Why being a VEGAN is too hard for me

[simo1733]

Its rare that glue contains more animal products than casein (a protein that is abundant in dairy and used in wood glue for its naturally adhesive properties aka lung binding).

Ive been vegan for coming up 10 years now. Its like being a cyclist. I make it fun and easy for me to do it. Its not about being perfect and crying every time you accidentally step on an ant or wash a fly off your downtube. Its about setting yourself up for wins each day and in every way. Its about making conscious choices that feel good in your heart and taking a step back and looking at the bigger picture.

Its about making your life count and doing your bit for your health, the animals and the planet.

I went out training with some triathletes this morning in Bilambil area. I blew em away on the main climb and waited at the top for everyone to regroup. We all got chatting and one rider pointed to my powertap hub and said "whats that? a motor?" I said "yes, its a motor and adds another 200watts to your functional power threshold, I mean, did you honestly think a vegan could ride that fast up a hill like that?"

Our triathlete friend said 'I guess that makes sense cos you went up that hill so bloody fast! but isnt that cheating having a motor on your bike?' I said 'but Ive got a protein deficiency and I need assistance cos Im a longtime vegan'. Eventually some of the other riders started ****ing themselves with laughter and our friend realised it was a joke and got a bit ****ed!

Some people will believe anything I guess. That a Vegan lifestyle is hard and that powertap hubs are actually bike powering motors.

Can you persuade EBH to give up his fish based energy products in favour of banana.A demonstration of your incredible banana fuelled climbing ability should do the trick.

 

[durianrider]

who is EBH?

 

[User Guide]

I think your references to MASSIVE damage are completely misplaced. The "MASSIVE damage" to which you refer is overwhelmingly being caused by motor vehicles and livestock, not vegan products. Do vegan products ever rate a mention at the International Panel for Climate Change meetings? No. To put it in perspective think of your own car. If you fill it up with fuel just once per week then you are probably creating 4-5 tonnes of CO2 emissions every year. If you buy a few plastic shoes and a few lycra outfits each year there would be a small amount of embodied energy which might create a couple of kgs of CO2 emissions if you're lucky. Bear in mind that embodied energy exists in the non vegan equivalent products too.

Furthermore, livestock is responsible for 51% of worldwide CO2 emissions. Vegans are not responsible for the livestock market, meateaters are. If you added up the individual carbon emissions of a meateater vs a vegan, the vegan would be way in front.

Id be more inclined to listen to vegans amongst others if they didnt pull bs "facts" out of their rears.
Edit just for the record energy production is by far the biggest producer of CO2

 

[Polyarmour]

Id be more inclined to listen to vegans amongst others if they didnt pull bs "facts" out of their rears.
Edit just for the record energy production is by far the biggest producer of CO2

Really? If you knew anything about this subject would have recognised the "51%" number as coming from the Worldwatch Institute Study. A simple Google search before shooting your mouth off would have sufficed.

Now you can disagree with the 51% all you like, take it up with the authors of the study if you believe you know more than them, but I certainly didn't pull it out of my rear.

http://www.independent.co.uk/environment/climate-change/study-claims-meat-creates-half-of-all-greenhouse-gases-1812909.html

 

[elapid]

Really? If you knew anything about this subject would have recognised the "51%" number as coming from the Worldwatch Institute Study. A simple Google search before shooting your mouth off would have sufficed.

Now you can disagree with the 51% all you like, take it up with the authors of the study if you believe you know more than them, but I certainly didn't pull it out of my rear.

http://www.independent.co.uk/environment/climate-change/study-claims-meat-creates-half-of-all-greenhouse-gases-1812909.html

The problem with any quoted figures concerning green house emissions is the political biases that are inherently associated with the reporting of these figures. The Worldwatch Institute is a think tank and hence has political biases, and the figure of 51% is an estimate that takes into account carbon dioxide emissions that others do not think are relevant. The United Nations states that livestock accounts for 18% of green house emissions. Who is correct? I don't know. Regardless, livestock does contribute to green house emissions and their contribution is not insignificant no matter how you look at it. But how are you going to support a growing population, especially in poorly developed areas where protein sources are scant? Intensive meat production, no matter how abhorrent it is to some of us in western civilizations, including me, will be part of the solution. Veganism is a lifestyle choice for us, but life on the nutritional edge for people in third world countries is not so luxurious and readily available protein sources (both in terms of gross availability and bioavailability) is an important if not life giving consideration, no matter how much people like DR trivialize protein deficiencies.

 

[Kiara is a rational girl]

I was going to go vegan, but then I realized I'm no ascetic and that veganism is *** (most of the time; all of the time when it is said to override your own lack of masochism).

So I continue to sate myself with the flesh of animals and make myself glamorous with their pelts.

 

[Michele]

Can you persuade EBH to give up his fish based energy products in favour of banana.A demonstration of your incredible banana fuelled climbing ability should do the trick.

10chars

 

[User Guide]

Really? If you knew anything about this subject would have recognised the "51%" number as coming from the Worldwatch Institute Study. A simple Google search before shooting your mouth off would have sufficed.

Now you can disagree with the 51% all you like, take it up with the authors of the study if you believe you know more than them, but I certainly didn't pull it out of my rear.

http://www.independent.co.uk/environment/climate-change/study-claims-meat-creates-half-of-all-greenhouse-gases-1812909.html

Well I know enough from doing enviromental science as part of my degree program to not quote just one figure from a single source,especially a so called "think tank"
51% of CO2 emissions is just bs, dont get me wrong livestock is one of the major contributers to greenhouse emissions,but from methane which is a much more potent greenhouse gas than CO2.From the many sources i could find( a few years ago now) when i wrote an essay on the subject, the consensous varied between 15-20 % of "effective" total greenhouse emissions.That figure included indirect emissions from transport, deforestation for more grazing land etc.
However its share of total man made emissions is stablizing and set to decrease,although this is mainly due to other industry sectors growing much more quickly in terms their effects(take a look at some satelite photos of the pollution in china to see why).
Indeed one of the fastest growing sectors is "non livestock" agriculture.
Much of deforestation is now not driven by grazing land but for the palm oil industry, growing crops for ethanol( clean fuel <insert facepalm>) etc
The release of nitrous oxide from fertilizers which although inoquous at ground level isnt quite so funny when it reaches the ozone layer(its now the #1 man made cause of damage to the ozone layer)
Look i appreciate your moral stance(or health whatever) and your concern for the enviroment, but i have a real problem with people quoting figures from bodies who usually have an agenda and whos figures are just plain wrong.Im sure if your added up all the CO2 emissions savings from the reports of all the different "think tanks" from the clean energy lobby etc etc it would add up too 500% !
Eating meat all other things being equal is worse for the enviroment than being veggie/vegan, but all things usually arent equal and its far too simplistic too say otherwise

 

[Ripper]

Furthermore, livestock is responsible for 51% of worldwide CO2 emissions. Vegans are not responsible for the livestock market, meateaters are.

Well this is not entirely true. You can be a vegetarian (not a vegan) and be part of that 'responsible' group. You could be drinking milk, eating eggs, etc.

And man, don't get so pis$y.

 

[rickshaw]

It May Be Worth Statung Again

Well this is not entirely true. You can be a vegetarian (not a vegan) and be part of that 'responsible' group. You could be drinking milk, eating eggs, etc.

And man, don't get so pis$y.

"Vegetarianism" is a diet which excludes animals. There are a few wrinkles on the theme but basically that's it. You could be a vegetarian and enjoy hunting and fishing, or be a mass murderer like Adolf H. Eating unfertilized chicken eggs is OK. Killing sturgeon for caviar, not so much.

"Vegan" is an ethical philosophy very similar to the Hindu concept of "ahimsa". The basic idea of the vegan philosophy is NOT harming other animals. Simple. Activities like fishing, even catch and release is not consistent with being a vegan.

 

[Ruby United]

"Vegetarianism" is a diet which excludes animals. There are a few wrinkles on the theme but basically that's it. You could be a vegetarian and enjoy hunting and fishing, or be a mass murderer like Adolf H. Eating unfertilized chicken eggs is OK. Killing sturgeon for caviar, not so much.

"Vegan" is an ethical philosophy very similar to the Hindu concept of "ahimsa". The basic idea of the vegan philosophy is NOT harming other animals. Simple. Activities like fishing, even catch and release is not consistent with being a vegan.

But you can be a vegeterian because you don't like eating dead animal/ sensitivity to animals etc... And in those cases the 'philosophy' is not harming animals too!

So vegetarianism isn't always 'a diet which excludes animals'.

(I'm a vegetarian for the reasons mentioned above, and i drink milk and eat eggs)

 

[Ruby United]

who is EBH?

Edvald Boassen Hagen if i'm not mistaken

 

[rickshaw]

Always / Never / Sometimes

But you can be a vegeterian because you don't like eating dead animal/ sensitivity to animals etc... And in those cases the 'philosophy' is not harming animals too!

So vegetarianism isn't always 'a diet which excludes animals'.

(I'm a vegetarian for the reasons mentioned above, and i drink milk and eat eggs)

I'm pretty sure you can't eat animals and be a vegetarian. Like you can't be a Christian and worship Krishna. You can be a Hindu and worship Jesus, but not the other way 'round. Your/my reasons for being vegetarian, while important to you/me, are irrelevant.

Ironically, to be a vegetarian one cannot eat eggs which have been fertilized. That means (in the US anyway) horribly treated factory eggs from chickens which never see a rooster are OK. The eggs from ethically treated, free range organic chickens, with roosters in the house, no.

No diet of any kind conveys moral superiority with it.

 

[DirtyWorks]

I'm pretty sure you can't eat animals and be a vegetarian.

Part time vegetarian????

Having spent some time in the food industry, the mental gymnastics some consumers use are pretty amazing and are equivalent to religious arguments.

The latest one I heard was some kind of paleo diet where the 'recommended meat' was buffalo for some obscure reasons. When I asked if goat, venison or ostrich was okay, I got blank stares. I mean, they are lean meats too... Am I right???

No diet of any kind conveys moral superiority with it.

100% agree. If you find things that work for you, great. Sharing 'this is what works for me.' might help someone looking to address some limitation/problem, but that's about the end of it.

One of my longstanding crackpot theories is cycling attracts people with body issues. The riding leans them out and then when that's not enough because they have body issues, it's onto some dieting scheme.

 

[lostintime]

It really doesn't matter what one eats . . . what really matters is how one feels about themselves choosing what they do eat.

All reports of the world running out of this and that, that eating this is perilous to that. . . These "scenarios" are but reflections of how one defines and believes they themselves to BE. What we believe . . .we BE-come.

You wanna "change the world" . . .change your beliefs and definitions of how you wish the the world to be within yourself.
Or not. And keep trying to change "them" . . . . which is a cosmic joke , because what we perceive about "them" . . is only a reflection of the beliefs we hold of ourselves. The term "the pot calling the kettle black" . . hints to this, but most use this term in attack of another.... which again is part of the cosmic joke because we are always getting back, what we put out. The only one , one truly fights, is themselves. The wisdom of no escape. . . to HELP us . . only to HELP us ALL.

Life ROCKS ! Rock with it . . or against it . . it's ever our choice and there are no wrong choices. Just better feeling ones. Try a Smile

 

[durianrider]

A mate weighed my bamboo bike at 10.5kg today. The fact that I can drop 99.9% of the worlds recreational cyclists on this bike means that 10.5kg flexy bamboo bikes are better for pure climbing performance than some Cannondale evo 6.2kg rig right? Wrong.

Cos EBH drinks an expensive diluted chinese fish sauce drink means its better than fruit right? Wrong.

 

[rickshaw]

Jeezas...

A mate weighed my bamboo bike at 10.5kg today.

Weigh your own bike ya lazy busterd, can't you do anything yourself?

This is a form and fitness thread, not a bike weight thread...