I read so many people in here who have unsupportive families. And the person is seeking advice on how to explain to their familys why we eat the way we choose.
I get tired of all the ribbing I get at work, and I don't know why I bother trying to explain to them. They don't really care, yet they seem to be on a mission to trip you up.
I need to think of a way to mess with their heads.
There's probably some psychological thing in there. Like, perhaps they're subconsciously appalled that someone who's among the few in the world who has access to nearly unlimited kinds of food would choose to severely limit what they will eat. And also to possibly endanger their bodies with lack of nutrition.
Vegetarianism has been around for ages. The term 'vegan' wasn't coined until the 1940s. There are and have been civilizations with a large vegetarian population. Not so for vegan. It takes a while for things to be accepted.
SEVERELY limit???
Ummm ok, I think the typical Meat eating diet is SEVERELY limited...
Be vegan, eat delicious looking food, and let them drool while they eat overcooked, dry, animal carcass burgers...
Original Post by bigbitty:
SEVERELY limit???
Ummm ok, I think the typical Meat eating diet is SEVERELY limited...
Be vegan, eat delicious looking food, and let them drool while they eat overcooked, dry, animal carcass burgers...
And what of those of us who eat mountains of broccoli, bright orange carrots and delicious roasted peppers and red onions with our animal carcass? >.>
Original Post by gpat919:
I read so many people in here who have unsupportive families. And the person is seeking advice on how to explain to their familys why we eat the way we choose.
I get tired of all the ribbing I get at work, and I don't know why I bother trying to explain to them. They don't really care, yet they seem to be on a mission to trip you up.
I need to think of a way to mess with their heads.
Why don't you just tell people you really don't discuss this topic in the work place? If they are really curious about going veg themselves or have real questions maybe you could offer your home email address or something. Or just tell them where to get free info like at calorie-count.com:) or vegweb.com
Most people at my work know I am vegan because they always want to know what I am eating because it usually looks better than their crappy TV dinners. I work in a professional environment so I really don't get the kind of comments that you are dealing with.
In the past in less than professional jobs I have had I usually reply with something like:
"I don't discuss politics at work"
"I refuse to discuss this while you are eating"
"Are we playing the SHOCK the vegetarian game again? Trust me I have already heard it all. You cannot offend me. I know PETA-People for the Eating of Tasty Animals jokes and all that"
But if people have honest non-offensive questions I am more than happy to discuss it as long as I can do it without making them feel defensive or offended. I don't like to come off as judgmental.
With friends and family I am much more open and candid but I still will not talk about it over a meal or special events like holidays.
You know what else might win over your co-workers?
Make a big batch of vegan sweets for them! Peanutbutter Rice Krispie treats go over pretty well. So do chocolate chip cookies. There is an awesome recipe on silkissoy.com called Akasha's Chocolate Chip Cookies.
My best friend has a "Vegetarian Fest" every Fall (this Saturday is the 10th annual). Basically, each guest brings vegetarian food. Can be anything from main courses to desserts. Of the 20+ people who show, only a couple are vegetarians. It's a good way to show people the wide variety of food they can eat without animals in it. Oh my gosh, some of the dishes are sooooo good!
Maybe try something like that?
Original Post by pezzle:
Original Post by bigbitty:
SEVERELY limit???
Ummm ok, I think the typical Meat eating diet is SEVERELY limited...
Be vegan, eat delicious looking food, and let them drool while they eat overcooked, dry, animal carcass burgers...
And what of those of us who eat mountains of broccoli, bright orange carrots and delicious roasted peppers and red onions with our animal carcass? >.>
No offence, but that is still what I consider SEVERELY limited:
In a typical day your food variety should be between 20-30, sez nutritionists.
Example:
Oats + raisins+orange juice+wheat germ+LSA
Banana+Mandarine
Mulitigrain Bread+tofu+spinach(fresh)+red onions+some type of flavourful sauce+carrots+cucumber+Avocado
hummus+tahini+celery+carrot stick
Beans+onion+Bell Pepper+Garlic+Mushrooms+Zuchinni+Brown Rice+Brocolli side+tomato slices+lettuce
And thats a conservative day, I haven't even began to get into the alternative grains, the types of beans, the other vegetables, the squash/marrows, the basic/tropical/exotic fruits that Australia is quite abundant in. I also haven't journeyed into the land of wholefood supplements including nutritional yeast, brewers yeast, torula yeast, blackstrap molasses, fenugreek, sesame seeds, pepitas, and an Entire Universe of Spices.
Sorry, I plan and prepare peoples meals for a living, so food variety is one of my strong points now, and yes it is all 100% vegan.
So dead animal, plus 1 or 2 common veggies, and antipasto, is nice for weight loss, and life simplicity, but it is SEVERELY LIMITED...
That's a great menu and of course a vegan diet can be very varied in scope.... But there are limitations, of course there are. Something as simple as going to a typical restaurant, looking down the menu and finding there are only one or two suitable choices.... that's a limitation. Or cruising the average supermarket where only 2/3 of the aisles contain acceptable foods. A lot of the posts on this board accentuate the limitations.... 'am I allowed to eat xyz?', 'is xyz food vegan?', 'how I miss eating xyz', 'how do I explain I don't eat xyz?' The emphasis being on what they can't eat, rather than (unlike yourself) the abundance of what they can. Whereas the omnivore, by definition, has no limitations beyond personal taste, imagination and budget. 'Am I allowed to eat this...?' isn't a question you hear often unless the omnivore in question belongs to a particular religion or has some kind of medical problem. They could eat everything you describe on that excellent list...... and some of us do.... plus.
Original Post by gi-jane:
That's a great menu and of course a vegan diet can be very varied in scope.... But there are limitations, of course there are. Something as simple as going to a typical restaurant, looking down the menu and finding there are only one or two suitable choices.... that's a limitation. Or cruising the average supermarket where only 2/3 of the aisles contain acceptable foods. A lot of the posts on this board accentuate the limitations.... 'am I allowed to eat xyz?', 'is xyz food vegan?', 'how I miss eating xyz', 'how do I explain I don't eat xyz?' The emphasis being on what they can't eat, rather than (unlike yourself) the abundance of what they can. Whereas the omnivore, by definition, has no limitations beyond personal taste, imagination and budget. 'Am I allowed to eat this...?' isn't a question you hear often unless the omnivore in question belongs to a particular religion or has some kind of medical problem. They could eat everything you describe on that excellent list...... and some of us do.... plus.
We are all omnivores, which means we have a choice. We can eat meat if we wanted to. We choose not to so most of us do not consider it limiting. It is actually liberating for us and the animals.
Why do you presume I ONLY eat one or two common veggies? I do get 5 meals a day you know... not all of which involve animal carcass. Many involve beans, many more involve wheat berries and capsicum. I eat pretty much everything besides eggplant and try to eat as big a variety of veggies as I can afford (and believe me, right now its much more affordable than meat!)
"We choose not to so most of us do not consider it limiting"
I think you're confusing 'limiting' with 'limited' as in ... having limits/boundaries, working within certain parameters, the acceptable vs the unacceptable... self-imposed rules but rules nonetheless. To paraphrase Henry Ford... free to have any colour car you wanted as long as it was black.
I don't have a problem with vegetarianism/veganism (on a side note, what is the asterix for? I've seen it a couple times and I'm curious), in fact, I used to be a vegetarian. But I think what bothers a lot of people is the feeling that people who don't eat meat think that meat eaters are somehow wrong, unenlightened, or bad people. And this puts a lot of people, including me, on the defensive. While you may very well believe that a meat eater is a horrible person for eating meat, it doesn't help convince them to see the light to criticize their food choices. And most vegetarians/vegans don't do this, but maybe some people expect them to, so they harass them about it? I don't know, just some ideas.
Original Post by emilyd22222:
I don't have a problem with vegetarianism/veganism (on a side note, what is the asterix for? I've seen it a couple times and I'm curious)
Writing Veg*n is a way of saying both vegetarian and vegan at once, just a way of shortening it instead of having to say vegetarianism/veganism :)
Original Post by laur3nmae:
Original Post by emilyd22222:
I don't have a problem with vegetarianism/veganism (on a side note, what is the asterix for? I've seen it a couple times and I'm curious)
Writing Veg*n is a way of saying both vegetarian and vegan at once, just a way of shortening it instead of having to say vegetarianism/veganism :)
Ahhh! That will come in handy. Thanks!
Original Post by gi-jane:
"We choose not to so most of us do not consider it limiting"
I think you're confusing 'limiting' with 'limited' as in ... having limits/boundaries, working within certain parameters, the acceptable vs the unacceptable... self-imposed rules but rules nonetheless. To paraphrase Henry Ford... free to have any colour car you wanted as long as it was black.
Henry Ford is not telling us what to eat, nobody is. It is a choice we make because we think it it the right choice. I am really offended that you come in here and preach your pro-meat agenda. Take it somewhere else please-per the forum rules. We shouldn't have to deal with this.
Just to the people who are persisting in talking about how LIMITED the veg*n diets are, everyone lives within boundaries my friends. Thats is why people don't tend to eat people, or dog crap on the road, its all "technically edible" but I do not consider it "food"
I do not look at a cow at a farm and think about how I would just love to eat it, and I do not look at a steak is a restaurant and feel it either, and you can be doubley certain that I don't look at all of the people I know thinking about how succulent and juicy they would be...
So no, I don't limit myself from eating all of the FOODS available. I do however limit myself from eating non-food items, like meat, rocks, tree bark, mud pies... and the list goes on...
On and for anyone who is wondering, I have nothing against anyone who eats differently than me, but I do have something against people who try to insist that their diet is superior to my own, and try to make me explain myself/my ethics to them. Those people get a peice of my mind.
So you can log your weight -- which allows you to do the following:
- Plot your weight curve
- Analyze the trend of your weight (see under Recent in the figure above)
- Determine the projected target date (see under Overall in the figure above)
