My vegan experiment: First update
Again, this isn't any formal decision on a theme in particular, but I've decided to document what has been the most significant change in my life in recent weeks - I'm currently on a (mostly) vegan diet, which admittedly isn't far off how I was eating before this change, but which is still greatly affecting both my physiology and the way in which I think about issues like animal welfare.
First off, I guess I should explain my motivations for going mostly vegan. I have always had the occasional seriously upset digestive system from eating meat, and partly as a result of that, I have never eaten lots of meat anyway. Additionally - and this is perhaps going to sound strange - I don't really like the taste of meat! Most of the time I value the smell far more than the taste, and whenever I do eat meat, the experience has generally been unrewarding for me. Another point that is important here is the conventional medical wisdom that a vegan diet is best for optimal health - I personally feel that this would be best complemented with occasional dairy intake for Vitamin D and calcium, but I think this will be very easily achievable. The third (and obvious) point is the whole animal welfare debate - I don't really know what I think about all of this in all honesty, and so I'm going to largely leave it out of my reasoning. For me, the most interesting effects will be on my health and state of well-being, which is what I intend to document as part of this blog.
One interesting consequence of vegan food has been, that I prepare far more of my meals than I did previously, and have gotten into the habit of actually buying and budgeting for food - something which will probably become useful as I actually morph into a functional adult. I've also discovered more new things that I like, like almond milk. And as someone who has a pretty restricted diet anyway if left to their own devices, I think that going mostly vegan has actually broadened my culinary horizons!
Eating food also has vastly different effects on me - I find that I get hungrier earlier than usual, and currently I'm sure I'm eating a greater volume than I did before I adopted this eating plan. This is an area that I suspect I'll be a lot more knowledgeable on days or even weeks down the line - hopefully I'll post more as time passes!
As a postscript (because it only just occurred to me, and I've decided that my blog posts are going to be somewhat streams of consciousness), I should mention my religious motivations for changing the way in which I eat. As a Catholic, though I'm in the minority among people of my faith in these terms, I feel that I have a religious responsibility towards animals, and a duty towards them and their welfare. My religious convictions have comprised a quiet but strong influence on this decision I have made, and I suspect that they will motivate me the most to continue with such practices in the future.
First off, I guess I should explain my motivations for going mostly vegan. I have always had the occasional seriously upset digestive system from eating meat, and partly as a result of that, I have never eaten lots of meat anyway. Additionally - and this is perhaps going to sound strange - I don't really like the taste of meat! Most of the time I value the smell far more than the taste, and whenever I do eat meat, the experience has generally been unrewarding for me. Another point that is important here is the conventional medical wisdom that a vegan diet is best for optimal health - I personally feel that this would be best complemented with occasional dairy intake for Vitamin D and calcium, but I think this will be very easily achievable. The third (and obvious) point is the whole animal welfare debate - I don't really know what I think about all of this in all honesty, and so I'm going to largely leave it out of my reasoning. For me, the most interesting effects will be on my health and state of well-being, which is what I intend to document as part of this blog.
One interesting consequence of vegan food has been, that I prepare far more of my meals than I did previously, and have gotten into the habit of actually buying and budgeting for food - something which will probably become useful as I actually morph into a functional adult. I've also discovered more new things that I like, like almond milk. And as someone who has a pretty restricted diet anyway if left to their own devices, I think that going mostly vegan has actually broadened my culinary horizons!
Eating food also has vastly different effects on me - I find that I get hungrier earlier than usual, and currently I'm sure I'm eating a greater volume than I did before I adopted this eating plan. This is an area that I suspect I'll be a lot more knowledgeable on days or even weeks down the line - hopefully I'll post more as time passes!
As a postscript (because it only just occurred to me, and I've decided that my blog posts are going to be somewhat streams of consciousness), I should mention my religious motivations for changing the way in which I eat. As a Catholic, though I'm in the minority among people of my faith in these terms, I feel that I have a religious responsibility towards animals, and a duty towards them and their welfare. My religious convictions have comprised a quiet but strong influence on this decision I have made, and I suspect that they will motivate me the most to continue with such practices in the future.
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