18.6.2024:
Just last weekend I met a few of my good friends. We had something that you could call a men’s party. I have found a slang expression for such a meeting, sausage party in an English dictionary. One of my friends called it a Wild Weekend.
Even though our weekend wasn´t as wild as we intended it to be, you can perhaps imagine, dear reader, how our weekend looked like.
The most important part of such meetings is conversations about various topics. During the whole weekend, we discussed domestic and world politics, the increase in expenses for living, our struggles in our personal life and at work, the difficulties of foreigners living abroad, changes in our society that bother us, books, music, movies that we saw, and so on, so on. I can guarantee you that not every topic is worth mentioning here.
Most of the time when I attend some social event or gathering of friends there is one topic that cannot miss during our discussions. The vegan lifestyle.
I can assure you that this is quite a sensitive topic to talk about for someone like me who has been trying to live as a vegan/vegetarian already a few years. But, through those years of my veganism/vegetarianism, I already got used to the fact that at some point people start to make fun of me and justify their lifestyle choices. However, the last conversation about this topic with my friends has given me the idea to write my next blog post about my journey to veganism and what brought me to that decision. So, here it comes.
Lost Of Weight Was The Original Motivation
However, a lot of people still see veganism predominantly as a diet, it is necessary to say that veganism is more than that. Veganism is a lifestyle.
My journey to the vegan lifestyle wasn´t intentional at the beginning. I even didn´t know for quite a while that there is something like the vegan lifestyle. I only barely heard about vegetarians.
My way to veganism has been the one that is I think the most common for most people which is through diet, or better to say through long-term effort to lose weight.
But, before I even dive into my personal experience, I would like to highlight that the vegan diet doesn´t guarantee weight loss and its effortless maintenance as some people could think. This would be misleading. Of course, you can meet healthy, skinny vegans. But you can also meet unhealthy vegans as well as you can meet healthy and unhealthy carnivores. The fact that someone is healthy or unhealthy depends on the overall lifestyle every each of us.
More than a decade ago back in the country of my origin, the Czech Republic, I was making my living mostly through office jobs. I used to work for advertising companies as a graphic designer, later on when I started to study at university I worked as an accountant. I worked for approximately 8 years in different office facilities. My jobs were quite stressful, I did not have too much movement but ate quite a lot of sweets on the other hand to cope with the stress. By the time I reached my thirties, I had over 90 kg which was the most that I ever had. It might seem like not much for some of you, but I am only 168 cm tall!
Like many other people, I was trying many different approaches to lose weight, but only achieved the very well-known Yoyo effect, when very soon after losing some weight I gained that weight back, and sometimes even more.
It was very frustrating and somewhere deep inside I felt that I needed a dramatic change in my lifestyle, but I needed a final push from life to start to make some changes.
The push came at the turn of 2012 and 2013 when I experienced burnout. Step by step my long-lasting relationship fell apart, I lost my job and even though I graduated from the university I could not find a job that would correspond to my education. It was very frustrating.
I felt that I needed a break from all of that and being inspired and motivated by one of my good friends, I moved abroad which is a story for another time.
The very same friend introduced me to the spiritual world, the world of self-development, and veganism.
Important was that I was finally able to see the bigger picture in the matter of my life. I opened my mind to other options that are out there. That was perhaps a more important part of my journey to veganism than the efforts to lose weight.
I Started To Listen To My Body
Besides other changes that I have over the years implemented to my life, I started to listen to what my body was telling me instead of keeping reckless diets. I started to experiment with my diet to avoid food that has been in my opinion causing trouble with my digestion.
So, for example, in 2015 I removed bakery products because I suspected that they were the cause of flatulence that troubled me since I remember.
In 2017 I removed from my diet dairy products, especially milk itself and double cream because I found out that they are the right cause of flatulence, socially awkward farting and sometimes even so unpleasant problems such as diarrhoea.
During the summer of 2017, I also spontaneously decided to try a vegetarian diet. It was without any suggestion, or guidance, just simply as a result of listening to what my body was trying to tell me. Avoiding meat during a wormer season made me less tired, and I experienced less flatulence, but on the other hand, I was more energetic and felt lighter in general.
In 2019 I accepted a challenge with my wife Nicole who tried to lose weight with quite expensive professional guidance. I just wanted to prove to her that I would be able to lose weight without paying so much money.
Within a year I lost over 10 kg! It was my first biggest achievement on my journey of losing weight. I would like to highlight that it was before I became a vegetarian, not even mention the vegan lifestyle. I achieved weight loss by very strict guarding of my daily intake of food in a matter of calories and very intense regular exercising.
My point here is that there is no magical pill, or magical diet that would help us to lose weight, to keep our body in good shape, to keep our body healthy. There always will be hard work involved no matter if we like it or not.
There is also one false belief about weight loss which I also found out quite recently, so I can share it here with you. When we try to lose weight, no matter what approach, or diet we choose, we will inevitably lose muscle mass if we don´t connect our diet with some regular exercise. As You can imagine, this is not very good for our overall health.
That being said I must admit that as a vegan who hasn´t been always very committed to healthy eating, I managed almost to gain the same weight that I lost by 2020. So, hell, no, the fact that I have chosen the vegan lifestyle is not for me about losing weight anymore!
Our Concerns About The Environment
During the world pandemic of COVID-19, the world stopped. Most of us stayed at home on furlough, and some of us became redundant and lost our jobs.
Certainly, it was a hard time. But it was also a unique opportunity to stop, think and reflect on where we are going as a species and what legacy we would like to leave behind.
A lot was said at that time, a lot was promised, commitments were made, etc.
It has been three years since the Covid restrictions were finally released. And, sadly, since then people have quickly forgotten, and the whole world somewhat tries to get back what we lost or missed during the pandemic. We try to catch up. We try to go back to what we consider normal, what was before the pandemic. But it seems to me that no one is any more asking if what was before the pandemic was the right direction for the future of humankind. The whole world looks like an alcoholic or a smoker after a relapse.
Do you remember Greta Thunberg? And, do you remember all those protests against global environmental changes that are affecting our life around the whole globe? Where are they now?
The Green Deal and similar agreements were accepted and after a few years, country after country took their hands back because the economy needed to restart.
I am sorry for this diversion but it is all just to make a point.
During the global pandemic of COVID-19, in April 2021 I and my wife decided to become vegetarians. We made that decision after our long conversation about our health, and what we experienced so far by that time on our journey to lose weight, but also about global environmental changes which were our biggest motivators.
After watching documentaries such as What The Health, Cowspiracy and Seaspiracy and reading books such as The Uninhabitable Earth by David Wallace-Wells, we felt that we could no longer keep closing our eyes and ignoring the problem.
Also, we don´t have children just yet, we don´t want to leave our future children, or children in general a legacy, such as an uninhabitable planet.
As individuals with very little influence, we cannot do much in the matter of the whole planet, but if the smallest thing that we can do is change our diet and our lifestyle, then we will do it!
At the beginning of 2022, we decided to become 100 % vegans after watching more documentaries about global environmental changes and the vegan lifestyle, such as The Game Changers, or Kiss the Ground.
By becoming vegans we have reduced our carbon footprint by up to 73 %.
A report from the Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) from 2019 shows that our food production is responsible for up to 37 % of greenhouse gas emissions but the most responsible is meat and dairy production which uses up to 77 % of all agricultural land and account for 60 % of agriculture´s carbon emissions, yet meat and dairy provide just 17 % of the calories that we need.
But it is not the best part yet! It is a very well-known fact that there are people on this planet who don´t have almost anything to eat. There are millions of people starving just now. Yet, there is already enough food to feed them all right now. But that food is used to feed livestock which we are turning to meat and other animal products.
33 % of the agricultural land that is used by the meat and dairy industry is used to grow plant food for livestock instead of consuming plant food directly and feeding all those people in need. Don’t you think that there is something very wrong here?
I don´t want to be an advocate of the vegan lifestyle. I respect the ways and opinions of other people. I might not agree with them but I respect them. So, next time, before you start to make fun of your friends who made that decision and became vegans, try to open your mind, watch or read some of those sources mentioned above, and if anything else, you might understand better.
In my opinion, mutual respect will make this planet a better place for sure no matter what diet or lifestyle you accept, what language you speak, or what religion you are, etc.
Let´s Not Forget The Compassion For Animals
So far I pointed out that my motivations to become a vegan were my considerations about my health and worries about the global environmental changes. But my motivations don´t end just there.
I have already mentioned in my introduction that I grew up in an environment where I was surrounded by nature and of course by animals. Some animals we kept as pets, some animals for food. But as a child, you don´t see a difference. Every animal is a pat.
I was so enthusiastic about nature and animals that I even voluntarily attended a biological competition at a prime school, and was considering studying the subject but unfortunately was discouraged from these kinds of ideas.
I was that crazy kid who had at home a 200-litre aquarium with a tropical fish and all sorts of books on how to take care of it. My parents were only willing to invest in the aquarium when they saw my desperation during which I was keeping wild backswimmers (a species of aquatic insect) in a small aquarium that was given to me by my grandma who was my mentor.
I also kept hamsters, guinea pigs, a rat, and budgerigars, and around our house were constantly running dogs and cats.
As you might see, I grew up surrounded by animals, so I love them and I am willing to say that I understand them, and I don´t like when an animal, or any living being suffers.
Still, I grew up in an environment of carnivores. If you know the traditional Czech cuisine then you are aware of the fact that Czechs can add meat to any meal. Meat or any other animal product.
Despite my affection towards animals, growing up in such an environment had never made me question what we ate. It would be also disrespectful towards my mum or whoever was cooking for us.
So, I never questioned where the meat in my frankfurter came from. I never gave a thought that the ham on my sandwich was a living animal. It never crossed my mind to think that the piece of tenderloin didn´t grow up on a tree.
I was just a small kid who just did what was everyone else doing. But many people still act like that small kid even when they are adults. They go to a supermarket and thoughtlessly fill their shopping trolleys with all different sorts of goods without even giving a second thought about where it has all come from, including meat and other animal products.
Many people still think and say that animals don´t have consciousness as humans do, so they cannot feel emotions the same way we do, they cannot feel pain as we do. For the same reason they consider that in matters of evolution, animals are below humans and therefore they are less than us, so they don´t have any rights, and it´s up to us how we treat them.
Between 2013 and 2014 I worked for almost one year on a dairy farm, and after my personal experience I can tell you that even though many people say that cows are stupid, they are very intelligent and sensitive animals. Although, they cannot speak they can express the same emotions as humans. I saw mother cows crying for their calves that were separated from them straight away after birth. I saw a fear in the animals’ eyes when they were forced to dirty narrow corridors to be inseminated artificially, so they could continue with their calf and milk production. I saw fear in the eyes of young oxen while they were loaded on a lorry to be taken to a slaughterhouse.
In the matter of feeling pain, the majority of animals that end up on our plates have a central nervous system, so they can feel pain. Even though they cannot talk about it does not mean that they don´t feel pain.
If you are a pet owner, then you don´t like to see your pet suffer because you consider them to be a part of your family. I and my wife see our cats as our children for sure.
Some pet owners are willing to pay thousands of pounds for treatment for their pet if it falls sick because they believe that these animals have feelings, and they truly have.
In the book, The Art of Happiness Dalai Lama says that the right way to true happiness in life is through compassion for all living beings. My question is, why we are more compassionate towards one animal than the other?
For me, compassion for animals was the last reason to choose the vegan lifestyle, especially after watching the documentaries mentioned above.
Conclusion
Do you see, dear reader? For me, the decision to become a vegan wasn´t based just on one reason. There were more likely minimally three reasons that somehow correspond with my life experience, core beliefs and integrity. At a specific moment in my life, they all clicked together. They are so strong that I realized that I simply cannot continue to live as I used to without a feeling that there is something that is in my power to change and I keep ignoring it.
And, funny enough, my three reasons for becoming a vegan are the same that most people have when they make the very same decision: consideration about health, global climate change, and compassion for animals.
Some people are motivated by one or two reasons, some are motivated by all of them like myself, and I don´t doubt that there might be some other reasons because we are all different, and we have different reasons for things that we do.
I don´t want to be an advocate of the vegan lifestyle, however, I accept this lifestyle as my chosen one. I don´t want to make anyone feel bad about themselves and their lifestyle choices.
It was not that long time ago when I was also a very enthusiastic carnivore, so I don´t have a claim to lecture anyone. I just want to point out that it is very easy to criticize, to laugh at something and to reject it altogether when we don´t know all the facts.
I also don´t want to say that the vegan lifestyle is the answer to all our problems. I am old enough to know that there is usually not an easy answer or easy solution to all our problems. Life is not that simple.
I just wanted to open this matter, so next time before we start to criticize or laugh at someone with a different lifestyle, different beliefs, etc., we stop at least for a second and ask ourselves if we know enough about the matter to laugh at it.
I think that this topic is so broad that one article cannot cover it all. I am sure that I didn’t say everything that I wanted. For example, I never share the fact that I am not as committed vegan as it might seem from this article. But that and much more I would keep for next time if I might.
Now, allow me to ask you if you share the same passion and experience for the vegan lifestyle as I do. Or if you disagree, which is also fine. As long as we can talk about it respectfully I will listen to what you have to say.
If you are interested in the topic, you might want also to check out the following resources: The Vegan “Beef” Guide: All the Answers to Win Every Argument About Veganism You Will Ever Need by Lyanna K. Peterson, How To Go Vegan by Veganuary, or YOU ARE WHAT YOU EAT – A TWIN EXPERIMENT by NETFLIX.
On the other hand, if you have some interesting book about the topic that you read documentary that you watched, etc. that you would like to share with me, please feel free to contact me.
George out.