onismlife

Hey everyone, I've been on this site now for a couple weeks but haven't interacted much. Life is just a bit hectic (and I'm preparing for a trip to Nepal/Everest in a few weeks).

Just thought I'd share my vegan journey. Although I was somewhat vegan for a year around 1999, I didn't know what I was doing then and ended up giving it up. In January 2016, I was laid off from a job I'd had for 10 years. In the shock and panic, I decided immediately (literally on the drive home) that I'd give up meat. I needed to cut costs, quickly. And, I knew meat wouldn't give me much bang for buck. Before I go further though, I thought I'd also mention - I think to some extent I was always meant to be vegan, from childhood. I was never a huge meat eater. In fact, I haven't had any red meat or pork (or anything that wasn't chicken or turkey) since the late 1990s. It just always made me feel gross. I also haven't had regular milk in probably two decades, preferring soy milk. Sometimes I think that I was like 75% of the way to veganism already, but couldn't give up the lighter meats.

Anyway, after the layoff, I was basically vegetarian for almost a year. Then one day, I'm not even sure how or why, I stumbled onto a video on Youtube called "Dairy is Scary," which is 5 minutes long. Literally that moment, I saw what the dairy industry was, and decided immediately I'd never contribute directly to another animal's suffering. For me there were also ethical questions in that I just didn't believe humans 'had a right' to animals. Once I saw the light, there was no going back for me.

Initially, I was a very vocal vegan - perhaps the most annoying kind. Wore the shirts, talked about it any chance I got (even unprompted), got into arguments, lost friends, the works. It took me almost two years to realize that wasn't the right path. I had decided I would be a living, breathing example of thriving on veganism, and I turned myself into an endurance athlete. My role model back then was Rich Roll. I started cycling a lot, running a lot, lifting weights a lot, doing yoga, swimming - everything. I wanted to show people that you can thrive and be strong while on a plant based diet. Along the way, I realized my recovery times from hard efforts were cut down, I was feeling great, I looked 15 years younger than my age and I was happy eating vegan. I wasn't lacking for anything. I had also quieted down my criticisms of people, and simply lived vegan 'under the surface.' I visited animal/farm sanctuaries, donate to animal causes regularly, and try to purchase things smartly. If someone had a question about how I was living, I'd answer honestly and enthusiastically.

I guess what I'm mostly trying to say is that a vegan diet isn't a barrier to anything. While it still constantly hurts me to think of all the animals we are not able to save, I think living your life as a good example is a admirable big step for the cause.

Thanks for reading!