I would like to become vegan, but my husband says it's not a good choice, should I do it anyway?!

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Hello

Do what you feel is right for yourself. Do not feel that you have to get permission from your husband, you are an adult.

Why does he think it's not a good choice? For health reasons? Financial reasons? Does he hate animals?

If the reason is health (which is often a topic most people have no clue about), I would suggest you introduce him to the information presented by some very famous vegan doctors like Dr. Joel Fuhrman M.D, Dr. John McDougall M.D, Dr. Michael Klaper M.D, Dr. Michael Greger MD and so on. They have shown time and time again that a plant-based diet is not only healthier for us, but also for the environment.

Most people are resistant to change, but what you eat should be none of his concern unless you are harming yourself. I say go vegan and show him how positive it can be.

Good luck!

Vegan for over 10 years; married to a vegan; raising two vegan kids.

You should talk to him. Sit him down and let him know how important it is to you. A great way to show him is show him movies/books about what made you become vegan. If he is a meat eater, compromise with him. You will make vegan meals so many days a week and make him a meat dish so many days a week. You should do whatever you feel is best and he should support his wife. As long as your educated and you know your facts when your questioned then you would be set. If he doesn't understand then that is sad :( and I hope that does not stop you from doing what makes YOU happy. Good luck!

Talk to him about it. Show him some facts and tell him why u want to be one. Try it for 2-3 weeks and he should probably get used to you being a vegan. U never know, maybe his views will change. If ur a animal lover (like me) you can say it will save animal's lives. You could possibly be saving money!! :D That's always a plus :)

good luck!!

Tell him he doesn't know what he's talking about.

Speaking about couples I know the key is why you personally are seeking this lifestyle. If it is something you really want for you and you are willing to accept that he may never want it for him then you need to gently let him know that this is something you want for yourself but that you do not expect him to follow in your decision. Likewise while I'm sure you would want him to make accomodations for your new food choices in terms of cooking at home and eating out you will need to make accomodations for him as well. Basically one couple I know is quite happy - the husband uses his wife's veggie dishes as sides for his meat. When they eat out they alternate going to places that focus on one or the other. Note that this does require sacrifice, when he wants to go to a steak place she gets the salad (and rather boring choices at that) likewise finding a vegan place that has seperate cooking facilities for serving fish or chicken is unheard of where I live. It can work but changing how you eat in such a very significant manner will not be easy on either of you and since you are not doing it together most of the burden will fall on you for both handling your personal change and making that transition as easy as possible for the two of you. That's probably fair for the person doing the changes. As an additional tip one successful couple did it where as the wife eased into her new diet (and exercise but that's another issue) she made sure to increase her libido along with it. The husband liked the change.

Two examples I am aware of that did not work:

Making it a moral choice where you want him to change into your lifestyle. This leads to trouble. I once worked in an environment where a majority of the people adopted the lifestyle as a result of their personal choices and as a result everyone else was supposed to follow along in the name of tolerance (which meant not eating meat at company functions). One day I decided to bring a plate of steaks. When several people challenged me I pointed out I was not the one being inconsiderate, rather I was being asked to follow their choices which I did not believe in nor did I want to follow and that from that perspective they were just as rude. Tolerance does not always mean that no one gets offended. Meat returned to all subsequent functions. Where this ties into marriage is that I had a few spouses (male and female) thank me for pointing out that being supportive and accepting did not have to mean doing it too. The problem is that if you think that it is evil to kill another animal in order to eat and expect him to follow along then you will have a similar problem that these spouses did. Some of them were getting sick of arguing about the morality of their eating all the time at home. 3 meals a day (or more) = 3 chances to argue.

The other problem came in a family where one spouse did all the cooking and subsequent to their conversion refused to cook meat. That did not go over well with the kids who were not interested or the spouse who often worked late and liked to eat healthy at home, but with meat on the menu.

These days my wife and I enjoy periodic meatless dinners for quick fixing but otherwise eat organic which includes hormone free meats. We have friends who handle this well, and we have seen people who did not. The keys in my opinion are:

1) Don't be judgemental, this is your choice - you are the one changing so you will bear the extra burden of making it work.

2) Expect to be supported, if your spouse is the supportive kind, and emphasize that this is important to you and that you want to make it work for the both of you but that you just need him to be understanding and supportive.

3) If you think that eating meat if evil then, well, if you want your marriage to work don't argu about it with him every chance you get.