VEGANS - What convinced you to become a Vegan?!

VEGANS - What convinced you to become a Vegan?

For me - it was reading the book "Skinny Bi tch". I stopped eating meat, dairy, eggs, sugar and artificial sweeteners the very day I read it.

I have always been sensitive to animals, from a time when I was extremely young. My family had to divert my attention from road kill because I would get heartbroken at the sight, and they were sure I would someday get into a car accident swerving off the road trying to avoid an animal. I think that it has been something that has always been in me, as I remember sitting at the dinner table when I was little mentioning not wanting to eat meat. I was obviously too young to go buy my own food, and was influenced by the things my parents would say. And the man of the house was a hunter, unfortunately, and was the least supportive of my statement. He said a bunch of typical things like, “It’s dead, anyway,” and lectures along those lines and read me the whole “Protein Act,” which I now am thankful to know is a myth. But I was a kid and that is what was put on my plate every night and my family’s words pretty much washed over me I guess. I eventually lived on my own and, no, didn’t immediately change my eating habits. I was playing around with it one summer and then it was the late spring after that when, on myspace, I received a chain letter talking about “bonsai kittens.” It included these very graphic pictures of cats stuffed in glass containers with a feeding tube placed through them so they stayed alive, but remained their entire lives growing so that their skeletons would form into the glass containers that they were in. The images were horrific and I cried for hours. I was shaking. I didn’t know what to do. I wanted to do something. I wrote to PETA. Eventually, I found out, thankfully, that it was an urban myth. Sick urban myth it is.
They soon sent me a free kit and a DVD was included. On this DVD was "15 Reasons to Become Vegetarian" and "Meet Your Meat." (I also later found the movie “Earthlings” (in Google video) by Joaquin Phoenix, which I find to be more in depth, thought provoking and educational, albeit heartbreaking.)

I realize that animals have the same nervous systems as we do and watched the way they castrate and brand cows, rip the skin off their faces while they are still alive, the way they burn chickens’ beaks off and the way they scald pigs alive while they scream. . .and felt it. What if we were put through that? I still feel bad that I ever put their flesh in my mouth. It makes me sick thinking about it and the fact that I supported that industry. After I decided to stop consuming meat, it obviously opened me up to learning about the lifestyle and it became a passion. It is something I read about constantly (I've read Skinny *****, too) and have come to realize that the benefits and pros far outweigh anything else. A little before a year after I stopped eating meat, I stopped eating animal products all together. As a side note, a big positive to me is (not only am I thinner and eat tons) that while I used to have a habit of getting sick at LEAST once a year, I don’t get sick anymore. I’m far more healthy and alert and energetic. And, seeing the benefits, my boyfriend, who was once an avid fan of the carnivorous diet, stopped eating meat. It amazes me each and every time this once huge meat fan who would try to challenge me raves about how much energy he has and how much healthier he feels. I just giggle because I already knew it. Plus, it makes meals fun and interesting. Before, it was boring and limited. Now it seems there’s so many vast options and creativity and everything. I’m always finding something new.