I am a Vegan.
Well, my food choices are Vegan.
I see the looks people give when you tell them you're a Vegan. They roll their eyes and treat you like you're part of some cult or religious group. Vegan is not just about food but this is the part that gets the most attention when you tell someone you are a Vegan.
My wife and I started on this Vegan journey together over two years ago. At first I was worried that I was going to starve to death but I can tell you that I haven't. It hasn't been too bad. Now I won't tell you that I am 100% Vegan. I'm certainly not militant about this but I have done it and it really hasn't been as bad as I thought it would be.
Unfortunately I have noticed the squirrely looks people give when we say we are Vegans. Yes, it is a different type of eating but it is really no different than people who have their own quirks about their own food choices. I mean, you got people who won't eat certain foods together, don't want their food touching each other or a variety of other personal choices so being Vegan isn't that much different. I have discovered that the main thing non-Vegans have a problem with is that we don't eat meat. Why do people have issues with that? I have heard people say: "I have to have my meat." But, honestly, you don't. I will be honest and say that sometimes I still want some fried chicken or chicken fingers but I haven't felt like I have "missed" it. Meat was never a big deal to me even before I started Vegan eating. I was already eating less meat. In fact, I would often take the meat off of my burgers because the best part was all the fixings on the burger for me anyway. I have tried the various plant-based meats such as Beyond Burger, Impossible Burger and other plant-based creations as a substitute for the real meat. I can tell you that I can still do without the "fake" meat.
I will tell you that I am not overboard with the Vegan food. I'm still not fond of tofu although my wife's son (who is not Vegan) can really cook anything and make it taste good. He's the only one that makes tofu that I really like. Our daughter-in-law (who is Vegan) can also put together some good food options too. Fortunately there are other substitutes you can add to make Vegan food edible. My wife and I have discovered a lot of ways to substitute ingredients to make our meals Vegan. It really hasn't been that hard to do. The main ingredients in most baking is milk and eggs but we've been able to make the change and still have biscuits, cookies and other food without sacrificing taste.
The one thing I thought I would have a hard time with is cheese but the Vegan cheeses aren't too bad. My favorite brand is Follow Your Heart which makes it difficult to tell the difference or that you are even missing the "real" cheese. As for milk, I wasn't a huge milk drinker before so switching to other milks such as Almond, Soy or Oat hasn't been a huge sacrifice.
While on the subject of milk, I have been enlightened about milk. I used to think there were "dairy cows" specifically for making our milk. If you want to be grossed out, look it up and you may never think of cow's milk the same way again. That's another thing - who came up with the idea that humans should drink cow's milk anyway? That's just kinda weird. Shouldn't we be drinking our own milk? Yep, that sounds gross doesn't it but really why cow's milk? I'm not going to freak out if there is cow's milk in something I'm eating but I'm not drinking a glass of it anymore although I wasn't doing that anyway.
Do I feel healthier by eating a Vegan menu? No, I can't honestly say that I feel any different but I feel better now than when I was eating meat - especially pork. I was already having issues when eating BBQ. In fact, I was liking everything on a BBQ sandwich except for the pork.
I will be honest and say there are some times when it sucks to be Vegan. It seriously limits your options of where to eat. If you join a group to eat out, you are sometimes limited to the salad or fries as your only options. For me, I'm good with ordering a burger and just taking the meat off but I guess that's defeating the whole purpose of being a Vegan. Sometimes you get caught it a difficult spot so you either can't eat or eat very little. For the most part, people that know us have been thoughtful about our Vegan choices and have tried their best to accommodate us.
Being Vegan doesn't mean I'm trying to convert the world to my way of thinking (or eating). I certainly don't look weird a people who eat meat. It's a choice and everyone has their freedom to eat whatever they want. I just get tired of the weird looks or snide comments I have gotten about being Vegan. A former co-worker used to be a smart ass about my Vegan choices by saying: "But for Milton we will have to make black bean burgers because he's Veeeegan." Yeah, okay whatever. Honestly I'd rather not come to your cookout anyway and not because of the food. Boom!
Like I said, I'm not a militant Vegan so you might "catch" me eating something non-Vegan but I have adjusted pretty well and I'm not going to go hungry.
