How I went from being a hardcore meat eater to a passionate vegan - Part Two

If you haven’t read part one yet, please start there first! Thanks!

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The 3-day juice cleanse

It's now late September of 2014, and up to this point I was only considering giving up meat and becoming a vegetarian. I did not make the pivotal connection with veganism just yet but that was all about to change in a matter of days.

I was dating someone at the time who was a flexitarian, and after he saw how much I was struggling to give up meat he offered a potential solution. With his help, he recommended that I go on a 3-day juice cleanse as a way to detoxify my body and reset the palate, if you will. He swore by the effectiveness of this method as he had done it himself several times before with great results. Sure! I thought, what do I have to lose? It sounded like just the thing that I so desperately needed so I jumped right into it with nothing but hope and enthusiasm. By day two, however, I was Ms. Cranky Pants and experiencing FML! syndrome on a whole new level.

Mind you, this was my very first time on a juice cleanse so I was detoxing like a mad woman. I was really beginning to worry that my motivation would slip and that this whole experiment would be in vain. Shit! I need to act fast if I'm going to keep up with this juice cleanse without murdering anyone in the process! It was at that precise moment that I came up with an ingenious plan: Netflix!! I hurried over to my Apple TV, tuned into Netflix, and went straight for the documentary section to see what I could find.... and that's when the binge-watching began.

Little did I know that my whole life was about to change dramatically

The most impactful video I ever saw on veganism is the now iconic speech given by Gary Yourofsky below (he's like the Larken Rose of veganism):

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Wow. Just... wow.

How could I have been so painfully blind this whole time?

What kind of hellish world do we live in to allow such brutal violence and cruelty to exist? What does it say about us as a species?

Is something as trivial and fleeting as my palate pleasure really worth the horrific confinement, torture, mutilation, misery, and ghastly slaughter of these sentient creatures?

How is it "humane slaughter" when you're using many of the same standard practices you see with factory farmed animals (such as debeaking, dehorning, teeth clipping, tail docking, castration - all without anesthetic - and so on)? And most importantly, how is it humane to snuff the life out of an innocent being whose life is cut too short, and whom has every desire to live as we do? WHAT give us that right? Especially now that we live in a time when we can not only survive, but thrive on a vegan diet?

Is that piece of gouda cheese worth the rape and cruel separation of a mother cow from her baby, over and over again? Wouldn't we be outraged if this were done to human mothers?

Are my omelettes worth the grounding up of live male chicks? Or the battery hens who will never be able to spread their wings or feel the earth beneath their feet or see daylight for most of their miserable existence?

Is my ham or bacon worth the excruciating pain that a pig must suffer as it's being scalded alive due to improper stunning methods?

Are my selfish eating habits worth all the devastation that's being inflicted upon our planet? Is there not a more sustainable way? A healthier way? A way that could potentially solve world hunger?

Now here was the BIG one for me:

How, as a voluntaryist, am I adhering to the Non-Aggression Principle when my meal choices are responsible for destroying the lives of other sentient beings without their consent? Isn't it only right that if I reject those who seek to impose authority over my own life that I pay the same respect in kind to the most oppressed, and most vulnerable beings on the planet?

Wouldn't veganism be more consistent with the NAP? Aren't veganism and voluntaryism really just two sides of the same coin here? To aim for a gentler, more peaceful, and freer world for all?

Aren't speciesism and statism the greatest evils facing us all, and mustn't they be confronted if we're to evolve?

After giving it much thought, I became convinced that they were and had to do something about it.

That was it for me. My eyes were open wide, and I knew right then and there that there was no turning back. I finally found my resolve to change, and I decided that it was simply not enough to give up solely meat but that it was imperative that I go all the way and ditch dairy, eggs, and every other animal by-product as well. I didn't know exactly how I was going to go about making such a major change that quickly, but I didn't care. I was determined to find my way, and use every resource at my disposal to make it work.

I knew myself well enough to know that if I were to take the gradual route, I would fail, as my addictions would win me over. Besides, I had already come this far with the juice cleanse, which was hard as fuck, so I might as well just bite the bullet and be done with it in one fell swoop.

Setting myself up for success

I'm not going to lie to you. The first few weeks were very difficult for me and I had to resist temptation with all my might. It got easier, though, as time wore on.

One of my biggest challenges was the fact that I had very few cooking skills as I hated cooking up to that point (unless I was using my solar oven, then it was cool), and so I had to not only learn how to eat in an entirely new way but also learn a new skill set that I previously avoided at all costs. I knew that this was necessary if I was going to do this right, and not just be a junk food vegan so that's exactly what I did. I adjusted my attitude accordingly and spent that first week researching which essential kitchen tools to buy; which types of vegan foods I needed to stock my refrigerator and pantry with, and got right to it.

My Vitamix is my prized possession in the kitchen

Recipes! Recipes! And METAL recipes! (Yes, metal.)

Pinterest became my new best friend as it enabled me to find various delicious vegan recipes, and I went nuts trying out as many of them as I could! I didn't have to bother investing in cookbooks just yet, and decided to save those for a later time when I had the money to spare.

Since I was craving familiar foods, I simply sought out veganized versions of the foods I already knew and loved. One of the very first recipes I learned how to make is this delicious seitan mushroom stew which made me ever since.

My kitchen got more metal by the day.

Vegan food brands & restaurants

Finding delectable vegan convenience foods was a HUGE deal for me in the beginning as I was developing my cooking skills. Fortunately, I lived in the heart of Los Angeles so there was a plethora of vegan brands available to me. Some of my absolute favorites were Gardein (I was hooked on their fishless fillets especially; made tons of yummy tacos with them!), Follow Your Heart Vegenaise & Tarter Sauce, Miyoko's Kitchen gourmet vegan cheeses (their Classic Double Cream Chive, French Style Winter Truffle, and Mt. Vesuvius Black Ash are fantastic), and So Delicious vegan ice cream to name but a few.

Who says you can't enjoy a vegan-friendly wine & cheese party?

There were plenty of veggie restaurants to choose from, too, and even many of the non-veggie establishments had at least one or two friendly options on their menu (or that were customizable). I was a little clumsy at first when it came to asking the servers questions about certain ingredients but I got the hang of it after a while, and most of time they were usually accommodating.

Educational sources and nutritional information

There is such a wealth of information (and misinformation) out there on veganism that it can seem daunting trying to figure out where to start, and who to trust. It didn't prevent me from plowing through as much of it as I could, however, and sorting out the good sources from the not-so-good ones. I was a fixture on YouTube, especially; I searched for all the vegan channels I could find and settled on a few that I found most useful:

• Emily from Bite Size Vegan has plenty of well-researched, engaging, and (as the name would suggest) easy to digest videos that address all the basics and most common questions and myths surrounding veganism. What I really like about her is that she's deeply passionate about the subject while still being very approachable, and she takes her research seriously. It was through her that I learned about the invaluable online tool: www.cronometer.com which helps you track your daily nutrition, exercise, and health data.

• Colleen Patrick-Goudreau from Joyful Vegan is a very intelligent and wise vegan who inspired me greatly with her Vegan Point of View videos and podcasts. She has a composed, compassionate and non-threatening manner of delivering the vegan message which I think is highly effective. She also wrote an excellent book for those who are just starting out called The 30-Day Vegan Challenge. I have it sitting in my library and it's one that I recommend most.

• Swayze from Unnatural Vegan is perfect for those like me who value reason and evidence over pseudoscience, and who want a purely rational and intellectual approach to veganism.

• Mic. the Vegan is a lot like Swayze in that he takes a very rational approach as well, and unlike a lot of other vegan YouTubers out there, he doesn't take himself too seriously and knows how to be silly. His videos are highly educational, fun, creative, and downright hilarious at times.

And last but certainly not least...

• Dr. Michael Greger from NutritionFacts.org who is the guru on nutrition for a lot of vegans out there. All the information he presents is based on peer-reviewed journals and studies on human health and diet. He wrote a New York Times Bestseller called How Not To Die.

Where I am with veganism today

It's been a wild ride these past two years, filled with soul-searching, doubts, struggles, and rebirth. Going vegan was one of the most challenging things I've ever done in my entire life but it's also been one of the most rewarding experiences. I've never felt the level of joy, clarity, sense of purpose, and wholeness as I do now and I can't imagine ever going back to the way I once lived. I have many beautiful dreams to fulfill in this life, and veganism plays a key role in all of them. And while I firmly believe that veganism is one of the best and most comprehensive ways for each of us to make a real difference in this world, I recognize that it's not the only way, and it should not be treated as an end in itself. As Colleen Patrick-Goudreau so wisely said:

"Veganism isn't a goal to attain. It's the means by which we can attain our goals. Compassion is the goal. Veganism is a way to get there."

In my view, veganism, voluntaryism, peaceful parenting, and entrepreneurship, are all powerful ways by which we can create a gentler world for everyone. It's a quest that I'm passionately committed to, and one in which I hope you will share with me.

Thanks so much again for reading!