Feeling a bit overwhelmed

[YokoNuruku]

Hello. My name is Yoko. I stumbled on and explored quite a bit of The Vegan Atheists content on YouTube. I myself am quite new to the vegetarian lifestyle and I admit that the information I was faced with on the videos was a bit bracing. I wanted to come onto here and read more content from other users who may or may not share the VA's viewpoints, and to generally put my feelers out for information that I hope will allow for a relatively comfortable transition into a vegan lifestyle in the near future. I took much of it to heart and do want to honestly change and I feel starting here, with such an eloquent source of inspiration, will help me achieve my goal.

Thank you very much, and nice to meet you. ^_^

[brimstoneSalad]

Welcome Yoko, good intro, I'm glad you've joined us!

I hope we can help you. If you have any questions, don't hesitate to ask.
How has it been going so far?

[Cirion Spellbinder]

Welcome YokoNuruku!
I'm happy to see that you plan to start transitioning into the vegan lifestyle! Again, as stated by brimstoneSalad, if you have an questions, feel free to ask! Also, why did you decide to become vegetarian?

[garrethdsouza]

Hi Yoko, where are you from? How did you become an atheist and vegetarian, what got you interested in veganism?

[YokoNuruku]

@brimstoneSalad Thank you for the offer very much. I suspect I may have quite a few questions in the near future. As for my current diet, I would say that it is going very well. I have not, at the very least, consumed any meat related products (including egg) and while sometimes I seem to have dreams about it, its not especially difficult. I actually find it rather liberating in a way to take such a firm grasp of what I am putting into my body and as a result I have more energy, more focus, and I have begun losing weight at a healthy rate.

@Cirion Spellbinder Thank you too for that sentiment. As for what caused me to desire the transition, it has been something building up over time. A while back I had gotten very sick and meat related products of any kind made me sick to my stomach to even smell. So I was essentially introduced to the vegetarian lifestyle through force. I eventually returned to being able to consume meat, but ever since that first experience of almost 2 months without it, I came to realize that it is not only unnecessary, but I began to find it repulsive. I kept eating meat out of habit and convenience and hated myself more and more for it. I can't really find an adequate way to describe the exact reason why because I am from Montana, and in Montana hunting and the meat industry is deeply ingrained in our particular culture since birth. As such, I don't have any particular qualms against hunting for sustenance, as many families I know do.
Or I would like to believe so. As I mentioned in my introduction, the Vegan Atheist has confront me with some simple truths about even dairy products that have caused me to deeply reconsider even consuming dairy products, even as I have already rigidly rejected consuming products with eggs, animals fats, and other such products or extracts.

@garrethdsouza I am from Montana. I was raised in a strict religious family, but over the years the actions and words of my family and my own growing independence forced me to question everything I had been taught. I became an Atheist because nothing else could have possibly made better sense than questioning, analyzing, and drawing rational conclusions from testable sources. Religion naturally phased out of my life simply because I outgrew it.
How I became a vegetarian is stated in my previous response to Spellbinder.
And why I am interested in shifting to veganism is because of the difficult realities that the Vegan Atheist repeatedly presents in his videos. I am still learning to remove the social condition of consuming meat as sustenance and I feel I am doing well for it. In time, I do hope to fully transition to veganism.