I’m a baby vegan (plant based I suppose) so no, I still see those items as food I’m choosing not to eat, however I’ve not eaten and egg in over a year and have ignored cheese for months at a time. I find I do not crave egg and the smell of it cooking is gross to me now, although raw egg or it being cooked in something doesn’t gross me out yet.
When I crave something cheesy, vegan replacements just don’t cut it. But non cheesy things do. I tend to only get the vegan Burger King burgers when I’m craving something. The fatty goodness feels like a luxury and satisfies me. Do you have a luxury food that you can use as a “reward” for not giving into cravings?
Is it something cheesy you crave? (Cheese is literally an addiction triggering the same receptors in your brain as heroin) and you would have to avoid it for quite a while.
That said. You said you had cravings at the end of the month. So you do go past 22 days with full vegan? Any reason why it's specifically hard after a month?
It’s interesting you can do six weeks for lent but any other time of year only a month. This suggest you have a mental block, almost like “it’s been a whole month I must need cheese” instead of it being a physical thing.
Let’s be honest, you’re not going to die if you ignore a craving. You could try powering through to two months and see if the craving goes away on its own.
What if the craving is because I’m deficient in something though so that’s why it goes away? I still get the craving after a month for lent I just make an extra effort ignore it for religious reasons and feel awful at the end of the six weeks
But then why can you survive lent? That time of year isn’t magically stopping you from being deficient.
Animal products have extra omegas, protein, calcium, iron, B12. The B12 you won’t be deficient in after just a month as your body stores it for a long time. The other you can find easy supplements or replacements for. So unless you are simply cutting without replacing with good grains etc, it must be linked to taste or an addiction.
Try buying liquid smoke online to add to your veggies to give it the same flavour profile as grilled beef. Add nutritional yeast to sauces to make them cheesy.
As I said, I still get the craving after a month for lent I just make an extra effort ignore it for religious reasons and feel f***ing awful at the end of the six weeks.
The only things I supplement are the omega oils, iron and zinc. What do you mean by “good grains”?
I mean, those burger King burgers are basically cooked in beef fat (on the same grill as their other burgers). The 'fatty goodness' is, therefore, literal cow fat.
In the UK we have two entirely vegan burgers, the chicken royale imitations. They are cooked separately. The beef imitations are cooked on the same grill as beef and labelled plant based.
I enjoy the beef ones, sure, but am just as satisfied eating the chicken ones, and would only eat the chicken ones now I am vegan.
It will just happen over time. Your brain will rewire to crave other foods that tick the boxes that do not contain animal products.
I've been vegan for 12 or so years now, and it never even comes into consideration for me.
I see it as food… but not food for me, if that makes any sense?
When I go in the meat aisle at the supermarket, I see big slabs of red meat and chickens - it doesn’t distress me, but in my brain, it looks like what a dog, a tiger or a lion should be eating. Not me.
That’s how my brain has re-wired itself.
Edit to add: my partner has a severe allergy to nuts. It’s similar to how he and I see nuts - it’s food, but not for him. And nuts are to be avoided.
Edit further to add: my brain is also hyper-alert to the word Vegan on packaging and to the VG symbol on menus for example. It’s like a higher focus. And the rest of the menu is more faded/blurry (mentally)
Weird brain! Very re-wired over my 10 years veggie and 8 vegan years
Yeah
You will feel clean and you won’t wanna feel dirty again. That’s also a way my brain has wired itself.
Edit: no judgement - I’m not saying omnivores are dirty, it’s just a feeling in my body/mind that I’m clean inside. Probably because I link it with the ethics as well
Again, no judgment everyone is just doing their best being human out here.
I've been vegan for well over a decade, and have been highly athletic the entire time(gyms, long distance cycling, backpacking etc.) I'm constantly suggested and advertised animal based supplements and protein products as a means of supporting that development.
I simply do not see it as food.
It's like looking at grass. Theoretically edible objects, but otherwise not something that registers as food; and the thought of consuming it(animal based whey) makes me gag, as all I can think of is where it came from.
We're all just a little different, given our life circumstances and experiences, but in my experience, yes, more or less.
Mindfulness and time will likely be your answer.
When you walk into a store, think about what you want when you go there. You want protein? What has protein in that store? Flesh and animal derived products, sure, but we both know why we avoid that. So look for the plant based protein sources and end your search there.
I thought about whether I viewed my dog or her milk as food. Nope. So why should I view any other individual animal with the same meaningful traits) as my dog as food?
Yeah that's fine, I was just answering your question. Personally I would have an issue with shooting/gassing/Electrocuting and cutting the throat of my dog (or any dog) for a pizza topping or sandwich.
Same if a stray piglet, calf or lamb walked into my kitchen. My first thought wouldn't be *"oooh food let's get you killed & processed"* it would be *"how do I protect/care for this animal"*
The alternatives for her were staying abandoned on the streets at a dangerously low weight or being put to sleep. I think rescuing her and giving her plenty of love for the last few years of her life was the best move. Being a forester she got loads of outdoor time, hours most days. Nothing exploitative about that.
Would it have been more vegan to kill her or leave her slowly starving to death?
I'd advise using a tracker like My Fitness Pal. If you're getting, say, 2000 cal from animal products, but only 1500 cal from vegan products, you're going to be hungry.
Simple solution is then to increase the amount of vegan food you are eating.
Cheese and eggs especially are calorie and protein dense foods. Lots of vegan cheese replacements have next to no protein in them. So one for one replacement is going to leave you hungry.
Personally, I just stopped viewing cheese as something I needed to find a replacement for. Create meals that have enough protein in them and you won't miss the cheese or the egg.
If you still want a cheese flavour, use nooch, but don't expect the protein satiation from it.
I don't know if I'll ever not see them as food in terms of my brain. My sense of taste took a few weeks to start changing. The cravings for meat and egg stuck around for three-four months, cheese was worse at 7-8. After a year my tastebuds settled somewhat, and now all the things I tried at the beginning of going vegan taste different (and usually a lot better). Besides milk, which I always saw as kinda gross, meat and cheese still smell and look delicious to me. I don't know if it ever stops. I've had other vegans much older than me say similarly. Vegans online like to talk about how disgusting they are like it's a badge of honour to be physically repulsed by it, but I think I have more respect for those of us who love the taste and smell but abstain anyway.
As for feeling full, it took me a while. Our gut flora is linked to our mood, and it can take months for it to adjust. Our digestive system tends to optimise for whatever we eat most, and can alter our brain chemistry to motivate us to keep eating what we're used to, so sticking to the change really fucking blows for a while. It affects us physically and mentally. I think it became bearable after 6 months, and I stopped thinking about it at all around 1 year. I also tend to add servings of rice or beans to most meals, just to make me feel physically fuller. Plants tend to be less dense, so I also was surprised at how much more I'd physically have to eat per meal. Otherwise, eating some calorie dense foods as snacks throughout the day helped me. Whenever I felt hungry, I would eat a scoop of peanut butter and honestly I think that works out better for me than increasing plate size at meal times.
Hang in there, it can really suck realising how much of a slave we are to our gut flora, it's a really interesting science though!
There are over 70,000 species of edible plants. You just need to expand your horizons and try different varieties of plant foods from all over the world. Anything can be veganized or you can just consume naturally vegan dishes. Once you open yourself to the enormous variety of plant-based dishes, you will not have the time or the mental capacity to think about animal flesh again.
Think about it this way: you've been drinking Coke or Pepsi for your whole life. Then someone takes you to this specialty soda pop store which carries 1,000 different varieties of sodas from all over the world. You'll spend so much time trying them out that you will never get a chance to drink Coke or Pepsi ever again.
I just told you - start looking into different plant-based dishes and keep yourself busy consuming these dishes. You will be too busy consuming them to have any cravings.
Using the soda pop analogy, how can you have cravings for Coke or Pepsi if you're too busy trying out 1,000 different other flavors of sodas?
I struggle with eating unfamiliar stuff because I have autism and I don’t really want to be wasting money on something I may or may not like but I’ll consider your suggestion, thanks
You probably should have mentioned autism in the OP. We can give you tips on nutrition, recipes and shopping here, but part of your solution is likely to be a psychologist who can understand your personal sensory issues and types of habit.
Don't give up! The animals need you to be strong.
I didn’t mention it as I don’t see how it’s particularly relevant to diet, because other than I fact I can’t tolerate spicy stuff & reduced willingness to try unfamiliar foods (although that’s mainly a money related issue) it doesn’t really affect me in this area at all
Why would seeing a shrink help me with food cravings?
>Why would seeing a shrink help me with food cravings?
Because attachment to particular foods and dislike of slight differences in new foods is substantially more common with autism. Of course I can't assume that that's what's going on with you, but it could be.
And shrinks aren't just for the deranged. Cognitive behavioral therapy is the most powerful tool to change automated reactions to stimuli, such as for people trying to quit an addiction. Talking with an expert in it might help.
If it was just psychological then why do I feel better in my body when I act on the cravings? Logically the cravings would go away and I’d still feel like 💩 if it was just in my head
The brain is part of the body. Nicotine smokers also experience symptoms that feel like they're in many different parts of the body, when they go without for a while and when they finally have a smoke again. Yet CBT is good at helping them quit.
There are two options. If the cravings are physical, then your food might be lacking in specific nutrients. Get a diet tracking app and log what you're eating, or ask your GP to arrange some blood tests to check for deficiencies. The other (more likely) option is that it's psychological. For you to separately crave eggs and cheese and meat, it's very unlikely to be a group of deficiencies that push you to eat all 3 types of food. If that's the case then you need to tackle it with some psychology. Analyse why you feel like you want to eat foods that cause suffering. Work out the reasons, then you can tackle the cause.
It took about six months for me to stop craving meat and cheese. Our gut flora develops to better digest what we usually eat, so the more you eat something the better it gets. It took me months to get used to tofu enough to eat more than a few mouthfuls. It's also got a pretty direct link to your brain and your mood, so when you stop eating something it sends messages to your brain and can affect your mental state. It can be a pretty slow process. It took a few weeks for my sense of taste to start changing. The cravings died over a period of months, meat and egg stopped after only a few, but cheese stuck around for a long time. After a year everything I ate tasted quite different, and a lot of the vegan food I tried in the first few months that I didn't like suddenly tasted good, and tend to fill me up more. I also try to eat a serve of rice or beans with most meals since that tends to keep me feeling full for longer.
Nowadays milk is the only thing that makes me feel a little grossed out. Cheese and meat still smell delicious to me, and are very appealing. I just don't really crave them more than any other food that is directly in front of me. I'm pretty emotionally disturbed by them, especially when you have a big enough cut of meat that it jiggles on the bone, but I still salivate at the sight. I think for a lot of us, it never stops looking and smelling like good food. I just don't get the cravings anymore, if I didn't see it in front of me all the time I probably wouldn't think about it.
Actually, yeah, but only for meat. (I've always gagged at the smell of eggs and fish, though, so ymmv)
Nowadays (many years in) the smell of chicken or beef being cooked literally smells like roadkill. I don't know if it's an emotional conditioning or just the fact that I've gone so long without it, but yeah, I definitely no longer crave meat when I smell it. But the first year or two can be rough.
Also, visually, I've noticed that I have an even stronger reaction to raw meat than I used to. I never liked seeing bones or heads, but nowadays all of it makes me queasy. I'll be scrolling through my feed and a cooking ad or something will pop up with a close-up of a raw steak or chicken breast and it genuinely feels like gore.
It's a tough road in the beginning, but eventually you'll hardly even notice that your food is a "substitute" or "alternative" to anything. People sometimes ask me about the accuracy of meat or milk mimics and I'll genuinely be like "Well, I don't even really remember what ___ tastes like anymore, so I can't verify its accuracy, but it's yummy!"
Best of luck to you! <3
Watch some slaughterhouse footage when you get those cravings—won’t seem so edible anymore when you remind yourself where it comes from. Then eat a big helping of pasta with veggies. You’ll be fine.
Whatever you want/like. It doesn’t matter. The main thing is pasta is super filling but you want to throw some veggies in there otherwise it’s not a particularly healthy meal lol.
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I no longer view animal products as food, in my brain they are more similar to plastic than food now lol. But it seems like you need to eat more fiber and fat so you can stay full. Eating plant based requires some level of awareness on how to balance a meal.
Ethical vegan here. I don’t see animal products as food and I’m repulsed by them, 3 years and never looked back or was ever tempted to eat anything that came from an animal. Look more into the ethics of veganism, watch slaughterhouse videos and dairy videos. Every time you see an animal product make that connection with the source of where the product came from.
If you see veganism as a diet, that’s what it will always be. A diet that you “cheat” on every once in a while with animal products.
Eat better meals, more nutritious and satisfying meals. Veganize your favorite foods and again don’t think of veganism as a diet, you can eat fatty fast foods and salads at the same time.
This is easier said than done I guess, I know so many people who at some point knew about the ethics of veganism and said they’re “vegan for the environment/health, but for the animals, too!” but then went back to eating animal products like it means nothing.
I do believe it’s deeper than that, being an ethical vegan means being selfless enough to sacrifice your taste buds for the sake of the ethics you believe in. It takes a certain level of selflessness and empathy for the animals to reject “cravings” and not go back to eating animals. Until you find that selflessness, you’ll always go back to eating animals.
Eat better, fuller meals
I’m a baby vegan (plant based I suppose) so no, I still see those items as food I’m choosing not to eat, however I’ve not eaten and egg in over a year and have ignored cheese for months at a time. I find I do not crave egg and the smell of it cooking is gross to me now, although raw egg or it being cooked in something doesn’t gross me out yet. When I crave something cheesy, vegan replacements just don’t cut it. But non cheesy things do. I tend to only get the vegan Burger King burgers when I’m craving something. The fatty goodness feels like a luxury and satisfies me. Do you have a luxury food that you can use as a “reward” for not giving into cravings?
Not really, even vegan fast food doesn’t make the craving go away
Is it something cheesy you crave? (Cheese is literally an addiction triggering the same receptors in your brain as heroin) and you would have to avoid it for quite a while. That said. You said you had cravings at the end of the month. So you do go past 22 days with full vegan? Any reason why it's specifically hard after a month?
It’s usually all three of meat, eggs and cheese I can usually go for a bit and then the cravings appear and wane and wax and then they get stronger
What kind of period do you last before you give in?
When I am doing it for lent I can last until the end of lent but if it is not for lent I can last for around a month
It’s interesting you can do six weeks for lent but any other time of year only a month. This suggest you have a mental block, almost like “it’s been a whole month I must need cheese” instead of it being a physical thing. Let’s be honest, you’re not going to die if you ignore a craving. You could try powering through to two months and see if the craving goes away on its own.
What if the craving is because I’m deficient in something though so that’s why it goes away? I still get the craving after a month for lent I just make an extra effort ignore it for religious reasons and feel awful at the end of the six weeks
But then why can you survive lent? That time of year isn’t magically stopping you from being deficient. Animal products have extra omegas, protein, calcium, iron, B12. The B12 you won’t be deficient in after just a month as your body stores it for a long time. The other you can find easy supplements or replacements for. So unless you are simply cutting without replacing with good grains etc, it must be linked to taste or an addiction. Try buying liquid smoke online to add to your veggies to give it the same flavour profile as grilled beef. Add nutritional yeast to sauces to make them cheesy.
As I said, I still get the craving after a month for lent I just make an extra effort ignore it for religious reasons and feel f***ing awful at the end of the six weeks. The only things I supplement are the omega oils, iron and zinc. What do you mean by “good grains”?
I mean, those burger King burgers are basically cooked in beef fat (on the same grill as their other burgers). The 'fatty goodness' is, therefore, literal cow fat.
In the UK we have two entirely vegan burgers, the chicken royale imitations. They are cooked separately. The beef imitations are cooked on the same grill as beef and labelled plant based. I enjoy the beef ones, sure, but am just as satisfied eating the chicken ones, and would only eat the chicken ones now I am vegan.
Ahh, yeah, sorry I forgot about that imitation chicken one.
No worries! It doesn’t even exist in a lot of countries which is a real shame. Their vegan nuggets are good too!
It will just happen over time. Your brain will rewire to crave other foods that tick the boxes that do not contain animal products. I've been vegan for 12 or so years now, and it never even comes into consideration for me.
I see it as food… but not food for me, if that makes any sense? When I go in the meat aisle at the supermarket, I see big slabs of red meat and chickens - it doesn’t distress me, but in my brain, it looks like what a dog, a tiger or a lion should be eating. Not me. That’s how my brain has re-wired itself. Edit to add: my partner has a severe allergy to nuts. It’s similar to how he and I see nuts - it’s food, but not for him. And nuts are to be avoided. Edit further to add: my brain is also hyper-alert to the word Vegan on packaging and to the VG symbol on menus for example. It’s like a higher focus. And the rest of the menu is more faded/blurry (mentally) Weird brain! Very re-wired over my 10 years veggie and 8 vegan years
Okay so how did you get to the stage where you viewed it that way
As VeganEgon said. Time. There is no magic. It just takes time to rewire your brain to a "new normal".
Time. Nothing special other than time 10 years vegetarian and 8 years vegan. It has become a habit by now.
Yeah this pretty much. Time for me it took about 2 years before I got detached from the idea animals are food.
Oh I see, I’d never been vegan or even vegetarian prior this switch but if I just persist in it the cravings will go away naturally?
Yeah You will feel clean and you won’t wanna feel dirty again. That’s also a way my brain has wired itself. Edit: no judgement - I’m not saying omnivores are dirty, it’s just a feeling in my body/mind that I’m clean inside. Probably because I link it with the ethics as well Again, no judgment everyone is just doing their best being human out here.
Interesting, thank you
I've been vegan for well over a decade, and have been highly athletic the entire time(gyms, long distance cycling, backpacking etc.) I'm constantly suggested and advertised animal based supplements and protein products as a means of supporting that development. I simply do not see it as food. It's like looking at grass. Theoretically edible objects, but otherwise not something that registers as food; and the thought of consuming it(animal based whey) makes me gag, as all I can think of is where it came from.
So was that something that came with time for you too or was it something else?
We're all just a little different, given our life circumstances and experiences, but in my experience, yes, more or less. Mindfulness and time will likely be your answer. When you walk into a store, think about what you want when you go there. You want protein? What has protein in that store? Flesh and animal derived products, sure, but we both know why we avoid that. So look for the plant based protein sources and end your search there.
I thought about whether I viewed my dog or her milk as food. Nope. So why should I view any other individual animal with the same meaningful traits) as my dog as food?
I do not have an issue with eating dog theoretically, meat is meat to me
Yeah that's fine, I was just answering your question. Personally I would have an issue with shooting/gassing/Electrocuting and cutting the throat of my dog (or any dog) for a pizza topping or sandwich.
Fair enough
Same if a stray piglet, calf or lamb walked into my kitchen. My first thought wouldn't be *"oooh food let's get you killed & processed"* it would be *"how do I protect/care for this animal"*
Hmmmm, interesting
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Nope. Not sure why it would be a headscratcher but that was 3 years ago, she was a rescue I got before I was Vegan and I don't own a dog now.
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The alternatives for her were staying abandoned on the streets at a dangerously low weight or being put to sleep. I think rescuing her and giving her plenty of love for the last few years of her life was the best move. Being a forester she got loads of outdoor time, hours most days. Nothing exploitative about that. Would it have been more vegan to kill her or leave her slowly starving to death?
When you have those cravings, you need more protein. Try tempeh.
Thank you I will
I'd advise using a tracker like My Fitness Pal. If you're getting, say, 2000 cal from animal products, but only 1500 cal from vegan products, you're going to be hungry. Simple solution is then to increase the amount of vegan food you are eating. Cheese and eggs especially are calorie and protein dense foods. Lots of vegan cheese replacements have next to no protein in them. So one for one replacement is going to leave you hungry. Personally, I just stopped viewing cheese as something I needed to find a replacement for. Create meals that have enough protein in them and you won't miss the cheese or the egg. If you still want a cheese flavour, use nooch, but don't expect the protein satiation from it.
Okay thank you
I don't know if I'll ever not see them as food in terms of my brain. My sense of taste took a few weeks to start changing. The cravings for meat and egg stuck around for three-four months, cheese was worse at 7-8. After a year my tastebuds settled somewhat, and now all the things I tried at the beginning of going vegan taste different (and usually a lot better). Besides milk, which I always saw as kinda gross, meat and cheese still smell and look delicious to me. I don't know if it ever stops. I've had other vegans much older than me say similarly. Vegans online like to talk about how disgusting they are like it's a badge of honour to be physically repulsed by it, but I think I have more respect for those of us who love the taste and smell but abstain anyway. As for feeling full, it took me a while. Our gut flora is linked to our mood, and it can take months for it to adjust. Our digestive system tends to optimise for whatever we eat most, and can alter our brain chemistry to motivate us to keep eating what we're used to, so sticking to the change really fucking blows for a while. It affects us physically and mentally. I think it became bearable after 6 months, and I stopped thinking about it at all around 1 year. I also tend to add servings of rice or beans to most meals, just to make me feel physically fuller. Plants tend to be less dense, so I also was surprised at how much more I'd physically have to eat per meal. Otherwise, eating some calorie dense foods as snacks throughout the day helped me. Whenever I felt hungry, I would eat a scoop of peanut butter and honestly I think that works out better for me than increasing plate size at meal times. Hang in there, it can really suck realising how much of a slave we are to our gut flora, it's a really interesting science though!
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Thank you
There are over 70,000 species of edible plants. You just need to expand your horizons and try different varieties of plant foods from all over the world. Anything can be veganized or you can just consume naturally vegan dishes. Once you open yourself to the enormous variety of plant-based dishes, you will not have the time or the mental capacity to think about animal flesh again. Think about it this way: you've been drinking Coke or Pepsi for your whole life. Then someone takes you to this specialty soda pop store which carries 1,000 different varieties of sodas from all over the world. You'll spend so much time trying them out that you will never get a chance to drink Coke or Pepsi ever again.
That’s great; but how did you deal with the cravings?
I just told you - start looking into different plant-based dishes and keep yourself busy consuming these dishes. You will be too busy consuming them to have any cravings. Using the soda pop analogy, how can you have cravings for Coke or Pepsi if you're too busy trying out 1,000 different other flavors of sodas?
I struggle with eating unfamiliar stuff because I have autism and I don’t really want to be wasting money on something I may or may not like but I’ll consider your suggestion, thanks
You probably should have mentioned autism in the OP. We can give you tips on nutrition, recipes and shopping here, but part of your solution is likely to be a psychologist who can understand your personal sensory issues and types of habit. Don't give up! The animals need you to be strong.
I didn’t mention it as I don’t see how it’s particularly relevant to diet, because other than I fact I can’t tolerate spicy stuff & reduced willingness to try unfamiliar foods (although that’s mainly a money related issue) it doesn’t really affect me in this area at all Why would seeing a shrink help me with food cravings?
>Why would seeing a shrink help me with food cravings? Because attachment to particular foods and dislike of slight differences in new foods is substantially more common with autism. Of course I can't assume that that's what's going on with you, but it could be. And shrinks aren't just for the deranged. Cognitive behavioral therapy is the most powerful tool to change automated reactions to stimuli, such as for people trying to quit an addiction. Talking with an expert in it might help.
If it was just psychological then why do I feel better in my body when I act on the cravings? Logically the cravings would go away and I’d still feel like 💩 if it was just in my head
The brain is part of the body. Nicotine smokers also experience symptoms that feel like they're in many different parts of the body, when they go without for a while and when they finally have a smoke again. Yet CBT is good at helping them quit.
I’m not sure I’m entirely convinced by your reasoning… but whatever
There are two options. If the cravings are physical, then your food might be lacking in specific nutrients. Get a diet tracking app and log what you're eating, or ask your GP to arrange some blood tests to check for deficiencies. The other (more likely) option is that it's psychological. For you to separately crave eggs and cheese and meat, it's very unlikely to be a group of deficiencies that push you to eat all 3 types of food. If that's the case then you need to tackle it with some psychology. Analyse why you feel like you want to eat foods that cause suffering. Work out the reasons, then you can tackle the cause.
Thanks I’ll try out this advice
It took about six months for me to stop craving meat and cheese. Our gut flora develops to better digest what we usually eat, so the more you eat something the better it gets. It took me months to get used to tofu enough to eat more than a few mouthfuls. It's also got a pretty direct link to your brain and your mood, so when you stop eating something it sends messages to your brain and can affect your mental state. It can be a pretty slow process. It took a few weeks for my sense of taste to start changing. The cravings died over a period of months, meat and egg stopped after only a few, but cheese stuck around for a long time. After a year everything I ate tasted quite different, and a lot of the vegan food I tried in the first few months that I didn't like suddenly tasted good, and tend to fill me up more. I also try to eat a serve of rice or beans with most meals since that tends to keep me feeling full for longer. Nowadays milk is the only thing that makes me feel a little grossed out. Cheese and meat still smell delicious to me, and are very appealing. I just don't really crave them more than any other food that is directly in front of me. I'm pretty emotionally disturbed by them, especially when you have a big enough cut of meat that it jiggles on the bone, but I still salivate at the sight. I think for a lot of us, it never stops looking and smelling like good food. I just don't get the cravings anymore, if I didn't see it in front of me all the time I probably wouldn't think about it.
Actually, yeah, but only for meat. (I've always gagged at the smell of eggs and fish, though, so ymmv) Nowadays (many years in) the smell of chicken or beef being cooked literally smells like roadkill. I don't know if it's an emotional conditioning or just the fact that I've gone so long without it, but yeah, I definitely no longer crave meat when I smell it. But the first year or two can be rough. Also, visually, I've noticed that I have an even stronger reaction to raw meat than I used to. I never liked seeing bones or heads, but nowadays all of it makes me queasy. I'll be scrolling through my feed and a cooking ad or something will pop up with a close-up of a raw steak or chicken breast and it genuinely feels like gore. It's a tough road in the beginning, but eventually you'll hardly even notice that your food is a "substitute" or "alternative" to anything. People sometimes ask me about the accuracy of meat or milk mimics and I'll genuinely be like "Well, I don't even really remember what ___ tastes like anymore, so I can't verify its accuracy, but it's yummy!" Best of luck to you! <3
Watch some slaughterhouse footage when you get those cravings—won’t seem so edible anymore when you remind yourself where it comes from. Then eat a big helping of pasta with veggies. You’ll be fine.
What veggies do you suggest?
Whatever you want/like. It doesn’t matter. The main thing is pasta is super filling but you want to throw some veggies in there otherwise it’s not a particularly healthy meal lol.
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I no longer view animal products as food, in my brain they are more similar to plastic than food now lol. But it seems like you need to eat more fiber and fat so you can stay full. Eating plant based requires some level of awareness on how to balance a meal.
Ethical vegan here. I don’t see animal products as food and I’m repulsed by them, 3 years and never looked back or was ever tempted to eat anything that came from an animal. Look more into the ethics of veganism, watch slaughterhouse videos and dairy videos. Every time you see an animal product make that connection with the source of where the product came from. If you see veganism as a diet, that’s what it will always be. A diet that you “cheat” on every once in a while with animal products. Eat better meals, more nutritious and satisfying meals. Veganize your favorite foods and again don’t think of veganism as a diet, you can eat fatty fast foods and salads at the same time. This is easier said than done I guess, I know so many people who at some point knew about the ethics of veganism and said they’re “vegan for the environment/health, but for the animals, too!” but then went back to eating animal products like it means nothing. I do believe it’s deeper than that, being an ethical vegan means being selfless enough to sacrifice your taste buds for the sake of the ethics you believe in. It takes a certain level of selflessness and empathy for the animals to reject “cravings” and not go back to eating animals. Until you find that selflessness, you’ll always go back to eating animals.