Your personal vegan story

[Nemesiah]

My sister and her boyfriend are vegetarians, I always dreamed of being able to eat meat without any regrets but the technology was not comming. About 3 years ago (at age 32) I decided that I could no longer justify eating meat and remain congruent to my beliefs about not being cruel to animals. I decided to get informed and watched many documentals (Meat your meet, Earthlings, Food Inc, etc..) That day I decided that the only way to stop the cruelty was to stop the demand for meat products, so I stoped eating meat. I remained vegetarian for one week and decided that I felt incongruent since dary cows sufferd as much if not more than those being slaughtered, it was then that I decided to go vegan. I has been a very interesting 3 years.

[pat sommer]

Hola Nemesiah!

congratualtions on your transition: 3yrs means you are probably an expert by now on good food.
I am currently traveling with my family in Mexico and find it a delicious country especially Mexico City where so many cuisines are represented.

[jaimieag]

This is my first post [waves hi]

My story begins like so... Every year I'd get a new benign tumor. It started with a growth in my breast, then two. Then a lipoma on my back. Then it was an 11cm endometrial cyst. Then a dermatological cyst. Then another ovarian cyst. Then another endometrial cyst. I was sterile, tumor-prone, asthmatic, had already been under full anesthesia multiple times, Etc. I was in my 20s (still am, but now very late 20s) and something had to change. I hit a wall and decided to stop being a victim. At some point I had to look in the mirror at my own lifestyle and really evaluate. My life was a very good life. I had great family and friends and I did not want to give up on life, I wanted to live to be 100.

Knives over forks. That was my first punch of hope. I stopped feeling sorry for myself. Getting sick on animals is my own bad karma for eating animals. I dropped dairy, meat, cigarettes and marijuana by the end of the film. Raided the canned green beans for munchies (the last grocery store run was not very plant based) and then I headed to the grocery store. Those next few weeks were a roller coaster. My body screamed inside. Both good and bad screams. Smoking in general was much harder to give up. The animal products were easy to eliminate. The hidden ingredients were tricky so I just resigned myself to eating things I understood. The diet was amazing. Foolish me, I bought a multivitamin with B12 on the first shopping day for fear that I wouldn't get enough nutrients on a vegan diet. Irony is, I got more vitamins and minerals in one lunch as a vegan than I did all day as an omnivore. Being more conscious about what I was consuming and what it was doing to me along with all of the added nutrients... those were all very positive things during that time. There was no way for me to tell what was a meat withdraw or dairy withdraw or smoke withdraw. All I know is that I stopped growing tumors. Some of my tumors even began to decrease in size. I felt really good. I didn't have to not think about my food. I felt like I had rid my body of death and filled it with life. It was one of the most difficult and most amazing changes that I could ever make in my life.

When people ask why vegan this is the story I share.

[pat sommer]

Wow, jamieag, pretty impressive tale you have lived to tell!

Now that you have our attention, what else will you be sharing on Vegan Forum? I'll stay tuned :-)

[Korn]

Foolish me, I bought a multivitamin with B12 on the first shopping day for fear that I wouldn't get enough nutrients on a vegan diet. Irony is, I got more vitamins and minerals in one lunch as a vegan than I did all day as an omnivore.
Welcome, Jaimieag, and thanks for your story! :-)
Just a little comment: too low or too B12 can probably be a bad thing for tumor growth, but in our antibacterial, sterilized, chlorinated etc world we won't get enough B12 from vegan food. People coming from a diet high in animal products may have very high B12 levels from day one as a vegan, and many may even have enough B12 stores to last for many months (some state that they'll have enough B12 enough for several years). There are actually a few known cases where people have been living on a vegan diet for several decades without B12 supplements without discovering any health problems/risks. For most vegans, however, too little B12 is the problem, not too much.
I'm not a health professional In your case it's probably a good idea to monitor your B12/MMA/homocysteine levels if you plan to go (for a period) with no or a very low B12 intake!



I stopped growing tumors. Some of my tumors even began to decrease in size. I felt really good. I didn't have to not think about my food. I felt like I had rid my body of death and filled it with life. It was one of the most difficult and most amazing changes that I could ever make in my life.

It's truly that your health situation has improved so much! :-)

[jaimieag]

Welcome, Jaimieag, and thanks for your story! :-)
Just a little comment: too low or too B12 can probably be a bad thing for tumor growth, but in our antibacterial, sterilized, chlorinated etc world we won't get enough B12 from vegan food. People coming from a diet high in animal products may have very high B12 levels from day one as a vegan, and many may even have enough B12 stores to last for many months (some state that they'll have enough B12 enough for several years). There are actually a few known cases where people have been living on a vegan diet for several decades without B12 supplements without discovering any health problems/risks. For most vegans, however, too little B12 is the problem, not too much.
I'm not a health professional In your case it's probably a good idea to monitor your B12/MMA/homocysteine levels if you plan to go (for a period) with no or a very low B12 intake!




It's truly that your health situation has improved so much! :-)

Thanks for the kind words, wisdom and support from both of you. :-). Youre right on the money on B12 suppliments. I just thought it was ironic that i was so concerned about being malnourished & supplimenting on a vegan diet whereas previously i was chowing down on chicken nuggets, coke and french fries without supplimenting a whole host of other nutrients i was missing. Just out of curiosity... which brand do you use for B12?

[Espirito]

I'm from Portugal.

I was vegetarian ( Egg, milk, cheese ) for about 7 years.
I changed recently ( 6 months ) to frutarian.

My body is nice, but i'm gonna work to another company, and i can't eat the enough fruits.
And honestly i can't be social with this life style.

I want to return to vegan or vegetarian, but with healthy foods.

I'm thinking in this at the moment.

[clouddog]

Hi

I was bought up omni, went vegetarian for 18 mo from age 13 as an overweight child. It didn't help, i lived on cheese and bread.
Went back to omni, went vegetarian for the reason that we have the choice. 10 years later i was vegan for 6 months, but i found the lack of variety impossible. I didn't have the internet. I didn't have a local cruelty free shop, (well not that near, not in my city.)
Then i went back to vegetarian and eventually to omni again, God knows why. I think i was low in energy and probably had a health deficiency like iron deficiency that i didn't know about. I know that eating meat made me feel tons better immediately and then I don't know why, but i didn't look back for 10 years. I think when i was in psychiatric hospitals for a year, I remembered unhealthy cheese and thought meat would actually be healthier, by the time i was out i was used to meat. It was around the same time.

So then i was chatting on line last week and someone mentioned being vegan and like a lightning strike i knew i wanted to be that person again.

Again - we have the choice and i do remember

I have been transitioning imperfectly for 5 days.