that have nothing to do with food. (apparel, cosmetics, entertainment).
Again, IMHO, being vegan is a lot about intent. It is a vegan's intent to not exploit animals.

So just eating plants because you think they taste good does not make you a vegan (IMHO). It makes you plant-based. Which (also IMHO) is not a bad thing.

Also I think many vegans aren't fussy about who calls themselves vegans. Again I think a lot of it is about intent. So if you want to be a vegan. POOF! You are a vegan.
 
I am definitely happy to no longer have flesh in my kitchen or ovum or cow excretions of any kind. It really is so inhumane and so gross and it shows the power of conditioning. I loved fishing as much as my spouse, the joy of being out in the boat in the quiet, in nature and wondering if anything will bite.... and yet even when I was a young child I hated it when I actually caught a fish and I would get up on the prow of the boat to get away from the poor fish flopping around in the boat.

Emma JC
 
When so was very young, I didn’t like most vegetables. Later, I realized that I hadn’t liked them because they had been overcooked - too mushy. When I became vegan and began cooking for myself, I found that I like many vegetables.
 
When so was very young, I didn’t like most vegetables. Later, I realized that I hadn’t liked them because they had been overcooked - too mushy. When I became vegan and began cooking for myself, I found that I like many vegetables.
I am fortunate that my mom is a good cook. I've always loved vegetables. I liked everything, really. My motivation initially was health and I started eliminating animal products slowly, but when I went vegan 13 years ago, it was for the animals.
 
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Not really, but I never liked meat other than fish, even as a child there were showdowns with my family over an untouched hamburger or a chicken leg I was grossed out by because I thought the veins looked like worms. Gristle made me gag, and I never really understood the point of ham and sausage. I also mostly only liked eggs if they were boiled or poached, not fried, and it was easy to ruin scrambled eggs or egg salad for me if it was mixed with milk products or runny. I strongly preferred cheese or sour cream to actually having a glass of cold milk.

I was pretty much born a pescatarian. My mother is actually mostly pescatarian, though she stopped drinking milk before I was even vegan because she's lactose intolerant. My grandparents ate more cow or pig, and expected me to do so, especially my grandfather.

I slowly became vegetarian little by little, being able to choose more of my own food in middle and high school, and was vegetarian before vegan.
 
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Is anyone a vegan just because they like eating plants more than animal products?

I've been plant based for most of my life and really only choosing to eat meat or animal products when I was around other family members/dinner parties, etc. But every time I had to eat animal products I hated it. So at first, I thought it was just because of the way the meat was being cooked (everyone in my family cooks meat medium to medium rare) so for a while I just tried cooking meat well done because it masked all the disgusting things about meat for the most part.

But after a while, I just started getting grossed out when eating and preparing meat in general. I consider myself a great cook, but when it comes to cooking things like chicken, beef, or pork, I always either burn it or not cooking it well enough.

So about a few months I became a vegan solely for the fact that I hate animal products. I've always hated drinking or eating dairy and preparing meat products in general. Just never got the appeal.

I get the moral side of veganism, but the thing that convinced me to become vegan was the fact that I just find plant foods more appealing and even better tasting than meat or animal products. (meat just tastes like cardboard on its own without seasoning)
That’s me, Anthony! I have never been keen on animals products even as a child. The smell of butter could make me throw up. Any cheap margarine was better.
Went vegetarian at college and then went backwards and forwards for a bit until I decided to make a complete break and go vegan. Animal welfare had always been a concern but to be honest not the initial reason.
 
I'm afraid to say that I love meat, eggs, dairy, fish and chips. There's nothing better than a rare rib-eye steak, a 3-rib roast beef, black pudding, a vintage cheddar cheese, fried eggs, butter, etc .......... but, I watched a programme about veganism called 'Veganville' with Joey Carbstrong and others. It really opened my eyes to the whole issue.

From there I watched other programmes on YouTube, googled veganism, read a lot about it and decided never to consume any animal products again.

For me, having a plant-based diet does mean missing out on some of my favourite foods so it's a bit of a sacrifice, but I simply couldn't live with myself knowing how it got to my plate.

One confusing thing though. Most people seem to say that they have more energy, clearer skin, feel more youthful ..... I don't feel any different - apart from being (ahem) more regular!
 
I went vegetarian in the early 90's because I wanted to stop supporting cruelty to animals and pointless damage to the environment.

It took about a year for my body to adjust to it. After that, I saw immediate health benefits. I grew up being sick all the time. After I went veg, I hardly ever got sick.

My health kept improving as I stuck to that diet. I tried eating meat again a few times (decades later) and felt worse. So, for me, it's been a great choice.

And yes, the food is incredible. I was raised on a basic SAD - frozen vegetables, pasta, a chunk of meat, and some milk. Honestly, we didn't have much money for food. Looking back on it, I'm like, "Yeah, that's about as low cost as it gets - each person gets 1/4 block of frozen spinach cooked in margerine and some egg noodles." And we ate a lot of fast food.

When I still lived with my parents, I ate that diet but swapped the meat for beans and gave up the milk. When I moved out, I learned how to cook. I invested in higher quality food - fresh vegetables, organic options, herbs and spices.

I never liked most meat and dairy. I craved it for a while for nutritional reasons, but it wasn't that hard to give up.
 
I was a lifelong omnivore, even though my wife was vegetarian. But we talked often and in time I grasped the ethical issue. We both transitioned to vegan about 5 years ago, and we do our best to live accordingly. This means sourcing many products that are vegan, or at least veganish. One of my most favourite vegan products is a belt I bought from a vegan company in Australia - it has just lasted and lasted. We have also been very impressed with cork products - there are some amazingly supple leather facsimiles that can be made from cork. In terms of food, I have been surprised to find that plant-based meals can be marvellous, and in fact now eat a more diverse diet than I ever did before. I still think of animal products as healthy and nutritious, so I am not vegan for taste or health. I also do not have any kind of problem with killing animals for food if that is necessary. But necessary in my world is different from say Ray Kroc's perspective. I do feel better for it too, though wouldn't say that I couldn't also feel better on a well balanced omnivore diet. I believe that something like veganism should be encouraged globally and taught in schools. By the way, I don't think I could say I "love" animals...
 
I enjoyed the taste of animals and animal products. I also think that it's just as possible for humans to eat a healthy omni diet as a healthy plant based diet.

My reasons for my lifestyle are for ethics, plus an attempt to live an internally consistent life. I find nonhuman animal species to be generally more interesting and admirable than the human species.
 
Is anyone a vegan just because they like eating plants more than animal products?

I've been plant based for most of my life and really only choosing to eat meat or animal products when I was around other family members/dinner parties, etc. But every time I had to eat animal products I hated it. So at first, I thought it was just because of the way the meat was being cooked (everyone in my family cooks meat medium to medium rare) so for a while I just tried cooking meat well done because it masked all the disgusting things about meat for the most part.

But after a while, I just started getting grossed out when eating and preparing meat in general. I consider myself a great cook, but when it comes to cooking things like chicken, beef, or pork, I always either burn it or not cooking it well enough.

So about a few months I became a vegan solely for the fact that I hate animal products. I've always hated drinking or eating dairy and preparing meat products in general. Just never got the appeal.

I get the moral side of veganism, but the thing that convinced me to become vegan was the fact that I just find plant foods more appealing and even better tasting than meat or animal products. (meat just tastes like cardboard on its own without seasoning)
What do you enjoy eating?
 
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I went vegan for the animals, I don’t want to cause unnecessary harm to other sentient beings.
I enjoy the food I eat, the only difficult part is maybe the vegan food I like to eat can be expensive and harder to get.
I used to be one of those people who thought it wasn’t a meal without some sort of meat, I guess I still feel that way because I eat vegan alternatives to meat almost every day. Sometimes I’ll be satisfied with just boiled peanuts or bean burritos as my protein source for the day
 
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Is anyone a vegan just because they like eating plants more than animal products?

I've been plant based for most of my life and really only choosing to eat meat or animal products when I was around other family members/dinner parties, etc. But every time I had to eat animal products I hated it. So at first, I thought it was just because of the way the meat was being cooked (everyone in my family cooks meat medium to medium rare) so for a while I just tried cooking meat well done because it masked all the disgusting things about meat for the most part.

But after a while, I just started getting grossed out when eating and preparing meat in general. I consider myself a great cook, but when it comes to cooking things like chicken, beef, or pork, I always either burn it or not cooking it well enough.

So about a few months I became a vegan solely for the fact that I hate animal products. I've always hated drinking or eating dairy and preparing meat products in general. Just never got the appeal.

I get the moral side of veganism, but the thing that convinced me to become vegan was the fact that I just find plant foods more appealing and even better tasting than meat or animal products. (meat just tastes like cardboard on its own without seasoning)
I totally understand what you mean as a while back I used to do similar things as to what you said when it came to meat or other animal products, I don't feel like touching animal products, it gives me this weird feeling.
I'm recently trying to transition to the vegan side for a couple of reason of course one of them being that animals deserve to live too and a bit of what I just stated.
 
I went vegan because of health and animals. I don't really like all the animals, but that doesn't mean I have to kill them. Also, I never liked meat, it was so disgusting only that my grandmother pushed me into eating, still, I left a lot of meat on the plate. Now I'm vegan for animals, health, and the environment.

EDIT: Never have eaten 1 piece of beef(Disgusting)