I'm a 35-year-old vegan atheist guy living in the UK, I'm also gay. So there's my minority credentials out of the way first!
I discovered this forum through the YouTube channel. I've enjoyed many of the videos there and find the host's deconstruction of the opposing arguments both entertaining and thought-provoking. It really exposes how little thought goes into so many widely-held views and beliefs. Keep it up!
Before I became vegan I also really loved watching many aethiest v religious debates from the likes of Hitchens, Dawkins and Harris. I find that veganism is an extension of the thinking that makes me an aethiest and I love the power of using rational thinking to challenge mainstream dogma.
I've been vegan for about a year, think it was June 2014 I went vegan, but didn't make a note of the start date. I've not had any relapses or any real difficulties changing straight from an omnivorous diet to a vegan one.
I grew up in a house where we always had free-range meat and eggs, so I've always had some concern for animal welfare although never looked into the reality of farming methods. For some time before I went vegan I felt increasingly guilty about the idea of eating animals and always felt less so when I had a meat-free day. By the way, I always considered fish to be meat unlike some people I've met...
I was concerned with health for many years too and gave up smoking in 2006 as I realised it was something I would definitely regret one day, so was clearly something to stop doing. A concern for health led to more interest in diet too.
For about two years before I went vegan I only ate meat out of the house and usually just had two or three pieces of fish per week, as well a dairy products - cheese on toast, milk on muesli and yogurt with fruit mainly. Further research into healthy diet led me to various vegan YouTube videos and documentaries - there was Earthlings and I think, Food Inc. both very affecting and hard to watch. I couldn't finish Earthlings, it was relentless real-life horror. My sister dismissed it as 'propaganda' without watching it...
After putting it all together - personal health, animal welfare, environment - I concluded that it was an obligation to start a vegan diet, for reasons of ethics and intellectual consistancy. At first, I looked to switch to vegan versions of what I already ate. So soya yogurt and milk were an easy change to make. I found it more difficult substituting the fish for non-animal products and ate quite a bit more Quorn for a few weeks...until I realised it contains egg!
I now tend to eat a lot of brown rice, bananas, potatoes, oats and plenty of all sorts of fruit and vegetables. I enjoy smoothies and use soya or rice milk. I eat as much as I like and never try to restrict calories, as it just affects my sporting performance and makes me feels anxious and crave fatty foods.
I never find myself tempted by non-vegan foods, they don't register as food to me anymore, I just walk past them! And I'm finding it increasingly odd eating next to meat-eaters - anyone else find this?
Glad to be a member and look forward to engaging with others here!
