eating disorders and vegetarianism/veganism
so basically, i became vegetarian originally because it was easier to restrict without having to make excuses. this gave me a strong passion for animals and protesting against animal torture. so i decided to become vegan.
i was vegan for about a year, and then my bulimia came back and i wanted to binge on EVERYTHING. i had an amy's pizza, with lactic acid in it... and from there everything just fell down hill. i had icecream, pizza, chocolate... everything in one day.
i feel like s*** because my eating disorder has basically overpowered my passion for animals. i want to go back to veganism, but it's harder than ever. plus i can now do things with my friends, like going out to dinner and being able to get more than a glass of water or a garden salad.
can anyone relate? i feel like i have no right protesting against animal torture now being JUST vegetarian. =/
I'm sorry to hear that you're struggling with bulimia in addition to a moral dilemma! Let me encourage you that you can be an animal rights activist AND an omnivore at the same time. I watched some of the BBC's Planet Earth today, which made me think of this. Animals eat each other to survive. Animals need to be eaten by predators to control their own population in order to survive. There is a difference between eating an animal that's been killed in a humane way and eating one that hasn't. Do your research, and find out which farms are fare trade, which ones raise their chickens outside of cages, and which ones let their pigs roam free. Many slaughterhouses in the Midwest are very humane. Some are not. Find out which ones are and show them you appreciate their effort by buying their products.
Boycotting animal products is not the only way you can make a difference for tortured animals. Supporting companies who also care about the same cause doubles the effect.
Bless you today as you strive to change the world and remain healthy!
Original Post by caldwellc:
I'm sorry to hear that you're struggling with bulimia in addition to a moral dilemma! Let me encourage you that you can be an animal rights activist AND an omnivore at the same time. I watched some of the BBC's Planet Earth today, which made me think of this. Animals eat each other to survive. Animals need to be eaten by predators to control their own population in order to survive. There is a difference between eating an animal that's been killed in a humane way and eating one that hasn't. Do your research, and find out which farms are fare trade, which ones raise their chickens outside of cages, and which ones let their pigs roam free. Many slaughterhouses in the Midwest are very humane. Some are not. Find out which ones are and show them you appreciate their effort by buying their products.
Boycotting animal products is not the only way you can make a difference for tortured animals. Supporting companies who also care about the same cause doubles the effect.
Bless you today as you strive to change the world and remain healthy!
i still don't eat meat, and i try and eat cage-free eggs and dairy from small farms... but it still doesn't feel the same as being vegan. it's almost as if i'm doing it half-way or half-a**.
but yeah, i agree with you. i'm all for hunting, if it's done like the native's used to do it. things like seal clubbing are just absurd. and farming is also necessary if it's small farms. massively producing meat is totally unneccessary. i work at a grocery store and i see how much of the meat just gets tossed. and for people to say that killing so many animals is necessary... well i'd like to show them the backroom with all the unbought, rotten meat.
and thank you. <3 taking it one day at a time with this demon bulimia...
Hi,
i'm also vegan/vegetarian. i go back and forth between the two. i'll be vegan for a couple years and then have a few months being vegetarian. i just try to listen to what my body is telling me. sometimes i just feel depleted on a straight vegan diet. i think you can be ethical both ways. when i'm vegetarian i eat organic yogurt and organic cage free eggs. i think both of these are ok because they are more like by products than lives, and the way they are obtained is pretty humane. i support animal rights and feel totally ok doing so even when i'm being vegetarian. giving myself the ok to eat eggs and yogurt once in a while keeps me from binging on things that are unhealthy and unethical. hope this helps!!
anna
i have been vegetarian and mostly vegan for a long time, but i started eating more strictly vegan since having an eating disorder. i originally felt guilty that it may have began out of restriction rather than animal rights, but i now know that it was unrelated and simply a natural progression of my vegetarianism. that being said, i am still in the process of challenging myself to recover, and will occaisionally eat the rare dairy or egg product around my family to prove to them that i am not being overly restrictive this early in recovery. when my mindset is healthier i am going back to veganism and i can't wait! incentive to get out of anorexia and into health! believe me, i understand exactly what you're going through.
Don't beat yourself up - you may have only experienced a nutritional craving. You are allowed to eat food and still be a good person!
Many people who restrict their diets for moral/political purposes share emotional reactions / qualities with those who suffer from eating disorders. I was just reading some stories the other day on Fruititarian health benefits / risks, that could be interesting reading for you:
I find your commitment to animal rights amazing but you still must remember to take care of yourself before you worry about the animals. I'm sure that you can become a vegan once again but make sure that you wait until you are ready and you're bulimia is not a problem anymore.
I can uderstand what you're saying though. I'm in high school and I literally can not be a vegan. I don't have a job so I can't do much food shopping on my own. The best I can do is eat plenty of fruits/vegetables and vegetarian food. Even the college I go to next year is not the best for catering to vegans. I want to make the leap but when you're not making all of your meals it seems pretty impossible.
Still, I'm sure will both be vegans before long. : )
Original Post by whatisbeautiful:
so basically, i became vegetarian originally because it was easier to restrict without having to make excuses.
That's your problem, right there... you've since rationalised the behaviour as 'caring for animals' but if you're fundamentally using veganism or vegetarianism as a smokescreen for an eating disorder you've never really tackled the original problem. It's a lot more common than you might think.
Go to see a doctor as soon as possible. It doesn't matter is someone is a vegan, vegetarian or omnivore... if they're starving & bingeing they're sick and they need help. You need expert clinical help.
Original Post by gi-jane:
Original Post by whatisbeautiful:
so basically, i became vegetarian originally because it was easier to restrict without having to make excuses.
That's your problem, right there... you've since rationalised the behaviour as 'caring for animals' but if you're fundamentally using veganism or vegetarianism as a smokescreen for an eating disorder you've never really tackled the original problem. It's a lot more common than you might think.
Go to see a doctor as soon as possible. It doesn't matter is someone is a vegan, vegetarian or omnivore... if they're starving & bingeing they're sick and they need help. You need expert clinical help.
i have seen a doctor, actually. and i've been referred to an eating disorders clinic.
i'll admit that my eating disorder is obviously a big issue, and becoming vegetarian was some sort of connection to the disease without the actual disease. howwwever, throughout my recovery and relapses i've always had a passion for animals. my desire to help animals is being overpowered by my disease now, opposite to what it started out as.
Without wishing to be too anthropocentric.... If you're sick, your needs take priority over a) other people's needs and b) animals' needs. If being healthy means you follow a vegetarian or even an omnivorous diet then that's what you have to do.
People with eating disorders generally have all kinds of food phobias and definitions of 'unacceptable foods'. In your case it happens to be anything with an animal connection and you're lucky because that's been normalised as 'veganism'. In other cases people fear/reject foods containing certain ingredients. Other people have a problem with eating in public. Yet more will not be able to eat a 'high calorie' food. They're not so lucky because there isn't a recognised subset of 'Not-Eating-In-Public-atarians' etc. In all cases, in order to recover, everyone has to overcome their fears and objections.... however unappealing it might be in the first instance.
NB You can legitimately protest against animal cruelty and be omnivorous. There is no incompatibility.
