Finding The Why

November 2020 marked my 20 year Vegetarian anniversary, and this year marks 5 years of Veganism. I have now lived as a Vegetarian longer than I was omnivore and I cannot imagine living any other way. Veganism is my normal.

That said, there are reminders that my lifestyle (Veganism is indeed a lifestyle, not a diet) is not the societal norm. Some of those reminders are negative, coming from people that find it necessary to show their ignorance loudly, but there are also times when people are genuinely curious and have genuine questions, especially after they find out how long I have been living the Vegan life.

There are too many questions, with just as many answers, to answer fully in one sitting so I will do my best to address what is, to me, the most important question, “Why?”, because it’s something that every Vegan must answer for themselves. There is no right or wrong answer, and they are as individual as the
Vegan themselves.

The journey that lead me to Vegetarianism is not the same as why I went, and stayed. Vegetarian and later made the transition to Veganism. Initially, I started changing the way I ate to lose weight. I was 18 years old, overweight and feeling bad about myself. I wanted to look better, and feel better. I did not move forward with the intention of becoming vegetarian, or cutting anything out of my diet on a permanent basis. To be honest, I hadn’t given it too much thought. I just knew that so much of what I was eating (burgers, hot dogs, and other meats) was not healthy. I started to limit the mean products 1 was eating started eating more fruits and vegetables, especially salads. I did, however, allow myself to eat fish (I’m a Maryland gal, we live and breath seafood.). These change were working, physically. I was losing weight.

Before this point, I rarely gave a lot of thought about what I was eating but now I was starting to become more aware. This awareness brought my attention to an internal conflict. This feeling had been under the surface for some years but was magnified by the closer look at my consumption. I had always been a lover of all animals (my first pet. Stasha, was a beautiful Rhode Island Red Chicken), and remember being introduced to PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals) through their magazines (this was before everything was made available to us on the internet) that my mother’s co- worker would give to her to bring home to me. I would go through these from cover to cover, in horror. The images were unlike anything I had seen before, absolute cruelty. For what?

I don’t exactly know when I cut meat out of my diet but sometime during the Summer/Fall of 2000 I had stopped eating it. It wasn’t something I thought about. It was just the natural progression. That said, remember clearly the last time I ate meat. It was November 2000, and it was a McDonald’s hamburger. I was at a house party when my friend asked me to take her to make a drive-thru run. She ordered a burger, received it, and as we were pulling out she noticed they used “real onions” and not the dehydrated kind. She wanted the dehydrated kind (I kid you not). So, back through the drive-thru we went. She got her replacement burger and they told her to keep the first one.

Not wanting to waste, I told her that I would eat the first one (I tossed the onions). Standing in the driveway with my friend and my ex-bf. I took a bite of the burger. A sick feeling came over me and I couldn’t eat anymore. I wouldn’t eat anymore. I gave the burger to my ex to finish, and never ate another bite of meat again.
Fast forward 16 years, and my transition from Vegetarian to Vegan is strikingly similar, I was on a fitness journey to lose weight, run faster and be stronger both physically and mentally. During this time, I was doing a lot of research on both general nutrition and sports nutrition. This no longer being 2000, I was now utilizing the internet to do much of this research. I cannot remember how this first happened, but I started reading about plant based athletes and nutrition. This lead me to more information on both Veganism and animal cruelty. Being a Vegetarian, I had been interested in animal advocacy for many years. I had already change my diet permanently 16 years prior to end my contribution to the cruelty of animals. I had always felt good, and proud, about this.

In the course of my research, I started watching videos exposing the realities of the egg and dairy industry. Growing up, I was told that cows had to be milked for their benefit and eggs were just a natural bi-product of chickens. I was led to believe there was nothing cruel or unnatural about consuming these products, and I was a huge cheese lover. Actually, literally, I was addicted. I put cheese on anything I could. It was my comfort food. And eggs had become a huge part of my protein intake when I became a runner and started training to race. These were the staples of my diet but now, not only was I being exposed to the cruelty that goes on in these industries, I was learning about the negative affects they have on our body.

I decided that I had to make a change. I gave up cheese to see how I felt without it. It wasn’t long before I gave in to my cravings. But, I pushed forward and kept exposing myself to everything I could find. I was reading articles, watching undercover videos, and listening to animal rights activists. I knew I had to stop consuming cheese and other dairy products, for both my health and the animals. I won’t lie and say it was easy, it wasn’t. I went through withdraws (cheese breaks down in our bodies the same as morphine, the addiction is real) for a couple weeks but once that was over, I was feeling noticeably better. For most of my life I was plagued with migraines, sinus problems, and stomach issues. Over time, these issues lessened and all but went away.

To replace my current source of protein, eggs, I turned to tofu. It helped that not only did I like the taste. tofu is versatile and inexpensive. Plus, by this time, I had eaten eggs so often that I reached a point where I couldn’t stand the taste of them. During this time, I was sent a box of protein bars that were made from egg whites. I figured there was no harm in eating these bars and then I would go back to being egg free.

I was sitting at my desk when I opened one and took a bite. I started crying. I just couldn’t do it. I could not eat these bars without thinking about what the victims of the egg industry, chickens, had gone through. I threw the bar in the trash, gave the rest away, and the transition to Veganism was complete. I have been living the cruelty free life ever since.

This is my story of how, and why, I live life as a Vegan. Every Vegan has one, and for many different reasons. Most people I have talked to will give their main reason for living Vegan as animal welfare but that’s not always why people started down that path. Many, like myself, began their journey as a way of improving their health. Others turn to Veganism for environmental reasons. All valid and important reasons. No matter what your “why” is, it’s important to find it, and remind yourself of your reasons. Your “why” will not only pave your path to transition but will make it easier for you stay on the path.

*It is important for me to point out that Vegetarianism and Veganism are not the same thing. Vegans abstain from eating, or using, animal products of any kind. Vegetarians do not eat meat but will consume other animal products such as eggs and dairy.