3 Reasons Why Veganism Is Tough
- Vittoria
- Sep 23, 2017
- 8 min read
The initial reaction everybody has when I tell them I am vegan is: “Wow, it must have been so difficult!”. And unfortunately I have to disappoint them because even though veganism is mostly known for the things you can’t eat or can’t do, I discovered it’s really all about the things you can do when you stop revolving your life around food.
It is really much easier than people think; apart from the initial two weeks when I had to transition my diet, and the few frustrations of discovering animal products in the most unthinkable of places. Other than that, I can only think of 3 times when I thought being vegan was challenging:
[if !supportLists]1. Others
I believe the biggest challenge, by far, is facing our society; in other words, having to deal with all the prejudice, misconception, and close-mindness that comes with the word "vegan". Usually when you say “vegan” people think: extremists, attention seekers, perfectionists, preachers, judgy, haters, hippies, hipsters, tree-huggers, salad-eaters, and the list goes on. If you look on the internet you will see that vegan is the new dirty word so it can be really difficult to openly talk about it without getting bashed by others.
In fact, when I transitioned I decided to keep it to myself, unless someone would ask me a direct question about it. I was afraid people would think I was imposing my ideals on them or that I was hypocritical because I had been eating burgers till the day before. It took 7 months for my colleagues to realise, and for me to talk about it with them, but at that point I had time on my side to prove it wasn’t just a phase. I didn’t want to contribute to veganism’s bad reputation by seeming preachy or trying to convince others to do something they are not interested in doing. I am a stronger believer that there is very little you can do to change someone's mind when they are set in their ways. We have an Italian expression literally translating: “there isn't a better deaf than someone who doesn't want to listen”.
Don’t get me wrong, I am always open to answer questions and share ideas when someone is genuinely curious, but the reality of the matter is that talking about something that goes against common believes is very difficult. Food means so much more to people than simple "fuel": we are emotionally invested, we think of it as a reward, a sign of love, a present, an occasion to socialise. We connect memories and places to the cuisine, and experience traditions by sharing recipes. So attempting to explain to someone that what they are doing is killing the planet and themselves always results in an emotional and not a logical response. I found people to become defensive and to take everything as a personal criticism, which I completely understand as nobody wants to be told they are doing something wrong. And I am exactly the same: I never changed my lifestyle just because someone told me to. I smoked and ate unhealthy for years, I wouldn’t exercise or move my butt from the couch, and it didn’t matter what compelling, convincing speech someone would give me. I wasn’t ready!
So what I do instead is leading by example: I live my life, filled with friends, events, amazing colourful food, and that shows that being vegan is as normal as any other lifestyle and doesn't deprive me of any fun or joy! All I can do, without getting into arguments with everyone, is providing a living model of what being vegan can be, and sooner or later people will get more comfortable with the concept and start getting curious. When that will happen I will explain that this is actually a life of abundance, compassion and creativity, and with little effort everybody can make the switch and keep on living just as they did before. Because I did!
2. New Flavours & Cravings
The second mountain I had to overcome was all the new flavours and strong cravings that hunted me in the initial weeks of transitioning to veganism. After I removed all animal products from my kitchen I felt so empowered and sure of my motives that I knew I could never look back. However, the first period was definitely hard because I was out of my comfort zone and I mindlessly reached for things that weren’t there anymore. I would get frustrated having to check for labels and triple check what I could and couldn’t eat because I just used to grab whatever I wanted without worrying.
Day two I needed some milk for my cereals so I went to the supermarket and picked some coconut milk. When I poured it in the bowl I was so disheartened at how watery it was and not creamy as I expected it! Of course it didn’t taste like milk, but it had a pleasant flavour of coconut (duh) and even if the first experience didn’t wow me, during the next few days I started getting used to it until I absolutely loved it.
It only takes 21 days to make a lifestyle change, so if you are really committed to change something in your life just persevere until it becomes second nature. I used to have a really bad relationship with food, and my diet prior to veganism was pretty much junk food and comfort food. I knew I was going to struggle because I would reward myself with the unhealthiest of things. So I filled my pantry of all the faux alternative foods I could find in case I would get any cravings. I was ready to tackle the times when I wanted something cheesy, something greasy, something sweet. And it worked! It took some adjustment because my brain wanted something very specific and the alternative was not always quite the same, but I was determined.
Then few months into veganism the unthinkable happened: I went out for dinner and I ordered a veggie burger without cheese, however after couple of bites into the burger I discovered that the patty was filled with mozzarella. Being Italian, I used to have mozzarella as a meal of its own and I absolutely loved the stuff. However…I GAGGED! It was slimy and salty and it tasted like feet so I spat the entire thing on the plate. I was in disbelief! How could something I used to love taste so alien to me? This happened again and again in the next months: I could taste butter in cookies I forgot to check and my mom made me egg pasta once (without thinking I couldn’t have egg), and both times I spat it out after a bite because it tasted weird.
Our taste buds have the ability to change and adapt quickly, and even though our taste sense changes, our brain still connects certain foods to certain memories, and it remembers the way it felt while eating those things. That is why is so difficult to stop cravings: our brain imprints an emotional reaction to foods due to the chemical response they cause, and it can get addictive. To give you an example one of the biggest thing people claim they can’t live without is cheese and that is because cheese contain a compound called casomorphin. If it sounds familiar it is because casomorphin comes from the same family of morphine and it shares the same opioid properties. When you eat cheese your brain goes into a state of euphoria, and when you stop your body goes into withdrawal. However, as it happened to me, if you abstain for a while you might crave it but not enjoy it when you actually eat it!
After the initial struggle my diet changed effortlessly over the course of a year and even if at first I needed to have all those faux replacement foods because my brain craved those old sensations, now I rarely eat them because my cravings have completely changed. My new passion is for hummus, a nice bruschetta, roast potatoes, veggie pizzas, Linda McCartney’s sausages, banana ice cream, peanut butter, a curry with coconut rice, or simply a fruity hot bowl of porridge.
What is fantastic about all of this, is that my body is starting to crave the feeling I get when I eat healthily and so being healthy has became my new comfort zone just by overcoming the frustration in the few initial weeks.
3) Perfectionism
The last challenge was coming to terms with the fact that I will never be 100% vegan.
It didn’t take me long to realize that because we live in a predominantly non-vegan world there is a very long list of things that contain animal products: alcohol, car tires, medicines, money, TVs and mobile phones components, condoms and contraception pills; and a bigger list of things tested on animals: post-it, cleaning products, make up, bandages, Kleenex, Vaseline and even Bic pens! Besides, most vegan food comes from restaurants or supermarkets that offer also non-vegan products; by paying taxes we might be funding non-vegan initiatives; even Pret A Manger, the company that started the vegan revolution of sandwich chains by opening a veggie only store in central London, is owned by McDonald’s. Somehow my money always ends up, one way or another, in the hands of companies I do not want to sponsor because I am surrounded by them!
It felt so saddening and frustrating that despite my strong intention to live this way, I couldn’t lead a "perfect" vegan life.
The above list is not to try to discourage you, but to reassure you that every single person who is vegan today is not perfect and at some point had to draw the line to what veganism meant to them by deciding what they found unacceptable and what they were willing to bypass. And that is what I did too and with time my ideas changed and so did my lifestyle. I am definitely not the same person as when I started this journey and I am sure there isn't one person out there whom is doing exactly what I am doing today. Some might only have a vegan diet, or still eat honey, or wear leather, and some might live in the forest and eat only what comes from their land. It doesn’t matter what everybody else is doing, what really matters is the intention, the pledge that one makes to actively work towards a kinder world. So after anger and sadness, it came acceptance.
If you read the definition or veganism: “a way of living which seeks to exclude, as far as is possible and practicable, all animal suffering”; you will see that nobody is asking for perfection, just for the best one can do! All lifestyles are ever changing, so you are going to learn a lot of things along the way and sometimes through making mistakes. We shouldn't stop trying to do the right thing just because we can't fully do it to perfection. If we adopted that mentality we wouldn't be able to do anything, because as humans we cannot be perfect and should not strive for it in the first place. Just do your best with the circumstances you have been given and constantly revisit your effort because tomorrow you might be able to do a little more.
To conclude, if you don’t really care about what other people think; you are not too fussed about having to suppress some initial cravings and if you are not bothered by perfectionism you are definitely a perfect candidate! I hope this was interesting and busted some myths about what you can expect by going vegan, plus everybody has different stories and experiences so always go and see it for yourself!
If you are vegan, have you experienced the same challenges, or some completely different ones?
And if you are considering becoming vegan what are the deal breakers that scare you to move forward?
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