Hello and welcome to Eight Years In! And if you’re returning, a warm welcome back. I’ve been vegan for a long time—ten years now. And I have to admit, it hasn’t always been easy. 

   Back when I first went vegan, veganism was incredibly uncommon where I live. I had never met another vegan in real life. Plant based replacement products were scarce. And the ones that did exist, I didn’t have much access to, as my family didn’t have very much money for groceries. Since I was a minor, I didn’t get to decide what  it was spent on either. But I went vegan, and I stayed vegan. Here’s what has kept me from being an ex-vegan. 

I still care about the ethics of veganism

   I definitely want to stress the ethics first and foremost. Because if I didn’t agree with the ethics of veganism, I would have gone back to being a more “normal” person many years ago. 

   The fact is, it broke my heart to know what we do to animals in the name of the pork chops and quesadillas that I liked so much. It made me open my eyes and understand that something was very wrong. And while I knew that I could not fix this problem alone, I didn’t want to contribute to it, if at all possible. No matter how many years go by, I still know that. 

   When I feel myself getting complacent I show myself again what the animals go through and I ask myself “are their lives worth my convenience? Are their lives worth my pleasure? Are their lives worth me getting to feel like I fit in?” I am tragically human. And I admit I have selfish moments where sometimes I think about how it would be easier not to be vegan. But the honest answer to these questions is no. Their lives are worth more than these things. No matter how I may be feeling in a fleeting moment. 

I try to stay healthy

   I think there’s something to be said for junk food veganism. If you’re truly in this for the animals and you don’t care about your health, I can understand that perspective. That being said, I don’t subscribe to the idea that health is something that should be undervalued or thrown away because taking care of yourself is boring or too hard. 

   The fact is, I am very blessed to be given a healthy body. It would be ungrateful for me not to care for it. But my interest in general health goes beyond that in conjunction with my veganism. I think over the years we’ve seen what happens when people take on extreme diets in the name of veganism. Eventually, they either fall back to a more balanced diet or often enough, they give up veganism altogether. They do it because they’re scared. Or because their doctor tells them to. Basically, they do it because we’re all taught that you need meat and dairy to be healthy from a young age. 

   I’m not trying to shame these people whose ex veganism is part of their story, and health journey. But I am saying that I don’t want to ignore what my body needs and risk that happening to me. I think that vegans get so used to being outside of the norm we can be prone to magical thinking, or perhaps believing in less-than credible sources, solely because they’re vegan-friendly. 

   But simply being vegan is not enough to ensure your health. And it’s important that we acknowledge that if we’re going to pursue health as a vegan. 

I don’t try to fool myself

   Anybody who has a lifestyle that is off the beaten path needs a strong sense of self and mental and emotional fortitude in order to not go with the flow, both socially and societally speaking. This is a quality that I respect in many vegans. That being said, I think a lot of us go too far with insisting things be a certain way. 

   What I mean is, we want so badly to be good examples for veganism, we might start to say and do things that are not in our best interest, just to try to uphold a certain narrative that we want to play. We continue to speak out for the animals even when we’re emotionally on the brink of ruin, because we should be stronger. Compared to what the animals go through, our lives are so good. We insist that veganism is healthy even while we engage in unhealthy habits such as unbalanced diets. We tell people that veganism is easy and suck it up when they take us to a steak house where our only “option” is a “baked potato, no butter please”. 

Even a vegan has human needs

   Listen, you are human. You have needs and feelings too, and it’s okay to acknowledge that. It’s important, in fact, if you’re going to be able to sustain your veganism for the long term. You can’t just pretend like everything is fine when it’s not or eventually, things will come crashing down. 

   And veganism is only a philosophy based on facts and ethical conclusions. This is a strong perspective and practice based on facts and good intentions. It is not perfect, and you are not perfect, but neither you nor it have to be. (Read this post on the limitations of veganism if you want to learn more on the subject.) When something is built on facts and the best thought out plans and intentions, it can hold up under scrutiny. You don’t need to defend veganism. It’s okay to just be vegan, the best you can. Some days that will mean speaking out. But other days it really just is about acknowledging who you are and the best you can do in the moment, and that’s equally valid. 

There’s something to be said about a repeated action

   I’ve heard it said that if you want to build a new habit or break an old one, aim to build a new identity for yourself. That is, you want to establish yourself as “the kind of person who does this” or “I’m not the kind of person who would do that.” And as much as I’ve spoken about the problems with a vegan identity in the past (you can read that post here), the truth is, veganism is incredibly habit forming.

Once you realize that you don’t align with the ethics of animal agriculture and you learn about how to carry out a vegan lifestyle, it becomes more emotionally taxing to go back on that. This is the biggest reason why I feel for exvegans. I know there are some that are genuine, but for whatever reason, felt they had to go back to consuming animal products. And that is remarkably painful. 

   It’s for this reason that I also want to make veganism more accessible for others, as well as more sustainable for those who already have chosen to go vegan. We all need a little support sometimes, and it’s even more important when other’s lives hang in the balance. If you feel that your veganism is in trouble and you’re not sure what to do about it, stick around the blog. I talk a lot about the social and emotional issues that form an undercurrent in a vegan lifestyle. But more specifically, I recommend you to take a look at this post about vegan burnout. Because it’s a subject that I don’t think we talk about enough. 

   Thank you for reading my thoughts. If you’re looking for more vegan content, be sure to subscribe to the blog for email alerts when a new post goes live. And have a lovely day!