fat guy here!
first of all, i want to make it clear that i mean no offense whatsoever, just trying to be honest.
i am a fat, meat eating, political conservative, redneck truck driver. i am also a history nut and have been looking into my family history. it turns out that just about everyone in my family has died of cancer or complications from diabetes. i'm 36 years old and have been smoking like crazy for 20 years and stuffing hormone and toxin laden meat into my fat face my whole life. i'm married and have three great boys and i'd like to be around. i also don't want to suffer like my dad is because of his diabetes. my blood sugar levels are approaching diabetic ranges, and i'm getting scared. i also don't want to end up like so many truck drivers do - dead from a heart attack in their 50's.
i have been looking into health and nutrition lately and from what i've seen, a vegan/vegetarian diet might be what's best for me. i was wondering if you guys could point me in some kind of direction, a book perhaps that i could buy. i was also wondering if there is a "do not eat" list somewhere. i have been able to find what you guys can and do eat, but not really what you can't.
any help would be greatly appreciated. THANKS!
I think you'll find this particular forum more welcoming than some of the others, and you're welcome here no matter where you are in the process. There are some other boards where there are vegan nazis, but as Quintess says they are only a few, but they sure no how to turn off a lot of people and make the rest of us level headed folks look bad.
i just wanted to say thank you to everyone for your replies. i'm taking it one day at a time right now. i think it's gonna take a while before i "get over" not eating meat.
i can't remember who it was, but someone mentioned that i didn't need to "identify" myself. i felt i needed to because i have run into vegans before and it seems most of them had a "holier than thou" attitude and were quite condescending to those of us who eat meat and also liberal politically. i didn't want anyone to think i was coming on here as a vegan and being something that i'm not. i've seen that on other forums and wanted to be honest about who and what i am.
i talked to my wife and she agrees that we need to eat healthier. she's not wanting to go vegan, but is willing to cut out the beef, etc and eat more chicken and fish. i'm not going to try to push this on her, that is her decision to make.
anyways, thanks again everyone!
Fatguy,
I feel that being vegan (or even vegetarian) is about being compassionate and caring. If people aren't kind to others (human or animal), then they aren't the same kind of vegan as me ... I don't care what they do or do not eat. Each person has to follow his or her own path. Whatever your reasons for moving toward veganism, you are still helping to reduce the cruelty in this world and creating a better lifestyle for you and your family. Don't let anyone tell you otherwise just because they have been doing it longer.
If you can listen to podcasts while you are on the road, check out the Compassionate Cooks Vegetarian Food for Thought podcast. You can browse through the topic list on itunes--there are a couple years worth out already. They cover a wide range of issues, but many of them focus specifically on nutrition and cooking, so those may be of interest to you. I know, for example, that there is one on protein and one on calcium. This podcast is my favorite vegan resource out there, along with this website and all the fabulous recipes on it!
Congrats on your decision to go vegan! It really does change your life in ways you can't even realize at the beginning, and all the changes that I've come across have been positive ones! I definitely ran into some nay-sayers and negativity when I first made the switch to veganism, but over time I've learned some good responses to the typical criticisms and questions (e.g. "where do you get your protein?" "but you're killing plants!" "you care more about animals than people"), and it just gets easier and easier.
Enjoy!
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