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The Veganism Thread


Odinson

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wil_says____by_nastylittlethought-d4uou4

 

You know what he said, and you know he cleared up that it was a shoddily worded post, and provided you with more than enough context so as to clear his position that for SOME it's a choice, but for MOST it isn't.

 

You're just being a tjop right now. 

And in this fred all tjops are frowned on, its a meat free zone :D

 

I think most things boil down to what works personally for someone, if its being vegan, religious, sport obsessed etc then its all good... unless its those damn crossfit people!

Its nice to have a place to find out more about something.

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I think we've agreed you can go vegan for a couple of reasons. Animal welfare was one, the environment was another and I think health (if I'm remembering correctly). It doesn't have to be all three to allow you to qualify.

 

Your two food stories made me chuckle, allergies are common place in many foods these days because of the rubbish we inject and feed and house a lot of our foods. (I feel I can speak personally to this) Also, not knowing where/what your meat comes from and how its stored and cooked is commonplace not only in shady countries but lets be honest it can happen anywhere - that great KFC chicken washing video comes to mind. So your two points here are actually directly agreeing with vegan health principles. 

 

If your mates want to make a scene, I can't speak to you or them on that. I agree though vegans are seen to be pushy, I think mostly its because it goes against such steadfast lifestyle norms. If I pull out a salad at work I hear about it for the rest of the day, people (especially South Africans) simply refuse to accept anyone could survive life without meat. So it just makes this minority an easy and stand-out target. 

 

The other thing, perhaps perhaps... maybe pushing an agenda is a good thing. If there is science behind it, if its going to help you, maybe it should be vocalized a little more often. And from zero to anything is always going to be a 100% increase so it will be overwhelming. Take any trend these days, we're constantly getting bombarded with media - try as hard as you want you cannot block it out. I'd sooner cut my eyes out than watch a Kardashian program but that doesn't stop it from infiltrating every single nook and cranny of society and inevitably finding its way to me. You cannot stop it, its just how you respond to it. 

Yeah there are a number of reasons to do something, I just get annoyed by people who claim its a moral responsibility when it clearly wasnt the reason they started at all.

 

Maybe it just boils down to me not enjoying being told how to live my life, be that diet/religion/political views etc.

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On a serious not now - yes, militant vegans are very annoying, and I get that people get irritated by them. Same as Bible bashers, just don't force anything on anyone else.

 

But can we at least all agree that trying to reduce the suffering of animals in this world is a good and admirable thing. I'm sure that following a vegan lifestyle (or even just 90%, or 50%) is not easy, and giving up food you love by making a conscious decision to not inflict pain and suffering on other beings is a good thing. 

 

I feel a lot of the hate geared towards vegans is uncalled for - what are you doing to lessen the suffering in this world?

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Yeah there are a number of reasons to do something, I just get annoyed by people who claim its a moral responsibility when it clearly wasnt the reason they started at all.

 

Maybe it just boils down to me not enjoying being told how to live my life, be that diet/religion/political views etc.

Hmmm... Just cos it's not the reason they start, doesn't mean they can't adopt it as a reason to continue. But yes, I agree with you about the proselytizing of some.

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I'd just like to use this post to thank all of the contributors. I think that the discourse has been engaging and that we have been able to challenge each other on various topics.

 

I think that a lot of folks have a better idea about what veganism is and isn't and what the movement is about.  

 

So, dankie mense!

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And no people.....chicken isn't a vegetable....heard that pearler for the millionth time this weekend at a braai...so far the best vegan joke has been Patches birthday cabbage cake earlier in this thread...

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Okay, now back to business. 

 

With December almost halfway done, let's look to the new year and see how we can challenge ourselves to step out of our comfort zones. For that, I propose 'Veganuary'. 

 

Veganuary is a campaign to have people try out a plant-based diet for the month of Jan. There is an accompanying website that has an absolute wealth of into (recipes, FAQs, etc.) that can be used. It's that simple. 

 

Knowing that a full plant-based diet is perhaps a bridge too far for some at this time, I propose a second challenge: 'Reductionuary'. Doesn't quite roll off the tongue, but the idea is to go on an animal product reduction 30 day challenge. Basically, the idea is to get ~90% of your daily calories from plant sources and the rest can be 'spent' on animal products. Cronometer will be needed in this challenge and I can run a simulation to see how that would look like. 

 

Even if you have no interest in a plant-based diet, I think it could be interesting just from a cooking perspective - try new dishes, ingredients, etc. Make it a family challenge and involve the whole lot of them. 

 

So, who would be interested? 

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And no people.....chicken isn't a vegetable....heard that pearler for the millionth time this weekend at a braai...so far the best vegan joke has been Patches birthday cabbage cake earlier in this thread...

 

That was *** snaaks. 

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So, who would be interested? 

 

A sales hack job from my side.

 

My constitution definitely improved when I reduced my meat intake.

 

Veggies seem to "move through the system" with less stress (gas!) and I found my energy levels more constant. More meals more often were required though - meat/fat leaves you fuller for longer.

 

After going veggie for a while I found meat meals left me heavy and lazy.

 

Now that I'm low meat I really enjoy it when I do eat meat. I figure if something is going to die for me to eat the least I can do is be aware that it did and enjoy the meal rather than go through the motions and not even remember eating it (this concept should can be expanded to all food - try concentrating on eating next time you do - the flavour is much better!).

 

Take a dip in the low/no meat ocean - I reckon after the initial digging in the heels and the "you can't tell me what to do" you will enjoy it!

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Who is willing to send me the details of a normal day's eating, so that I can crunch the numbers to see how to get from there to about 90% plant calories? 

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Who is willing to send me the details of a normal day's eating, so that I can crunch the numbers to see how to get from there to about 90% plant calories?

Breakfast: Smoothie of 1 Beet, 1 Banna, 2 straberries, little ginger, half a cup of raw oats, tsp chilli powder, tsp tumeric, tsp cinnamon, tsp honey, 1/2 cup lowfat milk, 175ml low fat yogurt.

 

Snack: Fruit

 

Lunch: Either two eggs/can of tuna/100g cheese with 300g salad/noodles/rice crackers

 

Dinner: ~250g meat. ~ 300g veggies

 

Snack: some chocolate

 

Edit: 90% of my days follow this routine. I bake sourdough bread that is only water and wheat and if I’m lazy I just have a few slices of that for lunch or breakie. Sometimes with eggs.

Edited by Pieter1
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Who is willing to send me the details of a normal day's eating, so that I can crunch the numbers to see how to get from there to about 90% plant calories?

I don’t keep a food diary anymore, but I’ve decided to try and go meat free, not vegan, meat free 3 days a week for 3 weeks as an honest concerted attempt. I’m hoping that while I’m in London that it will be a more achievable goal and that it evolves into a more focused effort.

 

I know that if I set the goal too far out that it might fail.

 

Let’s see....

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