I FIND IT HASN'T BEEN EASY BECOMING VEGAN

Well, It's 2010 now and I'm well on my path to Veganism. It's a hard road, but I can do it. I am woman, I am strong! The worst part about changing your eating ways is habit. If you are as old as I am, it is very hard to not eat foods that have become part of your regular daily diet. Years and years of diet education have taught us the necessary food groups: grains, fruits and vegetables, dairy, and protein (protein being meat and legumes, etc.). There was no such thing as substitute meat way back then, like they have now. You had it drummed in your head that you need meat!

Of course, over the years I have read books like Diet For a Small Planet, Laurel's Kitchen, which did tell us that eating vegetarian was healthy. But it was hard to stop eating something you have been eating for years. People say, "oh it's not hard", but for some of us it is very hard! We are all different and we have different likes and dislikes. It is almost..... in fact I think it is just like an addiction. You grow to like certain foods and you can't stop. Look at people who are overweight. They can't stop overeating. Well, if you crave certain foods sometimes it is harder to stop eating them than it is to stop coffee, or any other habit you have initiated into your lifestyle. Think about the alcoholic and the withdrawal that he goes through to escape that dependency. So why should eating meat or dairy or any animal product be different? You have been eating this diet for years.

One of my most addictive foods is fish. I love fish! I have some Norwegian in me and we grew up having fish of every kind for dinner. Sardines and Saltines were my favorite snack. And, of course fish has been publicized as being 'magical' in your diet. It has omega-3 fatty acids, good protein, protects against heart disease, diabetes, cancer and can slow progression of Alzheimer's disease. So why would anyone want to stop? Now we are finally discovering that fish do feel pain and they do suffer. The fishing industry is responsible for some of the most environmentally damaging practices affecting our seas and oceans today, which simply put, contaminate our fish. So what do we do about those omega 3s? Well, the first thing to remember is that the vegetarian diet is widely recognized as being protective against heart disease, the main ailment that the advice is aimed at, so vegetarians have a head start already. And a tablespoon of flaxseed oil per day would fulfil this requirement or you can take supplementation.

My biggest challenge, however, was cheese. I love it. I would only eat vegetables if I could sprinkle butter or cheese on top. I never knew any other way to eat them. So I began eating vegan cheese when starting this new venture and at first I didn't care for the texture. But I found after using it for several weeks, I loved it. I became addicted to it's taste! The same with tofu and artificial meat. I grew to love the flavor and substitute it for meat whenever a recipe would call for it. It is something you have to acquire a taste for and it takes a little time. Now I make dishes with mostly vegetables and I eat an apple or fruit as often as I can. I keep baby carrots in the frig, set them out in the afternoon and make sure I have at least 5 a day. My morning cup of tea has lemon added to it. Vegetable soup is another easy way to get in those tomatoes and veggies. If you try you can add these little things progressively to your daily diet, and soon you will be well on your way to veganizing yourself :)

There is one message I would like to get out there to some of you who are considered radical Vegans. You are passionate in your plight, and that is wonderful, but please, please don't throw stones at those of us who have not yet completed our training! Give us our own time to accomplish what others have done. Give us some credit for trying to escape our addictions. They ridicule us for becoming Vegetarians and say that it isn't helping anyone if they can't go completely Vegan. Hogwash! At least they have cut out meat in their diets, this is a big change from what has been ingrained with past eating. I'm sure if we keep up the information that has been evolving, many more will come around to eating Vegan.....but don't push! Don't be so egotistically enlightened. You had your time to decide, let us have ours.

I don't think there are many Vegans who were raised as a one. They chose to become Vegan for their own reasons: some for health and some because of the inhumane treatment of animals. Whatever the reasons may be, it seems like some are on this high pedestal and we are way beneath them. This isn't the way to get your point across to others. So I am pleading with all you Vegans out there to be more sympathetic to those of us struggling to become one ourselves. It is harder for some of us than for others. It is just like training for a marathon. Most can do it, but it takes a few athletes more time than others to achieve their goal. Give us that time and give us encouragement rather than ridicule.

I have not completed my course, as yet, but am coming in on the home stretch. This is the only way I can do it. I love hearing encouragement rather than hearing the dangers I am contributing to the planet by not becoming a full-fledged, completely and totally pure Vegan. Needless to say, for me, it is not easy being Vegan, but I know of the challenges and I can overcome them in time.