humblepie: Up until about six weeks ago, I was a half-hearted omnivore. It suddenly dawned on me that eating animal products at all was stupid and not fun. I decided to try vegetarianism for 30 days, and upon understanding that vegetarians still eat eggs and dairy, I decided that didn’t go far enough and cut out all animal products from my diet. I read Becoming Vegan and was determined not to become one of those ex-vegans, because ex-vegans are ex- because they just didn’t do it right. Right?
I wish I could say that my journey so far has been a happy, healthy, and sane one. Oddly, since making the switch I’ve experienced a host of new physical problems, from severe pressure in my head and ears to general fatigue and headaches to weakness and numbness in my hands. Even worse than this is that I work in an office full of dedicated meat-eaters, and my recent health problems have given them “proof” that a vegan diet is unhealthy and even dangerous.
Despite - or maybe because of - all this, I started listening to the Vegan Freak podcast and educating myself beyond the health (a.k.a. The China Study) and environmental reasons to follow a plant-based diet, which is initially what got me interested. Once I did, I knew that in the interest of ethics and intellectual honesty I couldn’t go back to eating meat and dairy, despite pressure from concerned (but uninformed) family and friends.
The last straw came when, in a moment of cloudy desperation and confusion induced by pounding head pressure and crippling dizziness, I mustered the strength to walk the quarter mile to the local market to buy a half dozen eggs, just to see. (Why eggs, I don’t know. I was delirious.)
Standing in front of the juices, next to the dairy case, was a man I can only describe as a vegan freak. He carried a messenger bag covered with stickers whose particular slogans I can’t recall, but the overall message was something to the effect of “don’t eat animal products.” I was so stunned by the overwhelming coincidence of his placement in time and space that I turned around and walked home.
I still don’t know what’s wrong with me, but I can say with confidence that it is not a lack of meat, fish, poultry, eggs, or dairy in my diet.
Shaolin Avenger: Great that you stuck with it. Once you get over whatever it is, I hope you feel the awesomeness of veganism.
