My Journey to Find Vegan Milk By Stacie Stearns

I've Been a vegan for three years now. And a vegetarian for most of my life. My Brother Ron helped me transition to vegan status. He began his vegetarian journey with my help years before, making the transition to vegan on his own. I stalled and put it off for years. "Cheese," "How could I give up my Cheese". Marilou Henner helped me with that one. I listened to her speaking on a radio show one night and I woke up a vegan the next morn.

In the back of my mind I always knew I would one day be vegan. It seemed a natural progression. However, It was a totally shock when my little brother announced he was going vegan. This was MR." Pizza Huts meat lovers pizza with extra sausage". I guess the Mad Cowboy got to him. It surely wasn't me. When I was very young I tried to force my "Laurels Kitchen Beliefs"That was my vegetarian bible) on my family. Lets just say that it didn't work. Funny, my dad who never calls any one of us by name calls me Pork Chop to this day. He used to introduce me as his daughter the Vegetarian. My brothers that"vegan Brother of yours" or the "clowns." That's referring to both of my brothers. Makes me wonder why we were given names at all. I digress.

We learned a lot about vegan eating along the way. One minuet It was OK to eat something, the next I'd learn how it was processed and couldn't eat it. By strict I mean that besides using no animal products we use no refined sugar, bleached flour gelatin or honey. I was trying to find a Vegan restaurant to eat at in Seattle. I was amazed at the vast array of offerings (as opposed to where I live in Cleveland Ohio), but upon calling and asking about ingredients we were able to narrow it down to about one. Some of the rest of the vegan world eats those refined products . I just can't. And I look and feel a lot better for it emotionally and psychically.

I've wrestled with all phases of eating disorders along the way. After becoming vegan I kind of stopped. It was no longer that important anymore. I immediately felt great. My attitude or outlook improved dramatically. I immediately began to lose weight . That helped my attitude also.

My brother confessed he really missed milk chocolate. I on the other hand was perfectly happy without that option. Our mom always trying to make her "starving" grown up children happy came up with a recipe. which she perfected. Ron said "You should sell this." Calling him hard to please does not begin to scratch the surface. He is very talented also, and can name off the ingredients used in a recipe from one taste. So he became the official taste tester. He felt there was a need for a vegan light chocolate. I can relate to getting tired of dark chocolate. It seems to taste somewhat bitter no matter how you fill it. And because we don't know any other way its made with strictly vegan ingredients in a vegan kitchen and tastes delicious.

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Being Vegan - Getting by in a Non-Vegan World

By Barry Lovelace

It's not easy being vegan. I don't mean that it is a difficult lifestyle; I embrace it and love it and would never consider living any other way. What I mean is that often we vegans are made to feel like either an outcast or a target.

Case in point, the other day I was at the store and ran into a friend who was there with his wife. The friend mentions in passing that I'm a vegan and his wife gives me a look as if I was standing there naked or something and proceeds to tell me how crazy that is. This is just one mild example. Why do people get so upset by my choice to not eat the flesh of a dead animal? I am not hurting anyone by being vegan and frankly it has nothing to do with them.

I do have theories though. I think when someone comes across a vegan they get intimidated because they think that we will think less of them for eating meat or that we will think we are above them for being vegan. This is simply not true; I was a meat-eater at one time. After I educated myself about the abuses involved in the meat and dairy industry I could no longer consume animal products, it's that simple, it doesn't make me special it just makes me someone who holds true to his beliefs and lives it. It reminds me of a great quote: 'When you know better, you do better.'

While I'm on the subject, don't ask me why I'm vegan if you really don't want to know. Often people ask why and then when I tell them they get very defensive and go on the attack. If you ask me why I became vegan, I'm going to tell you, isn't that why you asked? I think some people ask so that they can argue the point. I don't know what point there is to argue. Meat and dairy and filled with cholesterol, fat, hormones and antibiotics and animals are horrifically abused until their slaughter day arrives. These statements cannot be intelligently disputed.

Now about social situations, we, like many vegans, have friends and family that will not invite us to their houses because they feel they cannot provide us with anything to eat. Often when we do get invited somewhere it turns into an apologetic invitation, letting us know that there may not be much there for us to eat. I would like to take this opportunity to let everyone out there know that vegans know what they are. No vegan goes to a wedding or dinner party expecting to be able to eat much of the food, it's ok, we don't mind and to be honest we know better than to ever show up hungry. As a host all you have to do is respect our lifestyle and realize that it is deep-rooted. Being a vegan is a moral and ethical choice. No true vegan is going to eat turkey just because you made one; it doesn't work that way. It is not an insult to you or your cooking or your intentions, we will not compromise our values and no thinking person should expect us to.

The social inconveniences are a very small price to pay and we are more than willing to pay it, please don't feel bad. Likewise don't think that we are offended because you made meat. We do not live in a bubble, we are aware of the world we are living in and know that we are the minority in this country at least for now. Happily, the number of people who are becoming vegan is rising sharply and that is a trend that is sure to continue.

Barry Lovelace is an internationally recognized fitness professional specializing in the functional training of athletes. Barry trains athletes in his area and all over the country. He is a member of Team Mens Fitness, the owner of FitQuest Fitness in Allentown Pa, fitness expert for LifeScape magazine and the creator of several products Get great health and fitness info on his website

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