Are you a vegan?

Hi,

I’m not a vegan. I know one of the more outspoken vegetarians on the site is filletofspam. Might want to Fun Mail him for some tips, he knows a lot about vegan stuff too :)

Like I explained in other answers vegan is a lifestyle not just a diet. A vegan in addition to not eating any animal products uses no animal products whenever possible. I still have leather shoes and belts so I’m in no way a vegan. Some people use the term “pure vegetarian” to descirbe someone who eats no animal products but doesn’t follow the non-dietetic aspects of veganism.

I’ve been a lacto-ovo vegetarian since Spring of 1980. The last several years I’ve been trying to eat closer to a pure vegetarian diet. One time I did stay on a low-fat pure vegetarian diet for 6 months and lost 50 lbs and my allergies got worlds better so I’m convinced that this is the healthiest way to eat. The biggest problem I have with a pure vegetarian diet is the way it isolates you from other people. Being a lacto-ovo vegetarian already isolates you a bit from other people but being a vegan makes you a complete outcast. Generally you can only eat specially prepared food. Other than a dry baked potato and a salad with no cheese and vinegar and oil for dressing there is nothing vegans can order at most restaurants.

I still see veganism as the ideal but I find that I have to be more flexible to coexist with omnivores.

Good luck with it!

ilovejeremys: I’m not so much trying to seek approval from meat eaters as to coexist with them. I did the pure vegetarian thing for 6 months and while I do view this as a better diet from a health point of view I’m not willing to go that far when all my friends and most of my family still eats meat. While there is room for improvement I think my current diet is pretty darn healthy and being a vegetarian for 27 years should have spared many animals and many tons of CO2.

I am seeking out alternatives for leather products. Do you order form moo shoes? On-line their products look good but I hate to buy shoes without being able to try them on first.

Hi :) Yeah, I am a ‘’pure’’ vegan, I don’t have any leather shoes, don’t eat any animal products and just generally have compassion for all living things. I really don’t care that being vegan make you a ‘’complete outcast’’. It’s so much better to be origional and follow your own path then to become part of the majority and follow the crowd like sheep. Why do you care about what other people think of you? Shouldn’t you just do what you feel is right, instead of caring what everyone else thinks of you?

I’ve tried, does that count.

im a vegan!!!

No but im a vegetarian.

Yes I’m a vegan and I am so happy to be one.

I’ve been a vegetarian all my life.. and I was a vegetarian until I was about 11. Im used to it =]

I am vegan, and have been for 5 years, I am very glad I’m one!