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The idea of excluding let alone meat but also any animal-derived product from your meals might sound insane to the majority of the people. Especially for you a lifelong meat-eater. But the Idea of veganism is getting more and more popular nowadays. Because many of those do it for ethical reason. According to research from the University of Oxford, going vegan is the “single biggest way” to reduce your impact on the planet. So what is actually a veganism? According to an article published on healthline at 2016 says that, Veganism is defined as a way of living that attempts to exclude all forms of animal exploitation and cruelty, whether for food, clothing or any other purpose.
Although there is still an on going debate on whether certain foods can be included into a vegan diet. Such as, milk, eggs, honey and etc. Since many vegans extend the definition of being a vegan more than just on the food. They also would like to avoid the use and consumption of other animals-derived product such as fur, wool, leather and even some products which are tested on animals. Well the question is “is it hard to be a vegan?”
Finding The Reason
As many of us know already that the reason some people going vegan are mostly for health and ethical reason. But experiencing those reasons on your personal level could really help you not to be tempted into straying from diet plan or we could call “cheating”. An eye-opening situation is sometimes needed to find the reason to be a vegan and keep sticking to it.
“I wasn’t a vegan before. Then I watched a documentary movie called ‘dominion’. I learned a lot about the animal slaughter and the industry that never be exposed to regular people. How cruel what the industry do to those animal. From there, it triggered my heart to be a Vegan” Christian, Owner of Manggis in Canggu, A plant-based restaurant.
For Christian, the learning of animal slaughter in the food industry is enough to open his eyes not to take the meat-eater road anymore. Although before he was a heavy meat-eater. Even then, he extends his value of vegan through his vegan restaurant.
Experimenting what’s food is best for you could also lead you to the veganism path. Some people believe that vegan diet is the best diet for their body from experimenting.
"My health is the most important thing to me. I dont think eating meat is a good thing for me. I dont think going to junk food restaurant is the best thing to do. I dont think there is going to be a lot of nutrients there. All those nutrients you can get are from plants, fruits, veggies, and nuts. Those are the only things I need.“ Dani, a virtual assistant.
Commitment
It is going to be easy to commit if you find your reason to be a vegan. Especially if it’s really an eye-opening one. Of course some habits are really hard to break. For example if you are very much used to drink coffee with milk every morning it would be very hard for you to break out of that habit. Slowly reducing your intake of animal-derived products might also help for you not to get a shocking feeling. While the temptation to go back to non-vegan path is surely going to be there. But, remembering and keep learning on why at the first place you are a vegan will very much help for you to stay on being a vegan.
Choosing your surrounding
It’s certainly unnecessary to move out from your not vegan-friendly hometown to start being a vegan. But choosing where you live is definitely going to help you to be a vegan. Because some places are just easier to access a plant-based diet. For example, Bali is well-known for its Veganism culture. There is a huge community of vegan also it is very easy to access a plant-based food.
"Bali is the best vegan place. There are the best vegan chefs there. The most vegan restaurants are probably here in, Bali. Its crazy how many vegan restaurants you have here. Even if it's not the whole menu vegan, there will always one menu is vegan“ Dani, a virtual assistant.
Not only the cafes and the restaurants. Bali also provide a huge amount of natural abundances. The best thing is those abundances are very much easy to be accessed. Knowing that you could get a whole lot of varieties of food easily would make your vegan journey easier.
"Bali is such a hub of vegan food. Its part of the culture. Here in Bali its a fertile island. You can get anything fresh. From fresh chocolate, to fresh coffee, to fresh cinnamon, Vanilla. Why wouldn't I come here and take full advantage of it.“ Sydney, an Intern at LivingFoodLab, a vegan restaurant.
Share your benefits
Sharing positivity is one of way for us to still be positive. Number of research has shown that directly sharing positive information resulted in consistently higher happiness levels – higher than those stemming from simply talking to a friend or recalling a positive experience. Well if you feel benefited by being a vegan why don’t you share those benefits to others and start to inspire them to be one. Some of these vegan people are inspired to make a platform where they can share their plant-based experiences. Just like Katy and Chris.
"When you go to plant based shop, especially in the UK, its quite clinical. But my shop will always be fun, energetic, and people are having good time. Its all about all those components coming together." Katy, a Chef.
Katy is a chef that has been working in the industry for 9 years. She then decided to move out to Bali to open her plant-based cafe. The story really stretched out in the past where she had to take care her brother who suffered from diabetes. She had to give him a proper diet to treat her brother. That’s one of the reason why she wanted to open the restaurants. She wants everybody to have access to those kind of diets.
Chris has different story. He wants to tell people, especially the Indonesian since he is also an Indonesian, that plant-based food is not boring. He wants to show them that plant-based could be fun, healthy, and delicious through food.
"Being vegan is not hard unless you just dont want to. We offer something different. When you try to eat something without victim inside. It tastes good. It feels good. We want to be a bridge to show people Vegan food is not boring.“ Chris, Owner of Manggis in Canggu.
Or you could be just like Yevh. Sharing those benefits to us
“Bali has the best fruits, the best nuts, and honey all year long. It helps me understand when you put right fuel into your body and rest enough, you could do whatever you want to do. If you look after your body is right then you can start take care of your mind.” Yevhen, Yoga Instructor.
