Project Vegan

After much influence from Kalel Cullen (WatchUsLiveAndStuff), my attitude towards animal and animal products consumption has shifted. I used to believe that humans are naturally omnivores, i.e. meat and veg eaters. I was also very aware of the biological requirements of meat in a human diet. After (accidentally, I swear) watching countless vegan preaches on the vlogging channel, as well as reading one of her super long blog posts (was it on her blog? I forgot.), my view upon humans ‘naturally’ needing meat (because Neanderthals ate meat - seriously, I used that reason shamelessly up till a week or two ago) changed.

One of my favourites of Kalel’s reasons for going vegan was that animal and animal products consumption was necessary back in the day, before we had the knowledge to eat legumes, before we had the technology to develop soy and nut-based products, and before we’d the creativity to come up with protein-rich recipes, all of which are meat, dairy and egg-free! And times have changed. Should we reallybe eating like cavemen? Because we sure don’t live like them anymore. Do we? Did cavemen have nutritious almond milk, tofu or chickpea salads? Of course. Not. I found this a successful point. I’ll have to read Kalel’s post again tomorrow to elaborate my thoughts upon this reason; I don’t feel like my explanation did it justice. Anyway.

I run. I like to cross-train. I want to be strong. I kinda am. Surely, eliminating meat, dairy and eggs from my diet would hugely impact my performance, would it not? I have to be honest: I am a little weary about becoming ‘weaker’ - after all, vegetarians are stereotyped to be pale, weak, lank... (the list goes on), let alone vegans. Not even the hearty egg, you may wonder. I love eggs. I love the double sunny egg + cheese breakfast sandwich I so professionally craft for myself. Milk, also, is goddamn good for strength. Cross-country season’s coming up. Sedan tryouts are, well, next week. Nepal training is just round the corner, including the countless Rainbow Trek hikes on which I’ll have to go. In short, I am worried about this vegan thing I’m actually starting to consider. I want to stay strong. I mean, obviously, vegans don’t get as much protein as meat-eaters. 

So I’ve decided to give this vegan thing a go. A little go. A week-long go, to be precise. I call it: Project Vegan. 

I’ve scribbled down a rough menu for the week, giving myself ideas on how on earth I’ll substitute my usual meats, milk, yoghurt, cheeses, eggs (ahh what if I weaken? I will! But it’s only for a week - then I’ll see what happens!). Basically, yeah, I’ve just written it in the brackets. It’s only for a week; afterwards, I’ll see what I can do. I also realise how clean going vegan will be. I might alternate between vegan, vegetarian, and meat-eater every week - who knows? Whooo knowwws? It’ll be fun. I’m actually quite excited to switch it up a bit, test my discipline in another way.

Anyhoo, I will sign off now. I realised I forgot to include this earlier (and I don’t wish to go back and re-type... so) - a large reason contributing to my change of view upon vegan-ism (?) is Kalel’s passion for the subject. She’s an animal-lover. Hell, she’s more than that. I just don’t know a word for it. It’s her enthusiasm and sincerity that drew my attention. Aaand, the farm cruelty thing? I feel like I’ll go on forever if I launch into animal cruelty. I’m really not an animal person (I’m a biologist - I knowww humans are animals. I think. But what else do I differentiate between non-human animals and humans? After all, I am composing this as a human...), but I do cringe when I have to eat big steaks and burgers, all those times I have given in due to parental nagging. This was even before I started watching the vlogs. Regardless, I simply wanted to include a bit of my animal-cruelty-consciousness. Industrial milking and egg farms are no less gruesome than slaughterhouses. The end.

To end on a positive note, I am truly pumped to kick-start PROJECT VEGAN! Thank you Kalel!