Martina has been vegan for about 3 and a half years now, and while I was initially reluctant, within a couple of months, we had gone completely vegan at home. While Martina is more of an ethical vegan (that is, one who chooses not to consume animal products because of how animals are treated, and thus, doesn’t use leather or any other animal-derived material, whether food or not), after doing more research into the matter, I started to become more convinced of the health benefits of a “plant-strong” diet (dietary vegan) and tried to limit my intake of meat as much as possible.
As an engineer, who is sometimes working in fairly remote places, it can be hard to even find vegan food options, so I stopped short of becoming fully vegan for that reason. However, I became lax and would often “splurge” at lunch by eating meat, even though vegetarian and vegan options might be available to me.
Yesterday, I watched a video about the treatment of animals in slaughterhouses, and while this is something that I knew about all along, there’s something about putting eyes on it that makes it more real to you. I decided on the spot that I didn’t want to be involved in consuming meat any longer.
So I am now resolving to go vegetarian, and as vegan as possible. This goes back to the need to find food on the go, so even if the small town I’m in doesn’t have any vegan options, I can probably find a cheese sandwich somewhere, though I’d rather opt for the vegan option if there was one available.
I’m looking forward to my new diet – it’s not going to be vastly different for me, because I’ve largely been eating vegan for over 3 years, but not being able to run over to Chick-Fil-A for a sneaky chicken sandwich at lunch will take a couple of weeks getting used to, but I’m sure that my annual physical in May will show improvements in my bloodwork.
