Stovetop , 3 days ago

I gave being vegan a go but stopped because I couldn’t keep up with it.

Working 60-hour weeks makes it hard to meal prep, so I order out a lot, and there aren’t many vegan friendly dining options in my area.

I ended up skipping a lot of family gatherings because Cantonese food isn’t all that vegan friendly. The one thing I never wanted to be was “that guy” who needed a special menu when invited to social events, so I thought it was easier to just withdraw. Being very lactose intolerant as a kid did not help in that regard when friends would want to go out for ice cream or eat birthday cake and I’d always feel like “that guy”.

At a particularly low point for me, when I was eating the same garden salad for dinner for 2 weeks straight, I ended up having a bit of a breakdown. My therapist said that it is admirable to be vegan, but my behavior at the time was verging on having a martyr complex, and that I should stop punishing myself to make a point.

I’m currently a pescatarian, which is the only concession I could make at present to let myself eat my family’s home-cooked meals that are usually made with a fish sauce of some sort. I’d like to try going vegan again at some point when I’m in a better mental space, but it’s something that some of us have to find our way into gradually.