vegan/vegetarian

what does it mean?

vegan: "someone who avoids consuming or utilizing any product that is, or was once, part of an animal or is sourced from an animal"

• i.e no dairy products like milk and cheese, or eggs and honey. also they do not use materials such as fur and leather as it is derived from exploitation of animals and furthermore try to avoid using products that were tested on animals such as cosmetics and toiletries

vegetarian: someone who chooses not to consume any meat-which includes red meat, seafood and poultry

however there are subsections to vegetarianism

• ovo-vegetarian: diet includes eggs but not dairy products
• lacto-vegetarian: diet includes dairy products but not eggs
• ovo-lacto vegetarian: diet includes both eggs and dairy products
• pesco-vegetarian: diet includes fish but not the flesh of other animals

as you can see there really are no rules and shouldn't be when  you're deciding what is the best choice for you. i believe you can change and add things to your diet as you want and as you're ready for them. i wouldn't call myself 100% strict vegan but about 99% of the time i'm able to eat vegan. no one is perfect and sometimes you don't have much of a choice or choose to be lenient at a given situation.

peter singer considers himself a "flexible vegan" and so do i. sometimes with travel or whatever the circumstance you can choose to eat out of your natural diet. although this is rare it can happen and doesn't make you less of a vegan/vegetarian.

 i strongly suggest doing what you can if you're deciding to change or add things to your diet and remember to start small. being vegetarian for 3 days a week still matters and does not have to be an all or nothing deal. things never really are black & white! do what you can with what you got, there is no veg police!

being a sustainable vegetarian/vegan is what matters- so being a vegetarian for 4 days of the week is better than strict for 4 months and quiting!

reasons people decide to go vegan?