I keep reading articles written by vegans about how they are not giving anything up by being vegan. And I finally get it!
When I wanted to be vegan, all I could think about was never eating cheese again. How will I live without ordering a big cheese pizza every once in awhile? And what about birthday cake and ice cream at parties? And the cookies that I make with my parents and brother at Christmas? I wouldn't be allowed to eat those, either?!
Now, I get it. I'm not giving anything up. I no longer WANT to eat things with animal products in them. I want to focus on eating a plant-based diet. I don't want meat, dairy, or eggs to be in anything that I eat. Therefore, I'm not giving anything up. What I want to eat has changed.
I'm sure that I will still get cravings for dairy, when I'm at a party and I'm standing near the cheese plate (those little cubes of cheese look so cute and tasty, one wouldn't hurt me, right?) or when birthday cake is getting passed around (there aren't many eggs or much milk used to make this cake, is there?). But it will pass, and I will remember why I chose to be vegan.
Yes, I CHOSE to be vegan, I don't HAVE to be. No one is forcing me to abstain from consuming animal products. Nope, this is something that I WANT.
I'm not giving anything up. I'm just eating differently now. :-)
And it feels great.
2 comments:
very true! this made me rethink my word choices. i still crave chocolate on a daily basis and cheese ever so often, but i'm not "giving" anything up :) thanks for enlightening me!
this thinking worked for me when i quit smoking last year. i didn't want to go around thinking (or whining) how i want a cigarette but "can't" have one. i told myself i can have one any time i want to but i'm CHOOSING not to. no one will stop me if i change my mind. but i told myself i'm not giving up smoking. i'm deciding to be a non-smoker. and non smokers don't smoke "now and then"
i'm a vegetarian looking to make the leap to vegan. i'm hoping this same thinking will help here too. i love your blog by the way. it feels like you started ahead of me and now i can follow along :)
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