How many vegans on board?

isabelle304

I went vegan "by accident" 2 months ago and although am not making any long-term plans, am quite happy remaining vegan for the time being until my body tells me otherwise. Not only have I gone vegan, but I have also removed sugar, wheat, alcohol and caffeine from my diet. As I said, this change happened to me by accident - all I meant to do was to detox my body for 4 weeks, but at the end of the 4 weeks I felt so much better that I decided to carry on! This is a real voyage of discovery for me, and am getting to try lots of foods I never even knew existed - quinoa, millet, oat/almond/rice milk, soba noodles, vegan pesto, tofu, etc...

Am glad I found this thread as there is still much I have to learn and it's good to know I can come here if I have questions (I hope!).

dizzy_lizzie

Hiya sleepymy
Brilliant thread. I wonder if the vegan forum you mean is the same one I know of sleepmy. If it is it's a brilliant site.
Well I was vegetarian for 32 years and lived on beans on toast because my mum didn't know what else to give me....(obviously that was when I was a little un) then last year, after some info from animal aid, I couldn't believe how I thought I'd been doing any good for the welfare of animals whilst I still continued to buy into the dairy industry. As soon as I'd put the leaflets down that was it I was vegan. If you want to do more than going vegan then get in touch with the charity https://www.animalaid.co.uk (can we post sites? Apologies if I shouldn't have) and you can volunteer to post leaflets etc. depends I suppose why you're vegan, some it's for health others for the cruelty aspect.
Sorry for long post but it's great to see other vegans on this site.

sleepymy

Welcome isabelle, feel free to ask as many questions as you need to. It's very important that you get the right advice to keep yourself healthy.

Thanks dizzy lizzie if it's the big one, I was a member there but left because of privacy issues with the admin. It is a great site for info but the admin has some scary control issues going on there :shocked:

I don't see why we can't post sites if they're not for financial gain

I find http://www.viva.org.uk/ a good site for new veg*ns, plenty of information and advice.

monsieur_epargnant

JamesM wrote: »

Afraid so. Lacto Vegetarian is what you are.

I'm of course aware of this but with a recent spate of cheese eating (ie 5 times in total in the last 12 months) I'm still going to consider myself a Raw Vegan even if no one else can let my slip pass.

I've gone from attempting to build a bodybuilders body eating meat, drinking milk and still feeling I needed protein supplements. I rediscovered raw food and have made the transformation to raw vegan instantly. So the last 12 months has been one of those testing the ground with food volumes and huge fruit bowls!

So for 355 days I was raw vegan, 7 days I was vegan and 1 day I was Lacto Vegetarian. Whilst I understand the technical labeling, I'm afraid I'll stick to identifying myself by my achievements and not my falls along the way. Thanks for the encouragement though.

I've found the following sites phenomenally inspiring along the way:

Shazzie's 7 year raw food journal (link here) A blog by the UK's own raw visionary on birth and keeping a social life!

Raw runner (link here) A UK average guy who transformed. Check his before and after shots.

Running Raw (US) (link here) A US guy looking to compete in the next Olympics.

Charlies Gym (US) (link here) Charlies a Raw Vegan bodybuilder :eek:

Meat.org (link here) The most disturbing footage guaranteed to make everyone squirm. The single most effective thing in my arsenal.

Come pay me a visit at myspace (http://www.myspace.com/thisbetherawdavid)
Keep it up folks! No matter what those silly relatives are saying to you (or behind your back) I think you're doing well.

sleepymy

But why not just call yourself vegetarian?

monsieur_epargnant

Because it's not where I want to be.

sleepymy

Then be where you want to be. Vegan isn't just about a diet to pick and choose what parts you want and what bits you don't.

No offense but you are no different from 'vegetarians' who have the odd bacon butty. It is misleading to the rest of society as to what veg*nism is about and causes difficulties for the rest of us who are veg*n to the core. I do not eat dairy because I cannot bring myself to support the suffering of animals that is enough of a reason to stop me from eating it for life.

While I can respect the changes you have made I have to disagree with your attitude towards eating dairy and calling yourself either raw or vegan, it isn't a part time gig. I think you'll find any definition of the term vegan will conflict with your self serving idea of it.

dizzy_lizzie

Umm my sister used to say she was vegetarian but she ate fish!!!
I thought I would really miss cheese becaused I loved it so much but when I saw the conditions some cows are kept in and the pain they go through, cheese is now so repulsive to me even just to look at...I only ever bought organic anyway but of course just because it may be more humane doesn't mean it's right.

sleepymy

dizzy_lizzie wrote: »

Umm my sister used to say she was vegetarian but she ate fish!!!

I know a couple of people who do that and it's something the vegetarian society have been campaigning against. The problem is that it's misleading and vegetarians end up having to constantly explain that 'no, vegetarians don't eat fish'.

I just don't see the reasoning behind saying you're something you're not . It's not the name that means something it's the actions, if you want the label do it the way it's meant to be done. I find it very odd that people say they're something they're not in any aspect of life, not just this subject.

dizzy_lizzie

Perhaps it's how they see the food change. For example 'well it's only a fish so that doesn't count' if you see what I mean. Although people have said to me they don't eat red meat anymore only white...it's still flesh! I hate the reality tv. shows where they show people eating bugs etc. and when you can see them crawling on the plate :mad: all this in the name of entertainment!
Need to deep breathe deep now...:D