Vegan, to be? or not to be?

Hello! I hope that you all enjoyed my guest post, I mean a cute guy who's into clean eating and travel, what's not to like? :)

Now.. Vegan, to be? or not to be?

While I don't think that Hamlet asked himself this question I know I definitely do and have for a long time. I even tried my hand at cutting out meat when I was a vegetarian for a year in high school but that obviously didn't last. The concept of going vegan has been on my mind a lot lately and I decided to give it a shot. Since I am a huge nerd I had to educate myself on everything vegan before throwing myself into it. I needed a plan. I had read Skinny Bitch in the past and the book put a little bug in my ear on going vegan but it didn't really give me a plan. Don't get me wrong, I loved the book! I have it on my nook and I re-read it pretty frequently but I'm the kind of person that needs a plan. I know that dropping everything right away results in my binge-ing later (believe me I have had soooo much practice at this) so I needed something that allowed me a more gradual transition. After reading a lot of blogs and doing a lot of research on different books I finally decided on Main Street Vegan by Victoria Moran.

I wanted a book that wasn't preachy, that wasn't going to assume that I have the will power of monk, and that didn't make me feel so incredibly guilty for having been a meat eater for so long. I already knew about the cruelties in the meat industry (that's why I went vegetarian back in the day) and, this may sound a little stupid, but I know all I need want to know and I don't need more details to convince me that eating animals and animal products isn't ethical (at least not to me). In all honesty I frequently skip the part in Skinny Bitch that discusses animal cruelty in the meat and dairy industry because it make me feel so bad (yes, I am a huge weenie). Main Street Vegan does give some insight into the meat/dairy industry and it does throw in snarky preachy comments at times but it's written by a woman who didn't transition to veganism over night and doesn't expect ever reader to do the same. Plus every chapter has a neat recipe at the end! Moran discusses different ways of going vegan and she mentions starting out by eating vegan at home and vegetarian outside or vegetarian at home and whatever outside. I was already eating pretty much 100% vegetarian (especially at home) for a couple of months so I started eating vegan at home. My parents were going to buy me a Vitamix for graduation (more about that later!!!) so I told myself okay once you get your Vitamix then you can go totally vegan at home and otherwise. I needed a set point of when to start and that happened to have been this past week.

Okay, okay so I haven't been vegan long... unless you consider 3 days a long time but I feel like I have the mindset. I've made the decision! I know that I am going to trip up everyone now and then but I also know that I am a vegan and I don't plan on changing. Now, being vegan does not mean that you are automatically healthy. Believe me I researched vegan junk foods because I needed to know that I could have treats without hurting animals :) and... um... Oreos are vegan! Processed and not clean for sure but vegan nonetheless!

Now to eat fish or not to eat fish is a big issue for me and you're probably thinking "Geez Annie if you're eating fish then you're not vegan..." okay so maybe I want to be a pescatarian. Morally, I don't have a huge issue with fish, well with shrimp and scallops and clams mostly. I'm not going to be eating a trout anytime soon but shrimp? maybe. Ultimately I'll probably stop eating all animals but for right now I'm undecided on aquatic life, at least that without gills (dolphins and whales excluded).

Any readers thinking of going vegan, or are vegan! Shoot me an email! Or leave a comment! I always like to hear what other people are thinking! Also *disclaimer* I'm not trying to be preachy or offensive with what I say and think about eating meat or dairy it's just my humble opinion and I think that it's right for me :)

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