Your personal vegan story

[Eileen Dover]

I don't understand a lot of it. I just have had a weight/body image issue my whole life. I have issues with overeating like crazy for a few weeks for a while....then being so discusted with myself I go to a strict calorie intake plan. Food is the enemy....yet I sabotage myself with it. I am very overweight bc of all this and I don't know how to control it. It is really mentally tiring. And this is ALWAYS on my mind. I lately have been trying to figure out how I can just grasp some sort of control. Everytime we go in public its on my mind, pass a mirror or my reflection on something, or I see someone skinny. One would think I would judge others too but I really don't. Just am not happy with me. Sorry Robin, ur not my therapist lol, I just have never met anyone else who might be able to understand. Xoxo



I feel all this too..my body image is like a little Gremlin nagging at me night and day invading everything I want to be and want to feel. I think about it constantly , as I dress in the morning , as I interact at work , as my partner cuddles me and tells me I am beautiful my Gremlin is there pointing and staring telling reminding me that I am overweight.

Cupids story reminded me of a mirror story that he already knows because I have told him many times to illustrate how this feels...

When I was single and before I met the wonderful man that is Cupid :smoochie:..

I used to go out clubbing and dancing with my friends. I am a very extrovert person and the life and soul of the party I even get up first on the dance floor with my skinny mate! BUT only as long as I cant see myself reflected in the glass. While I am dancing I am REAL me, me who isnt trapped in this lumpy frame but the minute I catch sight of myself it all turns to sand. It used to be so bad that I would not go the toilets to pee or check my make up like all the others because of the full length mirror in the doorway, once I had seen myself I was done for and did not feel able to get up and dance again.

I can get ready , go out feeling great and all it takes is one skinny woman or one mirror and I feel wretched.

I know that it may seem ridiculous to most but I know that you will understand and take comfort that many of us feel this way.

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Oh my Robin, you are such a strong individual to be still here able to tell your story. I have not spoke to anyone besides my husband about this really truthfully, but I also have an eating disorder. I have not gotten help yet, being totally honest I am not sure I believe I totally want the help. I do in some ways and in others......well idk. Thank you for telling me your story, much love and respect for you.

I was offered bereavment counselling some years back after the death of my father and amongst all the stuff being discussed I mentioned how I felt about my weight and my concerns that I had a disorder she looked irritated, and brushed it off telling me I had issues with my mother or penis envy or something !!! which did not real inspire me to pursue that line again.

I have self analysed and got to the point where I have realised that I hide behind my weight ..but I have yet to unravel this !!! and work out why and who from.

At present I am in a weird position where I do eat less, considerably so, and am not really in 'fat girl' mode but have a medical condition which is bloating me up and sabotaging my attempts to get my weight under control which is yet another frustration as it kind of gives me a reason to give up and not bother dieting!!!

Interestingly I am under medical advice to have a Hysterectomy and just started to scan Robins post..which I will read with interest later but for now I am off to work!!!

[Clueless Git]

ty for the smile Cupid, needed it today (: and I love that you have become a success, how wonderful! you really are terrific lol, I am glad he bought you that mirror!

It makes me happy to think that I made you smile Tanya soooo .. the TY's are all due from me to you:)

Coupl'a sayings that I like, btw ...

1. Sometimes we smile just because we feel happy and sometimes we feel happy just because we smile. ~Some buddhist or another

2. From a single candle can a thousand other candles be lit with neither it's life nor its brightness being diminished at all. ~Buddha himself

[Clueless Git]

cupid stunt,I
I'm not sure if it is that as much as a patriarchal cultural influence that causes women to devalue their reproductive parts and dread the monthly period. just a theory.
I think you are onto something there Robin.

Slightly risky ground to venture onto but a racial parrallel springs to mind; In the same way that society has largely been patriacharly dominated it has also been largely caucasian dominated.

Neither though has stopped certain women nor certain people from non caucasion races from rising to the top and excelling in various fields. It could be argued, with certainn people that being female or non-caucasion has actualy been a help.

M'personal theory is something along the lines of this: External barriers (race, gender) to happiness are relatively small compared to the massive internal barrier of simply not loving the 'skin' that your in.

Gender and race are pretty much irrelevant if you simply love what you are, kinda thing?


It is so interesting to hear a man talk about his maternal side! I love it. You are one of a kind, you know that? :) :)


Awww, shucks! TY Robin :rolleyes:

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.. the wonderful man that is Cupid :smoochie:..


It's true!

It's true!

:p

And for those who have never heard the story of how 'Eileen' and myself got together ..

I advertised on match.com for "a lady of huge compassion and a heart the size of a house".

Eileen misread the ad somewhat but things worked out anyway. We have never looked back on more than an hourly basis for the five years ever since :)

[BellaTanie]

I totally can relate to how you are feeling Eileen.....even with the losing your father part, mine died when I was 12. I am so sorry, from the deepest part of my heart. My husband is always wishing I could see myself the way he sees me......I wish I could too. I totally get the whole reflection thing because even my reflection walking by a store glass window seems to trigger these feelings.....I definitely avoid the mirrors and hate the tv security monitors. I am sooo happy to hear that you and Cupid are together lol! Besides Robin of course, Cupid is one of my most favorite people on here! Then when he told me about you and the circuses I was in awe, of course a magnificent woman would be with such and inspiring wonderful man (: I have always detested the circus, I can remember going to one as a little girl and looking into the elephants eyes....the elephant my father had paid for me to have a ride on. All I could see was pain and despair and it brought tears to my eyes, I kissed him and said no not today and refused to get on him and make him carry me. So my children hear about the circuses in town but do not even ask to go. They understand why not too. Anyways....before my ridiculous circus rant lol, thank you so much for sharing your story with me Eileen. I really feel so happy that you trusted me with your inner most thoughts. And even though this won't really help, I told my daughter about the woman I had the honor to speak to about all the things she did against the circus to help the animals. You have become a beautiful heroine in my house! So smile superwoman lol

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From a single candle can a thousand other candles be lit with neither it's life nor its brightness being diminished at all. ~Buddha himself

Extremely beautiful, it will be my facebook status today (: Ty Cupid

[Eileen Dover]

I have always detested the circus, I can remember going to one as a little girl and looking into the elephants eyes....the elephant my father had paid for me to have a ride on. All I could see was pain and despair and it brought tears to my eyes, I kissed him and said no not today and refused to get on him and make him carry me.




I got similarly 'treated' with a birthday trip to London zoo as a child. I wandered around trying not to look into the miserable faces of the animals and sobbing quietly so that I did not appear ungrateful or rude but at the point that we reached the rhino standing in a small concrete compound ankle deep in excretion I could not bear it any longer and begged to be taken home. I never took my own children to either a circus or a zoo. My mother (apparently not having learnt the lesson from me ) took my daughter when she was a child to an equally ghastly zoo while on holiday and got the same reaction from her!

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I told my daughter about the woman I had the honor to speak to about all the things she did against the circus to help the animals. You have become a beautiful heroine in my house! So smile superwoman lol





ahh..thank you! Yes I am smiling now :lol:

[Eileen Dover]

Also, I have encountered many women who have had hysterectomies that claim it is the best thing they could have ever done for themselves or they are glad to get rid of their parts. Disturbingly a lot of women seem to be of this opinion, while those of us who have suffered tremendously for it are the "minority". It is a phenomenon to me how women can celebrate being castrated or getting rid of their uterus, regardless of how diseased it may have been or how much pain they were in (my endometriosis was no picnic either), and it perpetuates the cycle of hysterectomies being pushed as a frontline treatment of many female diseases and problems. You won't find the same attitiude when any other body part is removed due to some kind of disease. How many people celebrate having a kidney removed regardless of how diseased it was? We are brainwashed to believe our reproductive parts are just a nuisance and good only for producing babies. We are not taught to value our bodies and what they do for us.



Your story presents a quandry for me Robin..I do not consider my reproductive parts a nuisance at all and value my womanhood and motherhood as a precious and wonderful gift .I will in no way celebrate the loss of them BUT I DO( or maybe now I have read this it should be DID) see the operation as an escape from my present and long standing dilemma.

I have spent four years, no correction!..all my life -from the late onset of my periods at eighteen when I passed out in a pool of blood- beseiged by problems with my reproductive organs. I have had heavy periods that lasted weeks , no periods and infertility, three miscarriages , false started menopause and back to what appears to be a continual period. For the past four years I have had fibroids so large that they needed to be operated on in two separate operations in fact. Only one has been done ..I have been left with constant bleeding, back pain, aching breast, bloated stomach, stomach cramps, sickness and diarohhea. I have had four operations including one fibroids resection and no conclusive decision about what is going on and why. I drag to work heavy and miserable when I should really be in bed. It is impacting on every area of my life and I am tired of it.

Having recently moved house I took the opportunity to ram the message down my new GPs throat that I had had enough and I wanted a Hysterectomy as four years and four operations down the line the situation was worse. I must confess that I commented to the GP that my child rearing days were over. I am awaiting blood tests and an ultra sound to see how large my remaining fibroids have grown and it would appear that the next proposal will be a Hysterectomy.

I have to confess AGAIN that in my personal life all I have heard is women telling me it is the best thing they ever did. In my working life at Macmillan working with cancer patients I hold my hands up to hearing only this too. One of my patients had one as a safety precaution because ovarian cancer was strongly linked to her mothers line and she already had had both breasts removed due to cancer. She has expressed only relief at their removal but of course she is an exceptional case.

So...until I read your story today I have not heard any negative stories like your. It is a distrubing revelation to me and I will now obviously follow the links with great interest and will not be agreeing to any surgical procedure until I well informed of all the options and consequences.

Thank you for sharing your stories and alerting the rest of us to possible consequences that medical staff presumably would not

[Robinwomb]

Your story presents a quandry for me Robin..I do not consider my reproductive parts a nuisance at all and value my womanhood and motherhood as a precious and wonderful gift .I will in no way celebrate the loss of them BUT I DO( or maybe now I have read this it should be DID) see the operation as an escape from my present and long standing dilemma.

I have spent four years, no correction!..all my life -from the late onset of my periods at eighteen when I passed out in a pool of blood- beseiged by problems with my reproductive organs. I have had heavy periods that lasted weeks , no periods and infertility, three miscarriages , false started menopause and back to what appears to be a continual period. For the past four years I have had fibroids so large that they needed to be operated on in two separate operations in fact. Only one has been done ..I have been left with constant bleeding, back pain, aching breast, bloated stomach, stomach cramps, sickness and diarohhea. I have had four operations including one fibroids resection and no conclusive decision about what is going on and why. I drag to work heavy and miserable when I should really be in bed. It is impacting on every area of my life and I am tired of it.

Having recently moved house I took the opportunity to ram the message down my new GPs throat that I had had enough and I wanted a Hysterectomy as four years and four operations down the line the situation was worse. I must confess that I commented to the GP that my child rearing days were over. I am awaiting blood tests and an ultra sound to see how large my remaining fibroids have grown and it would appear that the next proposal will be a Hysterectomy.

I have to confess AGAIN that in my personal life all I have heard is women telling me it is the best thing they ever did. In my working life at Macmillan working with cancer patients I hold my hands up to hearing only this too. One of my patients had one as a safety precaution because ovarian cancer was strongly linked to her mothers line and she already had had both breasts removed due to cancer. She has expressed only relief at their removal but of course she is an exceptional case.

So...until I read your story today I have not heard any negative stories like your. It is a distrubing revelation to me and I will now obviously follow the links with great interest and will not be agreeing to any surgical procedure until I well informed of all the options and consequences.

Thank you for sharing your stories and alerting the rest of us to possible consequences that medical staff presumably would not

Thanks for sharing Eileen! I understand the pain you feel. I started suffering from bowel, digestive symptoms in 1999 (my hysterectomy was in 2005). I had constant nausea and my immune system went haywire (I was sick with strep throat, shingles, HIVES, gastroenteritis, and a whole host of other illnesses in a short period of time when my abdominal pain and cramps started. I would get constipated (I was on antidepressants then that made me terribly constipated) and when I had a bowel movement it was so excruciating I would vomit and pass out. I was labeled with IBS but I tried everything to make it better. I found out I was lactose intolerant (I was an omnivore back then) so I eliminated dairy from my diet except yogurts. The pain kept getting worse and I would wake up in the middle of the night in a cold sweat and doubled over. I kept going to doctors only to be dismissed as it being the IBS or stress and once was even refered to a walk in psych clinic. I saw a therapist there who agreed anyone would be stressed in my situation and she was empathetic. In 2004 the pain became more and more associated with my periods. I had very regular periods, normal bleeding, but oh my the pain. I fainted at work (thankfully I worked in a medical complex) and was brought to the ER while hyperventilating. I am no stranger to pain. It took over five years to be diagnosed with endometriosis, which I believe looking back is what I had all along, not IBS. I had old endometriosis "powder burns" they are called that had been there for years upon laparascopy and examination.

I have often wondered why so many women have so much trouble with fibroids, endometriosis, and other reproductive disorders. It seems to be worse and worse as the years go on, with more and more statistics. What is going on? Why isnt anyone doing research to find out why we are suffering such horrible reproductive diseases? I know that the Endometriosis Association has uncovered a link between certain dioxins and endometriosis, and that it is not limited to humans (there have been cases of dogs with endometriosis), which means that environmental toxins probably play a role along with our food system.

I am wondering, with your situation, how close you you to menopause? Usually things calm down by then. What were the other surgeries you had? I know there are options like myomectomy and uterine fibroid embolization that are more conservative than hysterectomy and allow for retaining the reproductive organs. But maybe you tried them? How many different doctors opinions have you had? I am not asking these questions in an accusatory tone at all so forgive me if it sounds this way, I am just trying to understand your experience. Did you try any naturopathic methods for relief? Or hormonal therapies? I have heard that most reproductive problems involve hormonal imbalances that can be corrected and help the situation, though I also believe genetics, environmental toxins, diet, and other factors play a role.
I know it is difficult not to just want to have it all out when you are in pain and sick all the time. I just wish that I had fought harder and researched more to try every possible alternative out there, and there were many not offered to me by conventional medicine that I didn't know about until too late. When I did finally see a naturopathic doctor after my hysterectomy, I had to pay for a lot of it out of pocket as surprise suprise insurance wouldn't cover it (they covered every cent of my hysterectomy but they don't seem to realize they are paying for all the complications I have had from having one too so really they didn't save money by supporting such a drastic treatment option over more conservative ones).

I am not surprised that you have run into the same attitude that I mentioned regarding women finding it the best thing they ever did. This scenerio was offered to me by countless women I know who had hysterectomies (scary enough that almost everyone can count on at least one hand people they know who have had hysterectomies). But it did not turn out this way for me. It was not the "best thing" I could have done for myself, and I have osteoporosis worsened by having one, as well as a severe lack of natural hormones for someone of my age. HRT is a drop in the bucket and not natural, and the risks associated with taking it, no matter how "natural" a form you take, are big. But without it I can not function at all. I don't know if my story would have been different if I had retained my ovaries and just had the uterus out. I would have had to specify this on my consent form with a witness first of all because surgeons are known to just take them out whether they are healthy or not. I work with medical records daily and see a lot of surgical operative reports and I see this all the time. I also work with radiation oncology cancer records daily. Most of those seem to involve breast cancer or lung cancer for women, and ovarian cancer is extremely rare, but many women still have the ovaries removed for fear of getting ovarian cancer. Mortality associated with ovary removal is greater in numbers of cases than the number of cases of ovarian cancer (see the links). The problem with only having the uterus removed, aside from other complications that can happen, is that the ovaries tend to not work as well or eventually shut down due to lack of blood supply from an absent uterus. This is a 50/50 situation. But more complaints for sure stem from women who lost their ovaries than those who retained them. The more conservative you can go, the better. Some women even keep the cervix. I have what is called a vaginal vault due to my cervix being gone. It has taken years to get used to, and I am shorter in that area. I will spare you the details on a public forum.

I am so glad that you have taken what I have shared into consideration. I wish you the best in dealing with a horrible problem with no easy answers. If you can make an informed decision that is all the better. Thanks again for sharing!

[Eileen Dover]

Hi Robin
So sorry I did not reply to this post, thank you again for your concern. I am in a bad place health wise to be honest, my stomach really becoming problematic the last week, and this is badly spilling over into my work life as well as my private life now . I am struggling to get through my work day and spending most evenings just laying on the bed. I have the results of blood tests tomorrow so fingers crossed I may get some answers. I will keep you posted . For the moment I am just really feeling low and dreary.

[Clueless Git]

Hi Robin
So sorry I did not reply to this post, thank you again for your concern. I am in a bad place health wise to be honest, my stomach really becoming problematic the last week, and this is badly spilling over into my work life as well as my private life now . I am struggling to get through my work day and spending most evenings just laying on the bed. I have the results of blood tests tomorrow so fingers crossed I may get some answers. I will keep you posted . For the moment I am just really feeling low and dreary.

Pampering night by me for you tommorow :heart:

[Korn]

At another vegetarian message board, I saw a thread once where people wrote about their personal transition into becoming a vegetarian. Not just a line or two about why they decided to become veggies, but a small article about the whole process. Maybe I shouldn't suggest this until I've got time to write my own story, but I decided to post the idea while it was fresh (I know I stole it! :p )

IMHO it would be great to try to keep this thread about exactly that; and reserve it for people who write a little story about their personal transition to veganism, and move the venting etc over to (an)other area(s)...
ETA: One reason behind this suggestion is that eg. right now, if one looks at the last posts and tries to figure out what they are about, it takes quite a bit of reading to figure that out. It's better if people who want to read about others transition period towards veganism can do that here, and communication about other topics happens in other threads.

[BellaTanie]

awwww (:

[Korn]

Hi BellaTanie, I'm not a all wanting to choke the ongoing communication in this thread - just move it to another area. :-)

[BellaTanie]

nooo sorry Korn that wasn't for u it was for Cupid's comment lol, I am sorry and I understand what ur saying

[Normal Vegan]

Hi guys

I have been trying to be Vegan for the past 6 months but overall havent felt better. I say trying as once in a while a food product will conspire against me and contain animal products. It turns out that some beers even use animal products, which I found out after I converted.

Until I converted I was a very avid carnivore, at one point I did the atkins diet. I always felt something was wrong and somehow was guided towards being a vegan.

I love live now but I am have searched you out as I have 2 major problems. The first is that I am a business owner so find meal planning difficult as sometimes I need to just grab something from a shop whilst I am between meetings. At the moment this normally consists of a bread roll and a bag of salad or prepared raw vegetables. It does the job, but there must be something tastier that I can grab at short notice. My second problem is that I am a triathlete in my spare time, this involves lots of exercise and from this I find that I cant consume enough food to not be hungry.

I wont ever change back, I saw Forks over Knives and that shows how bad any animal products are for the animals and the environment.

Hello again and I look forward to being part of this community.

[v0mica]

I first found out what meat really was when I was about 5. I've always had a passion for animals and my grandparents had a farm of sorts. Lots of animals for a young child to play with and develop a friendship with. When I found out that my grandfather had killed and cooked(yes cooked - as in for our dinner) a rabbit I had recently been playing with, it traumatized me a bit. I've never liked the taste of meat, milk, and eggs anyway. Once I became a teen, I took it upon myself to find out more about what these animals are going through. I watched Earthlings and that pretty much sealed the deal.

[Blueberries]

I first found out what meat really was when I was about 5. I've always had a passion for animals and my grandparents had a farm of sorts. Lots of animals for a young child to play with and develop a friendship with. When I found out that my grandfather had killed and cooked(yes cooked - as in for our dinner) a rabbit I had recently been playing with, it traumatized me a bit. I've never liked the taste of meat, milk, and eggs anyway. Once I became a teen, I took it upon myself to find out more about what these animals are going through. I watched Earthlings and that pretty much sealed the deal.

Hi V0mica, that's a nice story :) I think around 5 is the age most children realise what meat is, I remember wanting to go vegetarian when I was 6 (& not being allowed).

[pat sommer]

Sounds very familiar to most of us, V0mica. I feel there are so many conflicted people around because they didn't choose your path.

Hi Normal Vegan, how did I overlook your post?
Been having any luck?

If commercially prepared food is letting you down, maybe finding someone to do a week's prep for you at a time?
That would make a nice little gig for a health conscious home-cook. I have a friend with many 'restrictions' that gets his freezer filled with special order tamales by a neighbor. It all starts with asking around...

[tperry1982]

I am a new vegan. My mom was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer in September 2012 and died 81 days later on December 3, 2012. She was 85 years old. As an old southern African American woman, she ate a diet her whole life that was filled with fried foods, pork, greens with fat back (pork), bacon and more pork. While she did live to be 85 (I should be so lucky, I am 53 now), I am sure her diet had something to do with the cancer.
My 17 year old daughter has eaten very little meat her whole life and had wanted to be vegan for awhile. I told her the usual bunk that it was not a healthy diet and refused to let her become vegan. After my mother's death (her grandmother) she was even more adamant about not eating any meat or as she stated it "animal flesh". After talking to her pediatrician and him saying it was okay, I agreed to let her go for it. There was one caveat, she had to go online and find healthy alternatives to meat, I refused to let her eat french fries and salad exclusively. For one, she is a intense volleyball player and track runner and I knew she needed a good nutritious diet.
Well, she went online and so did I. I found out about lentils, quinoa, beans (which we liked anyway and had been eating with smoked turkey instead of pork). I started cooking her dinners that were vegan. I then started to shop for meat replacements - crumbles, "sausage". Then I discovered seitan. Long story short, as I was cooking I was tasting her food and soon found that I was liking it and basically eating hers and not wanting what I was cooking for her dad and myself. I finally decided to go all out and try the total vegan diet. I have been very successful up to now. Luckily I live in Metropolitan Washington DC so there are lots of options at the grocery stores and some very good vegan restaurants such as Everlasting Life and Sticky Fingers.
My daughter was in heaven the other day because Tofurky now has a vegan pizza. That with some meatless pepperoni was actually quite tasty.
To make a very long story short, I must admit that my main motivation to remain vegan is to reduce my chances of cancer and to make my diverticulitis manageable. Maybe because I work in a field where I see so much cruelty to children (human services/criminal justice) I just can't get that worked up about animals. I am sure I will move in that direction eventually but am committed to this lifestyle so I guess I am looking out for them too by default.
I look forward to participating in this forum on many levels
Toni

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I found a website that listed vegan wines. I love Sutter Home brand and found out that my White Zinfendel was not vegan. However I can drink Carbenet Savignon, Moscato, Riesling (my new favorite) and Zinfendel (just not white). I will continue to check it to make sure any other brands are vegan before I drink them but Sutter Home can be found almost anywhere.

[pat sommer]

well, cheers to your new found life-style! Ain't it amazing when we listen to our kids?
...must now dash out for a bottle of Sutter Home Zin

[Blueberries]

Hi guys

I have been trying to be Vegan for the past 6 months but overall havent felt better. I say trying as once in a while a food product will conspire against me and contain animal products. It turns out that some beers even use animal products, which I found out after I converted.

Until I converted I was a very avid carnivore, at one point I did the atkins diet. I always felt something was wrong and somehow was guided towards being a vegan.

I love live now but I am have searched you out as I have 2 major problems. The first is that I am a business owner so find meal planning difficult as sometimes I need to just grab something from a shop whilst I am between meetings. At the moment this normally consists of a bread roll and a bag of salad or prepared raw vegetables. It does the job, but there must be something tastier that I can grab at short notice. My second problem is that I am a triathlete in my spare time, this involves lots of exercise and from this I find that I cant consume enough food to not be hungry.

I wont ever change back, I saw Forks over Knives and that shows how bad any animal products are for the animals and the environment.

Hello again and I look forward to being part of this community.

Hi NV, I completely missed your post too! Welcome to the forum :)
Hopefully you might find some quick & easy meal suggestions in our food section and I know there are some vegan athletes around so there may be a thread for that too. :)

[Blueberries]

I am a new vegan. My mom was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer in September 2012 and died 81 days later on December 3, 2012. She was 85 years old. As an old southern African American woman, she ate a diet her whole life that was filled with fried foods, pork, greens with fat back (pork), bacon and more pork. While she did live to be 85 (I should be so lucky, I am 53 now), I am sure her diet had something to do with the cancer.
My 17 year old daughter has eaten very little meat her whole life and had wanted to be vegan for awhile. I told her the usual bunk that it was not a healthy diet and refused to let her become vegan. After my mother's death (her grandmother) she was even more adamant about not eating any meat or as she stated it "animal flesh". After talking to her pediatrician and him saying it was okay, I agreed to let her go for it. There was one caveat, she had to go online and find healthy alternatives to meat, I refused to let her eat french fries and salad exclusively. For one, she is a intense volleyball player and track runner and I knew she needed a good nutritious diet.
Well, she went online and so did I. I found out about lentils, quinoa, beans (which we liked anyway and had been eating with smoked turkey instead of pork). I started cooking her dinners that were vegan. I then started to shop for meat replacements - crumbles, "sausage". Then I discovered seitan. Long story short, as I was cooking I was tasting her food and soon found that I was liking it and basically eating hers and not wanting what I was cooking for her dad and myself. I finally decided to go all out and try the total vegan diet. I have been very successful up to now. Luckily I live in Metropolitan Washington DC so there are lots of options at the grocery stores and some very good vegan restaurants such as Everlasting Life and Sticky Fingers.
My daughter was in heaven the other day because Tofurky now has a vegan pizza. That with some meatless pepperoni was actually quite tasty.
To make a very long story short, I must admit that my main motivation to remain vegan is to reduce my chances of cancer and to make my diverticulitis manageable. Maybe because I work in a field where I see so much cruelty to children (human services/criminal justice) I just can't get that worked up about animals. I am sure I will move in that direction eventually but am committed to this lifestyle so I guess I am looking out for them too by default.
I look forward to participating in this forum on many levels
Toni

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I found a website that listed vegan wines. I love Sutter Home brand and found out that my White Zinfendel was not vegan. However I can drink Carbenet Savignon, Moscato, Riesling (my new favorite) and Zinfendel (just not white). I will continue to check it to make sure any other brands are vegan before I drink them but Sutter Home can be found almost anywhere.

Hi Toni, welcome to the forum! That is a very inspiring story, I love when parents learn from their children! :)

[Normal Vegan]

Thanks for the welcome guys, I nearly gave up, it has taken 2 weeks to get accepted.

[Blueberries]

Thanks for the welcome guys, I nearly gave up, it has taken 2 weeks to get accepted.

Sorry I didn't see your message, it didn't pop up on my new posts list (I use a smartphone app to access the forum).

[Veguroev]

Hi,
im new here and this is my first post :)
I say I went vegan in February, but I really don't know exactly when I became vegan...I know it was sometime last year.
i became vegetarian 5 years ago after reading skinny bitch book.
sometime last year I fell in love with raw vegan cheesecakes, then raw vegan food and when I realized I was making raw dishes. I'm not 100 % raw, but I do make a lot of raw dishes, especially desserts...
One day as I was cooking enchiladas and had to put cheese and cream on them the thought of putting dairy on them grossed me out. That was in February of this year...so I became vegan or "officially" vegan since February. :)

[Blueberries]

Hi,
im new here and this is my first post :)
I say I went vegan in February, but I really don't know exactly when I became vegan...I know it was sometime last year.
i became vegetarian 5 years ago after reading skinny bitch book.
sometime last year I fell in love with raw vegan cheesecakes, then raw vegan food and when I realized I was making raw dishes. I'm not 100 % raw, but I do make a lot of raw dishes, especially desserts...
One day as I was cooking enchiladas and had to put cheese and cream on them the thought of putting dairy on them grossed me out. That was in February of this year...so I became vegan or "officially" vegan since February. :)

Hi and welcome to the forum! :)