Philosophical Vegan Forum

It's common sentiment that going vegan and being 'restrictive' in your diet is difficult and it takes a lot of discipline, but for the most part I barely find this to be the case. Maybe at first, but after a week or two, it becomes like a normal way of life.

If you're young and living with parents who don't approve, yeah, that can be difficult. But for the average person with a steady job and resources available? I don't think so.

I think if you're going out to eat with friends it can be difficult, but I never really hung out with friends so I wouldn't know.

I think what makes it so hard for some people (and why some people go back) is because they aren't quite sure what to fill their diet with. Sure things like tofu and seitan are great, but other foods such as beans, nuts, whole grains, and veggies are also vital (which you should be incorporating into your diet anyway, vegan or not). I think we have to educate people on the massive variety of vegan foods out there; some people say that vegans 'barely eat anything.' What is this, 1785? We have genetic engineering of crops, Gardein, blenders for smoothies, almond milk, Trader Joe's, Tofurkey, etc. This is the technological age! Supermarkets of all kinds have them.

Aside from a few relapses from depression, I don't really miss meat or other animal products at all. It isn't constantly lingering in my mind any crave for meat, even when I'm hungry (probably because I have the vegan alternatives which work well for what I need them for), and often, I'm downright disgusted by it.

I think what's actually a little more difficult is eating healthy. People just don't like veggies and some beans, which is understandable, but it's easy to get them with things like smoothies or veggie stews, as well as preparing them in certain ways and adding certain spices. I definitely can incorporate more greens and veggies in my diet, which kinda shows that vegan doesn't necessarily mean healthy.

We have to tell more people that veganism really ain't all that hard; Even saying there's a 'first bump' can be pretty daunting to some.

I find vegetarianism easy, but I can see how others wouldn't for all sorts of reasons. However, in richer countries, it ought to be easy for most.

I think veganism is more tricky though.

Jamie in Chile wrote: ↑Sat Jun 06, 2020 8:39 pm I find vegetarianism easy, but I can see how others wouldn't for all sorts of reasons. However, in richer countries, it ought to be easy for most.

I think veganism is more tricky though.

I think veganism isn't really all that much more difficult than vegetarianism in wealthier countries given all the alternatives. Most vegetarians I know don't often consume dairy and eggs anyway, aside from a treat like ice cream or cookies. I think going from vegetarian to vegan would be much harder if you've replaced your meat meals with dairy and egg ones.

I think being vegan is very easy after the first few weeks and you already know what to buy specifically.

I think you're onto something. People have become so lazy with food, eating takeout and fast food for most of their meals. It was easy for me because I already ate relatively healthy and counted calories.

PunkRockVegan wrote: ↑Mon Jun 08, 2020 2:30 pm I think you're onto something. People have become so lazy with food, eating takeout and fast food for most of their meals. It was easy for me because I already ate relatively healthy and counted calories.

Pretty much same here. For me I hardly ate fast food since it made me feel like shit afterwards.

This is a depressing statistic:
https://www.aarp.org/health/healthy-liv ... habit.html

THIS is one of the reasons why most First World Countries are so fat; because it's so cheap and accessible, and people don't know how to cook their food or are too lazy. I thought just America and Canada were highly obese, but it turns out every OECD country has at least a 10% obesity rate.

Cloppy wrote: ↑Sun Jun 07, 2020 1:47 am I think being vegan is very easy after the first few weeks and you already know what to buy specifically.

You have a point there. People seem to get lazy when it comes to food, so they just buy whatever's easy (like fast food or processed microwavable junk).

I mean I think learning and trying all new colored foods is fun to learn about and look for, and all the vegan alternatives are so easy to find.

What's hard (for me) in veganism isn't the food aspect of it, but rather the social constraints and anxiety it can cause on some people (me) when living in an animal-product-based culture. Dealing with non-vegan people can be daunting and demoralizing.

Cheese is also addicting, which makes sense from an evolutionary point of view as casein-derived casomorphins would keep young mammals coming back to their mother's milk. It takes a lot of milk to make a small amount of cheese, so all of the casein is just even more concentrated. Carnists are hooked on this stuff.

yrw.nova wrote: ↑Thu Aug 06, 2020 11:27 am Cheese is also addicting, which makes sense from an evolutionary point of view as casein-derived casomorphins would keep young mammals coming back to their mother's milk. It takes a lot of milk to make a small amount of cheese, so all of the casein is just even more concentrated. Carnists are hooked on this stuff.

I never really knew what was so great about cheese, but if someone goes vegan except for cheese that's still a huge improvement. It becomes problematic however when the meat void is filled by an increased consumption of cheese.

We need to buy more vegan cheeses so companies can invest more resources in making them tasting more like the real thing.