Being vegan for the last nine months has been completely life changing for me. Not only have I never felt better but I’ve also never felt more myself. Becoming educated about what different foods do to your body as well as about the industries that these foods are coming from has definitely set a lot of things straight for me. I feel great knowing that by being vegan, I have less of an impact on the harming of animals as well as the destruction of our planet. Although I wouldn’t change it for the world, being vegan is NOT easy. It takes an abundance of knowledge, discipline, patience, and confidence. These are some of the daily struggles of being a vegan in a meat eater’s world:
1. Living with people who aren’t vegan.
Currently, I’m living with my aunt, who isn’t vegan at all. Initially, she was even highly against my vegan diet and used to beg me to at least eat chicke. One thing that I felt was very difficult in the beginning was trying to push through all of the constant, negative comments about my diet. Trying to educate people who aren’t vegan about veganism is almost impossible, especially if they aren’t willing to want to know, which is exactly how my aunt is. Since we eat so differently, I often have to grocery shop and cook for myself. This isn’t a problem for me know since I’m so used to it, but initially I definitely had a hard time with it because I myself was still learning. It’s also kind of heart breaking to constantly watch someone go against everything that you stand and fight for as a vegan everyday. This is why it takes so much discipline and strength in order to maintain veganism. With someone around you constantly to show you your old lifestyle and eating habits, it sure does make it painfully difficult to transition. It’s much easier to surround yourself with other vegans and people who support the lifestyle.
2. People trying to tell you how to eat.
By people, I primarily mean people who aren’t vegan. What most people don’t know is that a vegan diet is constructed entirely different than a SAD (Standard American Diet) is. The differences in these ways of life are endless but one thing that is entirely obvious is that when you’re a vegan, you’re probably going to have to eat more! Like A LOT more. Of course, this ranges differently within the different kind of vegan diets, but for this article I’m going to be referring to my specific diet, which is high carb low fat. As a HCLF vegan, I need to consume a lot of food in order to get the right amount of nutrients I need for my body. For example, 500 calories of meat is a lot different than 500 calories of fruit. Meat obviously contains more calories per serving and therefore would someone would require a lot less of it to be satisfied versus someone only consuming fruit. The person eating fruit would have to consume an immense amount of fruit in order to achieve that sense of satisfaction due to the fact that fruit is so low in calories.
People who aren’t educated about this really don’t get it at all and it completely kills me! I have people ranging from my family to my boss and co-workers to even strangers that completely bash me about this. Not only do they not understand the concept of low calorie, whole foods but they also don’t understand why eating HCLF is acceptable and healthy if done properly! People think I’m absolutely insane for eating 10 bananas as a meal and often look at me crazy because I can eat an entire pot of rice when it’s simply because these foods are so low in caloric density. As animal product consumers, it’s so easy for them to have a calorie restricting mindset, which is something that is practically banned from the HCLF vegan lifestyle. Eating too much isn’t even heard of as a vegan due to the fact that what you are eating is whole and is entirely good for your body. Because of the chemicals and hormones in meat and dairy, people who eat a SAD diet have no choice but to calorie restrict simple because of the health risks and weight gain.
Another issue that people seem to have with my HCLF vegan diet is that I eat a lot of carbohydrates. I’d say at least 90% of my diet is made up of carbs and honestly I wouldn’t have it any other way. People often ask where I get my protein and calcium and other “vital” nutrients and they are almost astonished when I tell them that I honestly don’t need much of either. See, your cells run on glucose, which is sugar. By constantly eating carbohydrates, you are essentially giving your body exactly what it needs to be fueled and healthy. The very little amount of fat, protein, and calcium needed for your body can be found within these high carb foods, as long as you’re consuming enough, which brings me to the next struggle: trying to eat enough.
3. ALWAYS being hungry.
This is honestly the best and worst feeling ever. The fact that you can eat ALL day and still have room for more is amazing but having to constantly eat in order feel satisfied takes a lot of planning and ward work. It’s definitely not something that comes easy.
From what I’ve come across doing research on the Internet is that some vegans eat as many as 3,000 calories a day. That just goes to show how much food it could possibly take to keep you satisfied. As for myself, I’ve eaten 1,000 calories worth of fruit for a meal. Often, my cooked meals consist of at least 800 calories worth or rice or potatoes as well. I eat about 3-4 big meals a day, just so you can get an idea of roughly how much I can eat a day. To people that aren’t vegan, this is practically considered a sin. I have to admit, when I first started I thought it’d be impossible to consume even half of what I do a day now. When you’re eating so much low calorie foods sometimes you can’t eat enough to get the right nutrients or for your body to be fully satisfied which is where HCLF can potentially be a problem. It can lead to you being hungry all of the time, which is extremely annoying. This is also what can lead to deficiencies in necessary nutrients. Training your body to be able to handle eating in abundance takes a lot of time. It really requires lots of patience and confidence. Training your mind to know that this way of eating is also difficult due to the fact that calorie restriction and portion control is so prevalent in a SAD diet. When I find myself hungry all the time, the only thing I do is keep eating. Of course this sounds scary because to most people eating = weight gain, but for me it’s been the complete opposite. I’m amazed how flat my stomach is for how much I eat, especially in the morning. By eliminating meat and dairy, your digestion gets a lot better and allows eating in abundance to be possible without long term weight gain.
4. Fast food? There’s NO. SUCH. THING.
Well, yes there is. Most fast food restaurants have vegan options such a fries or salads, but they certainly aren’t the healthiest and definitely aren’t the cheapest. As a HCLF vegan, when I’m hungry and on the go, the closest thing to fast food I get is running into Price Chopper and grabbing a bushel of bananas. With the small amount of vegan options offered at fast food restaurants, it’s almost not even worth the stop. As said earlier, the way I eat is in abundance. So if I were to go to Wendy’s and order fries, I’d probably need about 3-4 orders to actually be satisfied. This can get extremely expensive and it’s much easier and ridiculously cheaper to stop at a grocery store and get a few bananas or even some rice. No, it’ll never sound as delicious as fresh, crispy fries but I promise I feel much better and more full when sticking to whole foods…even on the go.
One thing I try to do to entirely eliminate the idea of fast food is always come prepared. Like I said, being vegan takes discipline. It requires a lot of planning ahead and reasonability and believe me, I’ve definitely learned this the hard way. I always end up happier when I bring at least something small with me. When I’m in a rut and starving, which is always, I literally want to hug myself for deciding to bring that extra mango or cliff bar. Fast food is and always will be tempting, especially when you’re hungry but once you get used to eating a clean vegan diet, I promise you won’t even want it.
5. Consistency.
You’d think consistency would be a pro and in some cases it definitely can be, but it can be tiring as well. Learning how to cook unique vegan foods is hard, especially when first transitioning. There is an endless amount of vegan cookbooks and recipes that even mimic meat and dairy options that look phenomenal. The only problem is, they require all of these very unfamiliar ingredients as substitutions. They also usually require lots of patience and trial and error to perfect. For example, even since I became vegan, I’ve ALWAYS wanted to try vegan mac and cheese. Today marks nine months of being a vegan and to this day I’ve yet to try or attempt to make vegan mac and cheese, even with the unlimited amount of resources offered to me. I’m sure if you’re a relatively creative and curious person, you’ll have no problem with trying to make those exquisite vegan meals you see in the cookbooks. But if you’re like me and used to having you’re meals consist of ingredients that you can actually find at your local grocery store, you’re about to become extremely consistent.
I mean, I love eating bananas every morning for breakfast and rice and beans every afternoon for lunch. Oh yea, can’t forget the surplus of potatoes I consume every night for dinner! No, I wouldn’t change it for the world, I absolutely love these foods, but that variety I used to get everyday didn’t suck either. Like I said, this is definitely a choice and no one is forcing you to eat the same foods every day. However, it is a lot easier in terms or preparation and is a lot cheaper if you’re on any type of budget. Eating processed vegan foods can get very expensive, which is where that typical stereotype and excuse of a vegan diet being too expensive originates. To be honest, if you really think about it, bananas and rice are two of the cheapest foods to buy anywhere that you go so that excuse is a little crazy to me.
So usually, when you partake in a vegan diet and are trying to mainly consume whole foods, I’d say the variety is relatively limited. But your determination and mindset is endless so if you’re up to it, definitely use it. Lately, I’ve been adding hummus to my rice instead of oil and spreading avocado on my potatoes for more flavor and it’s been great to mix it up a little bit. As my journey as a vegan continues, I tend to open up more and more in terms of creativity. This diet is definitely what you make of it!
Well, are you ready to become a vegan yet?? I’m sure these cons have definitely convinced you! Although I’ve decided to focus on the cons today, being vegan has been nothing but beneficial for me. The truth is, I didn’t do a pros list because it’d truly be endless! It’s so easy remain uneducated and blind to the actions of the meat and dairy industries as we’ve all grown up with the idea that these foods are essential. The cruelty preformed on animals is unbelievable and the world needs to know about it. The effects that these foods have on our bodies are also widely dismissed yet are the reason behind the many health issues we struggle with today. Being vegan not only promotes awareness to these actions, but it also is completely life changing. Yes, of course there are cons but honestly in the grand scheme of things, they are more than worth it. Once you become more and more educated on this lifestyle and how it affects us as human beings, these cons being more and more nonexistent. As I’ve become more comfortable with the lifestyle, I’ve become used to them and have found was to look at each of them positively.
