My story

I've been a vegan for 1,5 years after being a vegetarian for 5 years now.

For a long time I had the opinion that meat was natural to eat and therefore ok. I had a friend who was already vegan and I remember having a discussion with her about veganism and I was saying all the classical meat-eater-arguments that I can now refute. But in fact I loved animals. My family had a horse and a dog, I loved the countryside and cows and chicken and everything that was running around. At some point I thought, my love to animals doesn't combine with eating them. If I love them I cannot eat their dead bodies. I could cuddle a cow, but do I wanna see her body hanging down bleeding? Definitely not! So I made myself a 100 day challenge. 100 days of vegetarian food. And I was surprised how easy it was for me and how good and ethical I felt. So I kept it ever since!

But then, about 1,5 years ago, I for some reason started to research about what happens to milk cows. I really don't remember why I did that but from one moment to another I had to know it. And I discovered that the milk cows are held horrible, that their calves get killed, that they themselves get killed in the very same slaughterhouses as the meat cows, way before the end of their life expectancy. In fact that meant to me, that milk cows have even a worse destiny then meat cows, because they not only get killed, but also endure a longer, crueller life! In egg production, all chicken that hatch that are not female and can lay eggs, are killed. These are the halves of all hatched chicks that are electrified or shredded. So what looks like a natural product, something from free running chicken, is actually a product of killing as well. The list goes on and on with other animals. I was shocked.
From that moment for me it was sure, eating animal products doesn't combine with my love to animals. Sincerely this was my only reason, I didn't care about the planet so much at that time, I didn't care for my health, although now I do!!! Some of the most important points how animal husbendry contribuits to the destruction of our planet, you can find HERE.

I´m very happy with my choice and I know a lot of people that are. I feel healthy and very good by knowing I´m not contributing to the cruelty and helping to save our planet. I will now point out some thoughts of mine about different topics around veganism that I hope that help you to answer some questions.

 

Travels?

Normally when I travel in europe it`s no problem to stay vegan, in fact if you don´t go to the most traditional places, you always find a vegan dish. I live in Portugal, and even while the diet here is very meat and fish based, I always find vegan side dishes even in the traditional restaurants.

But when I was traveling in Columbia people offered us chicken when we asked for a dish without meat. At that time I decided to live vegetarian for a month again. After that I went back to veganism. I think it`s ok to "cheat" a little bit if the circumstances don`t allow it differently. In the end it always matters that your choice is concious and that you are aware of the consequences.

Failures?

Yes, one day I felt very weak and I went to the supermarket and I saw a can of tuna fish and I was literally craving it. I just bought it and ate it without feeling bad about it. I felt like I needed it at that moment and I allowed my body to have it. After that I felt much better. Some people might say I`m not a real vegan because I`m not that strict, but what matters in my opinion is that the foundational lifestyle is oriented without animal products.

Difficulties?

Yes, I LOVE cheese. If someone eats a cheesy pizza in front of me I would die for it. So what I do know is try to prevent to come in those situations. Either I bring a vegan pizza with me that are actually quite delicious, or I order a nice pasta that is an alternative for me.

What I do at home against cravings is, that I try to only buy vegan things so I don't even have the possibility to crave something like cheese, important is, that I have good alternatives in my fridge that can satisfy me. You will be surprised how good vegan kitchen can be.

I myself am someone who doesn`t want to invest a lot into my food. I prefer to spend my money in travelling and in my studies and books. But I still wanna be vegan because of the many reasons I pointed out. I`m tired of expensive products in organic markets and to pay more for something that is actually less! So I started to develop some recipes that I do for myself all the time, and I decided to share them publicly.

Why does this website exist? With this website I would like to distribute a little bit to a better planet, less animal cruelty and more awareness for our food choices. My goal is to next to making this website grow, to write and publish a vegan cookbook with even more recipes to fill your kitchens. :)