cowloom wrote on April 17, 2025 at 5:56 PM

If you can be vegetarian, going vegan is a pretty easy step from there! It's much better for your health, the environment, and most importantly the animals. https://veganbootcamp.org/ is a great resource!

flabberghaster OP wrote on April 17, 2025 at 10:13 PM

The first time, I tried to just go vegetarian all at once and it didn't take, because it felt like such a big change to make all at once. I found much better success by saying "this week, I am going to give up pork for good." Then when that felt easy I went on to "this week I will give up beef for good." And so on until I was down to chicken being the only meat I'd eat anymore. I found by tapering it like that, it didn't feel like such a radical change and it was easier for me to sustain it.

I feel that cutting out dairy is going to be much harder for me than cutting out meat has historically been. One day I might be able to go vegan but I need to work my way there or I won't be able to stick to it.

Ruby wrote on April 18, 2025 at 2:41 AM

If it helps, the way I went vegan was once I decided I was going to do it I looked up easy vegan recipes and practiced making them for a few months while still also eating the things I used to eat, and also started swapping the snacks I ate with vegan equivalents. After like 4-5 months I had a bunch of recipes I was comfortable with and knew what vegan products I liked, so I had one final goodbye meal at my favourite fried chicken place, and then officially "went vegan" and haven't gone back since. Learning how to make a lot of vegan food while still eating meat makes it a lot easier to eventually make the switch. I did get some pretty bad meat cravings for the first like month or two, but they do go away eventually.

cowloom wrote on May 3, 2025 at 5:30 PM

Sorry for the very late response; I've been busy lately and haven't logged on in a while. My experience was somewhat different, because I watched Earthlings (a documentary on slaughterhouses and factory farms), and I knew I had to go vegan immediately. I couldn't justify one more non-vegan purchase, not even in the name of a "baby steps" transition, because I would still be causing harm to animals during that process. For me, the switch was actually pretty easy, because I just looked up vegan recipes for all of my favorite foods, and made those. Purging my mind of toxic masculinity was easily ten times more difficult than going vegan. I (and every other feminist) still expect male chauvinists to do that, no matter how difficult it may be for them, because there is no justification for continuing to cause harm once they know better. I don't see why it should be any different with veganism.

If you absolutely must take things one step at a time, just remember that every non-vegan meal is still causing harm to animals. The quicker you can make the switch, the better.

flabberghaster OP wrote on May 4, 2025 at 5:16 AM

No two ways about it in that I'm like most people: not that good of a person tbh.

cowloom wrote on May 6, 2025 at 3:55 PM

This reads like an attempt at deflection by self-deprecation to me, so I'll say that we all have a duty to uphold justice in every aspect of our lives. We may be fallible by nature, but that doesn't excuse us from trying to be better. I doubt you really think of yourself as a bad person, but in case you do - what are you doing to be better? Shrugging your shoulders and saying "well, I guess I'm not a good person then" doesn't absolve you.

Forgive my bluntness, but the animals are suffering and dying on an unimaginable scale. Going vegan isn't a "personal choice" - it's a moral necessity.

flabberghaster OP wrote on May 6, 2025 at 7:30 PM (edited on May 6, 2025 at 8:03 PM)

No, not self deprecating. Most people just aren't that good of people.

I just need to be realistic. I've tried doing it before and it never sticks. It works better and is easier to stick with if I move to it over time, because I know myself and I know that I will just slip later on and drop it altogether in the future if I don't.