• WhereDidMySpinachGo@vegantheoryclub.org
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    5 days ago

    How has becoming vegan improved your life?

    So many ways, but the one I’ll say is i eat much healthier now. I used to never eat my fruits and veggies, and i lived out of the freezer with prepackaged meals. Now i could go live in my garden

  • Fox [any, she/her]@vegantheoryclub.org
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    11 days ago

    Considering I no longer get out of breath when I walk, deal with indigestion, or have rough skin I’d say life has improved significantly since I went vegan.

    Though, as I’ve mentioned previously, I sometimes feel a lot more lonely and isolated from the rest of the world. I live in a pretty big and diverse city so it’s genuinely nonsensical to me how few vegans I’ve actually come across in real life (I’ve met, like, four other vegans, one of whom “isn’t vegan” anymore.)

    As for what I’m up to, I’m moving to a different house so I can finally start my garden up again. It’s been way too long lol.

    • 🏴 hamid abbasi [he/him] 🏴@vegantheoryclub.orgOPM
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      11 days ago

      Yeah, it is isolating when you realize that you’re the vanguard of something. Even though online I’m mean to carnists and get out my aggression in vegan spaces in real life I’ve learned to be a little more patient, not much, but a little more.

      It has helped me to realize though that if I tell someone I’m vegan and they get defensive and start being mean about it that I’m glad because I just saved myself time from having to figure out if the person is worthwhile to be friends with or not. Most people are not mean about it once they get passed the first layer of defense.

    • Sashin@vegantheoryclub.org
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      9 days ago

      Are there vegan groups or events that you could go to meet more? I’ve found value in volunteering at vegan events locally and meeting other vegans through there.

  • 🏴 hamid abbasi [he/him] 🏴@vegantheoryclub.orgOPM
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    11 days ago

    For me this is an easy one to answer because there are so many ways. Standing up for what I actually believed in and sticking to something that is important to me helped me stay more confident in other aspects of my life. I realize that no one is going to live my life the way I want for me and making this change and standing up for myself and my beliefs has had ripple effects throughout my life including my relationships and job. On top of this my health improved tremendously, granted veganism is not a diet and you can be an unhealthy vegan but I decided I wanted to not only stand up for animal rights but learn how to do it in a way that will be long lasting so I learned about whole food plant based eating. My health did a 180, in my 30s I was obese and in my 40s I look and feel better than I did at any point in my life.

  • NaevaTheRat@vegantheoryclub.orgM
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    11 days ago

    How has becoming vegan improved your life?

    Oh god so many ways. I’m healthier, I feel less guilty, I feel a deeper connection and joy to the food I make. It’s a confidence booster that while I’m a disaster of a human being in a lot of ways I am at least genuinely able to try and fight injustice and critically examine my own behaviour.

    As to what’s been going on, I’ve been digging for treasure! Finding sapphire at a low grade field near me. It’s nice to vibe in the forest and get some exercise. Pics related

    • 🏴 hamid abbasi [he/him] 🏴@vegantheoryclub.orgOPM
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      11 days ago

      This is so cool! I’m really inspired seeing something like this, just going out in to the woods and finding something special, a literal jewel. I understand they aren’t highly monetarily valued but who cares what other people value, it must have tremendous personal value when you pulled it out with your own hands.

      • NaevaTheRat@vegantheoryclub.orgM
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        11 days ago

        I’m pretty much the coolest person I know (⌐■_■)

        Nah but I’m always after more reasons to spend time in the bush and countryside. Something about solitude in scenic places + working up a sweat rejuvenates me. After a week or two without a day in the bush I feel myself getting misanthropic and depressed, but even a casual stroll and I remember that there is actually a staggering amount of beauty in the world.

  • mathemachristian [he/him]@hexbear.net
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    11 days ago

    It made me so much more aware of others around me, non-humans and humans alike. But I’m not gonna lie overall it’s had an adverse affect on me. It’s more stress mentally speaking, my worries about how to raise my kid got octupled, it opened up space between me and my wife and I feel more alienated from those around me.

    • ButtBidet [he/him]@hexbear.net
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      11 days ago

      The kid and wife thing is hard. I’m not gonna pretend that there is an easy solution to that.

      I feel more alienated from those around me

      I gotta say, as I’ve grown and discarded bad habits (slurs, misogyny, animal abuse, transphobia, social chauvanism, etc), I’ve always lost people who couldn’t grow with me. And it’s always been tough and painful. But I always end up meeting newer people that vibe with my new wavelength, and the relationship ends up being much more satisfying than the old “hey let’s go to the pub” or “hey let’s do brunch” friendship that got left behind. It’s a cliche, but do join an org if you can.

  • Inui [comrade/them]@hexbear.net
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    10 days ago

    After both being vegan for 5 years, my partner has gone back to calling themselves vegetarian and consuming dairy. Everything we eat shared is vegan, but too many inconsistencies piled up elsewhere and they never really adopted a fully animal-centric view. They buy leather, wool, etc but only second hand unless its a gift for someone else. In their mind the other person isn’t vegan, so theres a distinction if its not for their personal consumption. They’re against mammal breeding, but have a leopard gecko bought from a breeder, when the rest of our animal companions are rescues because they study reptiles and amphibians academically and breeders are some of the only reliable places to get them from. Stuff like that.

    I’m not posting to trash on them, they’re still my partner and have been for almost 20 years. But its personally disappointing as I’ve felt more and more disconnected from everyone in my life due to ethical and ideogical reasons.

    I think I have a harder time dealing with it because I’m nuerodiverse and my condition commonly correlates with “a strong sense of justice” or in other words an unwavering conviction once I’ve decided something is ‘right’ (which can become perverted justice just as easily). I’m glad we dont plan to have children, because like others in this thread mentioned, it’d be much more difficult to navigate. But I’m definitely interested in hearing how others deal with this disconnect while not just sabotaging all their relationships.

    As for the weekly question, I ‘feel better’. Not physically, but emotionally and mentally, at least in regards to my personal actions. Spiritually as well, as I am a Buddhist and non-harm to other beings, but even specifically animals, is held as a moral ideal. I feel I am following in the footsteps of previous exemplary teachers from hundreds of years in the past, who advocated for veganism in even less practical circumstances than I am in.

    I feel I can look at and interact with animals with a clean conscience and that my actions do have an effect on other, even if its not as strong as I’d like. One friend became vegan just by my jokingly suggesting a vegan pact for a weeklong trip we had after having discussions about moral ethics. Positive actions lead to positive self-perception that leads to more general happiness and fulfillment. On the flipside, more despair at not being able to stop animals from being killed and realizing how little other people care every time we talk.

  • ButtBidet [he/him]@hexbear.net
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    11 days ago

    Being vegan has led me to be a much more organised person. Carnists have no fucking idea, but they can just leave the house and do their shit without thinking. Me, I gotta decide what I’m going to eat for the day and often I gotta make it the day before and prepare the box and cutlery before I leave home.

    Being vegan has also given me a lot of confidence and resilience. I’m one of the few people who still masks, and I’m quite involved in a lot of orgs, and being vegan has prepared me for the shade and bullshit I get from libs and chuds. Honestly now their opinion means fuck all to me.

    Lastly, and least importantly, it’s easy to meet new people. If I go somewhere new, vegans always connect to other vegans as we know what we’re going through. Not that vegans are perfect, but on average a vegan is a more righteous person than a carnist. And we tend to be nicer, cooler, and more interesting. Really.

    • 🏴 hamid abbasi [he/him] 🏴@vegantheoryclub.orgOPM
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      11 days ago

      Thanks for sharing, and yes I totally agree with the organization part. I never leave home without a lunch box and a plan. Overall it made me a better person because I’m never in the middle of something hungry and annoyed with the only options being something like Burger King which is unfortunately expanding where I live.

  • goblin@vegantheoryclub.org
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    11 days ago

    I’m having the most difficult and stressful year of my life and yet my blood pressure is down, my physical fitness is the best it has been in a decade and my junk food consumption is almost non-existent.

    No longer feeling any dissonance when interacting with animals and sharing my love for them is a huge relief as well.

  • roux [he/him, comrade/them]@hexbear.net
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    11 days ago

    My local vegan only food truck stays winning. They were at an event last night for local artisan crafts like smithing and glass blowing. There were supposed to be 4 truck there but they were the only one that showed up. I know one wasn’t there because some jackass stole their whole truck. I need to follow up on that because it was pretty shitty taking someone’s means of living like that.

    But as I was waiting for my buffalo “chicken” sammich last night, a family was standing next to me and was looking at the menu and the mom said “Wait, it’s all vegan? Yuck!” and they left. I thought it was funny seeing people so judgemental in real life instead of dorks on the vegan subreddit pretending to be oppressed and talking about “but lions” and whatnot. In any case by the time I had my sammie eaten, the truck had like 20 people waiting on food and it wasn’t letting up. They made bank I’m sure.

    Ok story out of the way. Question: Can y’all share some of your favorite soup recipes? It’s soup season here and I wanna change things up a bit from my chili and potato soup. Right now I’m thinking spicy black bean, something lentil, or my standby veggie mixed bean. But I want more variety for sure. I fucking love soup lol.

    Edit to answer question of the week, sorry lol: Fucking goodbye gout flair-ups! Secondly, I’m a lefty of course but becoming more aware of both the ethical and the ecological issues behind factory farming has helped me further ground myself in my belief system. I fully believe that part of socialism absolutely should be animal liberation, both for stopping violent treatment and slaughter of animals but also for climate reasons. When I was first considering going vegan like 6 years ago, I was mostly gonna do it for climate reasons, but after working in the ag industry, I learned real quick how awful it really was and now do it for animal rights too. I’m 1.5 years vegan now and very vocal about it.

    • NaevaTheRat@vegantheoryclub.orgM
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      11 days ago

      “Wait, it’s all vegan? Yuck!” and they left

      That’s actually hilarious. What idiots. My wife often organises lunches at work and always takes people to only vegan restaurants but says nothing. Every time people are extremely pleased with the food and shocked it’s vegan. I swear carnists think we live in soggy lettuce and self flagellation.

      As to soups well here are some things in the style of soups and stews I’ve enjoyed.

      https://www.loveandlemons.com/white-bean-soup/#wprm-recipe-container-62463 this and similar kinds tex mexy stuff

      goulash e.g. https://www.kathysvegankitchen.com/vegan-goulash/#recipe although that is a laughably small amount of paprika.

      Laksa is always a winner so make some!

      hot and sour soup https://thewoksoflife.com/vegetarian-hot-sour-soup/ best fresh, it loses something in leftovers

      c/w not a vegan site: https://mykoreankitchen.com/korean-soybean-paste-soup-doenjang-guk/#recipe just make the stock without the fish it’s fine. That stock base can also be used for Korean/Japanese hotpot and gun/jiggae. Vegan kimchi jiggae is a surefire winter warmer.

      Let me know if any of those are up your alley.

      • roux [he/him, comrade/them]@hexbear.net
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        10 days ago

        The chicken sandwich I got was good as hell too. Like it tasted like a fried chicken sandwich. You could have served it to them blind and they’d not have known. The girls that run the truck always get a kick out of people like that though.

        I served my chili to my parents when they came down and my dad ate it and didn’t think about the fact that it was vegan until after they went back to their hotel room. He couldn’t tell and my mom even said it was the best chili she’s ever had. Of course, there are some iffy recipes out there. Some TVP tastes like you are eating squishy Styrofoam (I’m still learning lol) but there are a lot of legitimately good vegan food out there.

        I am grabbing all of theses recipes and will work through them. Thanks a ton. They all look great. Also omg I’ve been meaning to make goulash but keep forgetting so thanks for reminding me! I’m gonna look for a Laksa recipe too because a curry soup sounds right up my alley. I fucking love curry.

        • NaevaTheRat@vegantheoryclub.orgM
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          10 days ago

          Some of tips for laksa:

          • kelp stock or ground kelp helps the savoury aspect without prawns/shrimp in the paste. judicious application of msg can also be a boon here.

          • Fresh galengal is key!

          • adjust amount of coconut milk in the stock to your taste, you can make thinner or richer broths. Don’t be bound by the recipe.

          • I personally find mung bean noodles nicer than rice noodles. More bite.

          • roux [he/him, comrade/them]@hexbear.net
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            10 days ago

            I just went to our Asian market yesterday and now I think I need to go back lol. I think they might have galengal but not sure about mung bean noodles. The kelp sounds just good all around. In the beforetimes,

            CW meat:

            I was a big fan of seafood and fish

            and have been meaning to try working with kelp a bit after buying some tsuyu to try to get that flavor profile. Tsuyu basically a soy/teriyaki soup base with kelp and shiitake and I think a bit of crack cocaine. It’s expensive though, working with kelp directly would be cheaper I think.

            I think the laksa might wait for a few months but I for sure wanna make it. I need to rotate in my potato soup since my partner devours it. And I have quite a few new soups to try. Today is gonna be the Ash Reshteh and next week I think I’m gonna try a South American style black bean.

            • NaevaTheRat@vegantheoryclub.orgM
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              9 days ago

              I also loved the taste of seafood, I mean I still do I assume but well you know.

              I recently discovered a company that makes mock prawns out of a jiggly starch. Somehow they taste of those weird “seafood sticks” so I’ve been meaning to investigate precisely what they’re flavoured with and incorporate it into cooking.

              Some people become disgusted with the flavours of meat, and I understand how the violent revulsion felt when realising what it really costs could bleed over. I, however, am not so lucky. Fortunately it seems food science is moving pretty quickly and we are learning how to use certain salts and synthetic amino acids to flavour kinder food.

              For now though kelp (konbu specifically), mushroom, and msg is my closest home made flavour analogue. I wouldn’t say it tastes of sea creatures exactly but can be a similar element in a meal.

              • roux [he/him, comrade/them]@hexbear.net
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                9 days ago

                Not gonna lie, I’m interested in a vegan imitation crab lol. Gardein makes a “fish filet” that tastes a little bit like the real thing but I think it’s mostly the shape and the fry batter they use. I’m also in the same camp as you I think, I didn’t go vegan over the revulsion at first. It got dialed in officially after working in ag. I am considering moving more into whole food territory though and using less meat subs, only partially due to cost. When I first went vegan, I had a goal to try and make dishes that stand on their own where you wouldn’t miss whatever traditional meat component goes in. That goal kind of got put on the back burner after losing my job and getting hit with an extra helping of depression lol.

    • 🏴 hamid abbasi [he/him] 🏴@vegantheoryclub.orgOPM
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      11 days ago

      Inspiring!

      My favorite soup is called Ash Reshteh and it is a Persian new year soup. This recipe is a vegetarian one but I replace the kashk with vegan soy yogurt I make at home. It is the cover image for the most recent vegan home cooks recruitment post https://cookingwithayeh.com/ash-reshteh-persian-noodle-and-herb-soup/

      CosmicSans made it after I shared that recipe https://vegantheoryclub.org/post/566859

      • roux [he/him, comrade/them]@hexbear.net
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        11 days ago

        I was just looking over the recipe but got abducted by my wife to do a nap drive with the kiddo. I’m gonna look over it when I get home but it looks really good from what I saw!

      • roux [he/him, comrade/them]@hexbear.net
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        11 days ago

        Alright looked over it and this actually seems like something my wife might enjoy too with some light adjustments. She’s got a lot of food aversions and is also not a fellow vegan so it makes dinner planning a bit of a challenge.

    • Sashin@vegantheoryclub.org
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      9 days ago

      That reaction is absolutely ridiculous. It makes me cringe to think that there’s people out there that would react in that way.

  • arcane potato (she/they)@vegantheoryclub.org
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    9 days ago

    How has becoming vegan improved your life?

    I can look animals in the eyes without guilt.

    With respect to the social isolation veganism can cause, I moved to a way less vegan friendly place about 4 years ago. I don’t really have any IRL friends here and it’s wild how much more peaceful I feel than I don’t need to navigate eating with carnists. I had a family member visit a while back and she got a burger when we were out for lunch (it was a food court, otherwise we took her to vegan places or cooked at home) and I thought to myself “I haven’t felt this feeling in a long time!”. Once and a while I find myself forgetting carnist options exist lol.

    I’m not saying this is healthy or good for everyone and I really feel for people who have people they love and live with who are not vegan. Being someone who is truly happy when alone helps a lot.

    • Sashin@vegantheoryclub.org
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      9 days ago

      This reminds me of how I got rid of facebook a few years back and every now and again when someone mentions it, I’m like “ohhh yeah, that still exists”

  • tofu berserker (he/they)@vegantheoryclub.org
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    7 days ago

    one way that being vegan has improved my life is that it’s reduced the stress of cognitive dissonance, by which i mean i feel like my dietary choices are in line with my values and beliefs. i’m a practicing Buddhist and not killing is the first precept in Buddhism - and there’s millennia of history of at least vegetarian if not entirely vegan cuisine coming from countries and societies where other people took that precept seriously.

    for me personally, another moment that impacted me was when my wife and i adopted two cats that had been discovered in an empty house. they were such playful, intelligent, and obviously feeling creatures; what in my life made me feel like cows, pigs, or chickens were any different?

    anyway, that’s sort of what’s improved. it’s definitely created more complications too as so many others have pointed out. my wife’s not vegan, which bothers me occasionally. my mom totally doesn’t understand what being vegan is; she seems to think it’s basically keto somehow? i travel a lot for work and in some of the really rural places i visit, finding vegan options can be tough. i don’t mind that, but when i travel with co-workers they love to give me shit about being vegan. i keep showing them delicious food options (for example, Frisco, CO, has an amazing Vietnamese restaurant with some of the best vegan food i’ve ever had), but they still like to mock. oh well. i hope that by living according to my values, i will have an impact on them even if they don’t admit it.

    • 🏴 hamid abbasi [he/him] 🏴@vegantheoryclub.orgOPM
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      7 days ago

      Whenever I start hearing mockery I just think of the people as actual apes. Humans are hard wire to maintain consensus and when you challenge that they are unable to process it and fall back on more base behaviors. Mockery is an easy one because it works because most people, as apes who desire acceptance and consensus, will go back to the group.