#VEGANUARY

Before you begin reading, here is my disclaimer, it is ok to not want to change your whole way of eating after reading this! It is to at least fet your wheels turning!

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At this point is you’re still here i hope you read all the way through, this post is about MY jorney to no meat and through out the month of january i will be posting on social media about my vegan journey i will be starting tomorrow! Many people think im already very vegan because i openly advocate for vegan choices on the regular. Actually i am about 90% vegan... or whatever that means. I focus on cruelty free living. All of my beauty/bath/lifestyle products are vegan, i dont buy wool, leather, suede purses/boots/coats etc. I eat no meat, occasionally fish and cheese and eggs, no milk, sometimes processed dairy. Our mayo, butter, milk, and cheese in our fridge are all vegan. My biggest down fall... pizza. I friggin love a good pizza. Below ill explain why i, and many other struggling vegans, still eat a few non vegan things here and there.

How did i get started:
-The book “skinny bitch”
-Snippetsof documentary's
-Researched where my food was coming from
-Swapped all beauty/hair/body products, etc.
-ALWAYS read labels/google
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I literally made chocolate covered oreos with sprinkles for xmas, YOU CAN LITERALLY EAT A VEGAN VERSION OF ANYTHING IF YOU REALLY CANT GIVE IT UP!

In my opinion, the only reason people including myself continue to support businesses and practices that promote the unnecessary torture, mutilation, electrocution and death of animals is because it’s convenient, and oh yah, we’re selfish. (Seems a bit over board, i get it, but it’s literally all true!)

This is where people take offense. You cant tell me you have a better reason to eat that chicken wing other than you just plain like it.

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Some common questions people ask me:

“But they eat meat in the bible”: and have 19 wives and slaves, doesnt mean we should now a days.
“People have eaten meat/animal products for hundreds of years”: and people have not eaten meat for hundreds of years, and with the development of modern technology we no longer have to limit our food choices by season or region, for example vegetables of all kinds are available year round where hundreds of years ago it wasn't that simple. I believe if we dont have to harm and animal to eat/live, then why should we.
-“But my family owns a farm and we name the cows and play with them and they live a great life first:” this is the tiny minority. Sure it's the best case senario if you want to eat meat, but why not dog meat like other cultures? Why cows and pigs? Because we’ve been trained by society to consume these animals since birth. The large majority of the population/ restaurants/grocery stores get their aninals products from horrific, disgusting factory farms. Footage doesn't lie, there’s a reason no one wants to watch those videos of aniamls being ripped apart alive, screaming for their babies for weeks on end and drowning in their own feces. Deep down we know our purchases support it.

Ever notice your cat cry when you step on his tail, your dog yelp if you cut his nail too short. They feel pain, fear, sadness, all animals to some degree have “feelings.” These matter to me.

Society can’t even watch a well cared for dog who is scared to jump in the water, get forced/pushed in without a huge uproar*. Although we can continue to support an industry that drugs our food until it grows so large its bone structure cant support its own body weight anymore.
* from the filming of A Dogs Purpose.

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We have the ability to make better choices, we have the freedom to make smarter choices, vegans are labeled as pushy and preachy because how do you tell someone nicely that they are supporting everything i talked about above.

Just because you were raised one way doesn't mean you are required to stay that way, it’s hard to go against the grain, to ask the waiter 109 questions, to have your friends not understand your decisions. But when you are living in alignment with your values, you will sleep sounder every night.

I am not perfect, most vegans are not perfect, you dont have to be perfect. Make one change this month, if your stomach turned even once reading this, make one change, one change that works for you, meatless mondays, vegan milk, anything. Your small choices do and will add up.

Ill post some links below for some resources you might be interested in. Feel free to leave comments or questions you have here or on my social media! And don’t forget i wasn’t an english major, please excuse any grammatical errors.
ps i haven't even touched on the negative environmental impact that animal agriculture is making...

Veganuary: Inspiring people to try vegan
I Love Vegan: The basics of veganism
Vegan Society: Vegan Lifestyle
Peta: Accidentally Vegan Foods (ie. oreos)