How many vegans on board?

bathgatebuyer

Yes, team away days are definitely more hassle than they're worth! Thankfully my boss could see how stressed it was all making me and so didn't make me go (phew!), so I spent a nice day at work by myself instead of being with the team. You know, good luck to them. They want to go out, 'eat dead carcasses and sup real ale' and that's not for me. Did feel very angry about the ultimatum but as soon as it was lifted, so was my stress levels and I feel totally relaxed about it. It kind of reminds me of school (many years ago!) when dissection took place and our teacher gave everyone an opt out if they'd rather not see an animal cut up. Even 20 yrs ago, I opted for the sitting it out rather than seeing the animal sliced open.

Oh well, I'm sure I'll see all the photos of the guys day out, and no doubt hear all the stories of the trip I organised. I might take the day off sometime and do it all myself and will have much more fun that way!

savvy

Ah I'm glad your boss saw sense in the end for you :T

bathgatebuyer

Has anyone else ever encountered any criticism for their vegan lifestyle? I've obviously felt it a touch of late, but I wonder if anyone else has had weird comments or treatment from anyone as a result of their choices? Most people are supportive, but I can't help but think there's an undercurrent of, well, scathing bewilderment! If you do, how do you deal with it? Are you evangelical about it, or is it a personal choice that you keep quite personal? Just interested!

Oh, and this is a weird one - I was in Aldi today (stocking up on their cheap fruit and veg!) and their offers letter said something about 'vegetarian offers' and it was followed by 2 offers for fish! Eh?! No wonder there's so much confusion. I have a friend I used to visit and she'd say, "Do you want a bacon roll?" No, I'm vegetarian (this being before 2011). "Do you want tuna then?" No. I'm a vegetarian. Cue, puzzled expression.

bobhawke

bathgatebuyer wrote: »

Has anyone else ever encountered any criticism for their vegan lifestyle?

Happens to all vegans and vegetarians. There is always one person who is uncomfortable and insecure about your choice. Eventually It dies down but doesn't go away.
Some of it is good natured and is funny, search google images for "my food shi*s on your food",

Google for "vegan support group carnivores" for the other one that made me giggle. Someone seems to have edited my post and removed the image link for some silly reason.




If people ask me about it I tell them. I don't go out of my way to let them know I am vegan, I just carry on as normal. I don't preach to them, i don't try and force my beliefs on them. I do get strange looks when I show up at parties with my plastic tubs full of vegan food though :rotfl:

savvy

bobhawke wrote: »

Happens to all vegans and vegetarians.

I've been really lucky then

brokeinwales

hey, hello, I am a vegan - i thought I'd say hello. Been lurking on this thread for a while and thought it was about time I mentioned how useful and entertaining it is

I've been a veggie for most of my life. My Mum (also now veggie) recalls when I was four year olds my grandmother's house I was served a guinea fowl on a plate and said loudly "I'm not eating that, it's a dead bird!"

I decided to try veganism pretty much as an experiment, shortly after the new year. I figured that it wouldn't be too difficult as the only dairy I regularly consumed was skimmed milk on my morning bowl of cereal, anything else (cheese, eggs etc) would be very occasional so it was almost a "may as well" thing.

Generally it's gone well. Cooking at home is no problem at all. Eating out was a bit of a worry, but I've found every restaurant I've been to to be incredibly accomodating once i explain what i can and can't eat. I was expecting to get a lot of grief from people in general for being "fussy" but actually most people I've spoken to (even meat-eaters) have been quite impressed and fascinated by what I eat and why.

I do find "food on the run" a problem though. When I was caught short in town, it used to be easy to just grab a sandwich or a pasta salad - now I have to think about it far more as most places don't do vegan sarnies. I try to take stuff with me as much as possible, but I'm carp at planning ahead - and when stuff has been carted around in your handbag all day it's not always that appetising. M & S do some vegan stuff but it's not terribly MSE...


I have to confess I've had mixed experiences on the health front so far. My skin is definetly 100 x better - I didn't have expecially bad skin beforehand, but the difference in texture and reduction in things like rashes and breakouts amazed me. I also suffer far less from bloating and stomach problems, which used to be a big problem.

However, it's not all good - I'm afraid in my case the meat-eaters cliche of the tired, weak vegan is kind of true. I have found I need to sleep more, am very tired, and don't have the energy to do as much exercise as I used to (I was very active - working out pretty vigourously four or five times a week - now I really have to force myself to manage twice, and often fall asleep as soon as I get in from work. The result being that I've lost a lot of muscle tone and put on a bit of weight. It has had a negative effect on my mood too.)

Also - it's played havoc with my period, which have inexplicably become much heavier and more painful.

A blood test at the Dr told me my B12 levels were VERY low, and my iron and protein were border line. (OH is now trying to talk me into eating eggs again!)

It's annoying because I'm well mugged up on nutrition and have done everything by the book. I eat fortified cereals and soya milk (with a glass of fruit juice to wash it down!), I eat plenty of pulses, nuts, tofu, soya and wholegrains, I eat a massive variety of veg, I add Brewers yeast to lots of foods and take a B12 supplement. So you'd think I'd be fine - most of you lot seem to be OK after all!

So i have another test at the end of the week to see whether I have a problem absorbing the B12 (which means it doesn't matter how much of it I scoff!), and if so it'll be regular injections for me!

One thing i did wonder - I'd be interested in finding some nutritional info/ advice on vegan diets from a neutral point of view. A lot of the stuff you find online that's written about vegan nutrition comes from either obviously pro-vegan sources (like the vegan society, vegan forums etc), or very anti-vegan sources. I'm not saying the information is necessarily inaccurate but I would find it interesting and reassuring to read something that comes from a scientific POV that doesn't have any moral or personal stake in the issue. so if anyone knows of anything I'd love to know!

savvy

brokeinwales wrote: »

One thing i did wonder - I'd be interested in finding some nutritional info/ advice on vegan diets from a neutral point of view. A lot of the stuff you find online that's written about vegan nutrition comes from either obviously pro-vegan sources (like the vegan society, vegan forums etc), or very anti-vegan sources. I'm not saying the information is necessarily inaccurate but I would find it interesting and reassuring to read something that comes from a scientific POV that doesn't have any moral or personal stake in the issue. so if anyone knows of anything I'd love to know!

I don't know, I might be able to help you out a little bit with that, I have a site that is mainly to do with raw foodists and also those with food intolerances/allergies. Some are raw vegan and some are just eating raw foods, some are cooked vegans and some are just mooching around looking for better health. Nobody is judged and everyone is entitled to post their experiences of whatever they've found - I view it as a journey to optimum health

Regarding your diminshing health, I would purport that it could be one of a couple of things. If you improve your health by omitting certain things you may experience detox symptoms as you are now allowing your body to expunge the toxins instead of topping them up all the time. Or, have you ever looked into systemic Candida (and I don't mean thrush!)? I have sufferred from it for many years, always knackered even when eating meat, since becoming more raw and then vegan I have increased energy, still not 100% but a darn sight closer.

I'll send you some links to some articles I've found that may be of interest

Cardew

bathgatebuyer wrote: »

Has anyone else ever encountered any criticism for their vegan lifestyle? I've obviously felt it a touch of late, but I wonder if anyone else has had weird comments or treatment from anyone as a result of their choices? Most people are supportive, but I can't help but think there's an undercurrent of, well, scathing bewilderment! If you do, how do you deal with it? Are you evangelical about it, or is it a personal choice that you keep quite personal? Just interested!

Bewilderment is surely not surprising when you read articles like these:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/mar/29/vegans-trial-death-baby-breast-milk?INTCMP=SRCH


http://www.bbc.co.uk/search/news/?q=vegan baby

savvy

Cardew wrote: »

Bewilderment is surely not surprising when you read articles like these:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/mar/29/vegans-trial-death-baby-breast-milk?INTCMP=SRCH

Unbelievable!

bobhawke

Interview with John Berardi about going vegan for a month:
http://www.ttfatloss.com/nutrition/vegen-experiment/

Some of the results:
http://www.precisionnutrition.com/sexy-vegetarian

Thread on his forums, with sample meal plans, from one of his team members who is vegan:
http://www.precisionnutrition.com/members/showthread.php?t=9824

If you go to his site and search for vegan you will find a lot of unbiased information.