Failure at being VEGAN

Was doing great until my run today. Came home and out of tofu. My beans hadn't been soaked- still in the bag and I ended up running to the corner store by my house and buying a carton of eggs and proceeded to eat 2 of them.

I feel horrible and a fake.

I almost feel like giving up after this misstep. I am going to try and try. I asked my boyfriend to help me. He isn't vegan but his brother is a vegan activist in Canada. He told me all about him, and I asked if he could ask his brother for advice for me. then I realized I have this wonderful board to ask.

Did you guys go straight to veganism and never falter?

I am planning in being in this fitness competition in Aug and i want to prove that someone who eats no meat can do it.

I don't feel deprived at all....it was just a moment of laziness and that actually makes me feel worse.

Wasn't even a craving.

Relax, it was just one slip up. I dont think you would be asking this if you did not truly want to pursue veganism so just stick at it.

Its better to try and be a hypocrite than never try at all.

I know you can do it!

I think you are being too hard on yourself. You got caught unprepared and you fell back on what you knew. I think that sort of thing happens to most everyone in the early stages of making a big change.

nobody's perfect, don't be too hard on yourself.

By some lentils, they're good for such situations, because you don't have to soak them before cooking. I eat lentils all the time and have various types for change: green, brown, red, beluga, some tiny french lentils (don't know how they're called)...

Frozen tofu is another option to always have in your freezer. It gets different texture which is considered good for frying chinese style...

quinoa, too! not a bean, but it takes but 10 minutes to cook in a rice cooker. it's WONDERFUL.

people make mistakes, learn from them and don't do it again.

full disclosure: just a few weeks ago I skimmed the ingredients of a box of cereal at Trader Joes. Nothing at the bottom in the allergen info section but wheat. A few days later it was on the table and I looked at it again (why, i'm not sure) and sure enough, about 1/2way down was "whey". I didn't eat another bowl of it. I won't buy it again. I messed up, and I learned something from it.

Some moment of weakness happens sometimes, imbalance of the mind cause us to make mistakes, to forget about the reasons we decided to make an important change in lifestyle, etc...,

Did you guys go straight to veganism and never falter?

Some people do a slow transition to veganism, the danger is that this transition is very slow or they never do a full transition. Others change their diet completly overnight, its the best way to do it for those who have motivation and found good reasons to change, but for the others they won't be able and they will come back to their previous diet days, weeks or months later.

You must now commit ritual suicide!

For me, all I have to do is think of one of the videos I have scene concerning the treatment of the animals. Maybe that will help you too.

I echo what someone else said about lentils. When I find myself in a situation where I don't have beans or tofu or something like that I know I can whip up some lentils really quickly. Particularly the red lentils, they are split so they cook up a LOT faster than the other kinds.

Berbere and chopped onions in lentils are amazing. This is what is used at Ethopian restaurants. Berbere is a mix of common spices, so you can make it yourself, or pick it up premixed.

Lentils are one of my top ten favorite foods. Well, yellow and red lentils. Not a huge fan of the green and brown lentils. Never had black or gold ones.

Just bought 5 bags of lentils!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! And started soaking my beans while I was at the store.

"Someof the best lessons we ever learn are learned from past mistakes. The error of the past is the wisdom and success of the future. "

Beans freeze well too!

I soaked and then cooked a whole crock pot of black beans last week. When they were finished cooking, I let them cool and then filled up a few freezer bags full of beans and popped them in the freezer. You end up with a frozen bean brick, but I just bang that on the counter a couple times, dump the frozen beans in a pan with some onion, garlic, cumin, chili powder and a little salt. Add some water to make a nice gravy and you can have some pretty well-seasoned black beans in just a few minutes. I think I could eat them with every meal.

SERIOUSLY LISTEN TO EARTH CRISIS AND WATCH SLAUGHTER VIDEOS.

I've gone days without eating because i was working and staying out of town and the only food my work mates would eat was animal products.And back then i was only a vegetarian!

I swear if someone held a knife to my throat and said "eat meat or i'll cut your head off" i'd spit in their face and say TO THE DEATH!!

NO..I would compare it to giving up smoking. We all work differently.

I often went back to smoking when I was out at night and had drunk a beer, but when I woke up the next day I didn't say to myself "well that's it then! I've fallen off the wagon! May as well go down the shop and buy a pack of cigarettes!" No...I just thought "OMG..I really shouldnt drink if it leads to smoking!". I'm still struggling with the smoking thing but I don't beat up on myself when I slip up. Obviously I dont feel great, but i try to congratulate myself on the positive progress I have made. Like I may think "well, this time i went 2 whole days without a cigarette, lets see if I can make it three". It was all about breaking personal records for me. Maybe you can see how many days you can go without animal products it will give you some inspiration and personal records to break.

I've seen many people who stopped smoking, went back to smoking one night when they were out on the piss...and then the very nexy day said "well, Ive started smoking again" therefore giving themselves the excuse to REALLY start smoking. They all failed and went out and bought packs of cigarettes. I'm still struggling with it but every time I do better. Just because you eat egg or cheese one day doesn't mean you¡'ve started eating your old diet again. I think you need to see it as you slipped up and ate egg or ice-cream or whatever on that particular occasion. Not that you've reverted to your old ways.

I think its important not to be too hard on yourself..but at the same time that doesn't mean you can be too slack, you need to set yourself goals. Its hard becoming vegan at first, and until you find some recipies you really love, and until you get used to what you can snack on or what you can eat for treats, or where you can go to eat out and actually have more than a salad, you will probably still have the odd non-vegan product. Don't hate yourself for it, think about it, why you ate what you ate, and see if you can come up with a solution so it doesn't happen again.

Good luck and keep working at it..you're doing great! Remember, you dont every really fail until you stop trying!

SERIOUSLY LISTEN TO EARTH CRISIS AND WATCH SLAUGHTER VIDEOS.

 

I've gone days without eating because i was working and staying out of town and the only food my work mates would eat was animal products.And back then i was only a vegetarian!

 

I swear if someone held a knife to my throat and said "eat meat or i'll cut your head off" i'd spit in their face and say TO THE DEATH!!

I don't mean this in the sarcastic and insulting sense that most people ask this question, but I am curious. Cold Fission, may I ask your age?

SERIOUSLY LISTEN TO EARTH CRISIS AND WATCH SLAUGHTER VIDEOS.

 

I've gone days without eating because i was working and staying out of town and the only food my work mates would eat was animal products.And back then i was only a vegetarian!

 

I swear if someone held a knife to my throat and said "eat meat or i'll cut your head off" i'd spit in their face and say TO THE DEATH!!

 

I don't mean this in the sarcastic and insulting sense that most people ask this question, but I am curious. Cold Fission, may I ask your age?

20

I get what you're saying though, Cold Fission. I've read various studies over the years that find that people who switch to vegetarianism or veganism for ethical reasons as opposed to weight loss or other health reasons end up sticking to the change at way way higher rates.

I get what you're saying though, Cold Fission. I've read various studies over the years that find that people who switch to vegetarianism or veganism for ethical reasons as opposed to weight loss or other health reasons end up sticking to the change at way way higher rates.

Do you have citations for those studies? I'm asking because there have been a number of articles about people who went vegetarian out of "guilt" and who then switched back when "happy meat" came out.

I don't see how both could be true.

In my opinion, most veg*ns, in general are doing it out of ethics, with nutrition enthusiasts being a much smaller group. That is bound to distort a view of what is going on.

20

Again, this isn't meant as a sarcastic jibe, but 20 seems to fit with some of the ideas you have.

A few months back there was a poster here from Australia who was also a martial arts enthusiast. He left. Would you and he be the same person?

Vegan implies ethics. Someone who eats no animal products, but still buys leather, wool, silk, etc. is not vegan. They would be a pure vegetarian.

Even most vegans I know don't understand the whole ethics of it all. Many of them will still have biological children instead of adopting, but they criticize someone for buying a dog from a breeder.

BW, nah, I don't have quick access to citations for those, it's just like stuff I've seen come up repeatedly over the years, and it always resonates with me, because I do see a lot of people who go veg* because they think it will make them skinny or healthy, and oh yeah, they love puppies and kittens and most nice ponies. But then it wears off for some reason. Like they get weary of refusing to taste the bacon they love the smell of on their friends' plates at the trendy diner in the neighborhood they just gentrified.

The happy meat phenomenon is such a problem, I think it relates to the same fundamental lack of ethical commitment though. Wouldn't it? I mean, objectification is objectification whether the cow ate lovely green grass in a field or chicken poo in a crate for the last meal before the slaughter.

I guess we could look for studies and see what we find, I'm not feeling super motivated to though...

Vegan implies ethics. Someone who eats no animal products, but still buys leather, wool, silk, etc. is not vegan. They would be a pure vegetarian.

 

Even most vegans I know don't understand the whole ethics of it all. Many of them will still have biological children instead of adopting, but they criticize someone for buying a dog from a breeder.

Whats wrong with having your own children?

Again, this isn't meant as a sarcastic jibe, but 20 seems to fit with some of the ideas you have.

In my experience age and maturity are unrelated phenomena.

 

Whats wrong with having your own children?

The same thing that is wrong with buying from a breeder. You could adopt a human or a puppy that is badly in need of a home. If you have a biological child, you are adding to the population which is too much as it is, and you are neglecting a child that could badly use your love.

Vegan implies ethics. Someone who eats no animal products, but still buys leather, wool, silk, etc. is not vegan. They would be a pure vegetarian.

 

Even most vegans I know don't understand the whole ethics of it all. Many of them will still have biological children instead of adopting, but they criticize someone for buying a dog from a breeder.

 

Whats wrong with having your own children?

Nothing.

The ultimate goal of animal rights is for an animal to be left alone to live in its natural environment. That is not likely to happen in an overpopulated world and the treatment of animals is likely to get worse as people become more concerned about providing for themselves rather than animals.

The current population is almost 7 billion people. It was around 4 billion when I as about Cold Fisson's age. It is predicted to go as high as 11 billion within 40 years.

So, a vegan hoping to provide a better world for animals would be mindful of he size of families s/he is planning to have to avoid contributing to that problem for animals.

The world replacement rate is 2.3 children per woman. So if you could get most people to beget only 2 kids of their own the population would eventually level off and slowly decrease.

Again, this isn't meant as a sarcastic jibe, but 20 seems to fit with some of the ideas you have.

 

In my experience age and maturity are unrelated phenomena.

There are older people who act less mature, particularly on internet forums. Beyond that I do think there is a correlation.

I don't believe that I wrote that I thought Cold Fission was immature. I just wrote that his views seem consistent with his age.

I hate eggs, I hate meat, and I hate the taste of milk and cheese even more

I never went back from veganism. It didn't give me a problem.

I just don't look at animal products as food.