Around this time last year I had decided that I was going to go vegetarian for moral purposes after writing a paper in my senior year English class. I had gone into great detail about the vegan and vegetarian lifestyle and watched an extensive list of documentaries in order to cite them in the paper. After the paper was concluded I couldn't fathom eating another piece of meat without my guilt eating away at me.
Now a year later, and I still stuck to my moral beliefs. I have now taken on the lifestyle change to go vegan, which eliminates the intake of all animal products. I had attempted this earlier in the year and it actually made me miserable. I was starving all the time and since I had such a busy schedule and no stove to cook meals since I was living in a college dorm I was unable to get the correct meals the kept me fuel and focused.
When going vegan or even vegetarian you have to make sure that you are able to get the correct servings of vegetables and fruit. Eating processed food isn't better just because it isn't a meat product. Reports and studies have shown that tofu shouldn't be at the top of the list for what you consume. While being vegan or vegetarian you may need to start taking dietary supplements, but based off of large studies majority of individuals are already lacking those vitamins to begin with. It is best to talk to a doctor before taking on this change as well as thinking about taking vitamins. You may not need them.
With my return back home for the summer I had decided to give my morals another run for their money. I started myself off slow eating still vegetarian foods, but lessening the amount of intake. Then I did a complete switch. I gave myself a week goal and during that week, I realized that I needed to stand by what I believed. Even though it was going to be hard I needed to be true to myself in order to make a point. I firmly believe that the food industry in present time is wasteful and cruel. Two things that I hope that I will never be.
Now with the new life change not only have I had to explain the purpose to family members and strangers at restaurants when I am trying to find a meal that I can actually eat off of their menu, but I have to deal with the stabs that what I am doing isn't going to make a difference. If you have never been in a car with a bunch of hungry non-vegan, non-vegetarian individuals I suggest you give it a go. After the second failed place they will start getting irritable.
As for me not making a difference with my individual efforts isn't true. Even with me just being vegan brings attention to other people around me. Friends and family are subjugated to my meals and beliefs by just keeping in contact with me.
Patience is something that I have grown to learn over these changes. You have to be patient when people don't understand the meaning behind it and even when you are explaining yourself. You cannot get mad because then they will and that defeats the entire conversation.
The meaning behind going vegan isn't to lose weight or follow a trend, it's to stand up against an industry that is okay with inflicting pain on innocent animals. Fighting against the wrongs is plenty of motivation to continue being the only vegan in my family.
