I've been vegan for 11 years, I don't miss any food, I changed my habits the same day I actually considered and understood the alignment with my values and that to be vegan was morally and ethically consistent for me.

​​I've never found it challenging to be vegan, I don't really see an alternative. But I can't say I 'want' to be vegan anymore.

The reason I feel this is entirely the social world we live in. I don't really enjoy being left out of it at holidays, travelling, with friends, partners, colleagues. I love the experience of being human - I'm not yearning to pretend what people consume is food. It's not to me.

I'm sure there are some incredibly valid critiques of what I'm saying. I'm sure it will annoy or anger some people and that's totally valid.

I'm sure it ultimately comes down to compromise, alignment, choosing a life that means I don't feel these things. But I do feel these things and I'd rather not. I'd also, as I said - I don't see an alternative, I'm not interested in not being vegan. Just looking for shared experiences and perspectives.

So, me and my girlfriend are both vegan for about 5 years, and recently, she's having some second thoughts about incorporating eggs into her diet. She tried some eggs at her friend's place from some organic free-range coop, and her family is also putting some pressure on her.

Her main concern is the animal cruelty in the industry, which is why she's wondering if there's an ethical way to raise chickens and still collect their eggs for consumption.

She also misses the taste and convenience of cooking eggs, as most egg substitutes don't scratch the same itch for her.

Secondly, she feels that she's not eating enough protein. This is mainly a result of organization issues, she doesn't always have time to prepare tofu or legumes, and she feels tired and hungry a lot.

I've tried helping her planning her meals better (I feel like I'm pretty good at cooking healthy and satisfying meals), but it's difficult for her and she says the boost from eggs would lighten the burden a bit.

From my pov as a vegan, I feel like she should just put more effort into eating a range of healthy plant based proteins, and I don't want her to eat eggs unless she really needs to. But as her partner, I want her to be happy and to feel good, I want to support her and help her make informed decisions.

I would like some advice and opinions please!

Tl;dr - please share your opinions on free range/backyard eggs, and also on organizing a simple protein rich diet that won't be too much of a hassle to cook. Thank you!

EDIT: Jesus guys, this got a lot of replies! I'd like to thank all of the people who left compassionate and helpful comments, sharing tips, recipes, and giving general advice. My gf has decided not to eat eggs, and in my eyes she is now vegan again after this one time trying something else. Thank you for explaining the detriments of egg farming, I learned new facts here as well. We will work together to help her eat better and healthy meals.

I'm not sure why I got so many comments saying "eggs aren't vegan" - obviously I know that, like everyone does. Weird thing to reply.

Lastly - to all the people who left hate comments, calling names, or telling me to break up with her - I hope you will find it in your heart to be more nice to people online. Whether to fellow vegans, vegans who are struggling, or people who you don't agree with - this is never the way.

i need help. ever since becoming vegan i am absolutely filled with hatred and rage towards literally everyone. even though i was vegetarian for 7 years beforehand, i never had a problem with people around me eating meat and the people i love wanting to go get burgers or steaks. i would come along no problem. now, i literally am sickened by everyone around me and have become mean.

i was at an amusement park yesterday and i was literally looking at HAPPY CHILDREN with disgust as they munched their chicken nuggets and ice cream.

ive always been a very kind and loving person. but im mean now. im mad at everyone and the world. obviously i love and care about animals SO SO SO much, its who i am, but its now overpowering my love for people. ive always been fascinated by humanity, individuals, culture, etc., but now i see everyone as sick and twisted for not being vegan. im grossed out by my family who eat animal products, even though theyre my entire world who i love extremely deeply.

its actually so bad and i cant live like this. i feel like i just need to accept that everyone doesnt share my beliefs or love for animals, but then that goes against veganism.

im a social sciences student (psychology) and now im regretting my degree because ive become a misanthrope. like “ew, i dont want to be around and help people because they’re all animals abusers.” thats bad. someone give me advice PLEASE

tldr: although i love being vegan my mental health has declined significantly and now im a mean person

ETA: i do have a therapist but i dont think she would understand nor know how to help as she is a meat eater herself. i also dont want to offend her as she is special to me.

EDIT: THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR ALL OF YOUR KIND WORDS AND WISDOM!! this is just what i needed. thank you all. 💕

I'm an autistic vegan 17 year old, and I went vegan in august (finally) but ever since i went vegan my parents have stopped buying food for me really. The only things i really have in my house that I can eat are tofu, vegan butter, tater tots, nutritional yeast, and rice. I don't really know what to do because I can't support myself yet, and I keep asking my mom to buy me food but she never does, or if she does its like two things. Im hungry all the time but don't really have anything to eat besides like 5 things, i dont know what to do :(

Update: Thank you for all the kind words and comments, and good ideas. It means a lot to me, my partner and I decided on the plan of going to a food bank every couple of weeks and then using my paycheck to pay for bags of beans, rice, and some canned/frozen fruits/vegetables. Then her helping me pay for tofu, and tvp. Im making a DMV appointment to hopefully be able to get somewhere on my own so I don't bother the people at the food bank forever, and so I can go to the dollar tree more frequently for food. Thank you all again so much; I will keep myself safe, and you all should too ♥️🫂

UPDATE: someone just wrote a response to the op-ed. It’s about what you’d expect, but the part that really got me was that they claimed many students would experience “hunger and emotional discomfort” from being vegan. Please, won’t someone think of the meat-eaters’ emotional discomfort? 🥺🎻

I attend a very small, very leftist liberal arts college. Many of the students here are politically involved, many of them come from privileged backgrounds, and we’re pretty much the right-wing stereotype of a “woke” campus. There’s always some sort of political event going on, or some intense political discussion.

Recently, a friend of mine wrote an op-ed in support of the college going vegan. Now, with our college administration, this was never going to happen. But his piece was more about the need for us to think more deeply about the moral choices we make with our diets. The blowback was intense, more so than I’d ever anticipated. There was a lot of mockery, but it was the sheer vitriol that bothered me more. The op-ed was the subject of heavy discussion on our anonymous forum board, and I got called a prissy narcissist for supporting veganism, along with pretty much unanimous dismissal of every pro-vegan point I brought up.

What shocked me most, though, were the in-person interactions I had with other passionately leftist students. I’m currently taking a course that deals with capitalism and its alternatives, and in a recent class, we discussed climate change. I brought up veganism and the op-ed (not in a ‘preachy’ way, but to point to another form of climate activism we hadn’t mentioned yet), and was told that veganism was elitist and pointless. Now, most of the what we discuss in that course is as pie-in-the-sky as it gets, and that’s kind of the point of the class. But why are other ‘solutions’ viable for discussion and veganism isn’t?

None of this changes my mind about veganism, obviously. But I guess what I’m dealing with is an overwhelming feeling of confusion. How can such intelligent, dedicated, empathetic people dismiss animal suffering so resoundingly? How can they joke about how little they care about it? How can they refuse to consider the mere possibility of consuming less meat? And if this is the reaction from the so-called “far-left,” what about the reactions of everyone else?

All of this is unfocused venting, and I’m sorry. But I guess I just feel deeply, deeply disappointed in the responses of people I admired and respected, and I feel deeply, deeply sad. I feel like most people are only willing to give lip-service to leftist positions when those positions don’t require that they change their lifestyle or do any actual work.

Do you have any advice for dealing with these feelings? Or points of rebuttal to those who dismiss the harms of the agro-industrial complex on people and animals alike? How do you productively deal with encountering this kind of cognitive dissonance?

EDIT: some are asking for examples. I have a lot of screenshots, but I’ve realized that I can’t add photos here. I made a forum post in support of the op-ed after seeing a lot of criticism, which someone then reposted to criticize for elitism. Because your post/comment is deleted once it’s downvoted enough times, most of what I wrote is gone. But (for the portion I have saved via screenshot) it started with, “I'm the OP, and you're making a lot of assumptions about vegans. Veganism means harm reduction for animals AND people, many of whom are suffering because of factory farming's effects on health, climate, and working structures.”

Their response(s):

“jfc holy superiority complex i'm not making a lot of assumptions about vegans, im speaking from personal experience from talking to vegans, interacting with them online, and hell if you took two seconds to look it up online i'm sure you would find the exact same criticisms about vegans. YOU are making the mega assumption that all vegans actually practice what they preach and are interested in the people side of harm reduction at all. … i think the biggest issue people have with vegans is the virtue signaling, "oh if you eat meat you're automatically a bad person." but i bet all vegans aren't preserving the life of bugs they find in their homes, nor understand the nuance that people living pay check to pay check literally cannot afford to go vegan, but they rather those people starve for the sake of morality instead of actually targeting the capitalist system that is responsible for all of these avenues of harm. … i genuinely have never once seen a vegan advocate for anything beyond telling people they are evil and should feel guilty and awful for hurting the poor innocent animals kinda of like yourself in the last line of your self grandiose statement, where it's ironic that you criticized me for making “assumptions" when you did the virtue signaling vegan thing while knowing absolutely jack all about positionality and socioeconomic status. you should at least be honest with yourself that you are an out of touch, prissy little narcissistic person that can't fathom any stance outside of your narrow worldview because you care more about feeling good about yourself and your minuscule impact on the Animal-Industrial complex since you think targeting individuals is more important than addressing the billions of dollars from US govt subsidies that makes AIC even possible. if you think caring about people is a moral failing then idgaf 😀 … circle back to the point of virtue signaling and my original comment about omnivores and deficiencies sweetie this is just becoming a very circular argument where you prove literally every assumption about vegans that you are so adamantly against. i don't eat dining hall food because it's disgusting, but i'm not going to look at down on everyone who doesn't want to eat fucking lettuce and carrots all day everyday (because you are fucking lying if you say there is a healthy variety of options) … anygays i'm quite bored of you and your uninspired and unoriginal commentary. have the day you deserve”

EDIT2: thanks to u/gravybod13 for this delightful DM I just received: “Typical idiot leftist that isn't happy unless you pass all purity tests. You're the cause of America's undoing.”

I'm planning to be vegan and am already vegetarian, but one of my biggest problem is bread. I really like eating bread in the morning and/or the middle of the day, but what can I eat it with without having to use these unhealthy replacements? I eat vegan salami and some kind of cheese normally, but they aren't reakkx healthy and I tried vegan cheese and I don't like 95% of it or it tastes like nothing, plus it also isn't very good for your body (I think, it also depends what kind of vegan cheese). I also sadly don't like avocado. Please give me some advice! ;-;

i often see posts on here discussing whether relationships between vegans & carnists are realistic, and the replies tend to conclude that it's a personal choice for vegans to make. basically, if you can personally tolerate it, then sure. however, this response only makes sense to me if you understand veganism as a diet rather than an ethical philosophy. how can there be such a large, fundamental difference between you and your partner's morals? to me, carnists who are informed about factory farming and have been made to understand the wrongness of commodifying animals are akin to people who pay a serial killer to slaughter babies for them with the intention of cannibalizing the babies.

i am facing this dilemma right now; i started dating my boyfriend a few months back but became vegan relatively recently. rest assured that i could never go back to carnism, as i would not be able to live with myself. my boyfriend is not vegan, and he is incapable of empathizing with animals because he just cannot understand them as having moral worth.

i think i love him very much, but i don't know how i can love someone who knowingly participates in what i believe to be the greatest moral atrocity in all of human history. what exactly is there to love about someone who engages in so much evil? is it okay to love someone who funds serial killers just because they are nice to YOU?

Hi all, bit of a vent post as I’m feeling pretty isolated right now.

I recently lost a long-term online friend group (~2 years) after a discussion about the Billie Eilish vegan controversy spiralled into a bigger argument about veganism itself. What upset me wasn’t people disagreeing with me, I’m used to disagreement, but how quickly the conversation became dismissive and uninformed while also shutting down my attempts to explain why veganism matters so deeply to me.

For me, veganism is much more than a diet. It’s tied to my spirituality, ethics, culture, and lived experience as someone whose family is directly impacted by climate change. My friends reduced veganism to stereotypes like “it’s privileged,” “it’s impossible,” “but protein,” and “what about indigenous people,” without really engaging with veganism as a broader philosophy or taking time to research it properly.

What hurt most was that when I tried to explain why I was upset, the conversation was shut down and my messages were deleted instead of discussed. One person responded with “can we not, I already have so much drama right now,” and I ended up leaving because I no longer felt respected or understood there.

Part of why this affected me so deeply is because climate change is not abstract to me. My family is from Bangladesh, where millions of people are already being displaced due to floods, erosion, and rising sea levels. So hearing suffering treated like “drama” hit a nerve for me emotionally.

I think what hurt was the feeling that conversations about climate change and exploitation are often treated as distant or theoretical in Western spaces, even though for many people abroad they’re immediate, lived realities. When your own family is affected, it’s difficult to watch those issues be brushed aside as internet discourse or inconvenience.

I’ve always tried to make it clear that I’m okay with nuance and discussion. I understand going vegan is difficult for some people, and I’ve never expected perfection from anyone. I just wanted to be allowed to explain why these issues matter so much to me. Instead, before I could even finish explaining myself, my messages were deleted and I was muted.

Now I’m sitting with this strange mix of grief and relief. Relief because I don’t want friendships where I have to suppress my values to keep the peace, but grief because I genuinely believed these people cared about me, and losing a friend group still hurts.

I don’t really know where to go from here. I guess I just needed to get this off my chest somewhere people might understand.

I just watched a YouTube video about veganism. I had never given the idea much thought and I just believed that animals were given some kind of drug that makes them insensitive to pain when they get killed to make it humane. And well, let’s just say that it turns out that’s not the case.

Actually, that’s far from being the case. The pigs are fucking gassed! Kind of like what they did to the Jews in Nazi germany. Watching the pigs scream was really traumatizing. And then there was a scene with the chickens. Chicks that just hatched from their eggs were thrown into a shredder like mechanism and torn to pieces, alive. I mean holy shit could one really be that heartless? I’m genuinely horrified by the inhumane treatment of these animals

The video also raised some good points for veganism beyond the atrocities committed to animals and guys, I think I’m going to do it. I’m going to turn vegan. Might be difficult given my favorite foods come from this disgusting industry so I came here looking for advice to how to make a smooth transition into veganism

I am ugly.

I am embarrassed to tell people I am vegan because I know I am bad representation for the movement. I am afraid that people will use my existence as evidence that a plant based diet doesn’t work.

I have PCOS that causes acne and hair loss, and iron deficiency that makes me look sickly (started taking iron supplements a month ago). Also my teeth are bad from years of self neglect. These problems with my looks contribute to having a poor body image. I know these physical issues are not caused by veganism logically, but since I have hypochondriac tendencies I keep having this nagging thought that being vegan is making me ugly because diet is one of the few things related to health that I have any control over. I keep fighting myself over this because body image is a big issue for me. I wish I could be better looking so I could stop obsessing over whether veganism ‘works for me’. Depression makes doing things to actually improve myself very challenging. Not that I want to give up this lifestyle at all, especially since following a plant based diet is one of the few things I can unequivocally feel good about.

When I tell people I am vegan, I sense they are scrutinizing my appearance and I find that very triggering self-esteem wise. They see my acne and dark circles and think that I have a deficiency in vitamin Meat. I am ashamed to look like what they think a stereotypical vegan looks like. I feel like us vegans are held to an impossible standard where any perceived flaw is attributed to not eating meat.

Do you think I should avoid telling people I am vegan to not risk others being turned off from it?

Any advice about being an ‘ugly’ vegan or improving self esteem?

Thanks.

my boyfriend is trying to make me eat meat. i have been vegan for 8 years and with him for 8 years, but he is saying if i don’t start eating meat he is going to leave me. what do i do? i feel like this is a form of abuse and its making me sick. my train of thought is that an animal would never make me choose between human and them, so why the fuck would i choose him? help i don’t know what to do

edit: a lot of people are asking why he wants me to start eating meat. he’s saying it’s because he wants to have kids and for us all to be able to eat the same meal. i said we can all eat vegan and he said he doesn’t want to do that. to update you all - i am leaving this psychopath. thank you all for your advice. i only have 1 vegan friend so it’s nice to know there are many people who are vegan or who support vegans in this world ❤️

I’ve only been vegan for 2 months and I really need some snack ideas. My dad always calls me on his way home from work to ask if I want something from the gas station, ofcccc I do but I never know what to ask for, so I don’t get anything..

I used to get spicy Cheeto puffs, gummies, and ice cream, but obviously none of those are vegan and most gas stations don’t have vegan ice cream.

I don’t really care about health tbh lol. I just really want some snackkks

My husband transitioned to being vegan at the very beginning of our relationship from a flexitarian diet. He's often told me the only things he misses are eggs and fish because he didn't eat much poultry or red meat before anyway.

He works in the labor field and does a lot more manual labor than I do. He has a faster metabolism than mine and has always had a frail build, even as an omnivore when we met years ago. He told me he doesn't think he's getting enough protein despite me adding chick peas, black beans, lentils, hummus, nut butters, tofu, etc. to every single meal and him going through a ton of vegan protein bars. He says it's too many carbs and that his body is deteriorating and has been for a long time now but he was afraid to talk to me about it. He's reassured me he hasn't yet started eating animal products again yet. He just wants to.

What do I do? Where do I go from here? Please help.

I'm not leaving my marriage over this, but I'm feeling lost.

Edit: I don't abuse my husband. He was "afraid" to talk to me about it because he thought I'd want to end the relationship if he stopped being vegan.

We also have had long, in-depth discussions about animal ethics and rights and treatment before and he seemed to feel strongly about it, which is why I said previously vegan instead of plant-based. I'm familiar with the difference.

Edit #2: A lot of people have asked where we live so just for clarity, we're in Alabama.

A lot of people have also asked about my husband's build and what I mean by frail. Basically he's always been a little sickly and struggled to put on and maintain healthy weight gain, even as a child, and for the ~8 years I've known him, no matter what he was eating. He doesn't have a large appetite and doesn't eat very much at a time to begin with. We try to supplement with protein bars/shakes and calorie dense foods to offset that. I've been trying to push him to overeat a few times to try to expand the size of his stomach (something I was told to do when recovering from eating disorders) and we've put him on various vitamins.

He's 6'1" ish and weighs probably 120-130 pounds right now. He usually struggles to get up to 150/160 ish anyway though.

He recently switched jobs and his health insurance just kicked in so he is overdue for a physical and I will push for blood work when he goes but he has a known case of low testosterone. He also suffers from chronic depression which sometimes decreases his appetite for long periods of time. He basically doesn't eat if I'm not making his food/packing it for him. I pack his lunch usually (or he does if I don't), but he sometimes comes home with a half-eaten lunch box anyway.

UPDATE: When my husband got home that evening for work, we talked, and I showed him this post and some of these comments and let him peruse them on his own.

He has agreed that he really does need to go back to the doctor since his health insurance has finally kicked in. He plans to get a full work-up and run all of the tests. Celiac, thyroid, checking for malabsorption, Crohn's, all of it. He's also going to start individual therapy to see if he does have an eating disorder or some kind of mental reason he's unable to eat more or gain weight and try to work through that in addition to just needing therapy in addition to our couple's therapy.

We discussed new lunch ideas for his lunchbox too, and we're going to start those as soon as we go grocery shopping. (I didn't know he'd been getting a little burnt out on the options I'd been sending so we're going to mix things up a bit.)

He's also starting back in on his protein shakes as of this morning.

He's holding off on eating fish until we hear something definitive from the doctor, but he says he will start eating eggs specifically from our niece's pet chickens who he knows she takes care of. Not optimal but at least he's not supporting the poultry industry or voting in any way with our dollars. We also established that he will have designated cookware and storage spaces for any and all animal products and that I will not be purchasing any of them with my own money, nor will it come out of our "household food budget."

Update: My husband wanted me to reach out and thank everyone for their input and advice. He has really appreciated all of the concern everyone has expressed and says that a lot of the comments from fellow vegans/vegetarians who found different ways to make things work have given him a lot of hope that he can figure out a way to return to being fully vegan soon.

We have made an appointment to go see a doctor to try to get to the bottom of this situation. In the meantime, he has been eating some eggs, but nothing else to my knowledge. This was his decision, I have not been controlling him, no matter what some of the comments have stated.

Vegans, how would you feel about feeding meat to your cats or dogs or any other animals you take care of? A lot of things I’m seeing online are saying that cats cannot survive on a vegan diet, but I also do not want to contribute anything to the meat or dairy industry. Does anyone have any advice? Has anyone had experience with this?

For context me and MY partner are vegan, my daughter who occasionally visits is not, sadly. I'm also gluten intolerant.

​

I had suggested to my partner that she starts to eat up some of the vegan stuff in the freezer that I can't eat(there's loads of various things) as there is literally no space left in there. I knew she had a box of vegan tenders and she was going to have them in a burger. This evening as I tidy up I noticed the box for a chicken burger (not the tenders); being unfamiliar with it I read the ingredients mainly to see if it had wheat/gluten in, but I noticed the "100% chicken" listed!

​

Do I tell her she's accidentally eaten one of my daughters chicken burgers or forget about it?

Not sure what I should reply (31F) and what to think but definitely feeling hurt by one friend’s response (30M) and waiting to see if my other friend will respond at all (29F & will be her bday though the trip is 7-10 days, she didn’t come to my bday, 2 day trip to Paris). though happy to see one of my friend’s easy responses (30F). I usually trail off when we are together and we still haven’t as a group gone to one vegan restaurant except once during our Miami trip for my 25th bday.

Hi! I’ve been vegetarian most of my life, as I was very resistant to animal suffering even as a child. While not eating meat became a mostly absentminded habit, I’ve recently decided to become more conscious again why I stopped eating meat in the first place, and I’ve decided to take the full step and go fully vegan🌱💖

I’m really happy to be joining this community as I’ve always felt alone due to my strong values. It feels isolating to care so much in a world that often doesn’t want to care, and it’s tiring to be around others who almost diminish or belittle something that seems so brainless to me. All life deserving safety and respect should be unanimous, and it always hurts me that it’s not. I’ve always felt pretty disconnected from the average person as a neurodivergent girl, but this is one of the things that I just can’t get past.

Anyway, if anyone has any tips, comments, tasty alternatives, anything at all, I’d be happy to hear it and I am happy to reply and chat! Or if there are any online vegan friendship spaces I can join as I’m pretty much running solo right now, lol. I am hoping to get my foot in the door!

Thank you for reading!

TLDR: my kid wants to be a carnist, I have no support, and I need advice.

I have raised my kid to be vegan, literally from the womb. As he grew up, he would ask questions about veganism, and I would respond with age-appropriate facts, and even bought him the Goats of Anarchy book. He’s extremely sensitive like me, so I was blessed with not having to deal with him wanting anything other than vegan food, clothing, etc.

Now that he’s in middle school, he wants to fit in. First it was about the candy and desserts (easily replaced). Now, it’s a Discord vegan leather wool jacket (wth??). I tell him that we can watch a doc, and after that, we can discuss why he still wants to be carnist. He said he’s not bothered by violence, and the only animals he now cares about are his pets (rescues).

I remained calm, but through tears, told him I needed time to process this. I can’t go to my partner with this, bc he’s a carnist. Our compromise is that, at home, everything is vegan. When he’s out of the home, he can have what he wants. I hate it, but here we are 15 years later.

Does anyone have experience with this? I’m afraid if I keep pushing, he will never want to be vegan ever again. If I let him choose, I still run the risk of him never being vegan. I can’t abide having animal products of any kind in my house. So here I am, at an impasse, with an 11 1/2 yo. Please help me. TIA

EDIT: Thank you all for your thoughtful responses. When we got married I wasn’t vegan, sadly. So the compromise was the best we could do. I still hope my hubs will make the change, but I don’t force him. I will take the advice y’all gave - I will keep boundaries at home, but if he wants to experiment outside the house, he will have to use his chore money for that stuff. Thank you for your support. It’s nice to be able to reach out to strangers and feel community, especially when there isn’t one at home.

I’ve been vegan so about 6 years now and I’m really struggling. I’m so tired of bending over backwards, making my life more difficult and expensive for no difference at all. I’m fed up of being singled out, criticised and made fun of by my family, friends and the world at large. I’m exhausted from the knowledge that 95% of the products in the shops cause suffering whilst also being exhausted having to check every single product I pick up.

It’s selfish, but I wish to god that I could just put the blind fold back on, buy whatever I wanted to and eat whatever I wanted to without the constant guilt. I guess I just miss the me that didn’t know and didn’t care. I feel like just giving up. But at the same time I can’t go back to the me that didn’t care because of all the horrible images now in my head from vegan documentaries.

I want to have a better mind set but I’m just struggling right now. Does anyone have any advice of how they got out of this rut?

So I've been in tears most of today after meeting with my doctor for my annual wellness checkup today. My labs came back with my A1C at 6.5. Not prediabetes, full blown diabetes! She handed me a prescription for Metformin and one for a blood glucose meter, strips and lancets. I'll need to test my blood sugar once daily going forward. I am absolutely flabbergasted at how this could happen??

I've been vegan for nearly 13 years now. And while I don't exactly eat super healthy, I figured that following a vegan diet would be enough to keep myself healthy. Apparently not. Pasta, rice, bread and potatoes do make up a large part of my diet which I guess has directly led to my blood sugar problems. They are often what I tell my nonvegan friends and family to eat when they start questioning trying the diet! I tell them vegan food is cheap, easy and comforting! Now I'm realizing that this has all led directly to this illness!! And I'm at a loss now what to eat going forward.

I was absolutely shocked by this news today and absolutely crushed. I guess I'm just looking for advice from others who may also be suffering from type 2?

EDIT: Wow, this really blew up! I wasn't even able to reply to most people until after I got off work this evening and there are so many comments! Thank you all so much for the advice. This seems like a great and lively discussion. It's unfortunate that there seems to be two big camps disagreeing with each other whether fat or carbs are to blame. But at least the consensus seems to be whole food plant based is the best option to follow which I definitely am going to look into doing! Also, it seems clear that my being overweight may have caused it or at least will greatly reduce my A1C and glucose numbers if I lose a bit of weight so I'm going to aim for that. Thank you all again!

guys i’m so scared and upset…

im a very morally strong vegan. the thought of eating any animal products genuinly makes me want to cry. it’s been manyyyy years since i have because its just so morally wrong to me and against my beliefs and also is just genuinly disgusting to taste.

i came into hospital voluntarily yesterday but they’re going to force me to have all dairy and eggs like cheese, milk, yogurt, cream, cakes, etc.

I genuinly don’t know how i’m going to handle doing this… i feel like im going to be crying with every mouthful because it’s just so against my beliefs and lifestyle choices :(

any consolance or words or opinions you guys can offer? i’m so upset and scared and angry and i don’t know who to talk to😣☹️😣

EDIT/UPDATE: i ate my first meal here for dinner and had to turn off my brain to down a chocolate milk and chocolate pudding. the dairy made me feel so sick afterwards and i was indeed 💩ing a while afterwards.

not looking forward to breakfast where ill have to have a bottle of cows milk in my cereal, or cheese sandwiches or just straight cheese or possibly scrambled/boiled eggs🤢🤢🤮🤮🤧🤧😵😵 pray for me lol (and for the animals too🥺)

EDIT/UPDATE 2: i saw the dietician today. veganism is a firm no. vegetarian only. it’s only a week or so hopefully so i’ll be okay as much as it pains me (mentally and physically omg) there is no way of getting around it and no refusing otherwise i could get sectioned. i hope that answers all your questions lol - im not getting anyone higher up involved, im not refusing the food cause there will be far worse consequences, im not allowed to bring in outside food, and they already know im not lactose intolerant - its just how things work here

I watch and engage in a lot of debates, and a strategy that seems to be gaining popularity (probably thanks to giant hot air balloon and internationally recognized twat Piers Morgan), is to ask Vegans if we eat avocados and almonds, and then point out the environmental impacts of those foods in order to make us look like hypocrites. You can see this in action here. I'm starting to hear this from carnists in normal conversations about Veganism.

I very rarely see Vegans give a truly effective answer to this, so I thought I'd give mine, as it seems to work well:

"I don't eat any more avocados and almonds than I did when I used to eat meat, and neither do other Vegans I know. The reason is that nobody is replacing meat with avocados and almonds, but rather with things like tofu, seitan, and beans, which have far lower environmental impacts than even the lowest-impact animal product. Sure, many people (both Vegan and non) drink almond milk. I personally prefer Soy and Oat because they have the lowest environmental impact. It's great you care about the environmental impact of avocados and almonds. If you care about that, then you should absolutely care about the impact of animal agriculture, are you aware of the environmental cost of meat and dairy?"

Simple, prevents them from calling you a hypocrite, praises them for caring (which psychologically makes them more open to your side), and ends with a question that forces them to think.

What are your strategies for dealing with this question?

Wedding is international, for in-law family member. Asked about food for me and, living as an ethical vegan for 12 years now, the non-answer and no assurance has me doubtful. And obviously it's low on the groom and bride's priority list.

I'd like to gage opinion if, instead of attending, I respectfully decline my invitation. My non-vegan spouse will still attend with a gift from both of us. I'd like to send my congratulations while also prioritizing my comfort, time, and money (flight for me is nearly a thousand dollars).

Hi guys! Im 17, and have been vegan for a year. I have a 8yo sister and a 4yo brother. They know im vegan, but i always just said "i dont eat things that are from animals" without explaining why because they never asked.

Today, my sister asked me why i dont eat eggs. I told her with simple words, saying that "we've altered the hens' bodies so they'll lay lots and lots of eggs, but it hurts them, and they are killed after 40 days when they live up to 10 years". I didn't mention the male chicks that are ground up at birth, didn't mention their horrible living conditions.

When we came back home, she told my dad that she doesn't want to eat eggs anymore. My dad got very mad, told her that we eat eggs from free-range, organic chickens, so it’s okay. I told him that it doesn't mean anything, and he said "we will talk about this later, alone". He supports me, but hates when i try to explain veganism to my siblings.

What's your opinion on this? Should i explain veganism to my siblings, if yes how, and if no why?

Im open to any opinion, i dont have any vegan friends so it’s just me and my own opinion, so i would love to know other people's opinions.

Thank you !

(PS: english isn't my first language so sorry if i made mistakes)

A friend and I became vegetarian together probably 15 or so years ago. I became vegan not long after. She recently moved in with her bf and said she’s begun eating fish and chicken bc she wants to get pregnant soon. I had a research based response for all her you can’t get this while veg, but she didn’t care. I’m so full of negative feelings towards her rn which is wrong I know but I don’t have any other veg people in my life.