I have been vegan for over 3 years now, and before that I was vegetarian. It has been a long journey for me to get this stage and I won't lie and say it happened overnight.
I first went vegetarian back when I was around 6 years old. I remember visiting a petting farm with my parents and being horrified when I found out that the cute animals running around, were the same animals being murdered and put on my plate for dinner. At the time I didn't know being vegetarian was an option for me to choose, so I resorted to giving my meat to my cats, and trading the meat part of my pack lunches for other children's veggies at school. Eventually my parents noticed and we discussed me being a vegetarian.
I stayed a vegetarian until I was a late teen and while I was struggling with teenage angst, I tried a chicken nugget. I forgot all about the petting farm and started to eat meat again. I ate meat for maybe 1-2 years before the vegan movement hit in full force. I remember watching a video of a man talking about his experience of becoming vegan, followed by images of baby chickens going into a big blender, baby cows being separated from their mothers and crying, and all kinds of other torture which if were all honest is completely barbaric.
I had no idea how bad it really was. I think its so easy to just go to Tesco and see a nicely packaged item labelled 'organic', or 'free range' and not think about where it actually came from. But the reality is horrific.
I couldn't ignore it. My inner child knew that what I was doing wasn't aligning with my core values, so I had to become vegan.
At first I just went cold turkey. And I wouldn't recommend this to anyone. I was basically starving. I had no idea how to find good food, what nutrition I actually needed, I was completely clueless. So I decided it was best to opt for being a vegetarian instead, this was much easier and I still felt like I was making a difference.
As time passed I started to do more research about what options were available for vegans. I think the world started to cater to it more too. I switched my cows milk for oat milk, My butter for margarine, ordered the vegan option when I went to restaurants. And eventually it got to the point where the only things in my house which weren't vegan, were a chocolate bar and a pre-made frozen cauliflower cheese.
After having this realisation I decided to fully commit and I have been vegan ever since. I did it for the animals. But, since going vegan I have learn't that there are other reasons people go vegan, such as for the environment and for their personal health.
Here are some facts about veganism that you may not know,
1 - Veganism isn't new - Evidence of people choosing to avoid animal products can be traced back over 2,000 years.
2 - Eating vegan can reduce your carbon footprint by over 73%.
3 - Veganism not only saves animals but it also saves rainforests, water and CO2.
4 - Vegan diets are protein rich - Vegetables, beans, carbs, etc.. are all packed with protein. There are also some incredible vegan protein powders if you’re a regular gym user.
5 - Each vegan saves 100’s of animals each year!
6 - Vegans don't need to supplements - A lot of sources say that we may lack B12, but you can easily add this into you diet by adding a spoon full of nutritional yeast to your meals.
7 - Being vegan lowers your cholesterol and reduces risk of heart disease and diabetes.
8 - Veganism isn't just about what food you eat, its also about what products you use and what you wear. For example leather shoes wouldn't be vegan. And products such as face creams which have been tested on animals or include parts of animals are also not vegan.
9 - Veganism isn't expensive, Plants and whole foods are usually quite cheap, Processed vegan foods are a little more expensive, but you can always shop in the sales and offers if you want processed food.
10 - You don't need to be fully vegan in order to make an impact - Just giving up one portion of meat once a week for a year saves nearly 790 bath tubs of water, three tennis courts of forests and the equivalent amount of greenhouse gases as driving from London to Edinburgh.
I know this might not be well received as nobody likes change and it can be confronting reading things like this, but its really important for me to share my views with my following and I really hope you took the time to read this and it may have sparked some enthusiasm to make some small changes to your diet.
Sending lots of love and hugs
Sophia
Sources for the facts -
The video that made me consider veganism again -
My favourite vegan protein -
What happened to your vr website? Its disappeared 😫
More iron, B vitamins, lactobacillus bacillus coagulans, bifidus and other separate vitamin and mineral supplements can really help physiology and staying vegan/eating healthfully!