hello, new here

[Will]

Hello all. My name is Will -- I'm a 24 yr. old who was brought up vegan returning to veganism after 6 yrs as an omnivore. I've been checking out lots of veg*an websites lately because I never really learned much about cooking vegan, etc. Anyway, my current partner has a little daughter that she has been raising vegetarian, so we are all doing this together. I have some ??s about fasting that I'll post in a different thread.

[sophie]

Hi Will, and welcome!
I am really curious -What was it like going from vegan to eating meat? How did your body react, and how did you make the transition? What made you decide to go vegan again?
See you round,
Sophie

[Will]

Hi Sophie. Well, going from vegan to omni I didn't transition at all. I just started eating whatever I wanted. The first non-vegan food I ever had was a cheeseburger on my 18th bday :(
I got really sick that night, but it got easier pretty quickly. Mostly I am returning to veganism because it was the way I was brought up. First, for spiritual/ethical reasons, but also for animal welfare and world hunger reasons. So, I felt (and still feel) really guilty about the past 6 years. I haven't been welcome in my family since I ate that first burger (and bragged about it) so that was another incentive to change. What finally got me to stop thinking about it was meeting my brother accidentally at a peace demonstration and wanting to hide because I was eating a hot dog. He saw me and looked so disgusted and asked whether I could even see the irony in eating that at a peace demo, I decided I had to change, starting that day. So, here I am! :)

[Janine]

Wow, you're sort of my nightmare scenario of raising kids vegan. heh heh. I'm pregnant and have always thought that if we raised our child vegan from the beginning there would be no way s/he would want meat. But I guess I was wrong! Umm, do you have any tips on how one could prevent this? Were your parents too dogmatic? It's great that you're back in the fold, though.
Janine

[Will]

Hi Janine. I was a pretty bad kid, so you probably have nothing to worry about. I'm the only one of 4 boys and 2 girls to screw up! I don't know that I'd say they were too dogmatic -- to them it was as undeniably wrong to eat meat as it was to kill a human. But they didn't just tell me it was wrong, they told me why, so I understood why my lunches were so different from everyone else's! Since I'm just beginning to be a parent myself, I really don't have any advice. Consumption of animal products is so entrenched in our culture, I think you have to innoculate your kids with information and a solid committment to veganism. Of course, my parents did that, and I turned out badly, but my brothers and sisters kept the faith!

[Erin Pavlina]

Will, your story is fascinating. So you were raised vegan from the start, then went omni at 18 and are now 24 and turning back to veganism. Very interesting.

I'm curious, like the others, what was it like growing up totally vegan? How did your omni friends treat you? What was it like going to birthday parties? Did you resent being vegan those first 18 years?

[Blinky]

Don't be so hard on yourself Will. You're back, right? Anyway, it's normal for young adults to test the waters for themselves. You came back to veganism on your own. Welcome.

I, too am curious what it was like growing up vegan. Although, I think it's much easier for kids to be vegan now with all the great food products that are available. It must have been more of a challenge for your family.

[Will]

Roxanneredd -- I wish my parents and brothers and sisters felt the way you feel about testing, etc -- I've been shunned for the past 6 yrs over this.

Growing up vegan was weird in some ways. veganism was our religion, really, and my parents were very committed to veganism as a lifestyle. My aunt and uncle had a vegan diet, but they also raised sheep which they used for wool. They were also less strict about buying used products that had animal material. I think I was the one who questioned the most -- I remember that we were never allowed to have the beautiful wool sweaters that my aunt knitted, and I really wanted one, and argued constantly with my parents because the sheep were so damn happy (at least, they seemed that way!!). anyway, yeah, we went to birthday parties. my mom just packed us cakes made with fruit or veggie puree instead of the dairy and told the hosting family that we had severe food allergies. nobody ever tried to sneak us anything! we never used meat or dairy substitutes, either, just nuts, grains, fruits, and veggies. we were considered kinda strange by the other kids, but we still had lots of friends. the thing I most appreciate from my upbringing is the reverence for life that I was taught. I haven't held it in me as I should, but I still appreciate it.

** just wanted to apologize if my mention of eating meat/dairy, or using animal products offends. I've been away from veganism so long I've forgotten my manners, so to speak. Please don't hesitate to call me out if I say something wrong!!:(

[Sylver]

Hi! Nice to meet you, Will! This makes me think about how many teens will do something that their parents had taught should not be done. For instance, smoking, drinking etc. I had (and many of my friends) learned about how these things were not exactly good for us etc., but I still had to try it. I guess it's some kind of curiousity thing, with a hint of rebellion. So my curiousity lead me to smoke for some years, but I'm happy to say that I have been smoke-free for over 9 months!
Overcoming things is a better feeling than guilt! Don't feel too bad for what you've done. Congratulations for making and wanting to make a change that you feel good about! Take care.

[CarlaJ]

Will,
Congrats for going back. It sounds like your girlfriend and her daughter are lucky to have you! I know this is kind of off the subject, but I was watching Dharma and Greg (US TV show) the other day. Dharma said, "my most embarrassing day of my life was when I was 12 and found out people ate meat. I went to the dairy queen and got a cheeseburger. I was sitting behind the place on a picnic table scarfing down a cheeseburger and guess who shows up!" Her mother in law says, "I don't know, the meat police?" She yells, "CLOSE!!! My mother!"

I thought it was hillarious! And I'm sure your parent's will forgive you after time especially when they learn your girlfriend and her daughter are switching too!

I'm 22 and wish my parent's had raised me vegan- or even vegetarian! I'm sure even after your 6 year switch, you were vegan during the crucial growing and developing years. You had a good headstart!

Carla