Alice's Vegan Virgin Diary

And so the time has come...

I have decided to give my Veganism another go. I had flirted with a vegan diet before, but never went all the way. As such I still consider myself a Vegan Virgin. Given my strong feelings about animal rights, and the distress I think of when I contemplate using animals in the way our society does, It believe it is time to pop my Vegan cherry and to go the whole hog.... for want of a better phrase!

I have briefly referred to why I want to be a vegan. And this is still an area I am learning about. But at present I am truly upset by the way humans use animals as though they were products. We turn them into commodities and we don't care what pain or suffering they might incur. Not to mention the vile effects such industries have on our own health, environment and consciousness as we become more callous to the feelings and lives of other species.

A year ago it was the Viva! website that got me contemplating veganism. A year later I am working with David Gerow Irving and his book The Protein Myth and I feel I am being nudged, nay shoved into accepting the part of myself that says, 'Veggie is not far enough, Miss Alice, go Vegan!' Last weekend James and I watched the film Charlottes Web, and that was pretty much the last straw. So with excitiement this is the way I intend to tread.

And to help encourage my adherence to this new diet, I am keeping this diary for you all to see. I know many of you may not even be vegetarian, and I don't want anyone on Soul-Cafe to feel elbowed out. Until 18 months or so ago I was fully signed up to a love of Bacon Sandwiches, and maybe in your own time you will change, or not, that's your thing - no judgement. But if I do inspire any of you to join me on this vegan quest, then let me know, we can support each other, and maybe you can start your own Vegan Virgin Diary too!

So today is day one. I didn't mean to start today. But I was sent a sample box from Redwood Food. They do a lot of 'fake' meat products. Having been a veggie, it has been very weird to try fake duck and fake beef. Strange, but kinda nice. I was never a big meaty person. I liked things that were indecipherable as flesh, such as bacon butties, or duck wrapped up in pancakes with hoi sin. So to eat big chunks of fake meat has been disconcerting, especially on my first vegan day! That said, it was nice to have a texture and flavour that was different. I am, however, looking forward to what I can do with vegetables, beans and tofu!

I am now off to a festival for the day. Not sure what will happen when I get hungry, but I guess there is always French Fries - without mayo :( Noone said this was going to be easy!

Alice the Vegan Virgin has gotten all the way to first base. I'll let you know how this new flirtation progresses!

Have a Fabulous Weekend.

Why choose Vegetarian and Vegan

This post is taken form my networking site http://www.soul-cafe.net and the group for Veggies and VEgan people!

People become veggie/vegans for a number of reasons. SOme because they simply do not like the taste of meat, others because they hate the thought of killing an animal.

I write a whole chapter in my next book The High Heeled Guide to Spiritual Living about my choice to become a vegetarian. Though it was something more pressing than a 'choice'. I felt that after years of on/off vegetarian eating, I could simply no longer eat meat. It was simply an impossibility for me to continue to do. I can't explain it better than that, but it made perfect sense.

I still ge teased mercilessly by friends about whether or not I am a vegetarian this week! Though I am proud to say that I have been for over a year now, no slip ups, no fails, no 'just one last time bacon sandwiches!'

The first time I became a vegetarian, shame to say it, was because Mark Owen from Take That was one. Not only this, but he lived near my Dad in Oldham, and I once saw him in his bedroom window. THis sealed the deal for me in typical teenage fashion. He was, so I was. I stuck to it for years, but then my downfall was a McDonald's cheeseburger. Soooo not even worth it, but by now I was an older teenager, and my thoughts were not so conscious.

I'm not sure what happened then. But from my late teens till a year ago I would have fads and phases of vegetarian living. Followed by mad attacks of 'atkins diet' style meat fests. I was trying (and failing) to be a model at the time, and copious amount so meat seemed the way forward. I was very much thinking of my own waistline, and in no respects was I concerned about the animals that suffered for it.

Again a few years after that, when under a 'vegetarian' label I cracked under the pressure of a deeply stressful holiday and ended up loading my plate full of the hotel's finest bacon. I started smoking too. I guess that in my confused state, again, the animals and even my own health was the last thing on my mind.

Happily, I am now past these flummoxes of consciousness. I have been a semi-veg for a few years, and a full-on - 'no meat passes the lips vegetarian' for over a year. I am so happy about this. I can safely say that this is a decision that will be permanent. And who knows, maybe in a few years my friends will stop asking the question, 'are you vegetarian this week / month / christmas'.

And why do I choose to be a vegetarian. So many reasons... I can refer you to PETA or VIVA, for the full list of abuses caused to animals and the environment caused by the meat industry. All of these are my reasons. But on a more personal note, I simply love animals. I love their fluffy, furry innocent little selves, and I have no desire to be part of a chain that chops that fluffy self up, roasts it and munches away liberally. Been there, done it, and I always did prefer the veg option on the menu anyway if I'm honest! I believe my spiritual progression led me this way, and I am not one to argue with spiritual progression. I try to go with the flow and if the flow insists on veg and grains, then so be it.

I hope in time, to cut right back on the animal products too and lean strongly towards veganism, for the most part. This is something I'm working on though, so be patient with me!

So why do you choose to be veggie...?