motivating experiences & vegan / vegetarian anniversaries

[Guest guest]

On 5/5/02 8:34 AM, " Tammy " <tammy wrote:

 

> Just curious if any of you know " exactly " when you became vegan or

> vegetarian, and do you celebrate it?

 

I became vegetarian on new years day, 1978. It was a few days before my 18th

birthday and I was new in the USA. Coming to this country I wanted to Œturn

over a new leaf¹ and become veggie, something I had wanted to do during my

teen years, but never dared to do while living with my grandmother in

England. Animal rights had taken off big time in London during the 70¹s and

had influenced me. So that is my story. I could never take the plunge and

give up dairy products completely, must be because I love Indian food so

much, and they use it a lot, and oh yes, I am too much the junk food fanatic

(the real reason).

 

I must say, my vegetarianism took me away very early from a belief in a god.

Maybe that is a discussion for another day...

 

 

tony

 

 

 

[Guest guest]

Greetings and good eatings...

Actually, I became vegetarian a little over a yr ago, vegan more recently. I

don't celebrate it, in particular, because everything I cook these days is a

celebration. I have become an excellent cook recently to complement my

extraordinary baking skills. I love being in the kitchen, don't mind the

clean-up (if it is of my own making) and am blessed with contentment to hear

raves concerning my latest product.

I am grateful for all new friends here, and look forward to correspondence with

you all. Health, wellness, peace, joy, and fruitful spirits to you all,

 

Steve

 

" the best is yet to come "

 

" Tammy " <tammy

" SF-Be-A-Veg "

Sun May 05 08:34:21 PDT 2002

[sFBAVeg] motivating experiences & vegan / vegetarian anniversaries

 

>Hi everyone,

>

>Just curious if any of you know " exactly " when you became vegan or

>vegetarian, and do you celebrate it? For me, it was an important turning

>point in my life and I know roughly when it happened but I don't know an

>exact date. It was somewhere in the Fall of 1989, because I was already

>vegan by the time I went that following winter to a PETA Animal Rights 101

>conference... The conference was a totally awesome experience (met some

>great people, totally overwhelmed and inspired by what I learned from the

>PETA staff but MOST importantly had some really good food because up to that

>point my own vegan cooking was pretty mediocre... but future dinner guests,

>don't be afraid, my cooking is much improved now... I practice a lot!) The

>real introduction, though, was just stumbling across a copy (purely by

>chance) of The Animal's Voice Magazine in a yogurt shop. The magazine was

>read from cover to cover. It was a real eye opening experience, and I wrote

>many non-profit groups asking for more information. Joined many groups,

>learned more..... but it was the PETA workshop that introduced me to the

>local veg/AR community around me. Living at that time in Contra Costa, not

>having e-mail access as I do now, I didn't know a single veg*n when I made

>that intuitive decision..... But, within 2 months of the PETA conference, I

>found out first-hand that there were a lot of people really interested in

>veg*nism and met other veg*ns. My then new friend Paula said " Hey, it's

>1990, they're going to do Earth Day. I have PETA's tabling kit, Let's do a

>table " . And that's how a lot of things got started for me....

>

>If you're still (as Bob Linden* says) a pre-vegan, there is a wealth of

>veg*n experience on this list! It really helps to have support during a

>transition to a veg*n lifestyle, whether that be personal support from a

>friend or someone in your family, or your " virtual community " like SFBAVeg.

>So if you have questions, don't be shy.

>

>*Bob Linden is the host of the radio talk show " Go Vegan " SUNDAYS - 9PM SAN

>FRANCISCO BAY AREA ~ KYCY/1550AM http://www.goveganradio.com/

>

>So.... If there was a single or series of experiences that has or is

>propelling you on/towards the veg*n path, I hope you'll share it with us!

>Along with your veg*n anniversary date, please.

>

>Cheers,

>Tammy

>

> " Perform a death-defying act.... Go Vegan! "

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>email: -

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>FREE Vegetarian Starter Kit http://www.goveg.com/vegkit/index.html

>

>

>

>

>

>*Tell your friends to Be-A-Veg with SFBAVeg! To , send an e-mail to:

-

>*To share a message with the group:

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>

>

>

[Guest guest]

This may sound quite silly, but the first thing that

inspired me to become a vegetarian was the music

group, the Smiths (anyone who was in their teens and

into alternative music during the '80s should know who

I'm talking about). Their lead singer, Morrissey, was

a strong advocate for animal rights. The Smiths had

just come out with their album, " Meat is Murder, " and

as a very impressionable 13-year-old who loved

animals, I realised how important it is to have

compassion to other living entities. About a year

later, I read the Bhagavad-gita and was very impressed

about the soul and transmigration/reincarnation. The

Gita just confirmed my convictions about not eating

flesh (karma, three modes of nature, etc.).

 

For the most part, I still to this day eat dairy

products occasionally, although I prefer soy products.

I stopped eating eggs though from age 14.

 

I don't necessarily celebrate my becoming a vegetarian

as a birthday thing, although I must say, it surprises

me when I sit back and think that I've been a

vegetarian for almost 16 years.

 

If anyone has similar turning-of-age experiences into

vegetarianism/veganism, please do share! I've never

met anyone who has a situation remotely similar to

mine. :-D

 

C

 

 

 

Health - your guide to health and wellness

http://health.

[Guest guest]

On 5/5/02 12:18 PM, " c min " <db3xs wrote:

 

> This may sound quite silly, but the first thing that

> inspired me to become a vegetarian was the music

> group, the Smiths

 

I can beat that. During the 70¹s, my heroes were tv shows such as Kung Fu

and Star Trek, both having a vegan hero. Other Science fiction, such as

Planet of the Apes, lead me on the path to where I am. All of these question

our relationship with other species.

 

Like Morrissey, I¹m a big Bowie fan.

 

: )

 

 

tony

 

 

 

[Guest guest]

<!-- I sent this note several hours ago and it never showed up, so I¹m

resending... -->

 

 

 

On 5/5/02 8:34 AM, " Tammy " <tammy wrote:

 

> Just curious if any of you know " exactly " when you became vegan or

> vegetarian, and do you celebrate it?

 

I officially became vegetarian on new years day, 1978. It was a few days

before my 18th birthday and I was new in the USA. Coming to this country I

wanted to Œturn over a new leaf¹ and become veggie, something I had wanted

to do during my teen years, but never dared to do while living with my

grandmother in England. Animal rights had taken off big time in London

during the 70¹s and had influenced me. So that is my story. I could never

take the plunge and give up dairy products completely, must be because I

love Indian food so much, and they use it a lot, and oh yes, I am too much

the junk food fanatic (the real reason).

 

I must say, my vegetarianism took me away very early from a belief in a god.

Maybe that is a discussion for another day...

 

 

tony

 

 

 

[Guest guest]

I do know both my Vegetarian and Vegan Anniversaries, and I plan

to celebrate them each year. The Vegetarian anniversary I celebrate by

cooking at home (it's around Thanksgiving), and on my Vegan Anniversary I

am going to treat myself to a decadent meal at a vegetarian or vegan

restaurant like Millennium.

 

----

 

I've been vegan for almost a year now, vegetarian for 6 months before

that. I became vegetarian for my health, as my mother had both a heart

attack/triple bypass and breast cancer in her early 40's. It took a few

years for it to dawn on me, but once I realized what a large part diet and

nutrition and exercise play in our health, I started looking into eating

healther and exercising. This led me towards more naturally produced whole

foods, and I started cooking for myself more often (rather than hitting

McDonald's all the time). I read about the studies and statistics which

suggested that a vegetarian diet could reduce the risk of both cancer and

heart attacks. I realized that vegetarianism was in line with my ethics as

an animal-lover and I gave up meat (1 day before Thanksgiving, believe it

or not). So my " Vegetarian Anniversary " is November 22 - I celebrate both

1 year and 6 month mile markers.

 

I read several nutrition books to make sure I wasn't going to hurt myself

(since after all, I was doing it for my health) and some relatives and

friends gave me vegetarian cookbooks when I started learning to cook. In

some of these cookbooks were chapters talking about the ethical side of

things, and I gradually realized how terrible our culture treats the

animals we depend upon for food, and how unhealthy the conditions are that

those animals are forced to live within.

 

I ended up reading " Diet for a New America " by John Robbins and crying

most of the way through the book. I realized that I could not, would not

be a part of that system if I could help it. I began looking into egg and

milk substitutes, and moving away from the cheese rut I had gotten into. A

few months later I felt ready, and I made the committment to be a full-on

vegan from that day forward. It coincidentally happened to be around the

time of my 6 month vegetarian anniversary, so I consider May 22 to be my

" Vegan Anniversary " .

 

Within the next month or two I lost almost 10 lbs with no extra exercising

and without feeling hungry or deprived. In fact, I have more energy now

than I did before. I sleep a little sounder, and wake up a little more

refreshed. My skin has cleared up (somewhat), and my acid reflux has only

flared up once in the last year and a half, where it was a once-a-week

ordeal for years before that. Again, if I had been feeling unhealthy or

weakened I would have reexamined my choice, but I've felt better than ever

before. I've even managed to keep most of the weight off (kept it all off

until this past Christmas when I was baking up a storm trying to find the

Perfect Vegan Chocolate Chip Cookie...)

 

Above all else, it makes me feel great knowing that I'm not only looking

out for my own welfare, but in some small way I'm helping an animal out

there that's not being " processed " for my dinner. :-)

[Guest guest]

On 5/7/02 11:25 AM, " Kim Flournoy " <kim wrote:

 

> I give up - who on Star Trek was a vegan?

 

 

All Vulcans are vegan, because (naturally) eating flesh is illogical to

them. So the episode where Mr Spock is stranded in an ice age, and had to

eat flesh for the first time, was a very interesting episode. It ended by

concluding that he had 'temporary madness' by going back in time, which

explained why he liked the taste of meat.

 

By the time of 'Next Generation' the entire human race are vegetarian as in

one early episode Commander Riker says to an alien " We no longer enslave

animals for food purposes " . In Star Trek, the replicators can reproduce all

kinds of food from waste matter by reconstituting the molecules into

anything they want. So the meat they eat is not from anything slaughtered.

Gene Roddenberry was not a vegetarian, but he believed it was the right

direction for mankind.

 

 

tony