So I started the year with Veganuary and in all honesty I didn't do it for the animals. I did it because I'm fat and seriously out of shape.I got into it for health reasons. Being a vegan and having a plant-based diet is scientifically the easiest and healthiest way to lose tons of weight and get good nutrition. I went through Veganuary ordered 6 cookbooks. Watched hundreds of youtube videos and discovered amazing things (seitan?! holy shit).Along the way I mentioned to a vegan that I was doing it for health reasons and not for the animals. And they said, "oh just wait." I didn't know what that meant. I do now.Along the way as I'm reading articles about health and weight loss and watching tons of amazing videos (shoutout to Happy Pear, AvantGardeVegan, and Edgy Veg) I start reading about animal welfare. I actually look up how animals are raised. I find a book called the inner life of animals and start reading it.And what I find is nothing short of heartbreaking.I use humor to talk to my non-vegan wife about it but I frequently throw out the get him to the greek quote. "I asked is it ok, made some phone calls... turns out it isn't."I haven't had any meat in 2018 and I intend to keep it that way. And the more I read the more I was turned off by dairy. My wife came home from a business trip and she still has a carton of regular milk but the fridge is full of soy milk now and I was like "I dunno... I just think this tastes better ya know?" But the big one that got me with dairy was kids.I have two kids. And after they were born there really is nothing that can describe how intensely my wife was bonded with them and I read about how cows and pigs and sheep interact with their offspring and it is exactly the same. And so when I read about baby cows being forcibly taken from screaming moms it hit me in the chest. That animal feels nothing but pain and separation and fear.And then I was still like "but hunting is ok... I mean its a quick death"And I read posts on here from hunters talking about how birds and squirrels will land on them and play with them and deer and crows will interact with them but one hunter said, "As soon as I kill no animal will come near me."There is an intelligence in them so far beyond what we can understand.But from my journey so far, what I will say is... I love the recipes I'm finding. I feel way better after dinner. Not just from an ethical standpoint but from a health standpoint as well. I feel refreshed after a meal instead of being weighed down.That is something my non-vegan meat loving wife has even commented on. I made sweet potato boats topped with crispy chickpeas and tahini for dinner the other day and she was amazed at the flavors and how amazing it was.My only main bullet point is... be kind. Don't be militant. Some of y'all here are seriously militant and it's a huge turn off. I think you can see from what I've just typed that as we each make this discovery on our own we find out that we're causing pain to sentient beings. Like the KV quote, "Damnit baby you've got to be kind." We're all imperfect.Anyway... those are my thoughts.And it was this post that made me type this. I did it for me, but it has become about "we". As corny as that is.No breakfast is worth a creature that is as smart as a child suffering and dying in fear. via /r/vegan http://ift.tt/2F7IdUj
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