| Musouka said: Maybe a 7-day vegan challenge will solve all your problems ;) I think the best way is to do gradual food elimination over the course of several months and then see how you feel. Many people who tried switching to veganism temporarily report feeling less energetic because they seemingly rely on processed food and/or don't make the best decisions of what they should eat. I never thought I could ever live without white bread, but had somehow managed to eliminate 90% of my intake of it by doing it gradually. My salt intake has also decreased tremendously over the course of a few years (still working on that addictive processed sugar, though). Ultimately, only you can decide whether it is worth or not and in what capacities (for you personally, for the environment or for whatever other reasons). Everyone will give you their personal beliefs on the matter, which are quite subjective. If you want to get to the bottom of this, you would probably be better off pouring yourself into scientific literature on the matter comparing eating habits, lifestyles and health. I find Mike the Vegan YouTube channel to be informative as he always cites peer-reviewed scientific research and appears to be objective enough about what is expected from a plant-based diet (inlcuding having to take in some supplements; which shouldn't be exclusive to such diet, by the way). I am not vegan myself but I mainly subsist on chicken and fish plus the ocassional red meat once or twice a month. I have days where I don't eat any kind of meat. This works for me now, but I'm always looking into ways to improve my diet. |
I was a pescetarian, watched Cowspiracy, and went plant-based on the spot. I have known for a long time that animal agriculture was really bad for the environment. As a teenager, and we're talking about 25 years ago now, I stopped eating beef for years after seeing this music video by Bruce Cockburn: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ErS9HCh8GfE
Over time, meat moved from the centrepiece of my meals, to an accompaniment. Gone were the steaks, in came the stir fries, for example.
I then learned how bad for health meat is, so I went pescetarian and did that for 3-4 years. Yet my health didn't improve, it continued to gradually worsen. As I ate fewer mammals, I ate more seafood and dairy and the health benefits proved elusive.
Finally I watched Cowspiracy and learned how bad for the environment animal agriculture is (far worse than I had ever dreamed, actually). I went fully plant-based on the spot and have never looked back.
Coincidentally, Mic the Vegan's Youtube channel was the first resource I discovered after going fully plant-based, and he brought me further into the idea of eating whole plant foods for health. I'm forever thankful for that, it helped me avoid the trap of going plant-based for the environment yet eating a lot of processed foods that aren't great for health. Whereas before my health was trending in a negative direction, it's now significantly improved and trending in a positive direction, and my environmental footprint is much lower, so I'm extremely happy and thankful for how it's all worked out.
So many there's something to your suggestion of doing it all in baby steps. That was my experience. I started my veg-positive journey in 1988, and was finally completely plant-based as of spring 2015. So for me it took 27 years. However, being pescetarian, or an omnivore before that, was much harder than what I do now. Every fork-ful is a joy when I know it's nourishing me optimally, has the smallest environmental footprint, etc. And it doesn't hurt that I've discovered many wonderful flavours and textures that fall into the "Where has this been all my life?!" category, that I would have eagerly eaten as an omnivore if I'd only known how awesome they tasted. My only regret is that I didn't make the switch 20 years earlier.
Please don't mistake this to be a judgement on anyone else's veg-positive journey. It took me 27 years to complete mine, so who the heck am I to judge someone else's? When I regret not doing it earlier, that's a very personal statement about how I feel about myself, not how I feel about anyone else's.
