The animal lover

I consider myself an animal lover almost since I came into this world, a sentiment that, while I was growing up and maturing, grew along with me even further. I’m not one of those who loves animals because I find them “cute” (while feeling repulsed by the presence of “not so cute” ones). I love animals because I understand they’re sentient beings, just like us. As a matter of fact, we – the Homo sapiens – are just animals as well, no more, no less, whether you accept this notion or like to think of ourselves as some “special” beings.

The omnivorous phase

The ever-present discomfort

However, during the first 31 years of my life, I fed myself with them and some of their products. It doesn’t mean I enjoyed the idea. During my youth, I didn’t care that much and accepted it as a “part of nature”. Then, while growing up, I began feeling more and more uncomfortable with the act of consuming animals. I almost felt like I was engaging in cannibalism, as, despite not belonging to the same species as mine, they were still beings capable of feeling suffering and pain just like me, and they were having their lives sacrificed so that mine could continue. Nevertheless, I was still consuming them, as I truly believed in the last part of that previous sentence and would just learn to accept that “fact”.

The resignation phase

Of course, I had already heard about “vegetarians” (as well as “vegans” later on), but, for years – perhaps for lack of proper research about the matter –, I didn’t believe it was possible to be entirely healthy on a purely vegetarian diet or, even worse, vegan. I’d force myself to accept the notion that I was naturally omnivore, and, if I truly wanted to live a long and healthy life, I’d have to consume nutrients from animal sources, including meat and fish.

Transition to vegetarianism

Becoming a (lacto-ovo) vegetarian

Over time, I started realizing it was indeed possible to maintain a healthy diet without the need to consume, at least, animals, and I realized that “omnivore” doesn’t mean “a being that must eat a bit of everything in order to survive”, but rather “a being that can have the luxury of choosing what to eat in order to live in peace with their conscience”, something that, for instance, carnivores or herbivores simply can’t do. That’s how, in August 2011, I became a vegetarian, abstaining from eating any type of meat or seafood, but still seeing no issue with consuming animal products, such as dairy, eggs, and honey. I even increased my consumption of several animal products – especially in the form of whey protein shakes and eggs – to fill in the supposed lack of higher-quality proteins I was previously getting from meat and fish.

Becoming a vegan

After following the vegetarian regime for 10 years, I also began realizing that, contrary to what I once thought, there were indeed ethical issues with the financing of certain animal product industries, such as milk, eggs, and even honey, as in those places, to obtain such products, several atrocities are committed against the respective animals, atrocities that, needless to say, clashed with my moral compass. Et voilà, I became a vegan, in August as well, but of the year 2021 this time.

Becoming a veg(g)an(?)

I was a regular vegan for about a year, until – after pondering over the matter for quite some time and to ease my process in terms of improving my health and obtaining certain specific essential nutrients – I concluded I could keep eating eggs, as long as they weren’t coming from the egg industry. I turned into what some call a “vEGGan”, as I continue not to consume any dairy or honey, like normal vegans (except on very rare occasions where there’s no way to avoid it), but I acquired some kind of an “egg dealer”, who supplies me with the so-called “country eggs” from a small farm of my trust, where I know animal welfare is maintained.

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