How hard is life not eating animal products? The easy part is not eating them. Here’s the truth about life on a vegan diet – albeit with a sarcastic take.
You know everyone’s favourite food
I love that stereotype – ‘You know whether someone is a vegan because a vegan will tell you’.
Well, the minute you have to mention you are a vegan (how else do you explain saying no to half the food), wait for someone to tell you how they could never do it.
Expect a one-sided conversation – a list of all the things someone could eat with cheese, meat and fish. By the end, you will feel like you’ve vacationed in their stomach – knowing every piece of food that flows through their mouth.
You learn a menu before arriving
Going to a non-vegan restaurant is a stressful experience. I always like to check beforehand to brace myself, or hopefully choose a place that somewhat caters.
Many restaurants now provide vegan menus. These are usually menus that are made for vegetarians but will have around 3 vegan choices. So, you basically get told there is a menu for you, only to discover that you are welcome to a couple of salads with no dressing. Or pasta with no sauce.
You will sit and ponder if it’s okay to eat the tree branch outside or just suffice on water.
You come across as a nuisance
I’ve been told before: “We didn’t want to invite you because we didn’t know what you would eat”.
You also have to feel like this awkward person ruining a party. I still have friends that say: “Should we go to KFC? Oh wait…you don’t eat it”.
Of course, I absolutely cannot suggest a vegan restaurant as vegan food is disgusting and all vegans accept that for animals – right?
People think you’re dreaming of meat and dairy
I am completely okay with others eating whatever they choose in front of me – to a degree because if you did a tree branch I’d be concerned. But people naturally apologise or believe that they are putting temptation before my eyes.
Especially with a bacon sandwich or cheeseburger. I mean, I could have one…shh!
However, I took the decision not to, and I live with that choice. I’m not going to have a meltdown and I’ll try to not let my stomach grumble.
They also assume you’re a preacher
I’m a perfectionist – which means everyday I like to reiterate why I’m not perfect. I’m not going to memorise the facts on Cowspiracy and attack you with them; neither am I going to create a debate.
I have zero business in dictating how others live. I’ve just switched my skincare to vegan and need to swap my clothes – yes, not perfect!
Please don’t believe each person on a vegan diet is a hippie or preacher.
Apparently you’re taking over
Okay, veganuary was a thing and supermarkets are accommodating. However, in the grand scheme of things – despite a vegan diet being one of the fastest growing, society is not exactly parading veganism.
I can’t put on MasterChef and not see a fish being skinned – a vegan doesn’t win on Come Dine With Me.
Your food recommendations are disgusting
I celebrated my first month as a vegan last October. For over two decades, I was a cheese addict, McDonald’s lover and prawn enthusiast.
There are some awful vegan substitutes – cheese that disintegrates in your mouth and butter that makes toast unpalatable – I get it.
On the other hand, there are awesome swaps out there. Food that you couldn’t believe is vegan. My mum purchases vegan sausage rolls for herself and she would never give up meat. Before you roll your eyes and distrust all vegan alternatives – try and stay open-minded.
Most vegans have had meat before – we didn’t grow up in fields hugging cows.
For vegans or vegetarians, how much of this do you agree with? For non-vegans and vegetarians, do you know anyone on a vegan diet? How much does it affect your social-life with them?
If you loved this post, read:
Plant-based Diet: Third Month – What’s Changed?
Great post Laura…i m a lacto vegetarian Laura and i didn’t find any difficulty since now and on a serious note India is the best place for you to eat vegetarian stuff. I always find difficulty only in friends-night-out, really it makes me feel like an alien ! I will fell completely left out unless I have another veggie in my group
I try really hard to fit in with groups and not be fussy, but it’s hard sometimes when you go out to eat and there’s literally nothing on the menu that doesn’t contain meat, fish or cheese.
I would love to travel to India one day! It’s so easy at home to make food but hard elsewhere. I didn’t even consider you being vegetarian because your food is full of variety. x
I got some big ole chuckles out of this post! I have a lot of vegan friends and it doesn’t affect our friendships . . . at all LOL. In our house, we don’t consume that much meat anyway, so a friend saying to me “oh can we go to a vegan cafe” is fine by me. I think if you’re used to meat with EVERY meal it might be more like…but what will i eat? xx
You are a great friend! None of my friends are vegan – my sister doesn’t eat meat though. But going to restaurants, she has far more options.
I’ve never consumed much meat either. I would say before I went vegan, I was eating more fish and definitely more cheese. xx
Most vegans have had meat before – we didn’t grow up in fields hugging cows. This made me laugh. 🙂
I would not consider myself vegan or vegetarian because I am not 100% committed, but I do what I can, what is feasible, for my lazy arse.
I have friends who are vegan and none of them preach to me at all. In fact, they get hounded more by those who are NOT vegan. I love having friends who are vegan because they are a great source of information. They’ve helped my diet and my health by allowing me to ask them questions, one after another, for sometimes hours. 🙂
It’s a great lifestyle and I commend anyone who can do it without issue. <3 Thank you for sharing! 🙂
It’s a really bad stereotype that vegans are preachy. I think maybe online, I’ve seen a couple who criticise other vegans, but generally I’ve not noticed it.
My vegan friend who is now in Australia, never made me feel bad or said anything before I changed.
Thank you Cherilyn for reading! 🙂 x
I’m a pure vegetarian (I eat egg but no fish or any other meat) and can totally relate! I always have issues going out to eat esp when I visit other countries since most restaurants are non-vegetarian. I also always check the menu of the restaurant beforehand just to make sure there are vegetarian options. It’s def a struggle when you hang out with friends when most of them eat meat. I always just cook and pack something from home or just dine it a pizza place or something. Nice post 🙂
Thank you girl 🙂 I’m really worried about holidays now. I want to go to Berlin later on in the year and I know that they do plenty of vegetarian and vegan places.
There are so many options when cooking at home – it makes me wonder why so little when eating out. 🙂
Hey! I nominated you for the Mystery Blogger Award because I really enjoy reading your posts! Link here –> http://theitgirl.blog/2018/04/14/the-mystery-blogger-award/
Thank you girl! I will check it out 🙂 x
I am a vegetarian by birth, yet I allowed my son to take meat to meet his protein requirement, but within few months he stopped taking as he felt it influenced his mind as well. It was really surprising that even a teenager could feel such a difference.
That’s interesting that he noticed a difference. I stopped eating meat back in September, and while it’s hard to remember when I noticed a change, I feel like I have a lot more energy. I’m not always so tired.
I’m not vegan but I am vegetarian and I can totally relate to checking menus before hand. I’m sure it’s much easier to find things you can eat as a vegetarian but especially on vacation in Peru I found it was hard to find things sometimes.
In edmonton we have an AMAZING vegan restaurant called Padmanadi, it’s so so good and I can eat literally everything on the menu. They do soy meat and they do such a good job with the texture that even my husband says he can’t really tell the difference.
That sounds great! I feel like the food industry has really figured out how to create a good alternative to meat, my biggest struggle is figuring out a good cheese. There was one I tried a couple of years ago but I can’t remember the name.
If I come across one I’ll let you know!
Loved your lighthearted way of laying this down 🙂 I relate on many levels as a vegetarian and my husband a vegan. Social life gets totally modified due to food choices and the social dialogues so typical. And yes, we love to take a look at the menu before entering the restaurant. 🙂
I usually find myself preparing my own snacks beforehand now. I hope though, that because more and more people are interested in vegan food, that restaurants start to accommodate more. I always end up with a dessert of a sorbet – nice but kind of boring. 🙂
I relate to all you say – I have become accustomed to this lifestyle. Boring is the new wise and brilliant I think 🙂
Love how you put that. Here’s to boring! 🙂
🙂
100/100 for each point you’ve listed! I go through similar struggles whenever I choose to dine out, and somehow I feel like a social outcast. I don’t want to stick out like a sore thumb, but my morals are more important to me. For this reason, I love cooking my own vegan meals at home. Great job writing this post! 🙂
It’s hard being the odd one out right! My friend who is vegan, moved abroad so now I don’t know anyone in my social life who is the same. Most of my friends and family, are very anti-vegan. So it’s tough but like you, I wouldn’t change.
Thank you foe reading lovely 🙂
Haha! This made me chuckle. I have been a vegetarian for 35 years, and for the last 4 years have eaten a mainy plant based diet. I cannot tell you the amount of times I have heard these things. My beautiful Nan has passed away now, but she used to always so to me I did you a bit of breaded ham because I know you dont eat meat hahaha! Love her. I just tend to smile sweetly when people ask what the hell do you eat, or similar. I have two stone to lose, I eat plenty!
Lol – I still have a friend who hasn’t quite figured out the meaning of vegan, and thinks it’s vegetarian.
There’s so much to eat and I still feel that I can enjoy a wide variety – curries, stir-fry’s and weekend pasta. Thank you for reading Kerry! x
This is amazing! And relatable as someone who has been veg, vegan, and a meat eater (of which I currently am) my biggest pet peeve (and this is with anyone, I am also GF) is when people don’t look at the flipping menu and then complain about limited choices and that really is anyone regardless of what you eat.
I agree! What annoys me actually is that I have some friends (one in particular) who wants to go to really cool restaurants, but then just complains if there’s no pizza or something simple like pasta. Checking the menu should be a requirement! Thank you for reading 🙂
Lol. I have to shake my head at that. It really should be! I always send links to people (I am a foodie!) so afterwards if they start to complain, I just respond with I sent you the link and you okayed it lol. You are very welcome! Thank you for sharing! <3