Going Vegan vs Staying Vegan

This past weekend, we did a photography pop-up at a local store in our town. I had a very interesting, albeit short, exchange with one of the workers. 

He was a man dressed in outdoorsy clothes. When he was helping us set up, he casually mentioned that he loves hunting and fishing. 

This type of comment is something we encounter a lot. At the time, we were moving tables, chairs, and setting up our display. It just really wasn’t the time to engage him in conversation. We let the comment go. 

As the morning progressed, he saw our display of “rescued farmed animals,” each photograph telling the story of an individual, and “10% of every sale is donated to the sanctuary where they live.” 

John, Co-Founder & CCO of Veganography, getting pumped to talk to the public about rescued farmed animals!

He came up to us and said, “Photos of animals…hmmm…So I assume you guys are plant-based?” 

I smiled and said, “yes.” 

Then he said something that was really quite shocking. 

He said, “Yeah, I was plant-based for 6 years. Then I smelled bacon, and, well…you know. I was doing it for health so…I ate the bacon. It’s just tastes so good.” 

I was taken aback. I’ve been plant-based for 5.5 years, and my partner John for 4.5 years. This guy who loves fishing, hunting, and bacon was plant-based for longer than us! 

Now, this wasn’t the first time I’ve heard that kind of thing before. Someone goes vegan, but doesn’t stay vegan. 

In fact, that is a part of my story, too. 

There are many reasons to go vegan: for the animals, for the environment, for personal health, and even for humanity (see previous blog here). 

There are many entry points into the movement. For a lot of people, their entry point into veganism is for personal health. 

When I was 14, I went plant-based for health reasons. I lost a bunch of weight. I distinctly remember telling people, “I’m plant-based, but only for health. I don’t care about animals.” 

Animal-based at 13 years old vs plant-based at 14 years old.

It was a source of pride for my 14 year old self that I was plant-based but didn’t care about animals. (Thinking about that now, yikes…) 

I only lasted 9 months. And that’s true for a lot of people. 

At a certain point, health considerations aren’t enough to keep us plant-based. We’re willing to momentarily sacrifice our health for short term gratification (smelling that bacon, like he said). 

There’s nothing bigger than ourselves driving our choices. There’s no connection to something greater than ourselves.

When I chose to go plant-based again, a couple years later, it was STILL for personal health! 

I became whole food plant-based (WFPB) overnight after watching some very impactful documentaries. 

And I immediately felt the difference. I felt so energetic all the time, my lifelong acne cleared up, I could finally eat large portions of food and not gain weight, and on and on. The benefits were endless. 

I was actually living in Malmö, Sweden at the time. It was very easy to be WFPB there. But I was still primarily motivated by my personal health.

Enjoying a vegan brunch in Malmö with a casual recreation of The Last Supper

So when my friends and I would take vacations to other countries on the continent, I let myself indulge in animal foods. Because I wanted to “experience the local culture.”

Again, short term gratification. 

A dish I ate while on vacation in Italy called “Carpaccio” which consists of raw meat mixed with raw egg and herbs. I wanted to experience the “local culture” through food…

And I have to tell you, it made me so physically ill. I felt terrible. Because my gut microbiome was no longer adapted to eating animal products, I got incredibly sick when I did. Sometimes, it ruined the entire vacation for me. 

So after a couple of trips like that, I decided it wasn’t worth it anymore. No matter where I was in the world, I would always eat plant-based. 

I still wasn’t really connected to the experience of animals in the animal agriculture system or the environmental considerations of diet. 

And I lived with that motivation for a couple years. Dedicated to eating a WFPB diet, no matter where I was in the world. For personal health. And I felt very happy with that. 

I don’t remember exactly what sparked my interest in the animal experience, but about 2.5 years after going plant-based, I began investigating the ethics of our food system. 

I was really shocked by what I learned. Cows have to be forcefully impregnated to produce milk, male baby chicks are ground up alive in the egg industry, mama pigs are confined in gestation crates, and on and on. 

And something clicked for me. Suddenly, my choices weren’t just about me anymore. 

“Health” came to mean so much more to me. 

I can’t be healthy if I’m deriving sustenance from someone else’s pain, suffering, and death. 

Our society can’t be healthy if we systemically torture, mutilate, and slaughter beings who can not defend themselves. 

I felt so much more connected to others. Like my heart had expanded in size - just like my fav Xmas movie: The Grinch :) 

When the Grinch’s heart grows THREE sizes!

Now, I wasn’t just “plant-based.” I was “vegan.” 

The difference between “plant-based” and “vegan” lays primarily in the motivations behind the words. 

Technically, both “plant-based” and “vegan” mean that we don’t eat animal products. “Vegan” expands to mean that we do not use animals in any way - including for clothing, beauty products, entertainment, etc. 

And that’s exactly how I felt when I learned about the animal agriculture system, and later the environmental considerations of diet - expanded. 

I am still incredibly motivated by personal health. That’s why I continue to be WFPB vegan. 

5.5 years WFPB vegan, after completing my first ever 10k run, fueled by plants and compassion for my fellow living beings.

But there’s not a taste, or smell, or piece of bacon - no matter how delicious it is - that could entice me to eat an animal. 

Because now, it’s not just about me. It’s about the animals, the environment, and my fellow humans. 

In my mind, there are now so many more individuals who depend on my personal choices. Not just me. 

And THAT is what keeps us vegan. Recognizing that our choices affect so many more beings than just ourselves. 

There are many entry points into veganism. And personal health is a GREAT one. 

When we adopt a healthy, WFPB diet, we feel physically unstoppable. (It’s really true!) 

And that is a GREAT way to start out, because that difference in physical feeling alone can motivate and sustain us for a long time. 

But it’s not enough to keep us vegan forever. 

In order to make veganism a sustainable lifelong choice, we need to connect to something greater than ourselves. 

Ahimsa - nonviolence toward all living beings. Including our own bodies, the planet, and all other life on earth.

Our personal health is connected to the health of the planet, and the health of all our fellow beings on earth. 

When we adopt that holistic view of health, we can truly thrive for a lifetime.