Saturday

Veggie Life: WHY I DECIDED TO GO VEGGIE & THEN VEGAN...

Hi everyone,
Over the last few months I've been having a bit of a overhaul in the diet department. I don't mean diet in the sense of calorie counting but generally what I consume on a daily basis.
I've always dabbled in vegetarianism since the age of about 8 but I never really took it seriously or had any proper motivation behind it. People just generally assume I'm a vegetarian, it must be my hippy aura/my save the planet vibes ;)
I've only considered myself vegetarian since October 2014. The main thing I get is 'oh my gaaahd you're veggie? I bet that's so hard...BACON THO?!' Well in fact it's been pretty easy. The only blip I've had was red velvet cake (sorry red squashed bugs!) I really don't find myself missing or craving meat at all.
Happy Vegetables Illustration Print by NeatoNectarine on Etsy, $15.00

I thought that being vegetarian was a step in the right direction but after researching the dairy industry I'm transitioning to become a vegan & eliminate all dairy products from my diet. As i'm still in the early stages I'm not beating myself up if there is a little egg powder in something or recoiling in horror when someones made me a brew with cows milk. I'm gradually phasing it out & I'm at the stage where I no longer buy milk, cheese or eggs.

I spent months changing all my beauty & household products to cruelty-free options yet I was still eating meat without even thinking about the consequences. I've genuinely been awoken to follow a more compassionate lifestyle & I know this does sound a bit 'out there' & I should go back to my tie-dye & incense but when did caring about things become a negative trait. People say to me 'like, seriously, why do you care?'& I'm like 'uhh why don't you?' 


Kindness matters in the world.Be kind.Be right ♥

I'm never one to preach & I honestly believe that you should be able to live your life in however way you wish. I genuinely didn't know about the things that went on in the food industry. I was ignorant towards it. Part of my nature is that I always like to find out more so I got books out from the library, watched documentaries,went on forums etc & I really opened my mind to a different way of thinking about my diet & the food industry.

I know that embarking on this lifestyle change can be a little lonely. I'm really chuffed that my housemate Becky is vegan & we share a lot of similar views so I think that has made the whole experience much easier for me. There is a huuuge vegan community on Instagram which I love, it's really inspirational. My housemate goes on a lot of Facebook groups but there seems to be a lot of negativity on them so I tend to stay away. At the end of the day you've got the same goal in mind so what's the point in trying to one-up each other?
Ciara Phelan Ciara has a particular passion for collecting vintage ephemera and textile patterns, this love can been seen throughout her work. The foundation of her practice is mixing analog and digital media both on screen and with a scalpel to create playful, colourful and dynamically composed illustrations.

My goals are to be happy, healthy & fuel my body in the correct way whilst making minimal impact on the planet & the animals. So I guess what i'm trying to say is my little space on the internet here is going to include more compassionate based posts. I've also started a Nutritional Therapy course so that I can hopefully gain a real understanding of the way food affects us. So holla if you have any questions about anything...

Don't worry 'Inspired By The Retired' will still be a thrifty/whimsy/magical/vintage place but with a few more hippy vibes sprinkled around :)

Are any of you lovely readers veggie/vegan? Have you ever tried it before?
Thanks for reading :)
Rachelle xxx


4 comments:

  1. i've been a vegetarian for about four years and was vegan for a while as well but kind of slipped out of it. i'd really like to do it again though, you've inspired me :)

    xx danielle // shades of danielle

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  2. I've been vegetarian for 17 years. Like you, I've dabbled with veganism. I go through phases but generally I feel in my heart I should be vegan - I've just never been able to keep it up. I have leather shoes and very guiltily can't give up my Uggs.

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  3. I've been vegetarian for 17 years. Like you, I've dabbled with veganism. I go through phases but generally I feel in my heart I should be vegan - I've just never been able to keep it up. I have leather shoes and very guiltily can't give up my Uggs.

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  4. I am very happy when sewists and fashionistas mention veganism or at least vegetarian, because I don't see much of a real gap between the two causes. Sewing or thrifting helps people by not supporting sweatshops and helps the environment by not adding to landfill, animals by not buying new wool/leather/silk/etc and of course the environment. Veganism helps people by reducing high costs for example taxes spent on treating animal fat/protein accelerated illnesses, ends world hunger so helps people world wide, children who are born into meateating families who need nutritional support elsewhere (this was me in the 90s felt alone), helps the environment monumentally and of course I would rather save a life (being) than save a bit of fabric (object). But save both!

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